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“You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one forever.”
It’s 1872. Laura Westenra and her father live in a castle in the Austrian countryside; a peaceful, uneventful existence that leaves young Laura anxious for a bit of excitement. Their lives are turned upside down when an out of control carriage careens out of the night and crashes before their very doorstep. Dark and spooky strangers emerge from the wreckage, leaving a beautiful, angelic girl in the Westenra’s care before vanishing once again into the night.
As this mysterious stranger is welcomed into their home, Laura suddenly finds her life a whirlwind of uncertain new feelings as her friendship for their new guest grows, and as she faces falling in love for the first time. Meanwhile, an unknown plague sweeps through the local village and when Laura becomes sick, her devoted father fears the worst – that she too is a victim of the baffling disease.
Little do they know that the plague and Laura’s new best friend are intimately connected. And that demons from the past are not so dead as they appear.
What shocking horrors are divulged as they unearth the truths about the deserted ruined village in the woods, the history of the once-noble, now extinct Karnstein family, and the people they thought they knew? Can Laura survive the worrying, seductive illness slowly pulling her into darkness? Will anyone live on once they discover the true evil behind all the death around them, and the epic confrontation it leads them to?
She looked into my eyes. “Are you afraid, dearest?”
I shook my head. “No. But I should be very much if I fancied there was any real danger of my being attacked as those poor people were.”
“You are afraid to die?”
“Yes, everyone is.”
She sighed and spoke dreamily. “But to die as lovers may, to die together, so that they may be together forever.”
With appearances by Count Dracula and Abhraham Van Helsing!
Fans of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and traditional gothic vampire literature will be thrilled at seeing their favourite characters appear here. Fans of Charlaine Harris’s True Blood series, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles will love experiencing the roots of the modern vampiric tradition.
Escaping her deadly, yet romantic clutches, giving us an excuse for more books in the series, our heroes are joined by Melina, a most delightful little fairy, and venture onwards on a death-defying quest to raid an ogre village! And, like, at least 4 other quests along the way. Which goes to show you why we called it Quests & Ogres, right?
Genre:
The world of Heartstone includes silly comedy, fun adventure and a little romance and drama all mixed together. And, if we’re lucky, there’s a kernel or two of intriguing wisdom lurking within the pages that might just make you think.
Relive the autumn of 1790 and steep yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of bountiful Sleepy Hollow and its curses. Feel Ichabod's bone-shaking fear as he travels through the haunted forest and comes face to face with his worst nightmare!
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Ichabod and the horse were a good match. With a beaming, confident smile and obvious energy, he rode with stirrups too short for him so that his knees came up nearly to the pommel of the saddle. His sharp elbows stuck out like a grasshopper’s legs and whenever the horse was kicked into anything faster than a walk, the arms flapped like a pair of wings. He carried the riding crop upright like a king’s scepter in one hand. His gray wool cap invariably slipped forward onto his long nose and the skirts of his long black coat fluttered out behind him over the horse’s tail. As the pair ventured out onto the road, more than one Sleepy Hollow resident politely hid a snicker behind their hand.
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Her name was Katrina Van Tassel. A very beautiful, blooming lass freshly eighteen, she was the only child of Sleepy Hollow’s most successful farmer. Possessed of voluptuous, eye-grabbing curves, she was as ripe, mouth-watering and rosy-cheeked as one of her father’s peaches. She was a flirt, both in her manner and her fashion, which she chose in order to show off the best of her ample charms. She adorned herself only in gold jewelry, heirlooms handed down from her great-great-grandmother.
One look at this ravishing beauty was all it took to capture the entirety of a man’s attention and leave him oblivious to every other woman. Once she fluttered her long eyelashes at you, you were absolutely smitten. Only a swift hour passed in her presence, bathing in her charming and delightful personality, left men walking on clouds afterwards, their dreams immeasurably sweeter for a week or more. Men performed great deeds just to win a single smile and every day brought new gifts, or eagerly ran to perform even the slightest service for her. She never needed to open a door for herself, and always found a ready hand to lift her into a carriage or carry even the most trifling bags. Why, Katrina might have made Helen of Troy herself green with envy at having commanded such male attention.
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The demon steed lowered his head dangerously and glared. Steam hissed from flaring nostrils. The Headless Horseman pulled sharply on the reins and the stallion reared high. His front hooves lashes at the air while the Horseman whipped a long, shining saber from the scabbard at his waist. Cackling maniacally, even without a mouth to do so, he waved the bare blade wildly in the air. It gleamed wickedly, a deadly shaft of pure, razor-sharp moonlight wielded by a creature of malevolent darkness.
But all is not as it seems. Lord Ruthven's beahviour is not the ideal Aubrey thought it would be. Parting ways with Ruthven, Aubrey falls madly in love with a wonderful young woman, Ianthe, in Athens. She tells him of a terrifying creature: the vampire. But he does not heed her warning, and that is his undoing.
The sadistic vampire storms into Aubrey's life, bringing death and torture, delighting in causing the utmost pain and humilation. Can Aubrey survive such depredations? Can he bring himself to save those he loves? Or will the vampire destroy them all?
Inspired by John William Polidori's The Vampyre, one of the most influential vampire stories of the 19th century.
Mature version. An all ages version is also available.
But all is not as it seems. Lord Ruthven's beahviour is not the ideal Aubrey thought it would be. Parting ways with Ruthven, Aubrey falls madly in love with a wonderful young woman, Ianthe, in Athens. She tells him of a terrifying creature: the vampire. But he does not heed her warning, and that is his undoing.
The sadistic vampire storms into Aubrey's life, bringing death and torture, delighting in causing the utmost pain and humilation. Can Aubrey survive such depredations? Can he bring himself to save those he loves? Or will the vampire destroy them all?
Inspired by John William Polidori's The Vampyre, one of the most influential vampire stories of the 19th century.
All ages version. A mature version is also available.