Dark Shadows: Angelique’s Descent
Lara Parker
Tor, Apr 10 2012, $12.99
ISBN: 9780765332882

Thanks to his savior Dr. Julia Hoffman, Barnabas Collins is no longer a vampire. However, he is not totally free of Angelique’s curse when the remains of a body are found where his coffin used to be located in the Old House. A fire destroys much of the Old House, but the journal of Angelique Bouchard the witch who cursed him centuries ago somehow survived. Julia pleads with Barnabas to destroy this evil tome, but he feels compelled to read it.

Barnabas begins to read Angelique’s journal. On Martinique her father took her from her mother as he recognized his daughter possessed the voodoo craft family skill. He used her witchcraft ability to control his slaves on his plantation and she sells her soul in exchange for eternal darkness. Angelique escaped from her sire and obtained a position working for Barnabas’s seventeenth century love Josette du Pres. He turns his attention to her, but dumped her when he became engaged to Josette. She cursed him to be her eternal blood sucking slave.

This is a reprint of a 1998 Dark Shadows thriller with a revised climax written by the actress who played Angelique on the TV show. The storyline is at its best when it dwells on the intriguing seventeenth century volatile chemistry between Angelique and Barnabas on Martinique and in Salem as he learns what William Congreve said in The Mourning Bride (1697): “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned; Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” On the other hand, the present day segue is overwhelmed by too many underdeveloped subplots. Obviously for fans of Dark Shadows, Angelique’s Descent is a fun tale.

Harriet Klausner