DORIAN GRAY: DARKER SHADES

Dorian Gray, that most intriguing creation of Victorian author Oscar Wilde, has served as a figure of horror, dark ambiguity, and personified cautionary tale for over 120 years now. Since the original serialized publication of THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, we’ve seen a multitude of literary and cinematic interpretations and re-interpretations of the story of a young man who obtained immortality at a tremendously dark cost, with the merciless effects of aging and the consequences of his actions now borne by a portrait rather than suffered by the young man himself… most of the time. We’ve seen him appear in horror-oriented TV shows, as part of an ensemble in major motion pictures, headline periodic comic book mini-series, and featured as the star of a terrific audio drama series by Big Finish. What we haven’t seen, however, is a prose horror anthology devoted entirely to his tales, each of which display the variety of roles he can play: From debauched villain and corruptor of the innocent, to anti-hero, to an unlikely savior -- including taking a pendulum swing from one to another within a single story – which amply demonstrate how metaphorically apropos his surname actually is. That all changed the moment this volume was published, however.In this anthology, several authors bring Gray to life, showing the variety of effects he has on various individuals, both innocent and otherwise, who cross his path. The time periods range from the Edwardian era right up to the present, yet throughout each the man with the infamous portrait remains true to the variety of shades he embodies. Moreover, the paths of those he crosses will themselves be quite familiar to genre readers (e.g., Dracula, a mad scientist named Pretorius, artist Richard Pickman of Lovecraft’s nightmarish tale “Pickman’s Model,” a lady-loving she-vampire called Carmilla, Becky Sharp of VANITY FAIR). This volume brings you two novellas, a short play, two short stories, a timeline, and even a short personal bonus memoir, all of which give readers a glimpse into the many shades that Dorian Gray can paint on those whose lives he touches… and how their lives affect his own continuing saga.

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