Backstage: In the Shadow of the Lilac
Including Some Deleted Scenes!
Please note, this post contains some spoilers, so if you haven’t read In the Shadow of the Lilac, and you would like to in the future, consider saving this post for a future read instead. In the Shadow of the Lilac is available to you with a paid subscription, currently with a 20% discount for the holidays, or you can wait for its publication hopefully sometime in Spring 2025.
Inspiration:
The original inspiration came from daydreaming the scene where Melody meets Grant for the first time, and then feeds him cake, which was really me hypothetically considering what I would do in such an instance.
Spoilers from here on!
The original plot line was going to involve the forest only, with no hotel and no real ghosts, only eerie and dangerous pranks in the forest. A certain someone was being used after having been traumatized in his childhood by an insane hermit, and was thus chasing away anyone who got too close.
However, I was concerned that this version might have too many similar motifs and elements to other tales I’ve enjoyed on Substack, and as sometimes happens when I’m completely stuck on a plot line, I had a dream that fixed some of the issues.
Specifically, I had a dream about a sprawling hotel with secret passageways and trapdoors for the staff to use, a luxury emporium, a hotel manager suspicious of “Melody” (me, in the dream), and strange deaths of men and women by a powder made of roses. . . which alternated for a while between being a tea and being makeup. I think objectively it was a tea, but the victims had touched it, rather than drinking it. There was also an ocean cavern where the poisoned powder was hidden, and when the manager chased down Melody, he became a creepy spectre; and the dream ended the way part one of Melody’s nightmare does in Episode III.
I also leaned into an overall “Grand Hotel meets Scooby-Doo, meets Nancy Drew, meets Jekyll and Hyde, meets Sleeping Beauty” plot.
Research
Much of the research was nice, fairly quick things like: Edwardian recipes for rouge; what flowers bloom in Massachusetts in Autumn; digging up some digital examples of early 1900’s newspapers from Massachusetts; researching the kinds of opal and other stones that can be found in Massachusetts; Gilded Age and Edwardian flooring and carpets; actual surviving Gilded Age hotels (which are supposedly haunted); Victorian and Edwardian wedding dresses and ball gowns. . .
Oh, and then there were the unexpected probably hours of researching poisonous plants. I’m pretty sure it was hours, because I ended up dreaming about poisonous plants and poison at night, and my brain tried to invent a particular poisonous plant that was a type of “grass” but that was really tall, like ten feet, and spiky, and had suspicious purple flowers growing on the tips. I’m pretty sure that’s not possibly a grass, but after that I learned that there are some semi-poisonous types of grass, they’re just more poisonous to animals than people.
Oh, and I also learned about Rosary Peas. So pretty, and bright red, and they’re ROSARY peas.
But they’re also the source of abrin, which has no antidote, and people can die while they’re trying to turn them into rosaries. Don’t ask me why they still try to turn them into rosaries and jewelry, it does not compute. (Please don’t buy anything made out of “rosary peas” or “jequirity beans.” You are now wise. Please avoid. Rosary Peas are false advertising. They can’t even agree on it being a pea or a bean.)
Yes, I also read about some poison cases from Victorian times, because people get the Victorian and Edwardian dates all mixed up and call Victorian Edwardian and Edwardian Victorian, and it’s a disorganized mess. Now you all have been informed that Victorian and Edwardian are definitely not the same thing. Victorian ends with Queen Victoria, Edwardian begins and ends with King Edward, and does not, even though this is where my brain crosses dates, does not go past 1910, even up to the Titanic years, and definitely not up to 1920, even though the teens’ decade feels like it’s also Edwardian because it’s still very Edwardian-like, and it doesn’t have a very official overall name, being just the “Teens Era” or the “WWI Era.”
In other words, if you’re writing about the Victorian or Edwardian times, double-check that it’s the right name. We Edwardian fans will appreciate it!
I can also tell you about how easy it is to confuse poisonous types of hemlock with another poisonous plant (giant hogweed) or with wild carrots/Queen Anne’s Lace. So, if you’re ever walking around and you think you see Queen Anne’s Lace, maybe be absolutely certain before you go close enough to breathe it in or brush against it, and definitely don’t try eating it.
I can also tell you how suspicious I am at the moment of anything with almond oil and possible cherry pits, because my brain is still on the track of bitter almonds (not sweet almonds, which are the edible, usable kind in lotions and such) and cherry pits and other kinds of pits having cyanide, which was a widely used poison in Victorian times. Also don’t touch wild cherry leaves. Because cyanide.
Also, someone please explain to me why almost every poisonous plant I read about is written about like:
“You should never touch, breathe, or eat any part from this plant. Oh, but did I tell you that you can use it as MEDICINE? Ofc it’s dangerous, but it might be useful, sometimes, or maybe not, but it’s medicine.”
(Don’t believe them. Be very suspicious of poison as medicine. They clearly can’t decide what they’re talking about.)
I think that’s enough facts about poison, unless you want to hear about how there was still lead in cosmetics in the Edwardian era.
