The Spectral Mist

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

The huge old house on the California coast seemed to be constantly shrouded in fog, which added to the gloom that permeated the atmosphere. The master of the house was the famed poet, Ford Hunt - who had not been seen by anyone but his nephew and his manservant since the death of his wife five years ago. The old man kept to his attic apartment. But what was he hiding from . . . if indeed he were still alive? Available only in Romance 12.

Genres: Fiction, Gothic Romance, Horror, Gothic

275 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

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, Ross Olin, 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

[Bea]

A classic gothic horror/romance I thrifted for a whole 25 cents! Very much enjoyed the intrigue and setting of this story. The ending was rather abrupt and expected, but still a pleasant read.

[William]

After a whirlwind romance, New York secretary Enid marries Geoffrey Hunt and follows her husband home to his family's fogbound mansion on the California coast near Carmel. The family revolves around the reclusive, popular poet Ford Hunt, elderly, frail and never seen. Of course Enid suspects that something isn't right, beyond two suspicious deaths in the past five years. One of prolific author Clarissa Ross's typical contemporary gothics, "The Spectral Mist" is full of the mixture of elements that make the author endearing and exasperating. Ross loves sentence fragments, often followed by exclamation points. Characters are frequently described with adjectives (the gray-faced lawyer; the dark-haired girl, etc.) and, in this case, always with first and last names. Former heroin addicts, hunchbacked servants and a mysterious tramp (of the homeless, not moral) variety pepper the plot, which moves along towards its easily guessed conclusion, aided by dialogue that frequently recaps the immediate past action. The novel's climax is curiously abrupt and rather unsatisfactory, with a nameless reporter acting as the deus ex machina. No one reads Ross for brilliant prose; instead, there's always a few spooky scenes, some odd bits of esoteric knowledge (here, Chinese art history), and one-dimensional heroines and heroes who try patience. Expecting that, the novels are still enjoyable ways to pass the time and good examples of the 70s contemporary gothic heyday.

[Robert Fontenot]

This book is objectively terrible but fairly fun to read at the same time. It's easy to guess what's going on but I enjoyed the MC's ham-fisted way of blundering around and accusing everyone of terrible things. It almost circles around to parody.

[Stacy]

This book was hard for me to put down. The only thing was that the ending was a little abrupt. But it had an excellent storyline.

[Todd Nelitz]

I enjoyed this book very much. Its only downfall was how predictable it was. I figured out who was behind everything very early on, same with the big secret up in the attic. It was still a fun read waiting to see if all my hunches were correct, which they were. Great setting and atmosphere. If you're a fan of gothic mysteries, give this one a try.

[K.V. Martins]

Didn't really enjoy it. Very predictable and the dialogue was odd at times. In fact, the novel was mainly dialogue. It was written in 1972 - possibly the writing style was different back then. The house (Crestcliff) was a good gothic horror setting, but I would have liked it to be a character in its own right.

[Julie Fletcher]

Simple story of a girl in a spooky mansion who tries to figure out a secret that the family is hiding. Easy solution to the mystery and very contrived plot twists. On the pleasant side, it was easy to read and had a noir feel.

[Rick]

I enjoyed this! W.E.D Ross writes simply; he's very easy to follow, and fast. He loves exclamation points, though 😂 The ending was quite predictable but overall, quite fun.

[DKSDGM]

Fun quick gothic tale from the 70s.

[Donald Krage]

This is absolutely one of the worst books I have ever read in my life this book seem like it had the potential to be really awesome but it was terrible from beginning to end the ending sucked I absolutely hated this this is absolutely terrible I would not recommend this book

[Aude]

J'ai adoré ce livre, l'ambiance gothique est parfaite. Le personnage d'Enid m'a fait penser au personnage principal de Rebecca de Daphné du Maurier, que j'avais aussi adoré !
Je recommande !!!!