Lord of the Undead
JO FLETCHER is an editor, writer, poet and journalist who has been published widely throughout the world. She has won an International Society of Poets Award, the British Fantasy Society’s inaugural Karl Edward Wagner Award, and the World Fantasy Award: Professional.
In 1985 she joined the fledgling independent publishing company Headline and masterminded the launch of Headline’s fantasy, SF and horror list. She has since worked in various editorial capacities at such British publishing imprints as Mandarin, Pan Books and Gollancz, and in 2011 she launched her own genre imprint at Quercus.
Down through the centuries, the legend of Dracula endures ...
~ * ~
IN BLOODY DARK you first were born,
From mortal innocence were torn.
With flash of teeth, an evil grin,
This legend of our time begins.
While man pursues his daytime dream,
Your Children of the Night, unseen.
Through each new moon their powers increasing,
Yet man’s own thirst for blood’s unceasing.
Turns the century, Victoria’s gone,
Yet still the Empire lingers on.
In dawning age of marvels bright,
You sate your hungers in the night.
The Ottoman Empire fades with dawn,
Another new republic born.
Long live the Proles, the Tsar’s no more,
Watch millions die in two World Wars.
A greyer world where annihilation’s
The fear that looms over every nation.
Your sensual murders still repel,
While civil wars wreak merry hell.
Your needs no longer out of place,
With serial killers commonplace.
Worldwide bloodshed grows apace,
As man first walks in outer space.
There’s ethnic cleansing, genocide,
A new bloodbath on every side.
As twentieth century fades away,
It seems your power’s had its day.
And yet, still in nightmares dark,
The Lord of the Undead does stalk.
With gleaming fangs, hypnotic eyes,
Your fatal charm still terrifies.
As New Millennium overtakes us,
Dracula is still Prince of Darkness.
A legend forged of blood, allure,
To rule the night for ever more.
~ * ~