Sherlock Holmes vs. the Vampires

An Improbable Truth: The Paranormal Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a new anthology edited by A.C. Thompson arriving October 27th. Within its pages, 14 authors share their supernatural stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. What collection of mythical mysteries would be complete without a vampire story? I took it upon myself to ensure that the bloodsuckers would be represented.

In my short story, A Voice in the Blood, I set Holmes and Watson headlong into the case of a mysterious murder, missing memories, and mesmerized manipulations. As this anthology is about the paranormal, the killer is actually a vampire and not an elaborate ruse. (No Scooby-gang unmaskings here!) Here’s just a small taste.

The woman bared her teeth and licked her lips as she crouched preparing to leap our way. Two men emerged from around a corner running towards her. One stabbed the woman from behind through her chest with a piece of kindling, while the other wielded a blade, slashing orange in the light of the new bonfires. The woman’s head fell from her body which collapsed lifeless to the ground.

It was only when the men spoke that I realized who had saved us. “Lestrade,” said Sherlock, “take this creature to the bonfire. I shall see to the victim.”

An Improbable Truth is full of stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson encountering supernatural events and creatures. Even still it might shock some readers to see Holmes (and Lestrade!) felling a vampire. I contend that Sherlock is no fool and his mind is open to all possibilities as well as being versed in folklore. Granted, he would attempt at first to find any logical, scientific reason for an encounter, but as the irrefutable evidence piles up, even he would agree to accept the improbable truth.

I have a particular fondness for Victorian gaslight mysteries whether they feature Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and beyond. Sadly, the only canon tale by Arthur Conan Doyle in which Holmes and Watson take a case to investigate a vampire is The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. This was a stirring case, however the vampiric attacks have a mundane and rational explanation rather than a supernatural one.

Other Holmes adventures referenced characters who were vampiric in nature but not supernatural bloodsuckers, such as The Adventure of the Illustrious Client and The Adventure of the Three Gables. Those tales have been collected in VAMPIRE STORIES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, along with stories Doyle wrote which do not feature the famous detective. While it may be a stretch to connect all of the stories in that anthology to vampires, the stories are intriguing and one can see the influence of the many different types of vampires in the tales. The real jewel of the anthology, however, is the bibliography that catalogs the vast number of pastiches that bring Holmes, Watson, and even Mycroft face-to-face with supernatural vampire fiends, including Dracula himself.

Quite possibly the greatest of all Victorian vampire mashups is the epic alternate historical novel Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. This tale set during the Ripper murders of 1888 has Queen Victoria married to Count Dracula and London plunged into darkness. While Sherlock is sequestered away, Mycroft and fellows of his Diogenes Club attempt to solve the Whitechapel murders, along with other luminaries such as Dr. Jekyll. I dare say that if anyone wants to cash in on the steampunk craze and make up for the cinematic failure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, then Hollywood should crack open a copy of Anno Dracula and start filming!

Another classic of the genre is Sherlock Vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman. This is the template of most tales featuring the two most famous characters of Victorian literature. It plays out essentially as a retelling of Bram Stoker’s DRACULA with Sherlock investigating the mysterious schooner Demeter running aground, and following the case to its inevitable conclusion.

The inimitable Fred Saberhagen gave us two collaborations between Dracula and Holmes, but in these, Dracula helps with the cases Holmes in investigating.

The Holmes-Dracula File is a pastiche that dares to shed light on the mysterious Giant Rat of Sumatra, mentioned in Doyle’s The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. When a plot is discovered by Holmes to unleash a plague of rats at Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, he seeks help from someone also known for their plagues — and ability to control rats — Count Dracula.

Seance for a Vampire by Fred Saberhagen is possibly the most original crossover. It deals with Holmes being asked to expose a fraudulent séance, only to discover that the dead person being contacted is now actually a vampire. Holmes and Watson once again turn to Dracula for help.

I’ll wrap up by discussing two of my favorite comic book crossovers of Sherlock and Dracula. Victorian Undead II by Ian Edginton follows a similar trope as Sherlock Vs. Dracula but brings its own twists and turns, plus the artwork is full of ghastly gaslight goodness.

