By John Silverton
Retired couple Elsie and Harry Hill held a passion for horror stories and films, “the excitement of fear” Harry maintained. In the horror genre Transylvania is legendary, home to grave robbing ghouls, Bram Stoker’s blood-sucking Count Dracular and the location for Mary Shelley’s monster, Frankenstein. So, when the Hills won a thousand pounds on the premium bonds they booked a holiday to Romania with an itinerary to tour Transylvania.
They arrived in Bucharest and set off by hire car for the Transylvanian city of Brasov where they visited Bran Castle, Bram Stoker’s Gothic home of Count Dracula. Entering Transylvania was like stepping back in time, the last medieval landscape in Europe. Horse-drawn carts rumbled along dirt roads scattered with potholes and stray dogs, shepherds tended their flocks, villagers harvested crops by hand in the sunshine.
Much of the landscape was forested, home to wolves, brown bears and wild boar; not a place to be stranded, especially at night. However, stranded they became during the drive to their hotel, the Russian-made Lada shuddering to a deathly halt. There was no mobile phone signal and no sign of other traffic. Darkness began to fall and a wolf howled ominously in the distance summoning the pack.
‘We can’t stay here, we need to find somewhere with a phone to get help,’ said Harry.
‘We passed a castle back there’ suggested Elsie, pointing. ‘You can just see the lights through the trees.’
They hurried to the imposing grey stone Gothic building and pulled on a chain by the huge oak front door. A bell sounded deep within. After a long pause the door creaked open and a giant of a man in black attire cautiously peered out.
‘Can I help you?’
‘Sorry to bother you but our car has broken down and we wondered if we could use your phone to summon assistance,’ replied Harry.
‘I’m afraid Professor Fate never had a phone installed, but you are welcome to stay the night; the forest is not safe after dark. The Professor is busy with his research but I’m sure he will join us in the morning. I’m his colleague, Grigor.’
The room looked comfortable enough with twin beds and adjoining bathroom and the Hills washed and soon drifted off to sleep. In the middle of the night Grigor entered the Hill’s bedroom carrying a pillow and smothered Mr Hill, whose struggles and flaying fists had no impact against Grigor’s massive strength. Grigor then crossed to Mrs Hill and smothered her with the pillow, her muffled screams and frantic resistance to no avail. Grigor lifted the lifeless bodies and with one under each arm descended a wide spiral stone staircase into the bowels of the castle to the professor’s laboratory. He laid each corpse on a mortuary slab. Professor Fate sat at a huge church organ playing a demonic fugue.
‘They are ready, professor.’
‘Well done, Grigor. Connect the electrodes.’
Wires from the organ were attached to Mr and Mrs Hill’s head. Professor Fate hammered the keyboard and to a mighty crescendo Mr Hill sat up and blinked as if he had emerged from a deep sleep. The professor thumped another deafening dissonant chord and Mrs Hill sat up, looking perplexed by her new surroundings.
‘It works GrIgor. We can restore life!’ shouted Professor Fate, dancing in jubilation.
He returned to the organ and began to play and sing:
# The Hills are alive with the sound of music . . . #
‘Wake up Harry,’ said Elsie, nudging him. ‘You were having a nightmare and singing in your sleep.’
Author Bio:
John Silverton is the author of A Pearl Amongst Oysters, a passionate suspenseful interracial romance spanning fifty years and two continents, available in paperback from Amazon Books.
A collection of short stories will be published later this year. John is twice winner of the Anderida Writers short story competition, 2024 and 2026. A second novel, a crime thriller set in the art market, will be published in 2027.
Contact Author:
Email: johnsilverton@hotmail.co.uk
