Perdition and The Ghost of Leadville both used Doc Holliday as a character but each story was told the in a completely different way, with a completely different plot. The Ghost Of Leadville tells the story of a 200 year old vampire named Rose, as she reminisces about her existence and her brief, yet powerful, encounter with Doc Holliday. Rose faces the challenge of having to move frequently so that she isn't suspected by humans. She returns to the town of Leadville and recounts her meeting with Doc Holliday. After spending some time with Doc she contemplates turning him, only to have fate step in the way.
Perdition, on the other hand, inserts the vampire lore directly into the Old West, turning Doc and Big Nosed Kate into vampire hunters. Doc is eventually made into a vampire and Kate is forced to uphold a promise she made. She must kill Doc. Kate ends up making a bargain with the vampires. Despite knowing how ruthless and dangerous vampires are, Kate is conflicted about ending Doc's life.
Both of these stories were compelling in their own way. The romance in these stories was subtle, but it worked. I enjoyed the twisted take on history and each story raised different questions for me. What would history have been like if Rose had changed Doc before he died? Would she have regretted her decision? Why did Kate hesitate to kill Doc? Did the vampires uphold the life for a life bargain or did they hunt Kate down?
3 comments:
Hi all-- I just left my comments on the questions for authors. please scroll down.
Thanks,Jeanne Stein
The Ghost of Leadville
I don't think Rose would have regretted asking Doc if he want to become vampire but I strongly believe that Doc would have decilned the offer leaving history intact.
Kate hesitated to kill Doc because she was in love with him. I think the vamps uphelded the bargain.
Hi Cyd-- It's interesting that you think Doc would have declined. I agree with you. When I first submitted the story, though, Trish wanted me to change the ending so that Doc came back and let Rose make him a vampire. I guess that was more in keeping with the romance theme. But I liked my ending better..and I did want to leave "history intact..."
thanks for the comment, Jeanne
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