The Curse of the Concullens

by Florence Stevenson

The ancient Irish castle was cursed. Would Lucy, the new governess, find love or doom waiting within its walls?

Genres: Gothic, Horror, Fiction

239 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1972

About the author

Pseudonyms: Zandra Colt, Lucia Curzon, Ellen Fitzgerald, Pamela Frazier and Florence Stevenson

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever and highly entertaining pastiche/semi-parody of gothic horror and gothic romance, featuring a young English governess newly employed at an ancient Irish castle in the 1860s, a castle filled with all the requisite eccentric weirdos, creepy children, premonitions, scheming, curses, buried family secrets, a love interest that maybe shouldn’t be trusted, and supernatural shenanigans out the wazoo. All in a dark and drafty, labyrinthine setting that’s perfect for the various spooky antics.

The parody aspects mostly revolve around the fact that our heroine is a voracious reader of gothic fiction (the 18th and 19th century originals, not the 1960s revival stuff, obviously), so she’s well-aware of the tropes and is able to comment on them as she experiences them. She’s extremely vain as well, but in an endearing way, I thought. Also, the paranormal aspects are way over the top, which I loved. Within you’ll find ghosts, banshees, sorcerers, vampires, werewolves, and possibly even the prince of darkness himself

I found the entire thing delightful, with a tone that’s lightly humorous but still tension-filled and atmospheric. Also, I don’t think it’s necessary to be overly familiar with the genres it’s spoofing to enjoy it. I’m not especially knowledgeable in 60s and 70s gothics, but I’ll certainly be reading more Florence Stevenson in the near future, so perhaps I’ll become more so, as she’s written several that would qualify.

As an aside, while the page count is 239, the print is very large, with wide margins, so really it’s the equivalent of 160-170 pages in my estimation, and can easily be read in a couple sittings. Especially so considering its fast pace.

[Ana Lopes Miura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful and hilarious spoof of Gothic novels. It’s sort of a sister to Cold Comfort Farm, which cleverly parodied the “loam and lovechild” genre popularized by Thomas Hardy. This should be a well-known classic!

[KAS · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining satire of the gothic romance genre. It's funny and fast paced. I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful satire of the gothic romance genre, Hammer horror and probably Dark Shadows as well. It is legitimately funny, and if the plot fizzles a little towards the end, it’s only because so much has happened before that there is absolutely no way to wrap it up cleanly. It had me from the very first sentence.

[Patsy Crockett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reread this book from many years ago, when Gothic romances were the thing to read. It is one of my favorites. Lucy has the second sight and sees the ghosts when she starts her job as the governess. Cute read.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the unintentionally funniest books I've ever read.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only word for this Gothic is rollicking. Florence Stevenson writes a send-up of the genre itself, with a naive heroine who seizes at the opportunity to become a governess to a mysterious family in a crumbling Irish castle because she loves the novel "Jane Eyre." Stevenson of course also has a great time channeling Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey" here. Heroine Lucinda is pompous, vain, and clairvoyant into the bargain--she is also silly, which redeems the pompousness. It's all good fun and the reader will groan about Lucinda's obliviousness. Towards the very end, Stevenson seems to run out of steam and wraps things up a little quickly, but until that point, "The Curse of the Concullens" is a wacky treat. Although surely intended as a spoof meant to tweak the genre's most devoted readers, it's actually more fun than many of its siblings.

[Piper Mcgonigle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
a humorous satire! it was pretty over the top!
a fast read, gorgeous cover, lots of funny meta literary comments and weird asides

this is the first one in my project with confirmed supernatural elements—and boy were there a lot!

(also the first to use footnotes…)

i loved how our heroine, lucy, was vain and very aware that she was hot

[Princess Pottymouth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute story sprinkled with Jane Eyre comparisons. It could have been better revised and edited as it seemed disjointed and could have been more.

[Hafiza · Rating 1 out of 5]

Free on open library.
Weird Gothc/satire/farce