P. N. Elrod - Dracula in London

VIP免费

2024-12-19 0 0 944.8KB 174 页 5.9玖币

侵权投诉

DRACULA IN LONDON

Edited By

P. N. Elrod

CONTENTS

Introduction - P. N. Elrod

To Each His Own Kind - Tanya Huff

Box Number Fifty - Fred Saberhagen

Wolf and Hound - Nigel Bennett and P. N. Elrod

The Dark Downstairs - Roxanne Longstreet Conrad

Dear Mr. Bernard Shaw - Judith Proctor

The Three Boxes - Elaine Bergstrom

Good Help - K. B. Bogen

Everything to Order - Jody Lynn Nye

Long-Term Investment - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

"Places for Act Two!" - Bradley H. Sinor

Beast - Amy L. Gruss and Catt Kingsgrave-Ernstein

A Most Electrifying Evening - Julie Barrett

An Essay on Containment - Gene DeWeese

Berserker - Nancy Kilpatrick

Curtain Call Gary - A. Braunbeck

Renfield or, Dining at the Bughouse - Bill Zaget

About the Authors

The Contributors

Julie Barrett… Author of

Quantum Leap A-Z and several short stories

Nigel Bennett … Winner of the Gemini Award for his portrayal of vampire patriarch

LeCroix on the series

Forever Knight

Elaine Bergstrom … Author of the vampire novels

Blood to Blood: The Dracula Story

Continues and

Mina

K. B. Bogen … Holds a degree in Computer Science and Engineering and has a taste for

the macabre

Gary A. Braunbeck … Prolific short story writer and author of the

critically-acclaimed collection

Things Left Behind

Roxanne Longstreet Conrad … Author of seven novels including

Exile

Gene DeWeese … Former technical writer who has authored over thirty novels

P. N. "Pat" Elrod … Author of over sixteen novels including the continuing

Vampire

Files series, and editor of two vampire anthologies

Amy Grass … Award-winning poet and professional scriptwriter

Tanya Huff … Author of over sixteen novels including the

Victoria Nelson vampire

series

Nancy Kilpatrick … Award-winning author of fourteen novels, over 125 short stories,

and editor of seven anthologies

Catt Kingsgrave-Ernstein … Prolific short story author

Jody Lynn Nye … Author of twenty-two novels including four collaborations with Anne

McCaffrey

Judith Proctor … A Shakespeare- and theatre-inspired author who lives in England

Fred Saberhagen … Author of the popular

Berserker science fiction series, and the

famous vampire novel,

An Old Friend of the Family

Bradley H. Sinor … Short story writer and media tie-in author

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro … Author of the acclaimed Saint-Germain vampire novels,

cartographer, musician, and tarot reader

Bill Zaget … First-time author who lives in Ontario, Canada

Ace Books by P N Elrod The Vampire Files

BLOODLIST

LIFEBLOOD

BLOODCIRCLE

ART IN THE BLOOD

FIRE IN THE BLOOD

BLOOD ON THE WATER

A CHILL IN THE BLOOD

LADY CRYMSYN

RED DEATH

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

DEATH MASQUE

DANCE OF DEATH

Dracula in London

Edited by

P. N. Elrod

ACE BOOKS, NEW YORK

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the

product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual

persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

DRACULA IN LONDON

An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the editor

PRINTING HISTORY Ace trade paperback edition / November 2001

Elrod and Tekno Books.

and P. N. Elrod.

Longstreet Conrad.

Yarbro.

and Catt

Kingsgrave-Ernstein.

Cover art by Bill Dodge. Text design by Tiffany Kukec.

Visit our website at www.penguinputnam.com

Check out the ACE Science Fiction & Fantasy newsletter and much more on the

Internet at Club PPI!

ISBN 0-441-00858-5 (alk. paper)

ACE®

Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam

Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014.

ACE and "A" design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dracula in London

Introduction

Okay, I confess it—I love Dracula! He IS the man!

The first time I remember seeing him was in Universal's

House of Dracula with elegant

John Carradine in the role. I was instantly addicted. From then on, I couldn't get enough of

all the variations out there, good and bad, sublime and silly. Umpteen years pass and it still

gives me a charge!

Hence this book. I wanted to put together a collection of stories with the Count as the

focus, not a mere cameo, and ask the question, "What ELSE was Dracula doing in London

when he was not being chased by Van Helsing and company?"

I feel very fortunate that some of the best writers in the business decided to answer.

To have the chance to read so many delightful variations on a theme has been a dream come

true. My sincere thanks to all of you for contributing your time and imaginations to this

project. It's been an honor.

* * * * *

In 1897 the original novel

Dracula was published, bringing little note or notice to

author Bram Stoker.

Writers hate when that happens.

But over the next century, as though to make up for it, Dracula turned into an

honest-to-God cultural icon. You say the name nearly anywhere on the planet and you're

bound to get a reaction of some sort. "What are the odds?" one might ask Mr. Stoker, who

would likely be astonished. Or amused.

I like to think that somewhere he knows his tale eventually achieved an immortality

greater than that which his character met in that dark and thrilling opus.

My hope is that he might well have enjoyed this "tip of the hat" collection of stories

centered around his best-known creation.

