09-29-2007, 05:22 PM
I do not remember what my first Gothic was, but it may have been "Castle of Fear" or "Climb the Dark Mountain" when I was in my early teens. My interest in Gothics developed naturally from reading juvenile/young adult mysteries. I never paid any attention to the authors, just the stories. But I had run across a copy of "Climb the Dark Mountain" a few years after I read it, so I knew it was Julie Wellesley. I never knew who wrote "Castle of Fear" until earlier this year, when I found it at a book sale. I was very surprised to find that it was Barbara Cartland. I found out later that she did write some Gothics. Like you, GothicLover, I became completely "hooked" after reading Victoria Holt's "Mistress of Mellyn". I have read almost all her books. I also enjoyed Dorothy Eden but I have not read much of Phyllis Whitney.