Goldstruck
By Gary Kuyper
()
About this ebook
Alchemy is the procedure whereby base metals such as lead or brass are turned into gold.
Horror and Fantasy meet head on in this intriguing story about the terrible power that gold can wield over mortal man.
It is only inevitable that greed, deception and murder will follow in the wake of successful alchemy.
Gary Kuyper
Gary Kuyper began his professional literary career writing self-help and general interest articles for Daan Retief Publishers who produced a monthly book for their woman’s club called Woman’s Forum. These articles would sometimes require research and had titles as diverse as The Human Brain and Body Painting!Being a professional photographer on a part-time basis Gary has also managed to have his articles on photography (With accompanying photographs) published in books and magazines. He has also done some free-lance photography and photojournalism projects for numerous local newspapers.Over the past four years he has constantly managed to be one of the top finalists in the Nova Short Story Competition (A competition for budding writers of science fiction and/or fantasy).Last year (2009) Gary had the pleasure of seeing The Devil's Little Tadpoles grace the pages of the local SF & Fantasy Fanzine Probe.He is an avid film buff and amateur film maker. A few years ago I managed to take first prize in the SA Ten Best Film Makers Competition with a short film entitled The Crimson Cobra - An action-packed martial arts / superhero movie using some of the very talented local artists.He is a qualified prosthetics make-up artist and has used this talent on both amateur and professional productions. He has also appeared on television in a youth program especially made for enlightening people in the art of special effects make-up.Gary has a rather excellent general knowledge being not only an avid writer but reader of any material that is able to stimulate him cerebrally.He taught himself Adobe Photoshop and has become adapt and proficient enough at utilizing the software to such a degree that he has managed to sell a number of creations to various institutes and organizations. He is particularly fond of a logo designed for the Krazy Mug Coffee Shop and several covers that have graced the front of Probe.Gary has a vast knowledge of music and has appeared on the local Television Music Quiz Show Note for Note where he was able to win a substantial amount of prize money.In 2008 he entered the SF / Fantasy Mini Radio Play Competition and took first prize with his The Adventures of Captain Max Power of the Intergalactic Police - an obvious homage to the early Flash Gordon radio series’. A number of skilled professionals are now planning to produce Max to CD and have it aired on a local radio station (SAfm).All his literary and photojournalistic accomplishments have been done on a part-time basis due to the fact that his full time career is lecturing mathematics as well as engineering science at a Technical College. Although this is a most fulfilling profession, it has long been Gary's ideal to become a full-time writer – especially of fantasy, science fiction and horror novels.He has recently published his first full-length fantasy novel - The Chronicles of Baltrath: The DARK WIZARDS.As a considerable amount of time and effort has been expended in building the world of Baltrath, Gary has begun work on a sequel to The Dark Wizards.
Read more from Gary Kuyper
The Promise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Little Tadpoles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Politically Incorrect Limericks: Volume Two Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime Travelers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Goes Around... Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wizards of O-Zone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelf Improvement Series: Improve Your Memory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelf Improvement Series: Improve Your Photography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Family Tree Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA True Clairvoyant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrey Matter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWanted: Undead or Alive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Neighbors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMade-to-Order Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNaturally Evil Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrozen Assets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTeddy Scare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeceit and Deception Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sorrowapple Tree and Other Short Philosophical Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Long Honeymoon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrimson Crime Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBenchmarks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Water Hole Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark Reflections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sensing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBedrhyme Stories: The Crystal-Glow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlanet of Boulders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Goldstruck
Related ebooks
A Walk in the Park Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5First on My List Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRavenfire: The Blackthorn Academy Archives, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCheese and Crackers: Secrets of the Old Diggers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Weird Sisters, Volume II (of 3) A Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat's your hurry? A deck full of jokers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarbarian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinding Down© Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnives and Needles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maker of Moons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Tome of Cryptids and Legendary Creatures: The Great Tome Series, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kingmaker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diary of a Minecraft Blacksmith: The Blacksmith and The Apprentice: Legends & Heroes Issue 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5End of the Line Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTime Marches Off Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Master of Mysteries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYouth (SF Tale) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maker of Moons and Other Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Cares© Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sorcerer's Quest: The Sorcerer's Saga, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Missed Murder, A Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Surrogate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Puzzle Lock Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Night in the Lonesome October Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Burdens: Stories by Drew Kizer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMixed Emotions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYouth: A Sci-Fi Tale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmythist Dreams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZicci: A Tale — Complete Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Idol House of Astarte Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Horror Fiction For You
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Good Indians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Needful Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Misery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Sematary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whisper Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hollow Places: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outsider: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Short Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Different Seasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchers: a spine-chilling Gothic horror novel now adapted into a major motion picture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edgar Allan Poe Complete Collection - 120+ Tales, Poems Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Best Friend's Exorcism: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firestarter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5H. P. Lovecraft Complete Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Goldstruck
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Goldstruck - Gary Kuyper
GOLDSTRUCK
FANTASY HORROR
By
Gary Kuyper
This is a first edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author
Copyright © Gary van Nikkelen Kuyper 2011
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental
Smashwords Edition
ISBN 1 46624 619 7
DEDICATION
For my cousin, Wayne Kuyper
Goldstruck
It was late and raining hard when the hooded horseman galloped into Doctor Zadnost’s cobbled courtyard. The rider hastily tethered the horse to the hitching post before moving towards the large, thick, oak door. If not for the door’s sturdiness it would surely have splintered off its hinges by the cloaked man’s frantic bashing.
In God’s name open up!
he shouted. I need a doctor before it is too late!
After some more shouting and banging the door swung open to reveal a thin pale man dressed in his pale nightclothes, and carrying a single lit candle on a saucer. The hooded man pushed past the ashen figure and said, Wake your master and be quick about it! I have desperate need of his services this night!
"I am the doctor, said the pale man angrily as he cupped the flame against the storm. He pushed the door closed with his foot and slid the bolt in.
I stay alone. I live alone. And I do all my work without the need of any lazy, long-fingered assistants! You obviously don’t stay in these parts or you would have known that!"
Forgive me! I meant no disrespect. I am from a village about two hours from here; two hours of very hard riding. I almost lamed my steed in getting to you. I was ….
Is your wife about to give birth?
asked the doctor interrupting.
What?
asked the man removing his cape and hood. He was a handsome man in his late twenties. "No! He shook his long blonde hair.
It is I that desperately need your services."
That is a relief,
growled the doctor. I was thinking I had to go out in this terrible storm.
He looked the blonde man up and down. He was neatly dressed in a frilled, long-sleeved shirt. He wore thin black leather gloves. There was a gold ring on one of the gloved fingers of the left hand. You don’t seem very ill to me? If you’ve gotten me out of my bed in the middle of the night because the cold weather has made you sneeze once too often…?
Trust me, doctor,
said the man raising his palm. This is a very serious matter of life and very possibly death. I could not trust myself to that butcher