Tales of the Shadowmen 3: Danse Macabre

by Jean-Marc Lofficier

  “I see,” Surrisy said, and paused for a moment before adding: “My mother is not long dead...”

  “Exactly,” Temple agreed. “Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters are dying daily, very few of them unloved. Humankind has been the helpless victim of grief and tragedy since the dawn of consciousness and conscience. Now, the war has begun in earnest. You might try to make your government see that, as I shall try to do in England. It will not be easy.”

  “No,” Surrisy conceded. “It will not.”

  The next day was the first of December, but the cold relented somewhat as clouds came in from the Atlantic, bringing a steady rain to harass the roads. It did not deter Gregory Temple and Ned Knob from waiting at Miremont crossroads for the patache to Paris.

  “Since you have forgiven me for giving Suzanne’s letter to Henri, and for being on friendly terms with your daughter while you were not,” Ned Knob announced, portentously. “I shall forgive you for having me knocked over the head on the quay near London Bridge and arresting me in Jenny Paddock’s. You will remain my enemy, of course, while you remain Lord Liverpool’s lackey and spy, but you shall have my respect.”

  Temple shook his head wearily. “That is very civil of you, Mr. Knob,” he said, in a voice that sounded very unlike his own, in tone and sentiment alike. “I, in my turn, shall hope that I am not forced by circumstance to have you arrested or hit over the head again.”

  “You might be forced to do something of the sort,” Ned Knob conceded. “Some things never change, despite the fact that everything does. I suppose we ought to be grateful for that, or there would be no sense to life at all.”

  There was no denying it, so Temple contented himself with saying “True” as the patache rolled up–no more than ten minutes behind its stated time–to start them on the long journey home.

  END OF PART TWO

  Part Three of The Empire of the Necromancers, “The Return of Frankenstein,” will appear in Tales of the Shadowmen 4, and subsequent episodes will hopefully continue to appear as long as the series may endure–unless, of course, I become incapacitated before Black Coat Press does. A roman feuilleton whose episodes appear annually is inevitably different from one whose episodes are published daily or weekly, as the episodes of all the great French romans feuilletons were, but its presentation as a series of more-or-less self-contained novellas will hopefully counter some of the problems associated with the long time lapse. One of the benefits of writing alternate history is that a series can be extrapolated, along with the history, indefinitely. All literary “endings” are, in any case–as Percy Shelley probably observed while Gregory Temple was deliberately not listening to him–mere aesthetic artefacts, so it will not matter in the least how long the series might eventually turn out to be.

  Brian Stableford

  Credits

  The Heart of the Moon

  Starring:

  Doctor Omega

  Telzey Amberdon

  Captain Kronos

  Hyeronimos Grost

  Solomon Kane

  Maciste

  Baron Iscariot

  Baroness Phryne

  Count Orlok

  Introducing:

  Yvgeny

  Also Starring:

  Prince Vseslav

  And:

  Selene, the Vampire City

  Created by:

  Arnould Galopin

  James H. Schmitz

  Brian Clemens

  Brian Clemens

  Robert E. Howard

  Giovanni Pastrone

  & Gabriele d’Annunzio

  Paul Féval

  Paul Féval

  Henrik Galeen

  & F. W. Murnau

  Matthew Baugh

  Paul Féval

  Written by:

  Matthew BAUGH is a 43-year-old ordained minister who lives and works in Sedona, Arizona, with his wife Mary and two cats. He is a longtime fan of pulp fiction, cliffhanger serials, old time radio, and is the proud owner of the silent Judex serial on DVD. He has written a number of articles on lesser known pop-culture characters like Dr. Syn, Jules de Grandin and Sailor Steve Costigan for the Wold-Newton Universe Internet website. His article on Zorro was published in Myths for the Modern Age (2005). He is a regular contributor to Tales of the Shadowmen.

  Long Live Fantômas

  Starring:

  Doctor Krampft

  Enrico Gioja

  Saladin

  Clampin (a.k.a. Pistolet)

  Claudius Bombarnac

  Lord Edward Beltham

  Paterson

  Father Rodin

  Professor Moriarty

  Gurn

  Lady Maud Beltham

  Also Starring:

  Kaiser Wilhelm

  Heinrich Schliemann

  Hyppolite Marinoni

  Created by:

  Marcel Allain

  Paul Féval

  Paul Féval

  Paul Féval

  Jules Verne

  Marcel Allain

  & Pierre Souvestre

  Pierre-Alexis

  Ponson du Terrail

  Eugène Sue

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  Marcel Allain

  & Pierre Souvestre

  Marcel Allain

  & Pierre Souvestre

  Written by:

  Alfredo CASTELLI was born in Milan in 1947. He started his career in comics in 1965, when he became an editor for Kolosso and drew Scheletrino for Diabolik. A year later, he founded the popular and influential fanzine Comics Club 104. He has become best known for writing comics, which he started doing in 1967. In 1978, he adapted Allan Quatermain in comics for the magazine Supergulp. Castelli’s most famous creation is Martin Mystère, which started in 1982, drawn by Giancarlo Alessandrini. Since then, Castelli has also written issues of Dylan Dog, Zagor, Mister No and Zona X.