In Scarlet in Gaslight by Martin Powell & Seppo Makinen, Professor Moriarty brings Dracula to London in order to finally defeat his foe Sherlock Holmes. Moriarty gets more than he bargained for, however. Eventually Van Helsing intervenes and helps Sherlock bring an end to both villains.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Shaurette is a goth-geek and fan of vampires ever since seeing Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula” as a young child. He is the author of the novella, LILITH'S LOVE, and editor of the vampire anthology, FRESH BLOOD. Former host and producer of the Out of the Coffin podcast, he now writes and produces a serialized audio penny dreadful for the HorrorAddicts.net podcast, entitled BLACK JACK, which centers around Jack the Ripper.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shaurette.Dan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanS42

Blog(s): http://www.DanShaurette.com

Google +: http://plus.google.com/u/0/107654335561504668072/about

Tumblr:

YouTube/Instagram/other:  https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/

EXCERPT From “A Voice in the Blood” by Dan Shaurette

Billy laughed the peculiar cackle of a lunatic. “I’m not the one who needs protection, but you’re too late. She already belongs to him.”

Chills ran down my spine. “Who do you mean? Is this her?” I showed Barker a photograph of Mary and me from our wedding day.

“Poor, sweet lass. I dinna get her name, but yeah, that looks like her. Your wife, is she?”

“Yes. Her name is Mary Watson. Where is she?” I demanded, grabbing the man by the collar. Sherlock and Lestrade both lay calming hands on my shoulder and I backed off.

He looked around nervously as if someone else was watching or listening. “I’ll not speak his name or whereabouts aloud, but give me a pen and paper, I will write down what I can.”

Lestrade fetched a fountain pen and a piece of paper from a nearby desk and presented it to Barker. Billy wrote in earnest at first, then he stopped and started to sob. His hands trembled as he mumbled something whispered to himself.

Before anyone could stop him, he slashed at his own throat with the nib of the pen. Blood gushed from his carotid artery and sprayed all over himself, his paper, and me as I was the closest to him.

The small room was thrown into utter chaos. Gregson ran out of the room to get help. Barker slumped over as he lost consciousness. I applied pressure to the wound on his neck. It would do no good, however, as within moments he was dead.

The note Barker had written was now smeared with blood and ink. Holmes ignored the gory scene and took the note to a window to catch better light so he could examine it. Before I could chastise him for his lack of decorum, Holmes declared, “The only words I can discern presently are ‘Master’, ‘Porlock’, and ‘Restiturm’.”

BUY LINKS:

Mocha Memoirs:  http://mochamemoirspress.com/store/

 

Amazon: (preorder) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016XGVTS6?keywords=An%20Improbable%20Truth&qid=1445444517&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Shortlink:  http://goo.gl/7FMUJO

2015 October Frights Blog Hop Winners....

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2015 October Frights Blog Hop.


The Winners are listed below.

Thanks for hopping.

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New Release: All Hallows Reaping

It's here. It's here. Halloween and Reapers. I'm so excited to be published with Changeling. Check this out and enjoy.

Menage, Bisexual and More, Holiday Themes, Dark Desire

Book Summary
Lydia Tempris had a brush with death and returned to tell the tale. Instead of seeing a white light, she was escorted by two cloaked figures. Months later she happens upon them once more, but before she can ask them any questions, they disappear.

Kiernan and Joshua are lovers and grim reapers. Together they escort certain souls to the other side. Whenever Lydia shows up, they both have a gut twisting reaction to her. One day, she catches them off guard. Kiernan wants nothing to do with her, but Joshua has been intrigued with her since day one. Defying his lover, Joshua visits her and answers her questions only to find himself attracted to her. Kiernan tries to fight his feelings for Lydia, but in the end he realizes he needs her in his life.

With Halloween approaching, Lydia finds herself falling for both grim reapers. Her best friend has been cooking something up that will shatter everything Lydia knows. Kiernan and Joshua will do anything to save the woman they love even risk their very souls.

BUY LINK

EXCERPT:


"Are you reading the obituaries again?"

Kiernan didn't bother to look up. A tingle started in his left index finger. "She's here again, isn't she?"

The chair in front of him scraped on the concrete floor as Joshua pulled it out. His partner set their two cups on the wobbling table. Josh pulled the paper down so Kiernan had to peer into Joshua's deep green eyes. It didn't matter how hard a day he was having or how tough a collection went, when he looked into the other man's eyes Kiernan found peace. His partner smiled and the knots in Kiernan's stomach unwound.

"Yes. She's at the window. I'd say she's trying to decide if she should come in or not. Why do you keep avoiding her? She was pleasant enough when we took her. It's clear she wants something from us."

