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Dracula - Two New Chapters

I finally returned to work on my modern English adaptation of Dracula, with two more chapters completed. Only three more chapters remain. When complete, I intend to publish it as a low cost ($3) kindle book and as a paperback available on Amazon. The two new chapters have been added to the free edition here: Dracula in Modern English.

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Dracula Chapter 12 Added

This and the previous 3 chapters have been added to the page Dracula in Modern English. Chapter XXII – The Power of the Eucharist It was six-thirty in the morning when Jonathan and Mina went to meet the others in the study and to have something to eat. Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward agreed that if they did not eat, they could not work their best. God knew their best would be required this day.…

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And Even More Drucula

The story comes to a boil. Enjoy. Chapter XXI – What Happened to Renfield When Jack got to Renfield’s room, he found him lying on the floor on his left side in a glittering pool of blood. When Jack went to move him, it became at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries. There was none of the unity of purpose between the parts of the body which marks even lethargic sanity.…

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Even More Dracula

I finished adapting the 20th chapter today. Enjoy. Chapter XX – New Clues Jonathan found Thomas Snelling in his house at Bethnal Green, but unfortunately the man was not in a condition to remember anything. The very prospect of beer which Jonathan’s expected coming had opened to him had proven too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauchery. Jonathan learned from his wife, who…

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Dracula Chapter XIX – Rats, Boxes, and Dreams

Jonathan went with the search party with an easy mind. He’d never seen Mina so absolutely strong and well. He was so glad that she had consented to hold back and let the men do the work. Somehow, he dreaded that she was involved with the fearful business at all. Now that her work was done, and due to her energy, brains, and foresight, the whole story was put together in such a way that every…

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Traditional Masculinity is not Toxic

Brandie Weikle of the CBC asks “Should parents of boys set aside the topic of toxic masculinity?” and answers “This author thinks so”. A good start. What more does she have to say? As a feminist, Ruth Whippman said she found the #MeToo movement energizing and validating. “It was like, finally, women had a voice. We were allowed to call out this kind of bad behaviour that we all knew about and we…

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The Silver Key in Modern English

adapted by James Beltonfrom the short story by H.P. Lovecraft When Randolph Carter was thirty, he lost the key to the gate of dreams. Until that time, he had made up for the boredom of life with nightly excursions to strange and ancient cities beyond space, and lovely, unbelievable garden lands across ethereal seas. But as middle age hardened upon him, he felt these liberties slipping away…

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Cool Air in Modern English

adapted by James Beltonfrom the short story by H.P. Lovecraft You ask me why I am afraid of a draft of cool air, why I shiver more than others upon entering a cold room, and seem nauseated and repelled when the chill of evening creeps through the heat of a mild autumn day. There are those who say I respond to cold as others do to a bad odour, and I am the last to deny that impression. I will…

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The Haunter of the Dark

a modern English adaptation by James Beltonbased on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft I have seen the dark universe yawningWhere black planets roll without aim—Where they roll in their horror unheeded,Without knowledge or luster or name.—Nemesis. Investigators hesitate to challenge the belief that Robert Blake was killed by lightning or by nervous shock caused by an electrical discharge. True,…

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The Shadow Over Innsmouth

a modern English adaptation by James Beltonof the short story by H.P. LOVECRAFT Unspeakable monstrousness over-hung the crumbling, stench-cursed town of Innsmouth, and folks there had somehow got out of the idea of dying… Preface During the winter of 1927-28 Federal government officials made a strange and secret investigation of the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The public first…

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Dagon

a modern English adaptation by James Beltonbased on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft I am writing this under mental strain, since by tonight I shall be dead. Penniless, and at the end of my supply of the drug which alone makes life endurable, I can’t bear this torture any longer, and will cast myself from my garret window into the squalid street below. Do not think that I am a weakling or a…

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The Lurking Fear in Modern English

by James Belton, based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft Chapter 1 – The Shadow on the Chimney Fear had lurked on Tempest Mountain for more than a century. I learned this from newspaper accounts of the catastrophe that first brought the region to the world’s notice. The place is a remote, lonely elevation in that part of the Catskills where Dutch civilization once feebly and transiently reached,…

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Solomon Kane and the Rattle of Bones

by Robert E Howard, adapted by James Belton “Landlord!” shouted the Englishman. His cry broke the threatening silence and reverberated through the black forest with a sinister echo. “This place has a forbidding aspect, I think,” said his companion. The two men stood in front of a forest tavern. The building was low, long, and rambling, built of heavy logs. Its small windows were heavily…

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The Horror at Red Hook

by H. P. Lovecraft, adapted by James Belton "There are sacraments of evil as well as of good around us, and I believe we live and move in an unknown world, a place where there are caves and shadows and dwellers in twilight. It is possible that man may sometimes return to the track of evolution, and it I believe that an awful lore is not dead yet." --Arthur Machen Chapter I A few weeks ago, on…

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Series Review: "Fool Me Once"

* * * B Fool Me Once is a Netflix mystery series. When Maya (Michelle Keegan)’s husband is murdered, she takes it upon herself to investigate. Policeman Sami Kierce (Adeel Ahktar) knocks heads with her, while wrestling with a mysterious illness that gives him blackouts and paralysis. Maya’s brother in law (Daniel Burt) must deal with her, the death of his wife, and the revelation that his…

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Review: "The Beekeeper"

* * * B When his neighbour (Phylicia “Mrs. Cosby” Rashad) commits suicide after being scammed for millions of dollars, ‘beekeeper’ Adam Clay (Jason Statham) comes out of retirement to take down the criminal organization responsible. Meanwhile, the neighbour’s daughter and FBI agent, Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), must wrestle with the morality of his extralegal vigilantism. Statham is ruthless,…

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The Year in Movies: 2023

My interest in cinema has waned as the quality and originality of films on offer seems to have fallen to an all time low. Here’s my guide to the films of 2023 that I bothered to see. Hope you all had a good year. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever * This was an incredibly dull sequel to an overrated but decent original. Letitia “Shuri” Wright fails to fill the late Chadwick Boseman’s shoes. The…