The Curse of Doone

For 200 years Doone Hall and its occupants have been feared and shunned by the natives of Dartmoor. Its cellars held the body of Vernon Coxenfield, an early owner, who, legend had it, lay buried deep beneath heavy stone flags with an oak stake through his heart-a vampire. On nights when howling winds swept over the desolate moors, a ghastly, black, mysterious shape resembling a gigantic bat had been seen hovering over its towers by the villagers. Its long corridors were filled with dancing shadows, its windows rattled like chattering teeth under the harsh demands of every gust of icy air. Starting with the rescue of lovely Cicely Garrett from a scar-faced abductor outside a London theatre by Ian Heath, British Secret Service agent, Mr. Horler speeds his tale at a breathless pace to Doone Hall, where the latter's curse strikes down men at dawn, their throats torn with the typical vampire's awful brand. The Curse of Doone, by Sydney Horler, was published in 1928.