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Preamble

This horrid tale popped into the mind of the author as he rode his bicycle through the largest graveyard in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.  The burial site covers many city blocks and is actually so large that it is divided into two halves by a major thoroughfare.  It was already twilight on the day he entered the southern section of that hallowed land, and the evening’s mists had begun to risie from the damp ground surrounding the dismal epitaphs.  At some point, he became vaguely aware of an eerie voice which had been calling out his name for quite some time, repeatedly.  Mystified, he stopped his cycling to see from whence this bizarre intonation came from:

“he looked around and noticed he was alone, all alone in the graveyard.”

Those words were the initial thoughts to this Gothic Horror Story which had just entered his mind as he surveyed his surroundings.  In the ensuing minutes, the whole tale began to flow through his brain.  He literally has no recollection of the remainder of the trip homeward.  However, he is acutely aware of the fact that he did race back to his Vancouver residence in the dim light that remained, took pen in hand, and began to write this horror story.  “The Shrouding” was finished in only seven days.

It is the tale of a woebegone individual who, in the waning years of his life, outlived his means.  Facing certain destitution and at his wits end, he falls upon a foul, twisted idea of prolonging the comfort of his life through criminal acts.  These abominable deeds catch up with him, hurling the wretched man into a situation from which there is no return.

This ghastly tale was the first Gothic Horror Story ever to be read to the public.  Over the years, it is also the one fictional work most people sought to see in print by those who have, on a number of occasions, had the opportunity to have been in attendance at one of Anton Von Stefan's "Author’s Readings".  Indubitably, it is a tale you will not put down until you have read it fully through.

 "The Shrouding" is found in:

 Volume I, The Curse of The Red Crystal and other Gothic tales

To read about the Author: See Twisted Biography

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