The Headless Portrait

I hope people have been enjoying the Naschy sonnets this week. I certainly enjoyed writing them, and with a subject I am so passionate about, the words just streamed from my quill!

This time, something a little different--if you well, a poetic set-up for the non-existent (except in my imagination) third film in the Alaric de Marnac cycle. Like the Daninsky flicks, this one would have no continuity with the previous film, except for sharing a few tropes and symbols, such as the titular object. Hope you like it!



The Headless Portrait
(inspired by Horror Rises from the Tomb)

I found it in a small shop by the Seine
just three blocks from my office. Through the glass
it stopped me cold; I simply could not pass.
The keeper did not know its origin.

I combed my books until at last I learned
the artist's name. An old man, quite surprised
to find I had it. He'd believed it burned
with all his other work. I first surmised

his mind had gone--to judge from his wild tale:
Immortal warlocks, walking dead, a heart
ripped from a virgin chest! But now I pale
to think of what I purchased with his art.

De Marnac's laughter echoes down the hall;
I rise from bed to heed my Master's call.

--S. Standridge, The Vicar of VHS

Photo credit: Tenebrous Kate's Flickr stream