Kiernan folded the paper and set it on the table. "If we engage with one of our former clients, then we're confirming the myth grim reapers exist. How do we tell her, yes we were the ones who took your soul to the other side when you were suddenly swiped from our grasp because..."

"Ahh... Kiernan..."

"What?"

Joshua pointed to the side of the table next to him. Kiernan gritted his teeth, sensing the woman next to him. He didn't have to move his head to acknowledge her. "She's standing right behind me, isn't she?"

"Yes."

Kiernan took a sip of his coffee and made a face because there wasn't enough sugar in the milky brown liquid.

"I'm so happy to have finally caught up with the two of you."

He cringed at her cheerful voice. Kiernan finally turned and looked at her. The excited light in her eyes only meant trouble. She clutched a bag to her chest as though it held her greatest treasure. It was too late for them to blend in with the crowd or disappear from sight. She had hunted them down. The first time, he thought it was a coincidence, but it kept happening. As it turned out, it took him awhile to figure out the tingle in his left index finger was a warning sign. Right now his finger cramped and his stomach churned.

Kiernan pushed the pain aside, and focused on her. The sun accented the red highlights in her chocolate brown hair. It fell in waves past her shoulders. Her skin was tan, but not overly so. It gave her a healthy glow. However, the lines etched around her eyes showed she had been fretting.

Something about her struck him as rather odd. He couldn't place what the exact thing was and he was annoyed. "What do you want?"

"Where are your manners, Ki?" Joshua pushed out a chair for her.

"Thank you." She slid into the seat between the two of them, holding her bag in her lap.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Uh... you don't have to..."

"Nonsense, what do you want?" Joshua placed a hand on her arm.

Kiernan glared at his partner, who didn't seem to be fazed by the dirty look he flashed him. Instead, his smile widened. He's doing it on purpose. He wants me to talk to her.

"Mocha please. Heavy on the chocolate. Thank you."

"Of course. Ki, do you want anything else?"

"I'm fine," he growled. The table creaked and his hands hurt. He was clutching the table's edge so tightly it was close to snapping. Kiernan let out a breath and released the edge. He rubbed his hands together and focused on the woman. He had never paid much attention to her. Now, after all this time of following them, she had managed to sneak up on them.

They had always evaded her because it was easier. At this moment, she had them pinned down. I might as well interact with her. Joshua will have my head if I don't. "What's your name?"

"Lydia." She stuck out her hand.

He studied her perfectly painted, dark purple nails. At least the color was decent. "Nice to meet you. What do you want?"

"Right." Lydia pulled back her hand and forced a smile. "I had hoped you would look something over for me and maybe give me input; explain a few things about what happened to me that night."

"What night are you referring to?" Kiernan wasn't about to admit anything.

Her mouth screwed up in a scowl, deepening the lines around her eyes. And when he looked into those golden brown eyes he could see they were haunted with the questions she posed to him now. "Don't be coy. I know you and your friend were there the day I was electrocuted. I remember you removed me from my kitchen and brought me outside. My house was on fire. The electrical pole had squished another man whom the paramedics were assisting. However, your friend had the same man standing next to him. It's not normal to have someone be in two places at once." Her voice kept rising the longer she talked, drawing unwanted attention to them.

"Keep your voice down." He took her elbow, and shushed her when he noticed the stares from the other patrons.

"Don't want me drawing attention to you? Think I'm crazy? I can make a scene."

Kiernan took in a deep breath. A scene was not something he needed. He looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. I'd best answer her questions before she riles up the whole place. "Look, if I talk to you this once, will you leave me and my partner alone?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Josh set a cup before her and sat back down. "I had them add more chocolate. I'm Joshua. Kiernan is the unfriendly grump over there." The woman's frown turned into a magnificent smile that almost changed Kiernan's opinion of her.

"I'm Lydia Tempris. You pulled me from the fire in my house after I was electrocuted. Well, he did," she gestured with her chin toward Kiernan. "But I remember you were also there." She grabbed the cup and took a small swig.

Kiernan sipped his coffee. Lydia pulled out a few sheets of paper from her bag. "Is this your manifesto about your journey to the other side and how you saw a great long tunnel? Blah, blah, blah?" He chuckled at the ideas humans had about death. They wrapped the natural transition up in mystery, blanketed death in ritual when it was as simple as keeping the souls moving from one place to the next. He was a facilitator, a glorified babysitter. Their list of souls, when they had one, held about fifty souls at a time. It took a day or two to transition all of them. When he and Joshua weren't punching the clock, they had a respite. This disruption had better be worth it because she was interrupting his alone time with the man he loved.