  Next!

  Starring:

  Barbarella

  James T. Kirk

  Ying Ko (a.k.a. The Shadow)

  Created by:

  Jean-Claude Forest

  Gene Roddenberry

  Walter Gibson

  Written by:

  Bill CUNNINGHAM is a pulp screenwriter-producer specializing in the DVD market and a regular contributor to Tales of the Shadowmen. A recognized authority and speaker on low-budget filmmaking, his web-site, www.D2DVD.blogspot.com, offers screenwriters and filmmakers useful tips and insight into the DVD industry. He is currently producing the motion pictures Stainless and The Gore Gore Gore-met with legendary exploitation filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis.

  Au Vent Mauvais...

  Starring:

  Madame Atomos

  Gaspard Zemba III

  Ozu

  Also Starring:

  Walter Cronkite

  Arthur C. Clarke

  Robert Heinlein

  Neil Armstrong

  Buzz Aldrin

  Created by:

  André Caroff

  Jean-Marc Lofficier

  based on Walter Gibson

  François Darnaudet

  Written by:

  François DARNAUDET began his writing career with the critically-acclaimed thriller Le Taxidermiste (1985), before contributing numerous short stories to a variety of genre magazines and anthologies, including the prestigious Territoire de l’Inquiétude (1993). During that time, he also wrote two horror novels in 1989 and 1990. His works include the fantasy thriller Le Fantôme d’Orsay (1999) and its sequel, Les Dieux de Cluny (2003). He has also published two science fiction novels for the Rivière Blanche imprint: La Lagune des Mensonges (2003) and Le Regard qui Tue (2004; co-written with Pascal Metge). Darnaudet lives south of Perpignan on France’s côte vermeille.

  Return to the 20th Century

  Starring:

  The 20th Century

  Professor Calculus

  The Cat Women of the Moon

  Also Starring:

  Jungle Alli (a.k.a. Alice Bradley Sheldon, a
.k.a. James Tiptree, Jr.)

  Created by:

  Albert Robida

  with additional material by

  Paul DiFilippo

  Hergé

  Roy Hamilton

  Written by:

  Paul DiFILIPPO’s career began either in 1977, when his first story appeared in Unearth magazine; or in 1982, when he quit his job as a COBOL programmer to devote himself fulltime to writing; or in 1985, when his second and third stories appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and The Twilight Zone Magazine; or in 1995, when his first book, The Steampunk Trilogy, debuted. Whichever date one chooses, 2006 will see the publication of his 25th book, Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct, a milestone he is very proud of. He intends to retire now in stages over the next 40 years.

  Les Lèvres Rouges

  Starring:

  Ilona Harczy

  Countess Elisabeth Bathory

  Nestor Burma

  Doc Ardan

  Lt. Montferrand (a.k.a. Roger Noël)

  Jens Rolf

  S.N.I.F.

  Florimond Faroux

  Le Chiffre

  Plaster

  Cabiria

  Manon Lescaut

  Zavatter

  The fish-men

  Audrey (a.k.a. The Vine)

  Also Starring:

  Adélaïde Lupin (a.k.a. Monique d’Andresy)

  And:

  The Silver Eye of Dagon

  Le Cordon Jaune

  Radium-X

  Created by:

  Pierre Drouot, Jean Ferry, Manfred R. Köhler

  & Harry Kümel

  Pierre Drouot, Jean Ferry, Manfred R. Köhler

  & Harry Kümel

  Léo Malet

  Guy d’Armen

  Lester Dent

  Vladimir Volkoff

  Anonymous

  Vladimir Volkoff

  Léo Malet

  Ian Fleming

  Will Eisner

  Federico Fellini,

  Ennio Flaiano & Tullio Pinelli

  Henri-Georges Clouzot

  & Jean Ferry

  based on Abbé Prévost

  Léo Malet

  H. P. Lovecraft

  Charles B. Griffith

  Win Scott Eckert

  Roy Thomas

  based on Robert E. Howard

  & H.P. Lovecraft

  Ian Fleming

  John Colton,

  Howard Higgin

  & Douglas Hodges

  Written by:

  Win Scott ECKERT holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a Juris Doctorate. In 1997, he posted the first site on the Internet devoted to expanding Philip José Farmer’s concept of the Wold Newton Family. He is the editor of and contributor to Myths for the Modern Age: Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe (2005) and a contributor to Lance Star, Sky Ranger (2006). His article “The Black Forest and the Wold Newton Universe” is included in The Black Forest 2: Castle of Shadows (2005), and he recently contributed the Foreword to the new edition of Farmer’s seminal “fictional biography,” Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke (2006). He is a regular contributor to Tales of the Shadowmen.

