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Appearing in "Slow Death On the Killing Ground!"

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Synopsis for "Slow Death On the Killing Ground!"

Elianne Turac, a blind leader of a militia, is beginning a campaign against Dracula, and her first target is the great vampire hunter Quincy Harker. Crashing a dinner party at a mansion that Quincy is attending, Elianne orders Quincy to come with them, defiance would result in her ordering her troops to kill all the guests, Quincy has no choice but to accept and leave with them. However, when they are outside, Elianne orders the people killed anyway as she wants no witnesses. Quincy attempts to escape but Elianne knocks him out with a tranquilizer dart. With Harker her prisoner, she hopes to gain access to the Montesi Formula, that could lead to the destruction of all the world's vampires, and Elianne's revenge.

Her mind drifts back to a time long ago, just after Dracula was turned into the vampire he is today. Back then, Elianne was a simple maiden, her father being the conqueror named Turac. She would return home to find the castle had been attacked and all the people there -- including her own mother -- dead, drained of their blood. To her horror, her own father had been turned into a vampire by Dracula. Elianne was then forced to kill her own father, decapitating him with an axe. Vowing revenge, a year later she would gain enough mystical knowledge to attempt to cast a spell of immortality so that she might get revenge against Dracula. Having to sacrifice a young boy to ancient demons in order to grain immortality, Elianne goes through with it and is granted her wish. However, in a final jest the demons would also strike her blind at the same time.

As Elianne reflects on her past, in the present Dracula is still operating with freedom as Harker and his charges believe him dead. Dracula feeds upon another couple, adding more eventual vampires for his army. While in an office building, Elianne attempts to extract the information about the Montesi Formula using machines built by her men but they fail to learn the secret of the formula. She then demands that Harker be taken to her country estate where they will attempt to gain the information from mystical sources.

When Stefan, Elianne's second in command, questions her use of magic, she mocks him, provoking his anger. She then throws him aside and, while explaining that she has made her fortune from Heroin sales, she realizes that in her quest for revenge that she has become as evil as the creature that she has been hunting for centuries.

When they drive past the scene of Dracula's latest murder (Which is being overseen by Inspector Chelm and Katherine Fraser) Quincy uses the moment to force the driver to crash the car. Injured and blinded by the crash, Quincy is confronted by Dracula who puts Quincy in his hypnotic thrall. Learning that some woman is trying to learn the Montesi Formula to destroy him, Dracula is determined to deal with her directly. When Scotland Yard spots him, Dracula makes his escape by turning into bat form and flying away. He takes note that Quincy was taken out of the Saracen Associates building.

Finding a fresh victim, Dracula bites a woman walking in the rain and orders her to walk into the Saracen building to disarm any traps. Entering the Saracen building himself, Dracula trips off the building's security systems, alerting Elianne to his presence. Once inside, he is attacked by the building's security systems, including illuminated crosses and a gas chamber releasing a mixture of garlic powder and holy water.

While Dracula fights through these defenses, in the hospital where Quincy Harker has been taken for medical care, Katherine Fraser demands the doctors revive Harker so that she might learn what has happened to the old vampire hunter.

Back in the Saracen building, Dracula breaks free from the gas chamber and fights off a laser attack before he is slowed by a sonic attack. When Elianne's minions go to try and kill Dracula, they fail to stop him when Dracula's thrall arrives at her intended destination: the nearby power plant where she manages to slip inside and turn off the power going to the Saracen building. When Elianne restores the power, she finds that Dracula has escaped and her men are dead. She is then confronted by Dracula, who then kills her lead scientist and then attacks Elianne and learns why she is trying to kill him.

The two are evenly matched in battle but, when Stefan attempts to get involved, Dracula kills him as well by throwing him out the window. Further distraught by the death of her lover, Elianne is easily disarmed by Dracula who demands that she yield to him. Deciding that suicide is a better option than being turned into a vampire, Elianne attempts to jump out the broken window but Dracula's hypnotic powers stop her and he summons her forward and then feeds upon her, draining her dry of her blood and killing her. Dracula departs, amused that her schemes of revenge would end in her ultimately becoming a slave to Dracula.

Having learned where Quincy had been taken, Katherine and Inspector Chelm go to the Saracen building and find Elianne's body. Realizing that she would rise as a vampire, they drive a stake into her heart, and Elianne's dead body now has a smile on her face.

Appearing in "I Was a Vampire"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Uncanny Tales #6

Featured Characters:

  • Stelian Kronin

Supporting Characters:

  • Mara Vintila

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  • Prof. Malleck

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Synopsis for "I Was a Vampire"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Uncanny Tales #6

A vampire falls in love with a woman and so takes a serum that can cure vampirism, but on their wedding night, his bride reveals herself to be a vampire.

Appearing in "The Wedding Present"

Reprint of the 3rd story from
Spellbound #22

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Synopsis for "The Wedding Present"

Reprint of the 3rd story from
Spellbound #22

When a man cheats a Voodoo practitioner out of his money for a love potion, he and the object of his affection are turned into wedding cake ornaments.

Appearing in "The Mark of the Vampire"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Spellbound #22

Featured Characters:

  • Rudolph Hagstorm

Supporting Characters:

  • Helen Hagstorm

Antagonists:

  • Frank Hagstorm

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Synopsis for "The Mark of the Vampire"

Reprint of the 4th story from
Spellbound #22

A man kills the vampire plaguing his town, his brother, but not before the brother passes the curse along to him.

Appearing in "The Man Who Changed"

Reprint of the 6th story from
Uncanny Tales #6

Synopsis for "The Man Who Changed"

Reprint of the 6th story from
Uncanny Tales #6

A beautiful woman who loves her ugly husband has her face deformed through surgery just as he is having his face made handsome by a plastic surgeon.

Notes

  • Slow Death On the Killing Ground takes place after the story Death in a Chapel from Dracula Lives #6.
  • The name of the doctor treating Quincy Harker is Kelly Forrest (Katherine calls him Kelly, and his name tag says Forrest). This is obviously a tip of the hat to Star Trek's Doctor Leonard McCoy who was played by DeForest Kelley.

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