Shorecliff

by Marilyn Ross, W.E.D. Ross (AKA)

WILL ANITA LOSE HER HUSBAND TO THE GHOST WITH THE PORCELAIN FACE?When they inherit an ancient mansion, Anita and her husband Charles move in. From the very moment of their arrival at Shorecliff, Anita notices the change that comes over her husband.Charles turns into a sullen and brooding stranger. He becomes obsessed with the legend of Amanda, a vain and beautiful murderess who kept forever young by wearing a mask of porcelain. Though dead 100 years, Amanda seems to have taken complete control of Charles.When Anita is suddenly confronted by a ghostly figure with a porcelain face, she knows Amanda has returned from the grave to destroy them.

Genres: Gothic, Romance, Horror, Gothic Romance, Fiction, Mystery

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

William Edward Daniel Ross, W. E. Daniel "Dan" Ross (born 1912) is a bestselling Canadian novelist from Saint John, New Brunswick who wrote over 300 books in a variety of genres and under a variety of mostly female pseudonyms such as Laura Frances Brooks, Lydia Colby, Rose Dana, Jan Daniels, Olin Ross, Diane Randall, Clarissa Ross, Leslie Ames, Ruth Dorset, Ann Gilmer, Jane Rossiter, Dan Ross, Dana Ross, Marilyn Ross, Dan Roberts, and W.E.D. Ross. As Marilyn Ross he wrote popular Gothic fiction including a series of novels about the vampire Barnabas Collins based on the American TV series Dark Shadows (1966-71).

Reviews

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

This book was bad, but harmless and amusing.

The cover is gorgeous.

[Sarah Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Junky, cheesy little pulp with a setting that borrows heavily from the author's Dark Shadows fanfic...but entertaining enough to finish, so I hereby award a mighty 2-star rating.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is your typical gothic story about the only sane person being driven by the crazies that are her relatives. However, this woman showed a little more spunk than the usual shrinking violets that are placed in this situation.

While I've read many Marilyn Ross books and enjoyed them, I found this one just OK because it didn't have the gothic elements laid on with a heavy hand which is the usual. To this end the author relied on family dynamics, not so much supernatural happenings, and I think that's where it fell short.

[Katie T · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are just og cozies without paranormal cats working in cupcake shops.

[Colton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bullet points to start differentiating these books:

•Ghost with porcelain face
•Conjoined houses
•Brooding novelist husband with brain injury
•Anita vs “Amanda”

[Octavia Cade · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is absolutely dreadful. The heroine is such a hysterical wet blanket that I was almost rooting for the (extremely obvious) antagonist to send her round the bend and off to the mental hospital, or jail for murdering her useless husband, or pretty much anything, really. Her name is Anita, and she's insupportable. To give an indication of this silly woman: she is simultaneously convinced that a ghost is stalking her, and that the dodgy people around her are pretending to be the ghost that's stalking her, but somehow the repeated forced injections that she's subject to, at the appearance of the so-called ghost, are given to her by the ghost and not by the people. I just can't with this dimwit.

Even worse than the characterisation, however, is the pacing. It's so fast, and so compressed, that the storyline becomes somehow less credible than it ever deserves.

[Hiram Colon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel. I knew who the villain was by the time I got half way through the book. The ending was somewhat anti-climatic if not expected. Still, a decent story if you are a fan of Ross gothic novels.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy hell this book was so bad it was hilarious.

[E. D. Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Marilyn Ross. Very much the Anne Radcliffe gothic, if you know what I mean. The typical gothic from the 1960s. I had my thoughts as to who, but I was wrong. If you like Marylin Ross, you should like this. Not the greatest gothic, but still entertaining.