The Highgate Horror (comic story)

 was a comic story published in Doctor Who Magazine.

Part one
At the Highgate Cemetery, Jess Collins is calling for Dave, who is not answering. To her shock, however, she is met by an unseen menace.

This figure is merely the Twelfth Doctor, and Clara is not far behind. Jess explains that she initially mistook the Doctor for "the vampire" - specifically, the Highgate Vampire which dominated the news a few years before their current setting of 1972.

Suddenly, the three hear a scream which Jess recognises as Dave's voice. As they reach him, however, they find his body lifeless and completely drained. A distraught Jess explains that Dave simply wanted to prove the vampire's existence, and his mere curiosity has killed him. Clara, putting her hand on a grave, feels a curious static sensation; however, the Doctor puts off investigating that oddity, as they have a vampire to hunt.

Jess, who managed to catch a glimpse of the vampire, describes it as a grey figure which appeared to be gliding instead of walking. As the Doctor investigates unusual marks of vandalism (including a Victorian symbol of death), he finds himself pulled into a castle. Clara and Jess follow him into the castle, only to find him in the grasps of the Highgate Vampire...

Jess points a torch at the vampire, and the creature flees. Nevertheless, the Doctor is unconscious, and the two women must drag him. As the group walks down Egyptian Avenue, they encounter a cult angry that their "circle of enlightenment" has been broken by the intruders. The group, which is attempting to commune with the spirits, does not believe in the vampire's existence... until one of the cult's members gets grabbed by the creature. And as luck would have it, numerous creatures of the same sort follow it out.

The Doctor, who is regaining consciousness, suggests they run to the TARDIS. However, they soon discover that the ship has become a mere police box-shaped tombstone. The group, still chased by the vampires, has nowhere to go...

Part two
The vampires appear to be scared of Clara, so she manages to hold them back. Gabriel Rosewood (the cult's leader), believing it is he who the vampires dislike, offers to save everyone, so the Doctor and Jess run after his group. Unfortunately, they realise that have left without Clara, in whom the vampires seem to have gained interest...

The Doctor and Jess find the rest of the group, and the former begins to question the creatures. They explain that they are a savage species called the Corvid. Living in the time vortex, they travel to areas where death is abundant. The Doctor suggests the humans flee, but Gabriel encourages them to consume the rest of the group, exclaiming that "it's feeding time!" He explains that he had attempted for seven years to encounter the Highgate Vampire, whose power fascinates Gabriel. He had manipulated the group with talk of spiritual enlightenment, but in reality he merely wanted the vampire's power. Jess pushes Gabriel to the vampires, though he is not dead. The rest of the group finally runs.

They find themselves reunited with Clara, who the Corvids still appear to dislike. The Doctor, Clara and Jess figure out that Rosewood's ley line (a "psychic hotspot") is holding the Corvids in the cemetery, and that they are now feeding on the psychic energy of the living. Additionally, the Doctor realises that Clara's echoes which constantly live and die give her a unique interaction with the time vortex, explaining the Corvids' dislike for her.

Clara rests her hand on the ley line, opening a portal to the time vortex. As the Doctor explains, the Corvids are being sucked back where they came from. Fortunately, this brings the TARDIS back to its former state. The Doctor notes that in this cemetery, ordinary people rest alongside those who massively changed the world. He promises that they, as well as Dave, will be remembered: "As long as we remember, they'll have all the peace they deserve."

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * Jess Collins
 * Dave
 * Gabriel Rosewood
 * Freddie
 * Judy

Original print details

 * (Publication with page count and closing captions)


 * 1) DWM 492 (12 pages) Next: Circle of Terror!
 * 2) DWM 493 (12 pages) The End

Continuity

 * The Doctor promises to dedicate a guitar solo to Clara. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice, Before the Flood, The Woman Who Lived, The Zygon Invasion, Hell Bent)
 * Exposure to the Doctor's time stream has made Clara a toxin to the Corvids. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)
 * Clara wears something similar to Jo Grant's fuzzy blue jacket. (TV: The Three Doctors)