"I was there," Joshua admitted.

Lydia pulled out a pen to take notes as Joshua talked. "So were you the ones who called Emergency Services? Did you bring the two of us to the hospital?"

"What makes you think that we called the paramedics for two crispy critters?" Kiernan scoffed.

"I was electrocuted and the other guy was squished. We weren't crispy."

Kiernan shook his head. "Okay. Fine. I admit we called so the fire department could bash in your door and pull your lifeless body from the charred remains of your kitchen. I'm surprised you didn't come out as a crispy critter. They did tell you, you died, right?"

Her brows furrowed. The wheels turned in her head. Lydia sipped at her coffee, but her hand shook so much it sloshed over the side of the cup and onto her fingers. She didn't even seem to notice. "Yes. They said it was a miracle they revived me because I was clinically dead."

"What do you remember?" Joshua glared at Kiernan.

"I watched the ambulance come. We talked about it and then we walked along the street until the mist engulfed us. Before I knew it, we were in a graveyard with really old stones. You were telling the other guy to keep moving because he was twitchy and you got all pissy because I stopped. I felt something."

Kiernan rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. You felt a jolt because they were working on you. Before I could answer any more of your incessant questions you vanished. Popping back into your body. You woke up in the hospital and said 'Oh shit!' You decided to take some time to reevaluate your life. Maybe you embarked on a vision quest to discover the meaning of it all because you saw the light, felt the peace of the environment you were in, and by some fluke you happen to recall you were dead. Lucky you."

"Wow. You're an ass, you know that?" Lydia gathered up her papers and shoved them back into her bag. "I wanted some clarification about what happened to me. Just my luck I'd get a dick for a grim reaper. I assume that is what you are. I'm not dense, and I'm not crazy."

"Yes. We are grim reapers, Lydia." Joshua tried to smooth her ruffled feathers.

She held up her hand. "I don't know how you put up with him." Lydia left the table and walked out of the door.

A wave of relief flooded Kiernan as she climbed into her car and drove away. Good riddance. He drank his coffee. He had never tasted better. He went to pick up the newspaper again when he felt a sharp pain on his shin. "Ouch," he cried out.

"You are an ass," Josh declared.

"What?"

"She came here to sort out what happened to her."

"She's an annoying mortal. Female at that."

"I don't care. How often do we talk with or have them come seek us out?"




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Coming Friday from Changeling Press: All Hallows Reaping & October Frights Blog Hop

Look what I have coming out this week with Changeling Press?
I'm so excited to have this new book come out with them.

Check out the Excerpt below and don't forget to keep on hopping in the October Frights 2015 Blog Hop. 

Menage, Bisexual and More, Holiday Themes, Dark Desire

Book Summary
Lydia Tempris had a brush with death and returned to tell the tale. Instead of seeing a white light, she was escorted by two cloaked figures. Months later she happens upon them once more, but before she can ask them any questions, they disappear.
Kiernan and Joshua are lovers and grim reapers. Together they escort certain souls to the other side. Whenever Lydia shows up, they both have a gut twisting reaction to her. One day, she catches them off guard. Kiernan wants nothing to do with her, but Joshua has been intrigued with her since day one. Defying his lover, Joshua visits her and answers her questions only to find himself attracted to her. Kiernan tries to fight his feelings for Lydia, but in the end he realizes he needs her in his life.
With Halloween approaching, Lydia finds herself falling for both grim reapers. Her best friend has been cooking something up that will shatter everything Lydia knows. Kiernan and Joshua will do anything to save the woman they love even risk their very souls.

EXCERPT:


"Are you reading the obituaries again?"

Kiernan didn't bother to look up. A tingle started in his left index finger. "She's here again, isn't she?"

The chair in front of him scraped on the concrete floor as Joshua pulled it out. His partner set their two cups on the wobbling table. Josh pulled the paper down so Kiernan had to peer into Joshua's deep green eyes. It didn't matter how hard a day he was having or how tough a collection went, when he looked into the other man's eyes Kiernan found peace. His partner smiled and the knots in Kiernan's stomach unwound.

