Old Paperbacks Never Die
Posted Mon, 10/01/07
There is a wonderful paperback exchange near my new digs. I can see myself haunting its aisles, quite happily, for a long time to come. The store has two levels, and is rich with thousands of paperback titles.
For more than two years, I have been on the prowl for old Marilyn Ross (aka Clarissa Ross and Dan Ross, creator of Dark Shadows), and Dorothy Daniels books. I was able to find a treasure trove of both at the exchange. I discovered a slew of titles in the basement of the store, tucked away in a remote and obviously little-traveled corner of the room. With exchanges, the books are only fifty cents apiece. For anyone who knows me, they understand I'm in my element. The Ross and Daniels titles are simple pleasures I used to enjoy as a late teen and early-twenty-something, but I still find them quaint and entertaining.
Back in "the day" the books were known as Gothic fiction novels, all of them containing mystery, the appearance of phantoms and happy endings. Dorothy Daniels typically wrote in first-person fashion, and most of her stories were set in the late 1800's to early 1900's.
As I tend to gather the things I love (such as tea pots, Irish memorabilia, etc), I have now begun a collection full of Marilyn Ross and Dorothy Daniels gothic tales.
Tags: Books & Reading