Excerpt from The Primadonna a Sequel to Fair MargaretWhen the accident happened, Cordova was singing the mad scene in Lucia for the last time in that season, and she had never sung it better. The Bride of Lammermoor is the greatest love-story ever written, and it was nothing short of desecration to make a libretto of it; but so far as the last act is concerned the opera certainly conveys the impression that the heroine is a raving lunatic. Only a crazy woman could express feeling in such an unusual way.Cordova\'s face was nothing but a mask of powder, in which her handsome brown eyes would have looked like two holes if she had not kept them half shut under the heavily whitened lids; her hands were chalked too, and they were like plaster casts of hands, cleverly jointed at the wrists. She wore a garment which was supposed to be a nightdress, which resembled a very expensive modem shroud, and which was evidently put on over a good many other things. There was a deal of lace on it, which fluttered when she made her hands shake to accompany each trill, and all this really contributed to the general impression of insanity.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Views: 113
Nora knows the secrets behind the horrifying things happening on Fear Street and reveals the dark legacy that marked the start of the terror three hundred years earlier, when a young girl was burned at the stake. Views: 112
The graffiti spread through London that summer like
wildfire. Its population carried on with life as usual in one of the richest
cities on the planet. But beneath the surface there is change. Men and women are
going missing without trace. What has the old African preacher seen emerging
from undergrowth near the river? Is this the essence of evil encountered long
ago? Ben Ashton is an investigative writer. When he's commissioned to find out
who is responsible for the 'Vampire Sharkz' graffiti he thinks his luck has
changed for the better. Little does he guess how wrong he is?
***
From Publishers Weekly
Clark's efforts at an original variation on the vampire
theme yield a novel whose plot is farfetched even by the standards of
supernatural fiction. Journalist Ben Ashton is researching the origins of a
graffiti tag scrawled around London warning of "Vampire Sharkz" when he
encounters a real vampire in the person of unrequited flame April Connor. April
is one of a rapidly growing pack of vampirized mortals doing the bidding of
Edshu, an African trickster god who, for reasons murkily elaborated, is using
London, and his antagonism of Ben specifically, as a means of testing the moral
mettle of all humanity. Much mayhem ensues before Ben discovers that the only
effective way to eliminate the vampire scourge is through the power of positive
thinking. Clark (Darkness Demands) keeps the action brisk and the gore
pulsing, but the novel's events are so contrived that they have to be explained
for the reader's benefit in windy oratory passages from an eccentric displaced
African preacher, who's the only one who can make any sense out of them. This is
passable pulp, but anemic fare as far as vampire fiction goes.
***
From Booklist
Here's a treat for horror fans. When mysterious graffiti
starts appearing all over London, magazine writer Ben Ashton is hired to write a
story about the person behind it. Little does Ben know that the graffiti
("Vampire Sharkz. They're coming to get you") isn't just pointless vandalism.
Like Anne Rice in her early vampire novels, Clark really gets under the skin of
the modern vampire; rarely has the psychological trauma of transforming from
mortal to immortal been rendered so movingly, and rarely has the vampire
bloodlust been so vividly described. Clark, familiar to some fans of horror
fiction but largely unknown by everybody else, deserves a much wider audience.
This thrilling, terrifying, and deeply affecting story might just be the one
that captures it for him.
***
From Kirkus Reviews
A rapacious breed of vampire inundates London under the
direction of an African trickster god in this horrorfest set against an urban
backdrop.
