A series of eleven
murders, all young women, all drained of blood, brings Inspector Chelm and his
aide, Inspector Kate Fraser, to the small town of Rutherton to investigate.
Kate Fraser is psychic and when she touches a medallion belonging to the latest
victim, Annie Malcolm, she has a vision of a woman being sacrificed on an altar
so that the Triad might live once more; Kate knows it isn’t a vampire
responsible as none of the victims has become a vampire herself….
In London, Count
Dracula learns of the “vampire murders” in Northumberland and decides to
investigate….
Kate Fraser traces
the path of Annie Malcolm before she died and deduces she was heading to D’Aire
Manor; Lord D’Aire receive them but when Kate spots a runeboard with
Hilthstars—and there is one missing matching Annie’s medallion, his Lordship
throws them out. Later, Kate learns that there is a Roman fort near D’Aire
Manor where three thousand Roman soldiers were killed overnight centuries ago.
Annie’s fiancé, Nobby Clarke, drunk and excitable, blames Lord D’Aire for
Annie’s death, and heads to the Manor where he forces his way in and down to
the basement where he and his pal Tom discover a multitude of statues and a
flame pit with consumes Nobby….
Dracula encounters
Kate Fraser in the fog and is surprised that she strongly resembles his
long-dead wife Maria. Together they find Tom, dying from his burns who tells
Kate that she is the woman Y’Garon is looking for before he dies. Inspector
Chelm arrives and recognizes Dracula and tries to arrest the Count but the
vampire easily melts into the fog….
That night, Kate has
a nightmare that she is being sacrificed to the Elder Gods by Y’Garon and wakes
up screaming. Touching the Hilthstar puts her into a trance and Y’Garon leads
her to the old mill where Dracula has his coffin and commands her to kill the
vampire. She fights the suggestion and faints; when Dracula awakens, he frees
her from the spell. Just then, a mob of hypnotized villagers, led by Lord
D’Aire, arrives, sent by Y’Gsron to kill Dracula. He and Kate fight their way
through the village where Dracula is overpowered and Kate is captured by
Y’Garon. When Dracula recovers he heads to the Manor where he kills Lord D’Aire
before he is captured and sees Y’Garon ready to sacrifice Kate. Y’Garon is one
of the Triad of Elder Gods, the other two of which are trapped in another
dimension; this ceremony will free them from their imprisonment so they can reclaim
this world they once ruled. A bit of Kate’s blood is dripped into a pool and
slowly tentacles emerge. Dracula cracks up, seeing Kate as his wife Maria and
he breaks free, seeing Y’Garon as the Turk who killed his wife and attacks the
villain beating him and hurling him into the pool. Dracula frees Kates and
takes her out just moments before the Manor explodes. Outside, Dracula erases
all memory of the night’s events from Kate’s mind, allowing her to think that
Lord D’Aire was responsible for the murders, adding that he is grateful to have
met her.
“The Girl in the
Black Hood!”
Writer: Larry
Leiber? Plot: Stan Lee? Art: Don Heck. Colors: ? Letters: Artie Simek.
Synopsis: Celebrated
photographer May Dusa is notorious for always hiding her face under a black
cloth. A crook makes an appointment with her intending to rob her but curiosity
gets the best of him and he demands to see her face. May Dusa is Medusa and the
guy gets stoned! Reprinted from TALES TO ASTONISH #32.
“On with the Dance!”
Writer: Stan Lee.
Art: Russ Heath. Colors: ? Letters: ?
Synopsis: Nasty
selfish dancer Stella Scheele wants the lead in the show and threatens her
rival at gunpoint; the rival turns out to be a witch who curses Stella so that
she will never stop dancing until she wastes away and dies! Reprinted from
MENACE #2.
“The Sweet Old
Ladies”
Writer: Stan Lee.
Pencils: Dick Ayers. Inks: Ernie Bache. Colors: ? Letters: Dic Ayers.
Synopsis: A killer
on the run hides out in a small town where he forces his way into the home of
two sweet old ladies, demanding a meal; the two old ladies turn out to be
witches who throw him in their cookpot! Reprinted from ASTONISHING #18.
“Vampire at the
Window”
Writer: Stan Lee.
Art: Hy Rosen. Colors: ? Letters: ?
Synopsis: A man who
spies a vampire at his window calls on a private eye to protect him; the
vampire is real and the private eye turns out to be one too! Reprinted from
ASTONISHING #18.
“Drive of Death”
Writer and artist
unknown.
Synopsis: A driver
hits and kills a man late at night. He pushes the car with the corpse aboard
into a lake. Escaping through the woods, he is picked up by his ghostly victim
who drives the car into the lake to kill him back! Reprinted from ASTONISHING
#17.