07-21-2010, 07:08 PM
Lostintwilight, I am also a male, and I have been obsessed with the iconic imagery on Gothic romance covers since about 1969, I was not even a teenager yet. Most of it comes from watching Dark Shadows. At that time, Gothic paperbacks were the rage so they were everywhere. Kirkland Revels is one of my all time favorites. I just re-read it a few months ago. But I also like to read some of the cheap/quickies. I think Pinnacle books had a line called Queen Sized Gothics...they had bigger print and more pages so they looked like you were getting a lot of bang for your buck...the ones I have read were very melodramatic and over the top. As mentioned by other posts, the majority of Gothics from the 60s and 70s did not have occult and/or witchcraft elements. I, however, wish there were more that did. I tinker with writing Gothics ever now and then and always try to work Tarot readings into the story...I guess because I collect and read Tarot decks.