“You Have What I Need”
It’s the graveyard shift in North Chicago General, better known as Chicago Hopeless, when a woman comes into the ER with a bite on her arm.
She says she was attacked by a vampire, which prompts a startling but necessary response from the hospital staff.
And the night is only just beginning.
| Published in: | Screams from the Dark |
| Date: | June 2022 |
| Ordering: | Macmillan Publishers (with links to various book sellers) |
| Notes: |
This is another of my standalone Black Lands stories, in that it doesn’t featuring any recurring characters like Felix Renn or Jerry Baldwin. As is often the case with these stories, I wanted to explore how other facets of society deal with the existence of the supernatural in their everyday lives. In this case, what happens when someone comes into a hospital ER with a bite wound that they claim was caused by a vampire. A bite that can be extremely contagious and possibly carry a virus that will end up turning the victim into a vampire themselves. In a world where this is, if not a common occurrence, then at least a probable one, certain safeguards would have to be put into place. I wanted to write about what it would be like for the doctors and nurses and other staff when such a thing happens. |
| Reviews: |
“A perfect start to things, an entertaining story of the attack on a hospital ER by viral-infected vampires. The characters and setting, with pandemic relevance, play with the idea of exactly what a ‘monster’ is.” “A wicked opening story about working in an ER with vampirism being a very real issue. A monster story with more memorable humanity in it than I can bear to forget.” “While I am emphasizing the heavier stories, there is also a lot of fun within the pages of Screams from the Dark. The opening story, “You Have What I Need” by Ian Rogers, features a woman who checks herself into the emergency room at Chicago Hopeless hospital after being bitten by a vampire, possibly infected with the vampire virus. During her quarantine period, the emergency room is viciously attacked by three vampires from the streets. ” |
