Peter Saxon - Vampire's Moon

[dem]

Peter Saxon - Vampire's Moon (Belmont, March 1970)

THE GREAT TERROR

The shadow of the Vampire Prince and his legion of ghouls darkened the village both in the tiny village high in the mountains of Rumania. Far from civilization, the Vampire Prince held sway over the superstitious peasants. They helped him lure two visiting American girls into his bat-infested lair. The girls didn't believe in vampires. By the time they began to believe, it was too late.

Ah, this is the stuff!

Hungary AD 1514. Gyorgy Dozsa, leaders of a revolt against the nobles, was captured and starved for two weeks together with his accomplices. Then his captors tied him down on a red hot throne, clapped a red hot crown on his head, and thrust a red hot poker in his hand. As he roasted, he was eaten alive by his famished followers
- Robert Bloch The Night Of The Ripper

Saxon was obviously familiar with the same story as he rewrites the dreadful death of Dozsa as the opening chapter of Vampire's Moon, with the evil Count Zapolia presiding over the gruesome torture.

Zapolia is a Transylvania "Waywode", (a Voivode but one higher?). He can take the form of a vampire or a werewolf, depending on what the situation demands.

Fifty pages in (there are only 176) and I'm struggling. After the spectacularly unpleasant opening, it's all gone flat.

Journalist on-off couple Mike Mills and Penny Cord are trailing a pair of American girls through "Dracula Country" for no good reason other than Mike's minor crush on the striking blond, Laura Dasart. Miss Dasart's companion, Hilde Schnitz, is a peripheral figure, obviously written in for the purpose of having someone to grow ever more pale as the days go by, and I'm not holding out any great hopes for her to survive the adventure. Laura has taken to making clandestine visits to the Castle where she's met by her lover, Count Zapolia, the man who pulls all the strings around these parts. Contrary to the cover blurb, she seems to me to be fully aware of what she's getting herself into, and looking forward to joining the ranks of the undead. I'll give the Count his due: he's show-biz.

"The coffin stood on a solid stone catafalque in the center of a vaulted chamber. In each corner of the room thick candles, made of black wax, burned in holders six feet high. Their flickering flames danced on the polished wood of the casket and winked in the solid gold fittings ... In the silent candle-lit room, the lid of the coffin raised a little, then lowered. Again it lifted, and this time swung smoothly back until it stood yawning open. The wax-like hand that had pushed it returned to join its fellow and they lay folded on the occupant's chest."

***

Somewhere around the chapter 9 mark things perk up with the introduction of two CIA men, Ridgeway and Ashe, who team up with the reporters and show off their impressive gadgets.

Together, these four have gained access to the castle via a booby-trapped, bat-infested subterranean passage in the mountains. Unfortunately, this only leads them to the escape-proof torture chamber. Worse, Penny and Ashe have been abducted by the Count's cycloptic henchman, former Gestapo Franz Hardt and Leo Mikes.

While all this was going on, the Count has married Laura (who may or may not be a descendant of the rebel who got roasted alive on the throne back in chapter 1). In a black equivalent of the Beckham's wedding, the hymns are Satanic, the guests are Zapolia's previous vampire brides who stand to attention by their coffins, his favourite executioner and sundry miscreants. The vampire gets so excited when he and his latest conquest exchange blood fluids that he metamorphosizes into a werewolf. That seems to snap her out of her trance.

Thirty pages to go and, like The Torturer, suddenly the book didn't seem long enough, something I could never have imagined myself saying a few days back. Even product-placement fans are catered for with a plug for Gaulois and a crate load of different Romanian wines. Perhaps the sedate opening was something to do with pacing. It's a bit like M. R. James in that respect.

[killercrab]

Shot at 2011-05-26


Same back page blurb as above.

[andydecker]

Peter Saxon - Vampire's Moon (Five Star, 1972)