"Ron Goulart - The Curse Of The Demon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goulart Ron)

and stained by time. Across the top of the pages was the title of the book it
had been torn from -- The Most Dark & Evil Life of the Notorious Count
Monstrodamus, Vile Black Sorcerer & Degenerate Villain.

"Not a puff bio apparently." Setting the page on the cushion next to him, he
returned his attention to the note.

To whomsoever inherits this miraculous chest from me (it said), I assure you
that the entity contained within it can bring you, as it did me, great wealth
and, should such be your desire, considerable fame. It so I was reliably
informed, belonged to the notorious seventeenthcentury mystic and magus known as
Count Monstrodamus. There are some who say he came to a bad end as a result of
tampering with such entities as that contained in this cask. Others, however,
contend the count was torn limb from limb not by demons but by irate townspeople
who believed him to be in cahoots with the devil.

To enlist the aid of the entity, you are to say, very slowly and clearly and
paying close attention to your diction, "I summon you, O dark presence, to enter
my world and do my bidding."

You must be careful to take the upper hand at all times, otherwise there is a
possibility of dire peril and even eternal damnation. Good luck to you.

Dan read the letter through a second time, saying the dire peril and eternal
damnation part aloud and scowling. Then he set the note aside and picked up the
book page. It contained a brief account, in what sounded like 19th Century
prose, of the box, referred to as the Accursed Cask of Hell, and the many uses
the count was alleged to have had for it. One sentence especially impressed Dan.
"This most evil and perfidious person," wrote the unknown biographer,
"entertained within his demented heart vain pretensions to be a successful
playwright, and to that end, it is reliably stated, he did use the creature of
the casket to persuade a respected theater owner of his day to produce his
loathsome and blasphemous five-act tragedy, The Bride of the Evil One; or, All
for Satan."

Standing, taking up the note again, Dan, moving slowly, approached the bag.
"Would that work today on movie producers? The Carioca Backlog sure isn't
loathsome or blasphemous, so it should be even easier for this entity to sell,"
he said thoughtfully. "Be great if it could work on Medium, or whoever's in
charge at Firebrand, and get him to buy my script."

Kneeling beside the cloth bag, he carefully dipped a hand inside.

"Yow!"
A shock had come snaking up his arm when his fingers touched the casket.

Dan yanked his hand free, backed off.

He sighed, inhaled, sighed. Kneeling again, he thrust both hands inside and took
hold of the chest. This time he felt only a mild electrical tingle.