"Yes. She's at the window. I'd say she's trying to decide if she should come in or not. Why do you keep avoiding her? She was pleasant enough when we took her. It's clear she wants something from us."

Kiernan folded the paper and set it on the table. "If we engage with one of our former clients, then we're confirming the myth grim reapers exist. How do we tell her, yes we were the ones who took your soul to the other side when you were suddenly swiped from our grasp because..."

"Ahh... Kiernan..."

"What?"

Joshua pointed to the side of the table next to him. Kiernan gritted his teeth, sensing the woman next to him. He didn't have to move his head to acknowledge her. "She's standing right behind me, isn't she?"

"Yes."

Kiernan took a sip of his coffee and made a face because there wasn't enough sugar in the milky brown liquid.

"I'm so happy to have finally caught up with the two of you."

He cringed at her cheerful voice. Kiernan finally turned and looked at her. The excited light in her eyes only meant trouble. She clutched a bag to her chest as though it held her greatest treasure. It was too late for them to blend in with the crowd or disappear from sight. She had hunted them down. The first time, he thought it was a coincidence, but it kept happening. As it turned out, it took him awhile to figure out the tingle in his left index finger was a warning sign. Right now his finger cramped and his stomach churned.

Kiernan pushed the pain aside, and focused on her. The sun accented the red highlights in her chocolate brown hair. It fell in waves past her shoulders. Her skin was tan, but not overly so. It gave her a healthy glow. However, the lines etched around her eyes showed she had been fretting.

Something about her struck him as rather odd. He couldn't place what the exact thing was and he was annoyed. "What do you want?"

"Where are your manners, Ki?" Joshua pushed out a chair for her.

"Thank you." She slid into the seat between the two of them, holding her bag in her lap.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Uh... you don't have to..."

"Nonsense, what do you want?" Joshua placed a hand on her arm.

Kiernan glared at his partner, who didn't seem to be fazed by the dirty look he flashed him. Instead, his smile widened. He's doing it on purpose. He wants me to talk to her.

"Mocha please. Heavy on the chocolate. Thank you."

"Of course. Ki, do you want anything else?"

"I'm fine," he growled. The table creaked and his hands hurt. He was clutching the table's edge so tightly it was close to snapping. Kiernan let out a breath and released the edge. He rubbed his hands together and focused on the woman. He had never paid much attention to her. Now, after all this time of following them, she had managed to sneak up on them.

They had always evaded her because it was easier. At this moment, she had them pinned down. I might as well interact with her. Joshua will have my head if I don't. "What's your name?"

"Lydia." She stuck out her hand.

He studied her perfectly painted, dark purple nails. At least the color was decent. "Nice to meet you. What do you want?"

"Right." Lydia pulled back her hand and forced a smile. "I had hoped you would look something over for me and maybe give me input; explain a few things about what happened to me that night."

"What night are you referring to?" Kiernan wasn't about to admit anything.

Her mouth screwed up in a scowl, deepening the lines around her eyes. And when he looked into those golden brown eyes he could see they were haunted with the questions she posed to him now. "Don't be coy. I know you and your friend were there the day I was electrocuted. I remember you removed me from my kitchen and brought me outside. My house was on fire. The electrical pole had squished another man whom the paramedics were assisting. However, your friend had the same man standing next to him. It's not normal to have someone be in two places at once." Her voice kept rising the longer she talked, drawing unwanted attention to them.

"Keep your voice down." He took her elbow, and shushed her when he noticed the stares from the other patrons.

"Don't want me drawing attention to you? Think I'm crazy? I can make a scene."

Kiernan took in a deep breath. A scene was not something he needed. He looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. I'd best answer her questions before she riles up the whole place. "Look, if I talk to you this once, will you leave me and my partner alone?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Josh set a cup before her and sat back down. "I had them add more chocolate. I'm Joshua. Kiernan is the unfriendly grump over there." The woman's frown turned into a magnificent smile that almost changed Kiernan's opinion of her.

"I'm Lydia Tempris. You pulled me from the fire in my house after I was electrocuted. Well, he did," she gestured with her chin toward Kiernan. "But I remember you were also there." She grabbed the cup and took a small swig.

