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Dark Shadows #10
The Phantom and Barnabas Collins
Maggie Evans visits the Collins family graveyard and is transported back in time to the year 1880. There she awakes, an amnesia victim at a Collinwood she barely recognizes. All that seems familiar are the house itself and the family's guest, Barnabas Collins.
Slowly Maggie learns she is trapped in a nightmare. She has fallen into the hands of Dr. Giles Collins, whose mysterious experiments with human blood have already taken several lives. Now she is slated to be his next victim.
Though Maggie is warned by the others that he is a vampire, she turns to Barnabas for help. But Barnabas, too, is in danger from the evil doctor. Will he live long enough to save her?
Slowly Maggie learns she is trapped in a nightmare. She has fallen into the hands of Dr. Giles Collins, whose mysterious experiments with human blood have already taken several lives. Now she is slated to be his next victim.
Though Maggie is warned by the others that he is a vampire, she turns to Barnabas for help. But Barnabas, too, is in danger from the evil doctor. Will he live long enough to save her?
158 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1969
2 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Marilyn Ross
136 books61 followersWilliam 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).
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 21, 2023
Book 10 of the series is another "historical" adventure of Barnabas Collins, taking place primarily in the 1800s. However there's a big twist because Maggie Collins is mysteriously and unwittingly transported to this era from the 1960s by the otherworldly hand of Barnabas. This seems to be for the purpose of resolving a dilemma from years earlier. How this move impacts the space-time continuum is not considered, nor are the logistics. But it's Dark Shadows, so you just go with it.
Despite the bizarre premise, I actually find this adventure to be one of the more straight-forward novels. There are the usual strange marks on women's necks and a number of dead bodies completely drained of blood. This causes the townsfolk to logically blame the suspected vampire. Maggie, perhaps blinded by her love for Barnabas, is dead set on cleared his good name -- but will her efforts only make her dead?!
There's also the mysterious Pink Phantom to explain. An old crone of a woman wanders the darkened corridors shrouded in blinding pink. Why is Maggie the only one who can see her? She must be a ghost, but of whom, and what does she want?!
The solution to the various mysteries are more complex than usual and some almost unexpected. Another great entry overall!
Despite the bizarre premise, I actually find this adventure to be one of the more straight-forward novels. There are the usual strange marks on women's necks and a number of dead bodies completely drained of blood. This causes the townsfolk to logically blame the suspected vampire. Maggie, perhaps blinded by her love for Barnabas, is dead set on cleared his good name -- but will her efforts only make her dead?!
There's also the mysterious Pink Phantom to explain. An old crone of a woman wanders the darkened corridors shrouded in blinding pink. Why is Maggie the only one who can see her? She must be a ghost, but of whom, and what does she want?!
The solution to the various mysteries are more complex than usual and some almost unexpected. Another great entry overall!
June 15, 2020
My favorite of the audiobooks so far, because it’s so much fun hearing Kathryn Leigh Scott portraying Maggie Evans.
June 11, 2010
For one of these Dark Shadows tie-ins, this entry was pretty good. The series, written by Dan Ross under his wife's name, is odd in that it doesn't follow the TV series and generally uses only a character or two from the actual show, so they seem to take place in an alternate timeline from the show. This is acceptable, since the show itself delved into parallel time! Ross lived in Canada as well, and didn't watch the show on a regular basis! Why they asked him to write the novels is anyone's guess! But that said, it was a fun read, although (Spoiler!) anytime someone sees a "ghost" in a Marilyn Ross book and someone supposedly died months or even years ago, you can depend on the ghost being that person and they really didn't die, they're just being held in the tower room/secret room/basement.
Ross also doesn't worry much about explaining his time travel element. Maggie Evan visits a tomb and suddenly wakes up in 1880! Happens to us all at one time or another! Oh, yes, and Ross loves exclamation points!
Sounds like I didn't like the book, but of course I'm forgiving him his transgressions. Apparently Dan Ross wrote A LOT of gothic romances like this, and he obviously had some talent in this area. He man can set a mood, that's for sure. And if you don't go in expecting "War and Peace" you might find yourself entertained for a few hours.
Ross also doesn't worry much about explaining his time travel element. Maggie Evan visits a tomb and suddenly wakes up in 1880! Happens to us all at one time or another! Oh, yes, and Ross loves exclamation points!
