Voodoo drums beat out terror in this place of masked evil and perilous passion. So far from home, so close to hell The lush vegetation and burning sun of Haiti was a world away from Agnes Woodridge's New England home. Despite herself, the lovely young woman felt a tremor of fear of the unknown when she entered the great mansion of Seacrest to take care of a mysterious disturbed little girl, Germaine Dodge. Agnes would have trembled still more if she knew of the curse that hung over this place of so much evil and so many secrets... of the giant black zombie that haunted its nights... of the woman who had been shattered on the sea rocks below... of the torment that scarred the handsome face of its master with pain... of the hatred and violence directed at any stranger who dared cross its threshold. Haiti was an island paradise to some. But for Agnes, it soon was an inferno of horror... Voodoo drums beat out terror in this place of masked evil and perilous passion. So far from home, so close to hell The lush vegetation and burning sun of Haiti was a world away from Agnes Woodridge's New England home. Despite herself, the lovely young woman felt a tremor of fear of the unknown when she entered the great mansion of Seacrest to take care of a mysterious disturbed little girl, Germaine Dodge. Agnes would have trembled still more if she knew of the curse that hung over this place of so much evil and so many secrets... of the giant black zombie that haunted its nights... of the woman who had been shattered on the sea rocks below... of the torment that scarred the handsome face of its master with pain... of the hatred and violence directed at any stranger who dared cross its threshold. Haiti was an island paradise to some. But for Agnes, it soon was an inferno of horror... William Edward Daniel Ross, W. E. Daniel "Dan" Ross (born 1912) is a bestselling Canadian novelist from Saint John, New Brunswick who wrote over 300 books in a variety of genres and under a variety of mostly female pseudonyms such as Laura Frances Brooks, Lydia Colby, Rose Dana, Jan Daniels, Ross Olin, Diane Randall, Clarissa Ross, Leslie Ames, Ruth Dorset, Ann Gilmer, Jane Rossiter, Dan Ross, Dana Ross, Marilyn Ross, Dan Roberts, and W.E.D. Ross. As Marilyn Ross he wrote popular Gothic fiction including a series of novels about the vampire Barnabas Collins based on the American TV series Dark Shadows (1966-71).