Kiernan sipped his coffee. Lydia pulled out a few sheets of paper from her bag. "Is this your manifesto about your journey to the other side and how you saw a great long tunnel? Blah, blah, blah?" He chuckled at the ideas humans had about death. They wrapped the natural transition up in mystery, blanketed death in ritual when it was as simple as keeping the souls moving from one place to the next. He was a facilitator, a glorified babysitter. Their list of souls, when they had one, held about fifty souls at a time. It took a day or two to transition all of them. When he and Joshua weren't punching the clock, they had a respite. This disruption had better be worth it because she was interrupting his alone time with the man he loved.

"I was there," Joshua admitted.

Lydia pulled out a pen to take notes as Joshua talked. "So were you the ones who called Emergency Services? Did you bring the two of us to the hospital?"

"What makes you think that we called the paramedics for two crispy critters?" Kiernan scoffed.

"I was electrocuted and the other guy was squished. We weren't crispy."

Kiernan shook his head. "Okay. Fine. I admit we called so the fire department could bash in your door and pull your lifeless body from the charred remains of your kitchen. I'm surprised you didn't come out as a crispy critter. They did tell you, you died, right?"

Her brows furrowed. The wheels turned in her head. Lydia sipped at her coffee, but her hand shook so much it sloshed over the side of the cup and onto her fingers. She didn't even seem to notice. "Yes. They said it was a miracle they revived me because I was clinically dead."

"What do you remember?" Joshua glared at Kiernan.

"I watched the ambulance come. We talked about it and then we walked along the street until the mist engulfed us. Before I knew it, we were in a graveyard with really old stones. You were telling the other guy to keep moving because he was twitchy and you got all pissy because I stopped. I felt something."

Kiernan rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes. You felt a jolt because they were working on you. Before I could answer any more of your incessant questions you vanished. Popping back into your body. You woke up in the hospital and said 'Oh shit!' You decided to take some time to reevaluate your life. Maybe you embarked on a vision quest to discover the meaning of it all because you saw the light, felt the peace of the environment you were in, and by some fluke you happen to recall you were dead. Lucky you."

"Wow. You're an ass, you know that?" Lydia gathered up her papers and shoved them back into her bag. "I wanted some clarification about what happened to me. Just my luck I'd get a dick for a grim reaper. I assume that is what you are. I'm not dense, and I'm not crazy."

"Yes. We are grim reapers, Lydia." Joshua tried to smooth her ruffled feathers.

She held up her hand. "I don't know how you put up with him." Lydia left the table and walked out of the door.

A wave of relief flooded Kiernan as she climbed into her car and drove away. Good riddance. He drank his coffee. He had never tasted better. He went to pick up the newspaper again when he felt a sharp pain on his shin. "Ouch," he cried out.

"You are an ass," Josh declared.

"What?"

"She came here to sort out what happened to her."

"She's an annoying mortal. Female at that."

"I don't care. How often do we talk with or have them come seek us out?"

 

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2015 OCTOBER FRIGHTS BLOG HOP & PRIZES

Welcome to the 2015 October Frights Blog Hop Tour.
Below is a little tidbit to scare you and intrigue you.  If you stay long enough, you can even be entered to win a prize.

Death’s Dance Blurb:

Being a psychic, you would think talking to the dead was a walk in the park. However, it’s not always that simple. The hooded specter haunting me is one I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid. One day, he appeared in my bedroom mirror. Good. Evil. I don’t know what his true intentions are.

Enter Jackson, ghost hunting show host extraordinaire, and my ex, to save me from the big bad ghost.

From there…well…it’s been a world wind of complications. My house burnt down. I’m being stalked by an ancient evil and gotten myself back into the world of being a ghost hunting psychic. Jackson dragged me, along with a few other psychics, to a ghost town wiped off the map called Death’s Dance.

From there things went from bad to worse.

EXCERPT:

The rolling fog on the monitor stopped. The screen lightened enough so I could see lines appearing on the surface as if someone had breathed on it and was writing with their finger. I waited to hear the squeaking of skin on the glass, but there was only silence. It took a moment, but the letters formed into words.

            Death.

            “Are you death?”

            There was a pause. The atmosphere weighed down the room. Watcher.

            “Okay. You’re a watcher. Do you watch me in my dreams? Is that you?”

            Yes.

            “Were you in my mirror this morning?”

            No.

            A shiver ran down my back. It could be lying to me. Not all ghosts told the truth. I wasn’t about to put my trust in something that was coming through over my computer screen. Then again, I wasn’t going to open myself to it and see if it wanted to use me for a channel either.