P. N. "Pat" Elrod

To Each His Own Kind

Tanya Huff

London was everything the Count had imagined it to be when he'd told Jonathan

Harker of how he'd longed to walk "through the crowded streets… to be in the midst of

the whirl and rush of humanity."

Although, he amended as he waited for a break in the

evening traffic that would allow him to cross Piccadilly,

a little less

whirl and rush would be

preferable.

He could see the house he'd purchased across the street, but it might as well have

been across the city for all he could reach it. Yes, he'd wanted to move about unnoticed

but this, this was wearing at his patience. And he had never been considered a patient man.

Even as a man.

Finally, he'd been delayed for as long as he was willing to endure. Sliding the smoked

glasses down his nose, he deliberately met the gaze of an approaching horse. In his

homeland, the effect would have been felt between one heartbeat and the next. Terror.

Panic. Flight. This London carriage horse, however, seemed to accept his presence

almost phlegmatically.

Then the message actually made it through the city's patina to the equine brain.

Better, he thought and strode untouched through the resulting chaos. Ignoring the

screams of injured men and horses both, he put the key into the lock and stepped inside.

He'd purchased the house furnished from the estate of Mr. Archibald

Winter-Suffield. From the dead, as it were. That amused him.

His belongings were in the dining room at the back of the house.

"The dining room?" He sighed. His orders to the shipping company had only instructed

that the precious cases be placed in the house. Apparently, here in this new country, he

needed to be more specific. They would have to be moved to a place less conspicuous, but

not now, not with London calling to him. He set his leather case upon the table and turned

to go.

Stepping around a chair displaced by the boxes of earth, he brushed against the

sideboard, smearing dust across his sleeve. Snarling, he brushed at it with his gloved hand

but only succeeded in smearing it further. The coat was new. He'd sent his measurements

to Peter Hawkins before he'd started his journey and had found clothing suitable for an

English gentleman at journey's end. It was one of the last commissions Mr. Hawkins had

fulfilled for him. One of the last he would fulfill for anyone, as it happened. The old man

had been useful, but the necessity of frequent correspondence had left him knowing too

much.

Opening the case, he pulled out a bundle of deeds—this was not the only house that

English dead had provided—and another bundle of note paper, envelopes, and pens. As he

set them down, he reminded himself to procure ink as soon as possible. He disliked being

without it. Written communications allowed a certain degree of distance from those who

did his bidding.

Finally, after some further rummaging, he found his clothing brush and removed the

dust from his sleeve. Presentable at last, he tossed the brush down on the table and hurried

for the street, suddenly impatient to begin savoring this new existence.

"…

to share its life, its change, its death, all that makes it what it is."

The crowd outside on Piccadilly surprised him and he stopped at the top of the stairs.

The crowds he knew in turn knew better than to gather outside his home. When he realized

that the people were taking no notice of him and had, in fact, gathered to watch the dead

horse pulled up onto a wagon, he descended to the street.

He thrilled to his anonymity as he made his way among them. To walk through a great

mass of Londoners unremarked—it was all he had dreamed it would be. To feel their lives

surrounding him, unaware of their danger. To walk as a wolf among the unsuspecting lambs.

To know that even should he declare himself, they would not believe. It was a freedom he

had never thought to experience again.

Then a boy, no more than eight or ten, broke free of his minder and surged forward to

get a clearer look. Crying, "Hey now!" a portly man stepped out of the child's way.

The pressure of the man's foot on his meant less than nothing but he hissed for the

mark it made on his new shoes. And for the intrusion into his solitude.

The portly man turned at the sound, ruddy cheeks pale as he scanned the ground.

By the time he looked up, the Count had composed himself. It would not do to give

himself away over so minor a thing.

"You aren't going to believe this," the man said without preamble, his accent most

definitely not English, "but I could've sworn I heard a rattler." Then he smiled and

extended his hand. "I do beg your pardon, sir, for treading on you as I did. Shall we

consider my clumsiness an introduction? Charlie March, at your service."

The novelty of the situation prodded him to take the offered hand. "I am…" He paused

for an instant and considered. Should he maintain the identity that went with the house?

But no. The Count de Ville was a name that meant nothing; he would not surrender his

文档加载中……请稍候！
如果长时间未打开，您也可以点击刷新试试。

下载文档到电脑，查找使用更方便

5.9 玖币 0人已下载

立即下载 VIP免费下载

摘要：

DRACULAINLONDONEditedByP.N.ElrodCONTENTSIntroduction-P.N.ElrodToEachHisOwnKind-TanyaHuffBoxNumberFifty-FredSaberhagenWolfandHound-NigelBennettandP.N.ElrodTheDarkDownstairs-RoxanneLongstreetConradDearMr.BernardShaw-JudithProctorTheThreeBoxes-ElaineBergstromGoodHelp-K.B.BogenEverythingtoOrder-JodyLynn...

展开>> 收起<<

P. N. Elrod - Dracula in London.pdf

共174页,预览35页

还剩页未读，继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

P. N. Elrod - Dracula in London

相关推荐

开通VIP享超值会员特权

作者详情

相关内容

热门标签

举报选择: