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Dark Shadows #28
Barnabas, Quentin and the Grave Robbers
Barnabas, Quentin and the Grave Robbers (June 1971)
“You see, Paula, how well it will work out. Lily will drink the blood of the village maidens—and Barnabas will be blamed.”
Paula stared at the evil doctor in horror. “Whatever happens to Barnabas, you’ll still have Quentin to reckon with!” Dr. Bentley sneered. “The werewolf? If Quentin tries to interfere with me, I’ll find a way to deal with him.”
Lily added, “Better come over to our side, luv.” “I’d rather die,” Paula said firmly
.
“An interesting suggestion,” Bentley remarked pleasantly. “Dying could be your first step in joining my company of friends—zombies, if you will. Then you could be truly useful to me.”
“You see, Paula, how well it will work out. Lily will drink the blood of the village maidens—and Barnabas will be blamed.”
Paula stared at the evil doctor in horror. “Whatever happens to Barnabas, you’ll still have Quentin to reckon with!” Dr. Bentley sneered. “The werewolf? If Quentin tries to interfere with me, I’ll find a way to deal with him.”
Lily added, “Better come over to our side, luv.” “I’d rather die,” Paula said firmly
.
“An interesting suggestion,” Bentley remarked pleasantly. “Dying could be your first step in joining my company of friends—zombies, if you will. Then you could be truly useful to me.”
159 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1971
137 people want to read
About the author
Marilyn Ross
126 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 19, 2025
This was one of the darkest and most violent Dark Shadows novels yet. Talk about a truly evil villain. It was cool to see Quentin and Barnabas team up against zombies, vampires and mad scientists, but the young beautiful girl falling in love with Barnabas is beyond old at this point. Still a good read.
January 16, 2012
This book is funny, fast-paced and entertaining. Pure fluff, of course, but what else would you expect? It takes place in 1830, at a time when grave robbers in England are selling corpses to medical schools. Often, these bodies have been obtained through means most foul, i.e. murder. The heroine, Paula Sullivan, knows all about the practice because her father, noted surgeon Sir Phillip Sullivan, openly opposes it. Because of his outspokenness Sir Phillip is murdered by home invaders, at the instigation of evil Dr. Nicholas Bentley! Barnabas Collins---Paula's favored suitor---then whisks her away to America and to his home in Maine, assuming that there she will be safe...
But no such luck. Bentley, who's obsessed with Paula, follows her to Collinwood. Once there he rents or buys, I forget which, a castle---there are castles in Maine?---and fills it with zombies. Mindless slaves under his control. Both Barnabas and Quentin love Paula and take turns defending her, but Bentley proves to be an insane, over-the-top baddie. And so is Lily, a painted vampire with lesbian tendencies who's in his employ. She commits crimes for which Barnabas will be blamed and she even bites...But I won't give away ALL the story! If you like Dark Shadows, you'll like BARNABAS, QUENTIN AND THE GRAVE ROBBERS.
But no such luck. Bentley, who's obsessed with Paula, follows her to Collinwood. Once there he rents or buys, I forget which, a castle---there are castles in Maine?---and fills it with zombies. Mindless slaves under his control. Both Barnabas and Quentin love Paula and take turns defending her, but Bentley proves to be an insane, over-the-top baddie. And so is Lily, a painted vampire with lesbian tendencies who's in his employ. She commits crimes for which Barnabas will be blamed and she even bites...But I won't give away ALL the story! If you like Dark Shadows, you'll like BARNABAS, QUENTIN AND THE GRAVE ROBBERS.
June 4, 2023
This one I'm giving 3 1/2 stars. Dan Ross continues his momentum from "Barnabas, Quentin and The Body Snatchers", with a new heroine and a return to 19th Century London, this time to the year 1830. Ross uses his formula well with his descriptions and disparities of rich and poor of pre-Victorian London, as well as always using Collinsport and Collinwood as a breath of fresh air after being in an urban setting.
The one major change here is that Barnabas' caretaker is not Hare (who has been with him since the novel, "Barnabas Collins"). Instead, Ross pulls from the TV series and introduces us to Willie Loomis. I'm not quite sure what happened there, and unfortunately, Willie is not used very much. That's the one reason I knocked this book off half a star.
One real piece of history that Ross DOES introduce us to is the 1788 Doctors' Riot of 1788, a real incident that appears in Wikipedia and EVERYONE should learn about. It's a kind of the cornerstone of the story of this book, and history that everyone should be aware about.
The one major change here is that Barnabas' caretaker is not Hare (who has been with him since the novel, "Barnabas Collins"). Instead, Ross pulls from the TV series and introduces us to Willie Loomis. I'm not quite sure what happened there, and unfortunately, Willie is not used very much. That's the one reason I knocked this book off half a star.