Sounds like I didn't like the book, but of course I'm forgiving him his transgressions. Apparently Dan Ross wrote A LOT of gothic romances like this, and he obviously had some talent in this area. He man can set a mood, that's for sure. And if you don't go in expecting "War and Peace" you might find yourself entertained for a few hours.
January 17, 2025
This was another good volume. Maggie Evans gets transported back to 1880 and wrapped up in a ghastly affair at Collinwood. No explanation is really given for Maggie's time travel, but weird stuff happens at Collinwood all the time. This is was really a Maggie Evans novel, as Barnabus is more or less a supporting character. I've been very impressed with this series so far.
June 6, 2020
A guilty-pleasure read for my younger self who both feared and loved Barnabas Collins.
August 4, 2023
3.5 This should have been called THE PINK PHANTOM AND MAGGIE EVANS, as there is very little Barnabas here. Magz does the most DARK SHADOWS thing one could and time travels thru a dream. Luckily there's a Barnabas in every time period to guide you! An evil doctor trying to cure consumption and of course, rumours of a vampire in town....
April 10, 2012
Not quite as good as some other entries but still enjoyable. Typical Dark Shadows story - one of the main characters has an 'adventure' which showcases some of the lesser known Collins family members. I didn't feel the gothicy fuzzies quite as much in this book as the previous and even though our heroine, Maggie, was in peril, I didn't really feel the urgency of her situation.
And once again our heroine falls in love with Barnabas and is shocked by his cold lips! :)
And once again our heroine falls in love with Barnabas and is shocked by his cold lips! :)
August 22, 2014
A quick and enjoyable read,. I love Gothic, I love Dark Shadows. For fans of the show and films but don't expect too much in the way of epic. Good reading my friends.
December 2, 2016
The story starts out with Barnabas and Maggie in Giles Collin's tomb where they find a hidden room for the coffin of Valeria Norris. Asa Collins hated her.
Somehow (totally unexplained)Maggie ends up back in 1880 at the time of Asa Collins. She is at Collinwood but without her memories. She meets a woman named Aunt Polly and Giles Collins himself. Maggie doesn't know anyone there but is taken as a friend of Valeria Norris.
Maggie has a problem in seeing a "pink ghost." Barnabas shows up. He has two female helpers and the villagers don't like them. There are also nasty rumors about Giles himself.
It turns out Giles is a mad scientist, a woman gets murdered, Maggie is captured and strapped to a table and Barnabas continually has told Maggie to leave Collinwood.
The story doesn't work as well as it could. How Maggie goes into the past and then gets back into present time is not explained and her losses of memory aren't either. The story would have been much better if it started the same way and then Barnabas relates the events that had happened (saying he found it in his research) without Maggie going into the past at all.
Somehow (totally unexplained)Maggie ends up back in 1880 at the time of Asa Collins. She is at Collinwood but without her memories. She meets a woman named Aunt Polly and Giles Collins himself. Maggie doesn't know anyone there but is taken as a friend of Valeria Norris.
Maggie has a problem in seeing a "pink ghost." Barnabas shows up. He has two female helpers and the villagers don't like them. There are also nasty rumors about Giles himself.
It turns out Giles is a mad scientist, a woman gets murdered, Maggie is captured and strapped to a table and Barnabas continually has told Maggie to leave Collinwood.
The story doesn't work as well as it could. How Maggie goes into the past and then gets back into present time is not explained and her losses of memory aren't either. The story would have been much better if it started the same way and then Barnabas relates the events that had happened (saying he found it in his research) without Maggie going into the past at all.
May 29, 2018
After the two previous entries in the series, I wasn't expecting much from this one. I was pleasantly surprised. "Marilyn" Ross turns out a story here that is a true "Goodread". It's not just good "for a Dark Shadows book", it's an exciting story. Maggie Evans somehow time travels to the year 1880 while visiting the Collins family graveyard. There, she meets Barnabas, whom she already knows in 1969. While Barnabas is a vampire in 1880, the story (thankfully) doesn't revolve around his vampirism. Instead it focuses on a Collins family member who's a doctor---and who is conducting dangerous experiments on tuberculosis patients. To appreciate this series, one has to forgive Ross's occasional lapses into purple prose, but 10 books in, this one seems to me to be one of the better entries.
