Barnabas, Quentin and the Body Snatchers

Dark Shadows #26

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

In an alien spaceship hidden in a swamp near Collinwood, Roger Collins and his friend, space scientist Murdoch Gray, lie bound and gagged -- yet no one even knows they are missing! For their captors are able to change shapes at will, and two of them have "become" Roger and Murdoch. Although Elizabeth and Carolyn sense a difference, they can't guess that they are at the mercy of beings who will stop at nothing to prevent the next U.S. space flight under Murdoch's direction.

Then, as the dark shadow of death draws closer to Collinwood, a bat soars over the hidden spaceship, flies close enough to see inside . . . and suddenly Barnabas and Quentin Collins find themselves joined in a desperate attempt to save Collinwood from the strangest menace it has ever known!

Genres: Horror, Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1971

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, 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).

Reviews

[Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnabas, Quentin and the Body Snatchers is a wonder to behold.

First things first, a translucent pink flying saucer plays a major role in this novel. There's no Scooby Doo reveal at the end where the UFO is shown to be a pie plate covered in phosphorescent paint. It's not a dream or an hallucination. There's a goddamn flying saucer parked in the swamps outside Collinwood.

I love the Marilyn Ross novels, not just because they were some of my first entry points into reading (and were my introduction to Dark Shadows) but because they often shows signs of genuinely good writing. Yes, they were cranked out at a breakneck pace by a writer who had almost no experience with the television show. The Dark Shadows novels are the definition of hack work by any measure. Ross (whose real first name was Dan) sticks to a basic Jane Eyre formula in the series, but there are lots of good character moments spread throughout. And the casual disregard for the television continuity always provides pleasant surprises. I consider the novels to be a "parallel timeline" that went unexplored by the television show.

But Barnabas, Quentin and the Body Snatchers sees Ross veering far, far afield from Charlotte Bronte. This isn't a book report so I'm going to keep the summary brief: Murdoch Gray, a college chum of Roger Collins, visits Collinwood with his daughter, Marjorie. Gray is a NASA scientist who is planing a manned U.S. spaceflight that has earned the unwelcome attention of the planet Velva.

Velva has dispatched a flying saucer and several agents to persuade Gray that it would be in our best interest to keep our rockets parked until we learn a little more maturity. They land their translucent pink flying saucer in the swamps outside Collinwood and put Plan 10 from Outer Space into motion (which involves kidnapping residents of Collinwood and replacing them with alien duplicates.)

But wait! There's more!

Gray's daughter has fallen in love with a mysterious rock star named Jim James, who has somehow launched a successful recording career without ever having had a single photograph taken of his face. James turn out to be none other than Quentin Collins, who had been run out of Collinsport after some werewolf-related business in an earlier book. And the townsfolk are none too happy to see him. Even though he's CLEARLY Quentin Collins he constantly insists that he's not, telling one person "I'm Jim James, a singer. And I've got the identification to prove it." OK, then.

This book tells the story of a vampire and a werewolf rock star who team up to fight aliens from the planet Velva. How have you lived on this planet for so long without having read this book?

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsocie...

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the most far out of the Dark Shadows novels yet, as we encounter actual aliens from outer space. However, considering how much we've dealt with witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts and other things, the aliens weren't really that much of a stretch. Overall this was still a decent novel, and was a little refreshing as it did come across a little different than previous novels.

[Don Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I teetered on 4 stars, but it deserves at least 4.5, so I have no problem with the full 5.

I'm read every one of the Dan Ross books up to this point, in order. Some are better than others, but they are always fun. I think something happened after "Barnabas, Quentin and the Crystal Coffin". The stories and dialogue didn't seem quite as focused and crisp. That may have been a reflection of the franchise itself as Dan Curtis started getting involved with the two movies and suffering from burnout. But no matter, Dan Ross seems to have rediscovered his Collinsport sea legs with "Barnabas, Quentin and the Body Snatchers".

As crazy as the premise sounds (aliens come to Collinwood), this book totally works. The writing is tight, and Ross seems to have rediscovered the beat and cadence of all of the original DS characters and how the original cast portrayed them.

I find it fascinating that Ross beckons themes from the original novel of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers", which was not a metaphor for the cold war but how humanity has treated itself and Planet Earth over the millennia. Spoiler Alert!!!.......in this story, the aliens don't take over bodies, they copy them, which adds to the plot.

The world of the Ross books is a "Parallel Time" DS of sorts, but Ross's books stick very close to the make of of the original characters of the series. Liz is in firm control, Roger is his bombastic self, and Carolyn is her young, independent self. Mrs. Johnson is added to the characters here, as well as Dr. Julia Hoffman, which makes this book even more fun.

I'm nearing the end of the book series, so I'm hoping the few remaining books are nearly as good as this one, which is one of the best in the series!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unusual Dark Shadows story. Basically, it's actually unique as it blends science fiction space-aliens with the normal Dark Shadows gothic realities.
It's sort of complicated to explain. There's this scientist and his daughter staying at Collinwood. The scientist is a friend of Rogers and is working on a particular space project. Seems like Apollo 13th's problem was due to a space warp of sorts. The warp had been studied and it leads to an inhabited planet. The scientist is working on a way to get humans there.
The planet doesn't like the idea of humans coming there so they sent a flying saucer with three invisible beings on board to Earth and it just happened to land near Collinwood. The aliens take take human forms (thus "body snatchers") and one becomes a duplicate of Roger and one a duplicate of the scientist.

