REQUIEM
a collaboration
by K.A. Corlett and J. Statham
REQUIEM is a re-imagining of Gaston Leroux’s classic Phantom of the Opera. A moment of Corlett-Statham absurdity spawned the fateful line:
"Tell me, mon ami, why are you toying with the chandelier’s counterweight?"
Lo and behold, a monster was born. KAC and JS each brought one of their favourite creepy-crawlers out to play, and things snowballed horrifically. How delightful.
In this take on the classic, we find ourselves in 1881 Calcutta, where Erik Delaneau (J.'s man!) attracts the attentions of the Dark Goddess Kali by strangling a prostitute. Seems the killer has made a rather indiscreet choice of weapons: a consecrated string of skull beads. Kali summons an undead devotee—Maximillien de Mortifière (K.A.C.'s dead guy)—to retrieve Her necklace, and the game is afoot.
The action carries us westward to Paris. The game, it turns out, has very little to do with beads, and much more to do with the fate of Erik's soul. Kali sets de Mortifière the task of teaching Erik love; through a series of difficult lessons the vampiric guru brings Erik to rediscover the spark of his humanity.
And you know what's really cool about REQUIEM? Virtually no whiners, and a minimum of fainting couches. Christine and Raoul kick Belle Époque derrière. Imagine Raoul and Erik as—eek!—half-brothers. And you think you know who gets the girl? Muahhhhhhhh hahaha! Just you wait and see.
Mon dieu! There has never been a Phantom novel quite like this.