Frankenstein Lives Again (The New Adventures of Frankenstein) Read Online Free PDF Page A

home, the castle’s ownership reverted to us. But we want nothing to do with it. Even the police, when the place was confiscated, refused to enter the place, lest some other blasphemous creation of the devil scientists still might be lurking in the shadows of those dark catacombs. No one has wanted the place since those dark days of Victor Frankenstein.’
    “A thought was now in my mind and I couldn’t keep it to myself. ‘Tell me, Mayor Krag. You said that the Frankenstein castle has reverted back to Ingolstadt. Victor Frankenstein bought the old place centuries ago. Does that mean it can still be bought today?’
    “Krag turned away from me and gazed out his window toward the distant hills. “ Yes, herr Winslow, that is true.’ Then his head suddenly snapped back to look at me. The look in his eyes was now like a burning fire. ‘But surely, mein herr , You don’t wish to imply ––’
    ‘I imply nothing, Mayor Krag,’ I said quite matter-of-factly. I have money, a great deal of it, Money that could benefit your town. What would it cost me to purchase Castle Frankenstein?’ 
    "He shook his head to give me his answer.
    " 'I can pay cash ... on the spot.’ 
    “ ‘ Nein ,’ he said. 
    " 'Then I’ll have to find out from the townspeople how to go about purchasing the old place.’ I glimpsed the look of shock on the mayor’s face and saw him walking around his desk, toward me.
    “Krag stopped me before I reached the office door. ‘ Ach! Nein !’ he exclaimed. ‘You may purchase the castle. Then leave my office and do not return. You will not be welcome here, herr Amerikaner . I only pray that, once you have taken ownership of the accursed place, you will not do something that you — that all of us in Ingolstadt — will regret.’
    “ ‘How much will it cost me?’ I replied bluntly.
    “Mayor Krag quoted me a fair price. Almost immediately I had that exact amount in a neat stack atop his desk. The money made a strange contrast with his collection of papers. Minutes later, the heavyset town official had prepared the deed to the castle, as if he couldn’t wait to get our transaction finished. I signed it, feeling a weird catharsis in the knowledge that I owned the very place in which Frankenstein was supposed to have accomplished his... miracle. Soon I’d know whether or not my belief regarding the Shelley tale was true. Until now, all my ‘evidence’ was either hearsay or theory. Now I would venture to Castle Frankenstein myself and learn the truth first hand.
    “Reeling, I left Mayor Krag’s office with the signed document preserved in my sport’s coat breast pocket, then headed for my destination:
    “Castle Frankenstein!
    “The castle stood, just as Krag had informed me, atop a hill overlooking Ingolstadt. Its ancient spires and battlements still had a strength to withstand an attacking medieval army. I felt exhilarated as I stared up at the old, gothic structure, which now appeared almost a silhouette against the twilight sky, its towers a majestic monument to Frankenstein’s genius. I felt a tingle of excitement at a sudden notion that Evil Incarnate might reside within the building’s somber walls. Then I laughed, for I must have been sharing the superstitious fears of the townspeople. And then, I felt a sensation of pure and simple awe. The place was beautiful, in a grotesque sort of way, and it beckoned to me, its new and legal owner.
    “The old key which the mayor had given me fit snugly into the rusted lock. With some effort, I turned the key and opened the ancient door, pushing it with a hard shove. Again I was overcome by reverence and awe, then stepped into the castle’s dark interior. What a feeling it was to think that I was probably the first man to step inside this place in two centuries!
    “Night had completely fallen now, and there was no illumination inside the castle except for the rays of the moon, which streaked through the open windows. I heard the wind howl