Wednesday, October 9, 2019

"Aliah Warden"

by Roger Johnson
originally published The Count Dracula Fan Club Annual, Vol. 5 No. 1 1985

Our narrator meets Aliah Warden in a solicitor's office in 1902.  Aliah is an old, retiring lawyer with a curious appearance - squat, bow-legged, wide-mouthed.  He lives in a village named Wrabley and shares the narrator's interest in witchcraft and devil worship (academically, of course).

He invites the narrator to come around his place, which is located in a marshy region near Essex.  Aliah has the usual titles in his library.  He reveals himself to be a deep one hybrid.

This story actually has a nice and effective build-up, and its a shame it shorts itself out with an abrupt and unfulfilling ending.






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