Oh, and the fact that many of our beloved garden plants are at least somewhat toxic, that’s fascinating, right? Like Lily-of-the-Valley, which is my birth flower and I was totally planning on having in a future wedding bouquet, and then there’s other flowers, like daffodils, for instance.
Right, I don’t think we want to hear any more poison facts. (You’re welcome.)
Character Profiles:
I originally typed up these character profiles to help flesh them out a bit and figure out some interesting details to make the story more fun, but ended up not bringing up a lot of them.
Zion – 23, tawny haired and dark eyed. Has worked with computers and in security. Protective, easily frustrated. Has a dislike of oranges and grapefruit, only watches Scooby-Doo for Melody’s sake, absolutely never drinks tea, and won’t sing even if he’s bribed with chocolate cake.
Allergic to mold and most perfumes
Favorite colors: indigo, cinnabar, and Persian green
Favorite foods: steak sandwiches, waffle fries, root beer, and lit. any flavor of mustard
Favorite music: Beethoven
Favorite saints: King David, St. Joseph, St. Edward the Confessor
Goes nowhere without: iPhone, pocketnife
Melody – 21, light chestnut hair and blue eyes. A stay-at-home girl with no college experience, loves baking, pretty things, singing and music, and taking care of others. Innocent and naive, which makes her brave. Loves vintage princessy movies, the 1970’s Scooby-Doo episodes, and windy days – but not claustrophobic spaces, walnuts and grapefruit, or scary movies. Collects vintage Edwardian-1950’s items and sews her own clothing.
Her favorite scent is apricot-rose. Grant introduced her to Lilac Rain, the perfume created by the Inn in the 1930’s, which she starts to use, thinking of him
Favorite foods are old-fashioned tea sandwiches, particularly chicken salad, along with fruit salad, pink lemonade, and rainbow goldfish
Favorite colors are pastel sunshine yellow, lilac, and soft rose
Favorite styles: soft and princessy 1940’s and 1950’s, mixed with Edwardian elements
Favorite music: Ola Gjeilo, Tchaikovsky
Favorite saints: Our Lady Rosa Mystica, also Mater Admirabilis; St. Rose and St. Therese.
Something she goes nowhere without: tiny magnifying glass pendant, and her rosary bracelet
Grant – 27, light ash-brown hair and steel gray eyes. Confident, grave, and quiet when he isn’t pulling pranks to scare people away. Has a strange aversion to thornbushes, including roses, but is unfazed by wasps. Doesn’t spend much time on any hobby or recreation outside of his work at the hotel as a hospitality manager, and in giving assistance with inventory and events. He also oversees the Emporium behind the scenes.
Favorite colors: steel blue and light blue
Favorite foods: indifferent
Favorite music: as long as it’s not loud, inappropriate, or full of noise
Favorite saints: unknown.
Cut Scenes:
Alternate Scene in the House’s Ballroom -
“What is it you’re so worried about, anyway?” Melody asked, slipping the crystal onto its respective hook. “Zion says there must be nothing, since you’re being mysterious about it, so it’s just you. Is it?”
“No, Melody. It’s very real, and I wish you two would find a way to leave.”
“But- wouldn’t you be sad if we left?”
“Very sad, Melody,” he said miserably. “I don’t keep friends here.”
“Well if it isn’t you, what is it? Shouldn’t you tell us?” Melody’s eyes went very wide as a thought struck her. “Is it a serial killer?” She whispered anxiously.
“There are no serial killers around here,” Zion stated, taking up one of the window seats. “I’ve already talked to the nearest sheriff’s office to make sure it’s nothing like that. He said there’s nothing strange going on in Lavender Vale, nor are there any dangerous animals in the woods.”
“No, there are no dangerous animals,” Grant agreed. “And yet you would agree with me, Zion, that Melody shouldn’t be alone.”
“I agree, but I still want to know what’s the matter with you. Promise you won’t put on the costume again?”
“It would seem I can’t convince you,” Grant noted quietly. “I’m not fond of pranks, anyway.”
Melody’s Orientation -
Melody surveyed her new domain, quickly realizing that there was no one else to work with her, save the shop-girl who took care of personal orders from the guests. Melody tugged on Grant’s sleeve.
“What happened to the last florist?”
“He was a little creeped out, and besides, his son’s wife was about to have a baby,” Grant answered loftily. He nodded a greeting to the shop-girl, whom he introduced as Ellie.
“Creeped out by you?” Melody whispered up at Grant.
“Actually, no; surprisingly. He saw one of the ghosts.” He lifted a checklist from the task board. “Since it’s just you, you have free reign with the flowers, Miss Melody. And yes, I know, it’s Melody, except when we’re working. Now, you just need to fill out the arrangements here, keep track of those which need to be replaced, and cycle them out. The last florist left some notes that should be helpful. Just fill the ones that are marked down for today and schedule the rest. But first! As I said, you have free reign with the flowers, which means you need to see where you can acquire them from.”
They took the back door into the garden, and Grant explained that she could cut from nearly any of the plants within the garden, so long as she never took enough to detriment the aesthetics.