Some smart-alecky graffiti artist is marking London with
the creepy message, "Vampire Sharkz: They're coming to get you," and bright
young writer Ben Ashton's editor at glossy Click This magazine gives him 11 days
to get to the bottom of what seems to be a hot story. His research takes Ben to
visit the apparently nutty old African preacher Elmo Kigoma, who's seated in a
boat perched on top of a pole along the Thames. The end of the world is coming,
Elmo warns passersby: From his vantage point during the night, he has witnessed
raving gangs of savage creatures emerging from the river, attacking bikers and
pedestrians at random, sucking their blood greedily, then regurgitating their
feast back into the victims, who in turn become vampires. Ben doesn't believe a
word of it… until he sees for himself. Elmo tells him the vampires are acting on
the mischievous prodding of African trickster god Edshu, who tests humans
periodically by pitting them against each other. When Ben hears of the attack on
his old friend (and unrequited love) April Connor, who then disappears, he moves
into action. He enlists the help of both Elmo and April's fiance, wealthy
shipping scion Trajan, to identify the vampires and locate the island in the
Thames where they find shelter. Clark dramatizes April's ghastly plight on the
vampire island; eventually, she and another bloodsucker decide they have to
return to London proper and spread the news of the amazing benefits of drinking
blood. Descriptions of ripping flesh and dripping liquids become repetitive,
though Elmo's resolution of the vampire crisis through New Age-y visualization
techniques is clever, even endearing.
Plenty of gore, but pretty routine.
***
"Without doubt the best horror author the UK can
currently claim as its own."
-SFX
"Simon Clark has what it takes to be another Stephen
King."
-Hellnotes Views: 112
This was the most popular novel of Radcliffe's time and Radcliffe's portrayal of her heroine's inner life raised the Gothic romance to a new level. The atmosphere of fear and the gripping plot continue to thrill today. This is the story of the orphaned Emily St Aubert who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the Castle of Udolpho by her aunt's new husband, Montoni. Here she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors which threaten to overwhelm her. Views: 112
Amazon.com ReviewMultiple time-lines and alternate branching destinies are more often associated with science fiction than horror, but in this first novel by an African-American woman, a man who has cheated death finds that his ability to walk through doorways in time brings dark forces into his life. Due employs a lucid, almost stately, prose style to evoke an escalating sense of menace toward a middle-class American family with connections to Ghana. Dreams? Madness? Ghosts? A racist killer? What is happening to these people? From Publishers WeeklyAlthough set largely in the black and Hispanic communities of Florida's Dade County, Due's first novel, a skillful blend of horror and the supernatural, poses questions about life and identity that transcend racial boundaries. Thirty years after he was saved from drowning by the beloved grandmother who died in his place, Hilton James has built a secure middle-class life for his African American family and saved a few lives himself through his social work in Miami's inner city. His comfortable existence is shattered when his wife, a judge, begins receiving racist death threats and he starts having nightmares of alternate life experiences so authentic that they begin to loosen his grip on reality. Is Hilton a latent schizophrenic, as his therapist thinks? Or are the dreams and death threats both signs of a cosmic scheme in which Hilton is meant to accept the death that he eluded before? The mystical explanation Due posits for Hilton's predicament, involving "travelers," or persons who unconsciously use dreams as "doorways" to elude fate and live in "the between" world, is not nearly as disturbing as her depiction of Hilton's gradual decline from caring husband and father to a man who lashes out in frustration against those he loves. Her sympathetic and credible portrait of Hilton as a man discomposed by his encounter with the unknown compensates for the novel's underdeveloped supporting cast. Due also subtly suggests the horrifying thought that pervades the story but is left tactfully unspoken: if each of us creates our own reality, then ultimately we are all alone in the world. $25,000 ad/ promo; author tour. U.K. and translation rights, HarperCollins; other rights, Marie Brown Associates. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 112
This custom-made eBook was scanned, assembled, proofed, ref-romatted and converted by FLYBOY707.The source for this eBook was the original 1981, first edition, first print hardback book.I took great care to retain the original format of the hardback as much as possible, while creating a perfectly formatted eBook for your eReader.As such, there were limitations of both the hardback and thos eimposed by an ereader that I had to overcome.In the end, I velieve this to be 99.9% perfectly formatted for an eReader.Finally, my main intent was to create this RARE book into an accessible form for all to read!Enjoy!flyboy707 Views: 112
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. Views: 112