Carolyn knows that Barnabas is a vampire, by the way. Both her and Elizabeth know that the fake Roger is really a fake Roger.

Things get more complicated when it's revealed that Marjorie is in love with a rock singer who just happens to give her a wolf's head ring and we immediately know that the singer is really Quentin.
So, we have, on one side, Elizabeth, Majorie, Carolyn, Barnabas and Quentin and, on the other side, the fake Roger, the fake scientist and a third alien. The aliens, by the way, kill a guy that Carolyn was close to so they choose that guy to establish a third fake human.

So, basically, the Collins group has the little task of freeing the real Roger and the real scientist while, at the same time, defeating the aliens and preventing an invasion of the Earth by another planet. IT all makes for a good book which actually works rather well.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I confessed in a recent review that I have a soft spot for these Dark Shadows novels. It’s clear from this one that W. E. D. Ross (Marilyn) was beginning to branch out for ideas. He’d already written essentially the same story over twenty times and a new twist was required. Taking a page from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, he summons some evil aliens to Collinwood where they take over three of the characters. It’s a sci-fi gothic horror mashup.

The story has progressed a bit by this point. Carolyn knows Barnabas is a vampire and Quentin knows that he and Barnabas have to cooperate to defeat the evil aliens. There’s no need to worry about spoilers here because the novels all pretty much come to the same resolution. Interestingly, Ross here portrays a less sympathetic Barnabas and introduces Dr. Hoffman from the television series.

Like all the books in this series, it’s a quick read that probably won’t leave much of an impact, unless you’re young. As I note elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), the original series was quite literate for a soap opera. It made reference to other gothic literature and even occasionally to weird fiction that plays into both horror and sci-fi. There are holes in the plot, and there are unusual juxtapositions, but still, it made me glad to see the monsters uniting against the aliens.

[Richard Tolleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am justifiably critical of the books in this series, but I have to hand it to ol' "Marilyn" Ross--this is the best of the series so far. Aliens have invaded Collinwood, and it's up to Barnabas and Quentin to stop them. Yes, for the first time in this series of books, Quentin and Barnabas are allied. Once again, Quentin is in disguise, and others in Collinsport can't quite decide if it is really he. Barnabas' vampirism is a poorly-kept secret, and Roger hates both Quentin and Barnabas. Oh, and Quentin is fighting against his werewolf tendencies, even as Barnabas fights against his vampiric nature. Unlike some of the other books in this series that fell off the rails in the last few chapters, this book held my interest all the way to the end. If you only read one Dark Shadows book, I would say this is the one. For the original purchaser of my copy, who paid a whopping 60 cents, this was the entertainment bargain of the year (1971). The TV series was cancelled two months after this volume was published, but the readers of this book probably thought they would always have Dark Shadows. Turns out, we have.

[Larry Yonce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three aliens from the planet Velva, who have the ability to "snatch" human bodies, are sent to Earth to stop a proposed mission to their home planet. Absolutely bonkers (!), but still lots of fun and had me continually wondering what crazy thing would happen next. Barnabas & Quentin (once again in disguise) put aside their differences to join forces against a common threat.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you thought The Leviathans storyline was the wildest Dark Shadows ever got, this book says "Hold my beer."
I liked this one, because Dr Julia Hoffman has two cameos. And I felt Quentin at times is more like his TV self.(Though he's still going by a different name. And in this one his occupation is wild) I also like that Quentin and Barnabas work together.

[Melissa Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'm not sure we people of the earth are responsible enough yet to invade other worlds."

Quentin is off to play at the Copa Cabana and the world's plans to visit another planet are scrapped for now.

4.5 stars

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoa!!! There were aliens and a spaceship in that one!!!!

[April Cole Ledebur · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the weirdest one yet! But Happy to see Julia was finally in one of these stories.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may well be my favorite Dark Shadows novel. It certainly ranks as one of the best written and most unusual in the series. And it gives us, for the first time, an omniscent point of view. Events are seen through the eyes of various characters, a radical departure for author Dan ("Marilyn") Ross. He put some extra thought and effort into this particular book, which is why it works so well.

The story opens circa 1970. Space scientist Murdoch Gray and his pretty daughter Marjorie have come to stay at Collinwood for the summer. Until, that is, both Gray and his host, Roger Collins, are abducted by aliens---yes, ALIENS!---who have a spacecraft hidden in the Collinwood swamp. The extraterrestrials fear that Earth will send a manned mission to the planet Velva, thereby disrupting the serenity of that world. To prevent such a contingency these creatures now hold the two humans as bargaining chips while two of the Velvetians---gaseous beings that make hissing sounds--- take on human guise, impersonating Roger and Gray at Collinwood. Yay! It's Dark Shadows meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers...

An eerie little tale. Barnabas and Quentin join forces to rescue the hostages. And there are two concurrent love stories here: (1) Barnabas and Carolyn, and (2) and Quentin and Marjorie. And Julia Hoffman makes a brief but dramatic appearance as the doctor who's trying to cure Barnabas of his vampirism. Great fun! I especially like the nighttime chase through the swamp, with Barnabas and Quentin and their flaming torches pursuing a terrified e.t. (The Velvetians explode on contact with fire.) Don't miss BARNABAS, QUENTIN AND THE BODY SNATCHERS, I tell you. Put it on your reading list. It's a winner!