  Beware the Beasts

  Starring:

  Doctor Omega

  Tiziraou

  Jinn

  Phyllis

  Q

  Created by:

  Arnould Galopin

  Arnould Galopin

  Pierre Boulle

  Pierre Boulle

  Gene Roddenberry

  & D. C. Fontana

  Written by:

  G.L. GICK lives in Indiana and has been a pulp fan since he first picked up a Doc Savage paperback. His other interests include old-time radio, Golden and Silver Age comics, cryptozoology, classic animation, British SF TV and C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. He is, in other words, a nerd and damn proud of it. He is a regular contributor to Tales of the Shadowmen.

  The Ape Gigans

  Starring:

  Becky Sharp

  Professor Lidenbrock

  Talisa the Mahar (a.k.a. Fatima Talisa)

  Lemuel Beesley

  Captain Obed Marsh

  Kong (a.k.a. The Ape Gigans)

  Also Starring:

  Benjamin Disraeli

  And:

  Kôr

  Skull Island

  Pellucidar

  Created by:

  William Makepeace

  Thackeray

  Jules Verne

  Micah Harris based on

  Edgar Rice Burroughs

  Micah Harris

  based on Michael Moorcock

  H. P. Lovecraft

  Merian C. Cooper

  & Edgar Wallace

  and Jules Verne

  H. Rider Haggard

  Merian C. Cooper

  & Edgar Wallace

  Edgar Rice Burroughs

  Written by:

  Micah HARRIS is the author (with artist Michael Gaydos) of the graphic novel Heaven’s War, a historical fantasy pitting authors Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien against occultist Aleister Crowley. Micah teaches composition, literature and film at Pitt Community College in North Carolina. He is currently developing several comics and prose projects including When the Stars Are Right: the Eldritch New Adventures of Becky Sharp.

  A Dance of Night and Death

  Starring:

  Irma Vep

  Fantômas

  Satanas

  Created by:

  Louis Feuillade

  Marcel Allain

  & Pierre Souvestre

  Louis Feuillade

  Written by:

  Travis HILTZ started making up stories at a young age. Years later, he began writing them down. In high school, he discovered that some writers actually got paid and decided to give it a try. He has since gathered a a modest collection of rejection letters and had a one-act play produced. Travis lives in the wilds of New Hampshire with his very loving and tolerant wife, two above average children and a staggering amount of comic books and Doctor Who novels. This is his first published story.

  The Lady in the Black Gloves

  Starring:

  Madame Fourneau

  Irene Chupin/Tupin (a.k.a. Irina Putine)

  Josephine Balsamo

  Catarina Koluchy (a.k.a. Mrs. Moriarty)

  The Black Coats

  Louis/Luis Fourneau (a.k.a. Maurice d’Andresy)

  Gaston Morrell (a.k.a. Bluebeard)

  Mabuse (a.k.a. Dr. Maubeuge)

  Dr. Biron

  Mary Holder

  Helen Lipsius

  Inspector Lefevre

  Isadora Klein (a.k.a. Jacques Saillard)

  Also Starring:

  Maurice Joyant

  And:

  Van Klopen, Tailleur pour Dames

  Created by:

  Narciso Ibañez-Serrador

  & Juan Tébar

  Narciso Ibañez-Serrador

  & Juan Tébar

  Maurice Leblanc

  L. T. Meade

  & Robert Eustace

  Paul Féval

  Narciso Ibañez-Serrador

  & Juan Tébar

  Pierre Gendron,

  Arnold Phillips

  & Werner H. Furst

  Norbert Jacques

  Marcel Allain

  & Pierre Souvestre

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  Arthur Machen

  Pierre Gendron,

  Arnold Phillips

  & Werner H. Furst

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  E. W. Hornung

  Emile Gaboriau

  Written by:

  Rick LAI is a computer programmer living in Bethpage, New York. During the 1980s and 1990s, he wrote articles utilizing Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe concepts for pulp magazine fanzines such as Nemesis Inc, Echoes, Golden Perils, Pulp Vault and Pulp Collector. Rick has also created chronologies of such heroes as Doc Savage and the Shadow. He is a regular contributor to Tales of the S
hadowmen.

  The Murder of Randolph Carter

  Starring:

  Hercule Poirot

  Randolph Carter

  Inspector Owen

  Charles Dexter Ward

  Lavinia Whateley

  David Marsh

  Malpertuis

  Also Starring:

  Jean Ray

  Created by:

  Agatha Christie

  H. P. Lovecraft

  Thomas Owen

  H. P. Lovecraft

  H. P. Lovecraft

  H. P. Lovecraft

  Jean Ray

  Written by:

  Jean-Marc & Randy LOFFICIER, the authors of the Shadowmen non-fiction series, have also collaborated on five screenplays, a dozen books and numerous comic books and translations, including Arsène Lupin, Doc Ardan, Doctor Omega and The Phantom of the Opera, all published by Black Coat Press. They have written a number of animation teleplays, including episodes of Duck Tales and The Real Ghostbusters and such popular comic book heroes as Superman and Doctor Strange. In 1999, in recognition of their distinguished career as comic book writers, editors and translators, they were presented with the Inkpot award for Outstanding Achievement in Comic Arts. Randy is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and Mystery Writers of America.