Phantom of the Operetta
by John C. Bunnell
Available eBook formats:
title:
Phantom of the Operetta
author:
John C. Bunnell
genre:
Fantasy
isbn-
13:
978-1-60174-044-1
length:
7900 words. Approximate reading time 23 to 32 minutes.
price:
$2.99
~When a ghost takes over Juliet McKenna's collegiate production of The Sorcerer on opening night, can she defeat it without revealing her true Sidhe nature?~
While serving as an artist-in-residence at a small Pacific Northwest college, stage actress Juliet McKenna is directing Gilbert & Sullivan's The Sorcerer. Rivalries among the student cast are only to be expected--but are other troubles the work of the theater's restless ghost?
Nonsense, Juliet insists, and with Sidhe-born senses to back her conclusions, she should know. But as the curtain rises on opening night, she's forced to revise her opinions. With one performer in chains and another possessed, the show seems poised to end in disaster--because even if Juliet can improvise a new ending, she may not be able to free her students without revealing her own Sidhe origins.
"Juliet McKenna ran away from the Sidhe to start a new life among mortals as the artist in residence at a theater company. It was all supposed to be nice and normal, with no magic involved, but when a ghost tries to horn in on a Gilbert and Sullivan production, Ms. McKenna finds herself having to work hard to try and hide her nature while dealing with an over eager spook. How she does so leads to a story that guarantees fun and makes you want more." Huntress Reviews
"A fun read from beginning to end. This is one tale you'll be glad you read.
I'm pleased to recommend this story to any reader who likes a smile with
their mystery. Enjoy. I sure did.
Guaranteed to make you laugh as you try to figure out what is going on with
the play.
Is the theater haunted or is someone in the cast pulling pranks? Will
Direct McKenna figure what is going on before opening night?
Talented author John C. Bunnell has packed a lot of fun into this tale that
makes it well worth your time to read it.." Anne K. Edwards, Mystery Fiction.net
The exploding teapot was the first sign that trouble was brewing.
Gentleman sorcerer John Wellington Wells had just intoned the first verse of his incantation: "Appear, appear, appear!" As if in response, the teapot on the stand in front of him erupted with a sudden fwoosh, an outpouring of gray smoke, a burst of fire-bright orange light, and the sharp crack-tinkle of shattering ceramic. There was also a loud THUD and a curse from behind the billowing smoke.
"What the hell was that?" demanded Lyle Applegate, dropping out of character and abandoning the sorcerer's roguish British accent in favor of his natural Texan twang.
I was out of my fourth-row aisle seat and mounting the stage before he had finished the sentence. The smoke was already dissipating as I stepped around the stand, extending a hand to help my lead actor to his feet. "A very good question," I said. "I gather you did not trigger the flash mechanism."
"I didn't touch it, Ms. McKenna," he said, eyeing the stand and shaking his head. "Hey, that's weird." I followed his glance. The teapot's fragments lay in a tidy ring around the edge of the small, nearly chest-high table, which was unmarked save for a dirty black stain in its center.
"Indeed," I said. "Remarkably neat, considering. It looked as if all three charges went off at once."
By now, the rest of the cast had crowded onto center stage. "I know!" said Peter Morgenthaler, a member of the chorus and Lyle's understudy. At two inches under six feet, he and Lyle were of similar size and build, though Peter presently wore his own short, dark hair while Lyle's yellow-blond buzz cut was presently concealed by a thick salt-and-pepper wig. "It must have been the ghost!"
John C. Bunnell -- no relation to the police-video host -- has been writing and reviewing speculative fiction for over two decades. His short fiction has appeared in magazines including Artemis and anthologies ranging from Swashbuckling Editor Stories to Fantastic Companions. Previously a longtime reviewer for Dragon Magazine and a contributor to the Hugo-nominated Tangent, he has also reviewed books for three incarnations of Amazing Stories (and hopes there will be a fourth). He lives and writes in Oregon, where he fights a never-ending battle against spending too much time on the Internet.
Visit John C. Bunnell at http://www.sff.net/people/jcbunnell
Uncial Press is an imprint of GCT, Inc.
© 2006-2008