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Okay, for all those waiting patiently and impatiently, here's the next installment of DARK SHADOWS: THE LABYRINTH OF SOULS (Chapter eight). This one is for all you Julia Hoffman fans. ;)
Trivia note: The name Maitland Karswell derives from two sources. Professor Maitland is the name of the ill-fated collector in Robert Bloch's The Skull of the Marquis de Sade. Julian Karswell is the name of the occultist (based largely on Aleister Crowley) in M. R. James's Casting the Runes, the film version of which is titled CURSE OF THE DEMON (a.k.a. NIGHT OF THE DEMON. It's also my favorite horror film.
NEW! Chapter 8:
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey/labyrinth08.htm
Chapter 7:
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey/labyrinth07.htm
Chapter 6:
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey/labyrinth06.htm
[shadow=red,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
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Thanks from the bottom of my Julia-loving heart for another absorbing chapter. :D I can't even begin to figure out yet just exactly where you are going with this, but I'm certainly enjoying the story and hope that you decide to continue to the end--and don't keep us in suspense too long.
Bette [read]
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Hello Mark,
I hope I am not too forward in referring to your first name...
I do apologize, I have missed reading your story.. and ask if you will lead me to the begining? :-/
Thank You so much...
The Ghost of Sarah Collins
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I have never posted here before although I have been a lurker for a long time. (I am just a quiet person) But I had to come out of hiding to tell you that I just love The Labyrinth of Souls and want you to know that more people than you are aware of are really enjoying and appreciating your efforts. There must be more quiet people than me out here. Anyway thanks so much for taking your valuable time and sharing your talent for all of us to enjoy. (Gee, I hope I have done this right) I can hardly wait for the next chapter. Dark Shadows Forever, Ro
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I do apologize, I have missed reading your story.. and ask if you will lead me to the begining?
Hi Sarah,
To read other chapters, you can click on any of the links I posted above, and in your browser URL window, just delete the numbers at the end of the line and type in the chapter you want. For example, to read chapter one, use http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey/labyrinth01.htm; chapter two is /labyrinth02.htm, chapter three is /labyrinth03.htm, etc. etc.
Thanks for the comments, y'all. It's gratifying to know that at least a number of DS fans are getting to enjoy the tale. That's important to me, since this particular project is a non-professional venture. Hopefully I'll be able to continue working on it at least semi-regularly in between paying jobs.
[shadow=red,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
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This chapter was another great one. Loved the descriptions of the woods outside Collinwood and Dr. Karswell's library. Very spooky! I loved the repartee between Julia and Karswell, too.
I needed to look up a few things that you had mentioned and, lo and behold, Keziah Mason did exist which started me searching into a whole new realm.
This story should've been published. Harper-Collins don't know what they passed up!!![pissd]
Three cheers to you, Mark! [beer]
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This chapter was another great one. Loved the descriptions of the woods outside Collinwood and Dr. Karswell's library. Very spooky! I loved the repartee between Julia and Karswell, too.
I needed to look up a few things that you had mentioned and, lo and behold, Keziah Mason did exist which started me searching into a whole new realm.
This story should've been published. Harper-Collins don't know what they passed up!!![pissd]
Three cheers to you, Mark! [beer]
Dear Mark,
I agree with Carol 100%!
Thank you so much for continuing to share this
wonderful novel with us :D
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Hi Sarah,
To read other chapters, you can click on any of the links I posted above, and in your browser URL window, just delete the numbers at the end of the line and type in the chapter you want. For example, to read chapter one, use http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey/labyrinth01.htm; chapter two is /labyrinth02.htm, chapter three is /labyrinth03.htm, etc. etc.
Thanks for the comments, y'all. It's gratifying to know that at least a number of DS fans are getting to enjoy the tale. That's important to me, since this particular project is a non-professional venture. Hopefully I'll be able to continue working on it at least semi-regularly in between paying jobs.
[shadow=red,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
Thank you Mark for you assistance...I will read your story, I was also wondering, if the Collins' will not publish your book, is it possible Maggie Evans will? I understand she loves books. :D
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Wonderful, as always!!
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Franimal
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Thanks VERY much for continuing with the story.
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Yaaaaay more!!!! I read it last night, and it was kewl. LOL Julia isn't my fav character, but I found it interesting. All the little facts about the witches and different African ceremonial masks .... are those all true? Goodness gracious, if they are you must do a ton of research! LOL if they're not, they sound really real LOL. And the convo b/w Julia and Karswell definitely kept my attention! LOL I agree with Julia, I don't trust him either ... [evily] hmmmmm .. I was so rather looking forward to Julia laying, bleeding, bitten and bruised, in the snow somewhere, but .... ahh, this was good too. [vryevl] [ignore] LOL looking forward to mooore!!!! [roll3]
~Daph
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All the little facts about the witches and different African ceremonial masks .... are those all true? Goodness gracious, if they are you must do a ton of research!
