The Occult Files Of Dr. Spektor #12

Beauty and the Beasts (23 pages)

Fearing for the safety of his loved ones due to his werewolf curse, Dr. Adam Spektor leaves his home of Spektor Manor. In an unnamed small town, Spektor learns of a giant Asian man called "the Dragon" who serves a mysterious Dr. Tong, performer of wonders. Hoping Dr. Tong might hold some hope of a cure for his lycanthropy, Spektor goes to his cliffside mansion. Reaching the edifice just as the full moon rises, Spektor becomes his wolf self, and crashes in through the window. At the command of Dr. Tong, the werewolf is overpowered by Dragon and locked in a jail cell in the basement.

Awakening in human form in the morning, Spektor is attended by the beautiful Lu-Sai, the daughter of Dr. Tong. She seems about to make a revelation, when the Dragon interrupts and takes Spektor to meet Dr. Tong. Dr. Tong takes Spektor to his laboratory, where he reveals the living monster of Frankenstein strapped to a table. Dr. Tong reveals how he had found the monster weak and barely alive in the rubble of Castle Frankenstein (destroyed in The Occult Files of Dr. Spektor #6), and smuggled the creature to the United States. He tells Spektor that he plans to use the monster and the werewolf in an experiment before returning Spektor to his confinement.

Spektor is kept company by Lu-Sai, who explains that her father is descended from the Mandarins of China, and how he plans to elevate himself to god-like power through his experiments. Lu-Sai, in her loneliness, kisses Spektor, arousing the jealous wrath of Dragon, who has come to collect the Doctor for the experiment. Dr. Tong has Spektor and the Frankenstein monster strapped to operating tables, and explains how he intends to drain their energies to gain nearly infinite power. Spektor becomes the werewolf and the experiment commences until Lu-Sai intervenes by smashing an apparatus with a chair. The resulting power feedback restores both the werewolf and the monster to full strength.

The werewolf breaks free and attacks Dragon, who is electrocuted in the struggle. Meanwhile, Frankenstein's monster also escapes his bonds, and hurls Dr. Tong out a window. The werewolf is about to claim Lu-Sai as a victim, when the monster attacks him and the two beasts engage in a titanic struggle until they finally crash through a wall and plunge into the water far below.

In the morning, there is no sign of Frankenstein's monster, but Lu-Sai pulls Dr. Spektor from the water and revives him. As the young woman moves to embrace him, Spektor tells her he cannot love anyone as long as he his under the curse of the werewolf. With regret, he walks away from her and does not look back.

Note: Lakota Rainflower appears in a cameo at the beginning of the story reading Dr. Spektor's farewell note.

Variant: Whitman logo cover (see pic below).

First appearances:

- Lu-Sai

- Dr. Tong (villain)