One real piece of history that Ross DOES introduce us to is the 1788 Doctors' Riot of 1788, a real incident that appears in Wikipedia and EVERYONE should learn about. It's a kind of the cornerstone of the story of this book, and history that everyone should be aware about.
June 17, 2021
After the previous two Dark Shadows novels, this one marked a return to "Marilyn" Ross's hackneyed approach to the form. Quite frankly, I had a hard time keeping interested in this one. Once again, Barnabas and Quentin are accused of supernatural wrongdoing, and team up to expose the real killers and save the damsel in distress--who, per the formula, is unable to decide which one she loves more. Also true to the formula, she can have neither. There's lots of grave-robbing, re-animation, and other "other-worldly" phenomena, but it never comes together to grab the reader--or at least it didn't grab me. Three stars are for Dark Shadows fans, everyone else would give it a 2.
November 12, 2022
I’m continuing my quest to read through all of the Dark Shadows novels in order. It has been a fruitful exercise. I’m pretty sure that Marilyn (actually W. E. D.) Ross never really graduated to more than potboiler writing in the course of the series, but it does seem toward the end of this particular set he was putting a bit more effort into breaking out of the same, predictable story line.
This story veers more into horror territory than previous volumes, as I mention elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World). Yes, there had been ghosts and the undead before, but some of the ideas here were decidedly unnerving. The eponymous grave robbers not only murder their victims, but they send them to the dissecting theaters of their close family friends. And a number of people die. There are even zombies.
Ross continues the uneasy friendship between Barnabas and Quentin here. A good deal of the story is set in London, away from Collinwood. And it has problematic portrayals of people of color. Still, for a guilty pleasure read, there’s nothing quite like these little books. I’m interested to see if the series continues to improve as it moves toward its conclusion.
This story veers more into horror territory than previous volumes, as I mention elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World). Yes, there had been ghosts and the undead before, but some of the ideas here were decidedly unnerving. The eponymous grave robbers not only murder their victims, but they send them to the dissecting theaters of their close family friends. And a number of people die. There are even zombies.
Ross continues the uneasy friendship between Barnabas and Quentin here. A good deal of the story is set in London, away from Collinwood. And it has problematic portrayals of people of color. Still, for a guilty pleasure read, there’s nothing quite like these little books. I’m interested to see if the series continues to improve as it moves toward its conclusion.
July 3, 2017
It's amazing how many of these Dark Shadows seem to have been written by people who didn't bother to check out who was who and when in the series. This book takes place in 1830. The author states several times that Willie Loomis is his 'helper.' Sorry, luv, but Willie was not born for around a hundred years or more in the future. It's the kind of mistake that there is no excuse for making in this type of book.
The plot revolves around a young woman who ends up falling in love with Barnabas. There's also the typical mad scientist who has learned how to make zombies and wants the woman for himself. There's also another vampire, Lily, who plays a role in the story.
The story takes place both in London and at Collinwood. Quentin becomes involved and actually manages to play nice and be an actual help to Barnabas and Paula, the woman who has fallen for him. It's a pretty good story.
The plot revolves around a young woman who ends up falling in love with Barnabas. There's also the typical mad scientist who has learned how to make zombies and wants the woman for himself. There's also another vampire, Lily, who plays a role in the story.
The story takes place both in London and at Collinwood. Quentin becomes involved and actually manages to play nice and be an actual help to Barnabas and Paula, the woman who has fallen for him. It's a pretty good story.
May 24, 2023
This one is set in 1830 and centers around the depraved & macabre practice of gravedigging and/or murder to obtain corpses needed by medical schools and scientists for teaching, dissection, and research ( think Burke & Hare ). The majority of the story takes place in London, then switches to Collinsport to close things out. Also features zombies and a second vampire. Both Barnabas & Quentin are heroic in this one! There is some truly nasty villainy going on here, much of it targeted at the lovely Paula Sullivan.
June 26, 2021
Note: I listened to this one on Audible.
This one was pretty good and suspenseful. I was surprised that it took place in London for the majority of the story and don't be looking for Quentin to show up too soon. He doesn't pop up until maybe the third act. I actually liked this one better than Dr. Jekyll's Son.
This one was pretty good and suspenseful. I was surprised that it took place in London for the majority of the story and don't be looking for Quentin to show up too soon. He doesn't pop up until maybe the third act. I actually liked this one better than Dr. Jekyll's Son.
October 11, 2020
Nice to see B & Q starting to work together finally. Masterful job on Kathryn's part interpreting all the different voices in this one. I wonder if she hears them in her head afterwards!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews