Once I graduated from college, I was finally free to read whatever I wanted.

I was interested in women writers pre-20th c, and saw what a huge number of them had written Gothic novels.

So started reading Ann Radcliffe and then every single classic I could find. And that was in the pre-internet days! Thank goodness for Oxford Classics and Virago.

Life is a lot easier now with Gutenberg offering free full text versions!!

Especially since it is so hard to find good Gothic novels these days. I use http://Booksfree.com to get backlists of authors I really like, and http://HerStoryBooks.com for Sorcha MacMurrough's Rakehell Regency and other titles. There is always a lot more than meets the eye going on in her books.

Oh yes, and Shannon Farrell as well. I just downloaded a copy from there too of Call Home the Heart, set in Victorian Ireland in a decaying mansion, and wow, it has romance, suspense, passion, all rolled into one. Kensington published the paperback edition.

I was about to turn 6 when it was canceled, and no of course I don't count that as having been "an original fan." A neighbor boy, Danny, and I watched episodes of it at his house; not sure if his mother was a fan or we simply came across it. After waking up night after night screaming from nightmares, my mother made a phone call and discovered what Danny and I were watching. DS watching was nixed for me, lol. I did recall the crashing waves, the grandfather clock, the eerie intro music from childhood. Have 21 DVDs, began purchasing them in 2004.

My favorite DS heart-throb is Jerry Lacy. He played the Trasks of course, and Tony Peterson. He's also a native Iowan, like myself (but that's not why he captured my heart).

I recently read his novel Satan's Rock. It was terrific. Have 3 or 4 other Ross titles as well; non-DS and not yet read.

Cool!

Oh yes, Dark Shadows was GREAT!

And the Hammer House of Horror films with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. I loved Christopher Lee as Dracula.

I used to watch them every chance I got, and on Saturday nights they would have "Creature Feature," usually a scary movie, sometimes sci fi, but not the gory horror we get nowadays.

I have a collection of Hammer films; roughly 12 (?) in all.

Peter Cushing is my favorite. Those cheekbones!

Yes, great cheekbones, but Christopher Lee just has that something about him.

He did almost all his own Fencing, is fluent in at least 5 languages, and he is a Knight of Malta (St John of Jerusalem)

I looked it up and the criteria are:

Admission to the order is subject to numerous conditions, ancient nobility, corresponding social position, and entrance fee of 900 marks, a probation of at least four years as a knight of honor before admission of the accolade which confers the title of Knight of Justice. Their first obligation is to collect contributions for the support of hospitals. Moreover, in times of war, since 1870, the order has been devoted to ambulance service on the field of battle.

I think at this point he has starred in more movies than any other actor, 261 and counting, and over 100 documentaries. And long may it continue!

He is also a trained singer!! and was related distantly to Ian Fleming, who did the original James Bond books.

So he is the complete Renaissance man, as well as the perfect Gothic hero/villain.

Cushing was great, but Lee is in a class by himself. Oh, and Lee and Vincent Price were born on the same day, May 27, 1922, and Peter Cushing one day later. Small world.

Lee as Dracula, great, and who could ever forget his Frankenstein or Mummy. Classic!

Wow, I didn't know all that about Christopher Lee. Thanks.

I did know about the birthdates.

Did you know George Lucas hoped to "reunite" Cushing and Lee in Revenge of the Sith? He went through all film footage he'd shot of Cushing for the original Star Wars, hoping somehow to bring Cushing into Sith. But it didn't work out; Lucas felt there was nothing in the original film's footage which he could work into Sith to "reunite" the two.

Very cool. Well, both great actors. And of course, both played Sherlock Holmes as well in the 60s and 70s. Though not at the same time, of course. They had very similar careers, but Lee made like 4 to 6 films a year in the early days.