Appearing in "Angelica"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Frank Neal (First appearance)
- Laurie Neal (First appearance; dies)
Antagonists:
- Dracula
- Ryan Birks (First appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Doctor Chowder (First appearance)
- Father McFarland (First appearance; dies)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Synopsis for "Angelica"
Dracula is aboard a sailing vessel in the midst of a terrible storm. As the ship begins to crash on the rocks off Harrow's Point, Maine, Dracula attacks the ship's captain, turning him into a vampire. He then turns into a bat and escape.
Some time later, Frank Neal and his wife Laurie and daughter Angelica arrive at Harrow's Point. Frank has just accepted the position of lighthouse keeper for the island, much to the chagrin of his wife. That evening, Dracula appears outside Angelica's window. She responds to his summons, but as she opens the window sash, her mother enters her bedroom and Dracula disappears.
The next night, Frank gives Angelica a tour of the lighthouse. She keeps talking about the "dead man", and Frank grows frustrated with her. As they explore one of the upper towers, they are attacked by a horde of rats. Angelica is fine, but Frank stumbles backwards and hurts himself.
Later that evening, Angelica hears another summons - this time, it is coming from the ruins of the old schooner. Leaving her room, she goes to the ship only to find the vampire captain waiting for her. The vampire lunges, but suddenly Dracula appears to claim the child as his own. He decapitates the captain with a single stroke from his claws. Afterwards, he takes Angelica into his arms and drinks her blood.
The following morning, Frank and Laurie find their daughter unconscious on the beach. They summon the local phsyician Doctor Chowder who immediately recognizes Angelica's symptoms. He performs a blood transfusion and advises Frank Neal to hang cloves of garlic from the windows of Angelica's room. That night, Dracula arrives to visit Angelica once again, but he cannot enter her bedroom due to the garlic. Instead, he decides to satiate his thirst for blood on Laurie Neal. Frank hears Laurie scream in pain, but when he arrives in the room he finds her dead.
Funeral services for Laurie Neal are ministered by Father McFarland. After the service, McFarland tells Frank that he has dealt with vampires in the past. He brings him to a small cabin where he shows him the staked remains of the former lighthouse keeper. He tells Frank that they must put a stake through Laurie's heart before she too rises as one of the undead. Reluctantly, Frank agrees and they visit Laurie's coffin to execute the deed.
Dracula meanwhile, takes advantage of the opportunity to strike at Angelica anew. He murders Angelica's attending nurse and lurches over the young girl, but Angelica awakens and keeps the vampire at bay with a cross. Frank Neal, Father McFarland and Doctor Chowder burst into the room brandishing crosses and drive Dracula away. They pursue him to the upper tower of the lighthouse. Dracula summons the very elements to aid him and a mighty wind smashes out the windows of the tower. Strong wind and shards of broken glass hurl Father McFarland backwards, killing him. His blood sprays upon the lens of the beacon in the pattern of the cross. At Doctor Chowder's urging, Frank activates the beacon and the intense light, combined with the shadow cast by the cross-shaped blood stain drives Dracula away. He shapeshifts into a bat and flies off. Frank Neal collects his daughter and leaves Harrow's Point forever.
Appearing in "Death Vow"
Featured Characters:
- Sister Marie Eisner (Main story and flashback)
Supporting Characters:
- Father Eisner (First appearance; dies)
Antagonists:
- Dracula (Main story and flashback)
Other Characters:
- Doctor Holtz
- Helga
Races and Species:
Locations:
Synopsis for "Death Vow"
It is the year 1823 and Dracula arrives at the Reichenbach Clinic in Cologne, Germany. He violently inquires about the room number of a patient named Sister Marie Eisner, then kills three men in an elevator en route to her floor. Entering the patient's room, he finds the aged Marie Eisner lying in bed. She remembers Dracula from when they first met - over seventy years ago.
Flashback
- In the small German village, a crowd of people have captured Dracula and bound him to a cross. One of them summons the local priest Father Eisner. Eisner's young adopted daughter, Marie, is present and watches the priest as he executes Dracula by dousing him with holy water and driving a stake into his heart. Moments after the incident, Father Eisner falls to the ground of a heart attack. The villagers rush him to the doctor, but there is little that can be done. Father Eisner is going to die.
- Desperate to save the life of the only father she's ever known, Marie returns to the village square and withdraws the stake from Dracula's chest. Dracula returns to life. She recalls the vampire speaking about life everlasting and strikes a bargain with him. She will acknowledge Dracula as her savior and let him do with her what he pleases if he agrees to impart his gift of immortality to Father Eisner. Dracula agrees, but does not fulfill his promise. Instead, he goes into the priest's room, tears his heart from his chest and presents it to young Marie. The girl renounces Dracula and drives him away by dangling a crucifix before him. Dracula swears that one day he will come for her, and on that day she will beg him for the gift of immortal life.
Now Dracula stands before Marie Eisner, demanding that she acknowledge him as her lord and master. Marie produces the same cross necklace that she used to keep Dracula at bay seventy years ago and slips it around the vampire's neck. As Dracula recoils in pain, Marie says "Father Eisner sends his blessings!" then peacefully passes away. Angered, Dracula turns into a bat and flies off into the night.
Notes
- This issue also features the first of a two part interview with horror writer Stephen King.
- "Angelica" is framed as a flashback sequence.
- Includes a three-page article about famed horror novelist Stephen King by Freff.
- Dracula chronologically appeared last in the second story in Dracula Lives #8. He appears next in flashback in Invaders (Volume 1) #9.
- It is possible that Angelica Neal may be a blood descendant of Dracula. At one point, he referred to her as "Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood", but given Dracula's personality, it is just as likely that he may have simply been engaging in a bit of melodrama.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
- Tomb of Dracula series index at Comicbookdb.com
- Tomb of Dracula series index at the Grand Comics Database Project