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turned around.
    Markov made a point of waiting until the door was closed before going on. “Tod and Lon had been talking about doing Dracula for years. Since Bram Stoker’s widow was keeping an iron grip on the movie rights, in 1927 they made their cleverly disguised version: London After Midnight . The first American vampire film,” he added with a trace of pride. “Not only did it scare audiences to death, it was their biggest box-office smash. We all figured that sooner or later someone would get the rights to Dracula , so while we were shooting London After Midnight, Lon started to develop his Dracula makeup. Finally Universal got the rights, and Carl Laemmle gave his son the green light to make the picture—with the stipulation that Lon Chaney play Dracula. Unfortunately, Lon died before production began.”
    Quinn said, “Which opened the door that led to Bela Lugosi’s screen immortality.”
    A hint of the Transylvanian actor flickered across Markov’s face and quickly disappeared. “He certainly put his stamp on the role, but we’ll never know what Lon might have done. Although I have a short he made that gives a good idea.”
    “I would love to see it.”
    Markov nodded. “In any case, we filmed Dracula with Lugosi, and by the time we were done, I felt my film education was complete. My mind was brimming with creative ways to use the camera—and now, sound—to scare people. Filmmaking is a technology-driven art and, as fate would have it, I had a genius for technology. I could instantly grasp how things worked, and I had been tutored by the best as each new innovation came in. I had learned how to record sound, for example, by sitting at the elbow of Douglas Shearer when we were at MGM.”
    “Douglas Shearer,” Quinn said. “An absolute giant in the development of sound. His name is in the credits of virtually every MGM film for decades.”
    “Yes. He and many other pioneers of film were the professors who taught me every aspect of moviemaking. I learned makeup, for example, from Lon Chaney himself.”
    “Really? Chaney was notoriously secretive about his makeup.”
    “True. And he kept his secrets. I’m talking about the basics, a few tricks here and there. Sometimes I would approximate some of his grotesqueries as his stand-in while he was getting ready for the next shot.”
    Quinn felt as though he’d entered a time machine and been transported to one of his favorite moments in history. The fact that he was talking to the one man in the world who had been privy to even the most rudimentary of Lon Chaney’s makeup secrets shook loose an avalanche of questions, but he didn’t want to disrupt the flow of the evening. He forced himself to keep quiet and let his strange host tell his tale in his own way.
    “I was anxious to start making my own films,” Markov went on, “but Tod and I seemed to need each other, so I stayed by his side. Probably longer than I should have.” A barely perceptible wistful sigh escaped before he added, “But those are stories for another time. You asked about my involvement with Dracula . As you can see, it was really an involvement with Tod Browning that eventually led to Dracula . I can regale you with anecdotes from the set later, if you wish, but it is getting late, and there are other things we need to discuss.”
    “However you want to tell your story is fine with me,” Quinn said. “I find it all quite fascinating.”
    “Very well. One moment while I tend to my duties as a stoker.”
    He gave a wry grin, and Quinn made an appreciative nod at his pun. As Markov prodded the fire and effortlessly added two more large logs, Quinn marveled at how physically sound he was at such an advanced age. Johnny had also appeared very sturdy, and Quinn wondered how the elderly hermit and his servant kept so fit.
    The fire leapt back to life. Markov’s expression hardened as he resumed his story. “When we were shooting Dracula I’d had an unpleasant exchange with