“Anything, except the wisteria climbing on the inn,” he added, grimacing as they passed under thorn-laden rose vines in the heart of the rose garden. Every shade of rose imaginable seemed to be present, from the exact shade of a drop of blood, to lush amethyst with a silver heart.
“Thorns?” Melody asked, noticing the way he winced as they brushed past.
“I’m not fond of anything that comes with thorns,” he muttered darkly. “I’m not too fond of flowers in general, unless they’re the little wild ones. I don’t have to worry about them being cut down.”
“I like thorns, they remind me of the crown,” Melody said lightly, but remained puzzled, as Grant moved ahead of her and put the rose garden behind them.
Hadn’t he said that he wanted to protect the free flowers of the woods?
Melody Confronting Grant -
“You’ve been seeing him. Melody, I want you to leave before he hurts you, please.”
“I – we thought that was you – Grant, ghosts don’t hurt people, and they don’t look like that, why would you dress up like him anyway?”
“But he is a ghost, Melody!”
“Ghosts from purgatory can’t, Grant, they can look scary and be scary depending on what level they’re in, but they aren’t like the spectre.”
“Melody! He can, and he will, hurt you. I don’t pretend to understand what you’re talking about, Melody, I haven’t got any friends here, I chase them away before they can be harmed. I let you stay because I’m selfish and you’re both as stubborn as oil on water. I need you to leave. If you don’t, I’ll find some way to get you out of here, and so help me, if it takes kidnapping you, I’ll do it.”
Just before the Halloween Ball -
Halloween evening was a funny thing. Even Lavender Vale found itself draped in tissue paper ghosts and happy-faced pumpkins on every doorstep. Even Angie had got her wish and three very little pumpkins greeted Zion and Melody on the porch steps as they arrived.
Melody threw some homemade harvest-style pizzas in the oven while Zion drew the curtains and put on the classic 70’s Scooby-Doo episodes in the living room. It was just the two of them, for Angie had begged her way into Aunt Lily-Mae’s Hallow’s-Eve party for the children, and Angie and Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb would be staying overnight in Boston.
It was 5:30, and Zion and Melody weren’t due back at the Hotel until closer to 7.
There were already trick-or-treaters wandering through the neighborhood, chasing a few bats and making their candy requests. Leaving the knocks at the door alone, Melody watched over the pizzas, bouncing her head to the theme music from the living room, before taking two pizza-laden plates and bowls of rainbow goldfish over to the couch to curl up.
Zion came in to find her staring out the not-fully draped French doors into the garden.
“Ready for me to hit play? Mel?”
“The spectre’s at the door, Zion!”
A violet haze was glimmering through the cracks between the curtains.
“It’s just Grant trying to frighten you again, dear,” Zion said reassuringly, giving her a squeeze. “I mean, he has to put that thing on for the ball, for goodness’ sakes. Let’s just watch the show and leave him alone until he decides to come in for pizza.”
Melody tried to keep her eyes on the tv but found them repeatedly drawn to the figure outside the window – until he vanished, and she started, catching Zion’s sleeve.
“Where’d he go?”
“Don’t know, dear. Look, I’ll close those drapes. The doors and windows are all locked, so he can’t scare you by coming in, anyway.”
Zion got up and drew the curtains closed, only for a solemn, thrice-heavy knock to ring against the glass. He groaned and jerked the fabric back aside to look into the peering ghostly eyes.
“Go away, Grant, you’re scaring Melody again, and if you don’t leave I’ll dump all the flour in the house on you and you’ll be a ghost for sure! If you want pizza, just say so!”
“Zion?” Melody’s voice was very small. “I don’t think that’s Grant.”
“Of course it’s Grant, dear.”
“Then – who’s that?”
She pointed, and he looked and found a second spectre standing in the kitchen, arms folded, head inclined as if in disbelief.
“Grant?”
Silence.
Zion moved slowly to the couch and took Melody’s hand.
“It’s okay, princess. Just keep watching the show, alright? He’s not going to do anything.”
“But – then who’s outside the house? One of them must be the one who broke into the Emporium-”
“It’s probably some goony crony of his. Eat your goldfish.”
“I’m not hungry. Zion, I think there’s somebody scary out there, and – Graaaaaaaant!” she twisted around. “No, it’s not Grant, Zion, he’d come give me a hug.”
“Not if he’s trying extra hard to actually get us out of this house. Don’t worry, princess.”
That’s all for backstage! During these colds I’ve been having, I started amusing myself with imagining the first meeting between Avery Wilder and Delilah Grant, only as a film that Grant and Melody have been reluctantly cast in by indefatigable film producers who have become enamored with Lavender Vale - with Grant and Avery proving to be mischievous pranksters during the whole ordeal, and of course, the film being a worrisome possible trigger for Grant’s former dual-persona. I don’t know whether I’ll officially write this as a story, since it would, I think, require a mystery in order to place it level with the original tale, but I would like to sometime write up Grant and Melody’s wedding, just for fun.
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