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
PRINTING HISTORY Ace trade paperback edition / November 2001
All rights reserved. Dracula in London anthology copyright © 2001 by Patricia Nead Elrod
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.