The Vampire Archives - The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published

Informationen zum Autor Edited with an Introduction by Otto Penzler Foreword by Kim Newman; Preface by Neil Gaiman Klappentext The Vampire Archives is the biggest, hungriest, undeadliest collection of vampire stories, as well as the most comprehensive bibliography of vampire fiction ever assembled. Dark, stormy, and delicious, once it sinks its teeth into you there's no escape. Vampires! Whether imagined by Bram Stoker or Anne Rice, they are part of the human lexicon and as old as blood itself. They are your neighbors, your friends, and they are always lurking. Now Otto Penzler-editor of the bestselling Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps-has compiled the darkest, the scariest, and by far the most evil collection of vampire stories ever. With over eighty stories, including the works of Stephen King and D. H. Lawrence, alongside Lord Byron and Tanith Lee, not to mention Edgar Allan Poe and Harlan Ellison, The Vampire Archives will drive a stake through the heart of any other collection out there. Other contributors include: Arthur Conan Doyle • Ray Bradbury • Ambrose Bierce • H. P. Lovecraft • Harlan Ellison • Roger Zelazny • Robert Bloch • Clive BarkerGood Lady Ducayne M. E. BRADDON Bella Rolleston had made up her mind that her only chance of earning her bread and helping her mother to an occasional crust was by going out into the great unknown world as companion to a lady. She was willing to go to any lady rich enough to pay her a salary and so eccentric as to wish for a hired companion. Five shillings told off reluctantly from one of those sovereigns which were so rare with the mother and daughter, and which melted away so quickly, five solid shillings, had been handed to a smartly-dressed lady in an office in Harbeck Street, London, W., in the hope that this very Superior Person would find a situation and a salary for Miss Rolleston. The Superior Person glanced at the two half-crowns as they lay on the table where Bella's hand had placed them, to make sure they were neither of them florins, before she wrote a description of Bella's qualifications and requirements in a formidable-looking ledger. "Age?" she asked, curtly. "Eighteen, last July." "Any accomplishments?" "No; I am not at all accomplished. If I were I should want to be a governess—a companion seems the lowest stage." "We have some highly accomplished ladies on our books as companions, or chaperon companions." "Oh, I know!" babbled Bella, loquacious in her youthful candor. "But that is quite a different thing. Mother hasn't been able to afford a piano since I was twelve years old, so I'm afraid I've forgotten how to play. And I have had to help mother with her needlework, so there hasn't been much time to study." "Please don't waste time upon explaining what you can't do, but kindly tell me anything you can do," said the Superior Person, crushingly, with her pen poised between delicate fingers waiting to write. "Can you read aloud for two or three hours at a stretch? Are you active and handy, an early riser, a good walker, sweet tempered, and obliging?" "I can say yes to all those questions except about the sweetness. I think I have a pretty good temper, and I should be anxious to oblige anybody who paid for my services. I should want them to feel that I was really earning my salary." "The kind of ladies who come to me would not care for a talkative companion," said the Person, severely, having finished writing in her book. "My connection lies chiefly among the aristocracy, and in that class considerable deference is expected." "Oh, of course," said Bella, "but it's quite different when I'm talking to you. I want to tell you all about myself once and forever." "I am glad it is to be only once!" said the Person, with the edges of her lips. The Person was of uncertain age, tightly laced in a black silk gown. She had a powdery complexion and a handsome clump of somebody else's hair on the top of her head. It may be tha...

Product details

• Authors: Neil Gaiman, Kim Newman, Otto Penzler
• Assisted by: Otto Penzler (Editor)
• Publisher: Vintage USA
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 14 to 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.07.2011
• EAN: 9780307473899
• ISBN: 978-0-307-47389-9
• No. of pages: 704
• Dimensions: 175 mm x 232 mm x 43 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Science fiction, fantasy