The covers of the gothic romance novel, as it appeared in paperback during its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s, quickly became pretty much standardized. This one, I think, captures the essence of about 80% of them. Gloomy castle or manor house with one light on in a window somewhere on the upper levels, young girl in an almost ghostly nightdress fleeing into what appears to be awfully rugged terrain — moors, ghastly bare trees, or murky pond or swamp — or maybe all three, like this one.

   This one’s nicely designed, though, and I think it catches the eye at least as well as any other in the category that I’ve seen. The artwork is by Hector Garrido, who did many many other book covers in almost every category and genre you can think of, including those for Sapir & Murphy’s “The Destroyer” series for a long stretch of its run.

DELL. Paperback reprint, April 1968. Hardcover edition: Doubleday, 1967. First published in the UK as Hate Begins at Home: Gollancz, 1967.

      From the back cover:

Her young life shadowed by tragedy, lovely Caroline Conroy was forced against her will to return to her father’s lonely manor house — Woodhue.

She hated to leave her husband for even a few days — and she feared Woodhue House, and the sense of impending doom that seemed to shroud it like a dark and threatening cloud.

Swiftly, chillingly, this sense of nameless evil assumed a human form. A darkly handsome man, at once fearful yet strangely attractive, drew her into his web of mysterious intrigue. And suddenly, desperately, hoping it was not too late, Caroline struggled to save her happiness, her marriage, her very life.