Tuesday, September 20, 2022

"The Vampire Murders"


 "Tonight the vampire may walk again, unless we prefer to think that the skeleton parades these premises. Whichever the case, we shall learn the facts - of murder!" - The  Shadow 

A dying sigh of wind circled Haldrew Hall, forbidding mansion of death, and echoed a whisper that gave a mirthfully, sibilant laugh. Could The Shadow keep his promise that he, strange master of darkness, would take a hand in solving the weird riddle of Haldrew Hall, after mere humans had finished their speculations on the subject of a roving vampire that had vanished without a rattle of its bones?  - The Shadow Wiki

Here's a bit of trivia, courtesy of The Shadow Wiki: 

The character Varney Haldrew is named after the original "Varney, the Vampire" who was featured in a Victorian era, Gothic-horror story, Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer. "Varney" became a major influence on later vampire fiction, most notably the renowned novel Dracula (1897), by Bram Stoker. Many of today's basic concepts of a vampire, fangs, punctured necks and hypnotic powers, originated from the Varney pamphlets that were published from 1845 to 1847. The original "musty, leather covered book" is mentioned in The Shadow story.

A simplified version of this novel appeared as one of the tales in Shadow Comics less than a year later.


No comments:

Post a Comment