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Preamble 

    Without a doubt, the complete works of ‘The Tale of Dr Leopold’ will one day be published as a separate book.  For the present, within my first book, The Curse of The Red Crystal and other Gothic tales, only the first part of what has since become four individual tales of terror is set to print.  This Gothic horror story is also loosely based on a part of my past.
    In the first quarter of the 20th Century, a distant cousin of mine was actually convicted of murder in the first degree, and this person was incarcerated for some forty years.  My mother kept the newspaper clippings; and, after his release, another article was printed concerning that almost passive event.  Years later, my mother showed me other news releases, including one which stated that this particular cousin had finally passed forth from this earth.
    The actual literary work, ‘The Tale of Dr Leopold’, derives the name of the imaginary doctor from an offshoot of that infamous relative’s name, yet the spelling has been altered.  Nothing else within the story is intended to remotely relate to that part of my family’s history other than the fact that the lead character was a medical student, was convicted, imprisoned and released.  The rest of the story is pure fiction.
    In this tale, our leading figure, Dr Leopold, has a keen interest in hypothermia and its effects upon the human body. This subject is kindled to a feverous pitch with the events which occur.
    We also look into our doctor’s fanciful past.  As his wish was to further mankind’s knowledge of solving many medical issues in a rather short time frame, he intended to work on live patients.  He also had no intention of again experiencing the wrath of the justice system as had been the case in his past.
    In the rest of this gruesome tale, events unfold as he is again drawn into that research, countless operations which take place in his laboratory and which produced the terror contained in this Gothic horror story.

     This tale was to be the only manuscript ‘handwritten’ by the imaginary Dr Leopold, yet this was not to be.  A second, third and a fourth story came into my mind as the years passed. The conclusion to ‘The Tale of Dr Leopold’, is set to occur after the year 2065.

     Interestingly enough, many of the medical ‘impossibilities’ described in the four separate stories have already come to pass in real life.  Thus, in a sense, this futuristic horror story is slowly becoming actual fact!  You will find the other tales concerning Dr Leopold in Volume II, Volume III and finally in Volume IV of my books.  Enjoy, but be aware that these fictitious events may all one day actually take place upon this earth!

Anton Von Stefan, December 31, 2016

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