            “So what kind of a watcher are you?” Some of my clients spoke about ghosts who hung around their houses. They were dark shapes who were just there. One woman had called me concerned about a lingering entity. When I had gone to her house and asked the phantasm what it wanted, it said that it was just monitoring her. It observed her and didn’t get involved with her daily life. Was this the same kind of being who was contacting me now?

            The haze cleared even more. The mood in the room was a little higher. Maybe he wasn’t going to answer my question. Maybe he was thinking about what to say.

            “Why are you in my dreams?”

            Protect. Guardian.

            A strong compulsion to go over to the computer gripped me. What did the entity mean that it was my guardian? How was it protecting me? What did it really want with me? There had to be an answer for that. I reached out tentatively and touched the computer screen. It was cold underneath my fingers. When I pulled away, my fingers didn’t stick to the glass. They weren’t being held there by some unseen force, which calmed me a little. When I felt the pressure of a finger pressing on the screen and this time heard the distinct screech of a finger wiping over the screen, my heart stilled. The whole world froze. I swallowed hard and tried to catch my breath. I glanced over my shoulder to see if there was someone in the room with me. No one was there. Biting my lip, I put my finger over the words being written. An electric jolt ran up my arm, but I was still free to move my hand away.

            “Why are you protecting me?” I sat down in the desk chair before the computer. It slid a little ways away from the desk. The mist cleared on the monitor. In the distance, I saw a figure in the dark cloak that I had dreamed about. He stared at me, but he made no move to come any closer. A small breeze wound through the room that jingled the wind chimes on my bookcase. I had them there because every time I entered and left the room it was said that fairies would be drawn to the melody of the chimes. That and the dinging pleased me. It helped me remember my grandmother because she had loved the tinkling sound so much. I glanced behind me and saw my hematite sphere rock from its base and fall on the floor. It landed with a loud thud, rolled across the floor, and hit my foot. I reached down and picked it up, hoping it wasn’t damaged because it had fallen from the second shelf of my bookcase. The orb was heavy and cool to the touch. There was no blemish to it. My reflection was distorted in its round exterior.

            “What does this have to do with anything?”

            See. Protection.

            I stared into the stone’s reflective surface. There was movement behind me. I jumped when I saw a hooded figure. I looked behind me for good measure and no one was there. I glanced back at the sphere and he was still there. I checked the computer screen and saw thewords were still there. Focusing back on the ball, I tried to sense the figure that was shown in the hematite. Sometimes even the psychic didn’t pick up on everything.

            “Are you telling me the hematite can make me see what’s coming and you’re offering me protection?”

            The hooded figure nodded.

            “I don’t understand. Why are you warning me? Who or what was in the mirror? Why are you in my dreams? Telling me you’re watching me doesn’t tell me anything. And for all I know you could be stringing me along and tricking me.”

            Another rush of air whooshed by me. This time I felt the strong presence that was in the room. It was right before me. I glanced in the gray sphere and saw him standing next to me. My cloaked visitor lifted his arm toward me, but it was still contained in the folds of his tattered robe. He pointed at me. I remained frozen to the seat, waiting to see what would happen. It seemed we were having a staring contest while I waited for him to respond.

            The keys on the keyboard started clicking. I glanced behind me and saw words being typed on the screen.

            Watch. Protect. Mission. Graveyard. Tree. Don’t go Dance.

            “The town that Jackson was telling me about. You don’t want me to go to Death’s Dance?” I glanced in the hematite ball and the figure nodded.

            “Why don’t you want me to go?”

            The temperature in the room plunged again. The atmosphere thickened. It sucked the air from my lungs, and something tried to keep me in my seat. I glanced in the ball and didn’t see anything anymore. Whoever was watching over me had vanished. Loud footsteps came up the stairs toward the office. I fought the pressure, stood up, and clutched the hematite sphere. Words were flying across the screen now. They only said one thing.

Run.

Death’s Dance Buy Links:

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Bio:

Crymsyn is a National Bestselling author of over seventy paranormal romance and horror novels. Her experiences as a psychic have given her a lot of material to use in her books. She currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her hubby and her three dogs. If she’s not writing, she’s curled up with the dogs watching a good horror movie or off with friends.

To find out more about Crymsyn:

Website: http://www.ravynhart.com

Twitter: @crymsynhart

Blog: http://www.crymsynhart.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crymsynhart

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Crymsyn-Hart/e/B002BMJ1Z0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1405515745&sr=8-1

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