November 15, 2020
The first book on the series without Victoria Winters. Much like the Soap Opera on which these are based, Victoria went from being the focus of the series, to stepping aside for Barnabas Collins. In this book her departure is not addressed.
Maggie Evans is now looking after David Collins(as she would later do in the Soap as well) This is her second appearance in the book series---she popped up in the beginning of the first book.
While visiting a Collins family tomb with Barnabas, Maggie suddenly finds herself transported back in time to 1880 Collinwood.
She remembers only her name, Barnabas (who happens to be in 1880) and Collinwood.
She soon finds herself in a series of mysterious occurrences...Barnabas is being blamed, but is he at fault? And is Maggie in danger?
For me, this is the best of the Barnabas books in this series.(so far)
Maggie Evans is now looking after David Collins(as she would later do in the Soap as well) This is her second appearance in the book series---she popped up in the beginning of the first book.
While visiting a Collins family tomb with Barnabas, Maggie suddenly finds herself transported back in time to 1880 Collinwood.
She remembers only her name, Barnabas (who happens to be in 1880) and Collinwood.
She soon finds herself in a series of mysterious occurrences...Barnabas is being blamed, but is he at fault? And is Maggie in danger?
For me, this is the best of the Barnabas books in this series.(so far)
August 25, 2022
The Dark Shadows books got goofier as the series continued, just like the afternoon soap drama. Sadly, Victoria Winters' plot never had a satisfactory conclusion, but at least Maggie Evans made a comeback following her brief appearance in the first book. The time-traveling premise works well in this case, although the subplots overuse tropes from horror films, which lends the novel its peculiarity. Although some readers might find it repulsive, I enjoyed the weird, mad scientist material. The Phantom and Barnabas Collins is an exciting and fun read overall.
May 18, 2025
Audiobook 🎧
The time travel portion of this story just annoyed me. Maggie is transported back to the 1880’s and that doesn’t phase her, but she finds it hard to believe Barnabas is a vampire?? Maggie is probably one of the most obtuse female characters in the Dark Shadows books so far. And as I’ve found most of them annoying that is saying a lot. I keep reminding myself that these were written in the 1960’s by a man so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Some are better than others but this was my least favorite.
The time travel portion of this story just annoyed me. Maggie is transported back to the 1880’s and that doesn’t phase her, but she finds it hard to believe Barnabas is a vampire?? Maggie is probably one of the most obtuse female characters in the Dark Shadows books so far. And as I’ve found most of them annoying that is saying a lot. I keep reminding myself that these were written in the 1960’s by a man so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Some are better than others but this was my least favorite.
February 17, 2025
Such a fun read. I love how this series never tries to rationalize what is happening, but instead embraces the supernatural of it all.
Barnabas takes Maggie to the tomb of Giles Collin’s to tell her a family story, but she faints and wakes up in 1880 where she lives the family’s tale first hand.
If you love gothic romance/horror or you’re a Dark Shadows fan, you’ll enjoy this one.
Barnabas takes Maggie to the tomb of Giles Collin’s to tell her a family story, but she faints and wakes up in 1880 where she lives the family’s tale first hand.
If you love gothic romance/horror or you’re a Dark Shadows fan, you’ll enjoy this one.
February 15, 2018
Loved it, used to watch the show, now can enjoy the books. Wish I had all 33 of them.
October 26, 2018
An entertaining read for the Halloween season with all the drama and camp we love from Dark Shadows.
February 15, 2022
The Phantom and Bananas Collins.
I liked the book because it was about Maggie and Barnabas was in the book a lot. I recommend the book to anyone that likes a good mystery
I liked the book because it was about Maggie and Barnabas was in the book a lot. I recommend the book to anyone that likes a good mystery
February 14, 2025
Entertaining as always, full of drama.
December 27, 2025
Audiobook read by Kathryn Leigh Scott!
June 9, 2021
The further into the series I get the more I realize the author didn’t really care about what he was writing. The books become shorter and the plots become underwhelming. This book at least surprised me instead of following the same plot structure found in many of the other books. Decent but my patience is waning with this series.
