Giant-Size Dracula (1974 series) #2

A series of eleven murders, all young women, all drained of blood, brings Inspector Chelm and his aide, Inspector Kate Fraser, to the small town of Rutherton to investigate. Kate Fraser is psychic and when she touches a medallion belonging to the latest victim, Annie Malcolm, she has a vision of a woman being sacrificed on an altar so that the Triad might live once more; Kate knows it isn’t a vampire responsible as none of the victims has become a vampire herself….

In London, Count Dracula learns of the “vampire murders” in Northumberland and decides to investigate….

Kate Fraser traces the path of Annie Malcolm before she died and deduces she was heading to D’Aire Manor; Lord D’Aire receive them but when Kate spots a runeboard with Hilthstars—and there is one missing matching Annie’s medallion, his Lordship throws them out. Later, Kate learns that there is a Roman fort near D’Aire Manor where three thousand Roman soldiers were killed overnight centuries ago. Annie’s fiancé, Nobby Clarke, drunk and excitable, blames Lord D’Aire for Annie’s death, and heads to the Manor where he forces his way in and down to the basement where he and his pal Tom discover a multitude of statues and a flame pit with consumes Nobby….

Dracula encounters Kate Fraser in the fog and is surprised that she strongly resembles his long-dead wife Maria. Together they find Tom, dying from his burns who tells Kate that she is the woman Y’Garon is looking for before he dies. Inspector Chelm arrives and recognizes Dracula and tries to arrest the Count but the vampire easily melts into the fog….

That night, Kate has a nightmare that she is being sacrificed to the Elder Gods by Y’Garon and wakes up screaming. Touching the Hilthstar puts her into a trance and Y’Garon leads her to the old mill where Dracula has his coffin and commands her to kill the vampire. She fights the suggestion and faints; when Dracula awakens, he frees her from the spell. Just then, a mob of hypnotized villagers, led by Lord D’Aire, arrives, sent by Y’Gsron to kill Dracula. He and Kate fight their way through the village where Dracula is overpowered and Kate is captured by Y’Garon. When Dracula recovers he heads to the Manor where he kills Lord D’Aire before he is captured and sees Y’Garon ready to sacrifice Kate. Y’Garon is one of the Triad of Elder Gods, the other two of which are trapped in another dimension; this ceremony will free them from their imprisonment so they can reclaim this world they once ruled. A bit of Kate’s blood is dripped into a pool and slowly tentacles emerge. Dracula cracks up, seeing Kate as his wife Maria and he breaks free, seeing Y’Garon as the Turk who killed his wife and attacks the villain beating him and hurling him into the pool. Dracula frees Kates and takes her out just moments before the Manor explodes. Outside, Dracula erases all memory of the night’s events from Kate’s mind, allowing her to think that Lord D’Aire was responsible for the murders, adding that he is grateful to have met her. 

The Girl in the Black Hood!

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
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On with the Dance!

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
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The Sweet Old Ladies

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
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Vampire at the Window

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By Peter Silvestro
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A man who spies a vampire at his window calls on a private eye to protect him; the vampire is real and the private eye turns out to be one too! Reprinted from ASTONISHING #18.

“Drive of Death”
Writer and artist unknown.
Synopsis: A driver hits and kills a man late at night. He pushes the car with the corpse aboard into a lake. Escaping through the woods, he is picked up by his ghostly victim who drives the car into the lake to kill him back! Reprinted from ASTONISHING #17.