Heh heh; I pretty much don't write without researching. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. If I fabricate something out of thin air, I generally attempt to base it on something at least semi-factual so that it has the ring of authenticity. For example, for LABYRINTH, I looked into the kind of trees one would find in the woods of Maine (since I've never been there, I wasn't sure which local varieties would be native to the state). I checked a couple of details about Tudor houses to make sure I didn't blunder in its description. I even found a picture of a Rolls Royce Silver Seraph, just in case I needed to describe it accurately at some point. ;)
Yes, the info about the African masks is true. No, the book by Keziah Mason is not; I made it up on the spur of the moment. However, Keziah Mason comes from the H. P. Lovecraft story Dreams in the Witch House. Arkham, MA, and Miskatonic University are also Lovecraft's creations. Since I have contributed a significant amount of short fiction to various anthologies dealing with Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, I figured it would be fun to blend a little of it into DARK SHADOWS. As you probably know, the Leviathans were based (loosely and mostly unsatisfactorily) on the Cthulhu Mythos.
In the end, I just hope it ends up coming together so that ye author doesn't look like an airhead. Or if he does, a well-read airhead. ;D
[shadow=black,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
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This story is absolutely fantastic!! Really enjoying it :)
Back when you stated that the 1st 3 chapters would be "disappearing" - I hurried to copy them to read when I had a chance. Before I could even get started 4, 5 and 6 suddenly appeared, followed shortly thereafter by 7. I was beginning to think I would have no hope of catching up!!
Anyway, I finally did those 1st three over the weekend followed by 2 or 3 more and I have finally caught up to this new 8.
Aside from the exciting plot, I love the detailed background. It's really fun to see snow at Collinwood!!! And the relationship between Carolyn and Quentin, amongst other things, is very interesting.
I have a guess about Karswell, but don't want to take a chance on influencing anyone else :)
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Thank you Mark for you assistance...I will read your story, I was also wondering, if the Collins' will not publish your book, is it possible Maggie Evans will? I understand she loves books. :D
Hey! that is a thought - has anyone ever approached TLATKLS about a fiction series? I would think she has a good business relationship with DCP, and she is certainly a 'keeper of the flame' [as well as a babe, but I digest :P]
Please keep it coming, Mark! We are all lovin' it! 8)
Your Fan Club!
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Since I have contributed a significant amount of short fiction to various anthologies dealing with Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, I figured it would be fun to blend a little of it into DARK SHADOWS. As you probably know, the Leviathans were based (loosely and mostly unsatisfactorily) on the Cthulhu Mythos.
In the end, I just hope it ends up coming together so that ye author doesn't look like an airhead. Or if he does, a well-read airhead. ;D
[shadow=black,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
You sound like Stokes! Very intelligent, well-read and qualified, i.e., you can start flipping over furniture now to test for foreign brands and handing out cheese ;)
I thought the Leviathans were based on the book, The Leviathan written by ... oy vey, what was his name? Locke, right? John Locke? Yeah, and he was in opposition to Thomas Hobbes. Or maybe Hobbes wrote it. YEAH Hobbes wrote it! LOL We only studied this three days ago, too. How sad. But back in the 1800s, Hobbes wrote The Leviathan and I was like "OMGGGG THAT'S SO KEWL!!!! DS CONNECTION!!!" LOL or is that a coincidence? LOL World History is actually interesting when it relates to DS!! But it [the book] was about anarchy and chaos taking rule over the country, and you see "chaos" and you automotically think DS ^_~ I had [and still have] no idea who Cthulhu Mythos is. LOL care to explain? ?!?
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The Cthulhu Mythos has a very long, involved history, with more facets than the Pink Panther diamond. The original Cthulhu stories were written by H. P. Lovecraft in the early 1900s. The term "Cthulhu Mythos" was coined long after his death (1937), and is actually a misnomer in regard to the pantheon of elder beings he originated. The long and short of it is that an ancient race of beings once dominated the universe, suffered internal strife, and became dormant, widely dispersed, imprisoned, or otherwise rendered unknowable but for a few "enlightened" individuals. In DARK SHADOWS, the Leviathans were roughly parallel to some of the elder beings in the Mythos.
Over the years, many writers have contributed to the Cthulhu Mythos, including Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Lin Carter, Fred Chappell, Basil Copper, August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, Stephen King, Fritz Leiber, Frank Belknap Long, Brian Lumley, Graham Masterton, Clark Ashton Smith, Colin Wilson, and F. Paul Wilson.
Rather than derail a DARK SHADOWS board with what could amount to a monumental amount of information on Lovecraft, kith and kin, let me point you to a Cthulhu Mythos FAQ, which, if you are interested, can provide you with as much or as little information about it as you want.
http://members.tripod.com/~danharms/mythos.htm
Enjoy. ;D
[shadow=black,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
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Great story Mark!! Im getting so into that by the time I get to the end, Im so mad that the chapter is over!! You've been so good to post these chapters so fast for us!! Im so enjoying them! Thanks again!! :)
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Hello Mark, I have read your story and must thank you for sharing it with everyone, an enjoyable read... I look forward to continuing. :D