January 22, 2012
THE PHANTOM OF BARNABAS COLLINS is a time travel adventure. It introduces Maggie Evans, in 1969, as the new governess at Collinwood. What has become of Victoria Winters we don't know...she simply disappears from the storyline. Maggie is depicted as a sweet but rather helpless type, a "damsel in distress." She falls in love with Barnabas Collins, not realizing that he's a vampire. And then one night he lures her into the family crypt to inspect the final resting place of one "Valeria Norris." Maggie then grows dizzy, faints and is somehow transported back in time to 1880! She wakes up in a mental fog, unable to remember anything. But the nineteenth-century Collinses all seem to know her and make her very welcome at Collinwood. In fact, one of them---Dr. Giles Collins---claims to be in love with her. And by his side is the pretty Valeria Norris, still very much alive in the year 1880...
Displaced in time and suffering from amnesia, Maggie must survive as best she can. She tries to unravel the mystery of the "Norris Curse," whatever that may be. And then there's the weird phantom in pink that she keeps seeing, who may or may not even be real. Dr. Giles, initially her friend, turns out to be a mad scientist with a diabolical agenda. The only one that Maggie trusts is Barnabas Collins, who resurfaces in 1880 to be at her side. But after a maidservant is found dead and completely drained of blood,
Maggie fears that Barnabas himself could be the killer!
FOOTNOTE: Author Dan("Marilyn")Ross deleted Victoria Winters from the book series without explanation. This was done, presumably, when the actress who'd played her---Alexandra Moltke---vacated the role. Towards the end of his life Ross admitted that he'd wanted to marry Victoria off AND reveal her true parentage, prior to Maggie's arrival as the new governess. Currently there's an online novella, "The Secret of Victoria Winters," that ties up the loose ends as originally conceived by Ross. In this alternate history:
(1) Ernest didn't really die in the plane crash. He returns to Collinwood alive, to everyone's surprise, and marries Victoria; and
(2) Victoria is revealed to be the long-lost daughter of Barnabas Collins! She was conceived in the 1940's during a time when Barnabas found himself temporarily free of the vampire curse. Her biological mother (who died young) was the best friend of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.
Displaced in time and suffering from amnesia, Maggie must survive as best she can. She tries to unravel the mystery of the "Norris Curse," whatever that may be. And then there's the weird phantom in pink that she keeps seeing, who may or may not even be real. Dr. Giles, initially her friend, turns out to be a mad scientist with a diabolical agenda. The only one that Maggie trusts is Barnabas Collins, who resurfaces in 1880 to be at her side. But after a maidservant is found dead and completely drained of blood,
Maggie fears that Barnabas himself could be the killer!
FOOTNOTE: Author Dan("Marilyn")Ross deleted Victoria Winters from the book series without explanation. This was done, presumably, when the actress who'd played her---Alexandra Moltke---vacated the role. Towards the end of his life Ross admitted that he'd wanted to marry Victoria off AND reveal her true parentage, prior to Maggie's arrival as the new governess. Currently there's an online novella, "The Secret of Victoria Winters," that ties up the loose ends as originally conceived by Ross. In this alternate history:
(1) Ernest didn't really die in the plane crash. He returns to Collinwood alive, to everyone's surprise, and marries Victoria; and
(2) Victoria is revealed to be the long-lost daughter of Barnabas Collins! She was conceived in the 1940's during a time when Barnabas found himself temporarily free of the vampire curse. Her biological mother (who died young) was the best friend of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.
April 5, 2023
Cleverly plotted story with a rousing and satisfying final chapter.
We travel back in time to 1880 Collinwood where Barnabas must help an amnesiac Maggie Evans in her struggles with some nefarious goings-on up at the big house. Evil medical experiments, a weird curse, and a frightening phantom with a penchant for the color pink, are just some of the elements in this effective gothic romance/horror/mystery.
I particularly enjoyed how the plot lines were dovetailed in the end. Good job.
We travel back in time to 1880 Collinwood where Barnabas must help an amnesiac Maggie Evans in her struggles with some nefarious goings-on up at the big house. Evil medical experiments, a weird curse, and a frightening phantom with a penchant for the color pink, are just some of the elements in this effective gothic romance/horror/mystery.
I particularly enjoyed how the plot lines were dovetailed in the end. Good job.
November 17, 2019
Finally, Maggie Evans makes her first book appearance since serving Victoria Winters a cup of coffee in Book 1, and immediately goes back in time!!!
November 6, 2013
Good Dark Shadows story.
November 3, 2014
Not bad, but Maggie's unwillingness to accept any evidence, do any investigating, or be useful at all was a bit tiresome.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews