Free Key the Steampunk Vampire Girl and the Dungeon of Despair (9780989878531) by Becket Page A

while the witch found more witches and the ghost found more ghosts. Soon there were so many vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts, and zombies living in the Catacombs that a Society of Mystical Creatures formed.
    As the Mostly Dead population grew, the Catacombs turned into a village. In time, several Mystical Creatures rose from their graves to start a Grave Owners Association, which they called the “G.O.A.” for short. Eventually there was so much development that the G.O.A. renamed the Catacombs, “Necroville.”
    The G.O.A. hired Dwarves to carve deeper into the ground, developing neighborhoods, schools, playgrounds, libraries, and general areas for the Mostly Dead to practice their sorcery, necromancy, and golf.
    As time passed, and as countless more Mystical Creatures came crowding into Necroville for burial, or at least semi-burial, more Dwarves were hired and more space was carved out. The Dwarves carved down into the ground for the Mostly Dead while they built up for themselves so that they would have a place to live, as they were constantly working, for many Mystical Creatures were constantly dying – or at least mostly dying, either naturally or supernaturally. Thus the grand structure of Morrow Mountain began to take shape.
    The population growth became a great deal of work for one mere undertaker to handle, as many vampires made many more vampires, and many werewolves made many more werewolves, and many zombies made many more zombies while many witches found many more witches and many ghosts found many more ghosts. Also, Mystical Creatures of all kinds were moving in and making homes among the Dead – creatures like Goblins, Hobgoblins and Bedgoblins; Elves, Dwarves, and Fairies; Brownies, Boggarts, and Pixies; Trolls, Ghouls, Poltergeists, Gremlins, and many, many more – and all of them either Partly Dead, Mostly Dead, or Fully Dead – Partly Dead like the Narrowly Departed Dwarves of Durham, the Slightly Slaughtered Pumpkin People of Paris, and the Nearly Annihilated Nymphs of Wales – Mostly Dead like the Hardly Headless Harpies of Hong Kong, the Barely Bloodless Boogeymen of Baton Rouge, and the Sort of Massacred Satyrs of Savannah – and Fully Dead like the Roughly Lifeless Zombies of Los Angeles, the Almost Alive Elves of Exeter, and the Nigh-Dead Pirates of Mexico.
    As the population grew, Skulk the undertaker was quickly overwhelmed, for the village was overrun with the Dead not staying in their graves. Even the Fully Dead would sometimes rise from their coffins to pop down to the pub for Unhappy Hour.
    The village soon became so over-populated that Necroville expanded into a city – The City of the Dead – the Necropolis. And as Key read on, and as the shimmering words danced all around her, making twinkling images of the story of the Necropolis, she learned that it soon became the burial place for any and all Mystical Creatures, but no mortals. The G.O.A. put up a sign that read: NO MORTALS ALLOWED! They even went so far as to put a skull and cross bones on the sign, telling themselves, “That’ll scare them mortal folk.”
    Yet almost overnight the Necropolis became so popular among the Mostly Dead that it was soon jam-packed with graves and tombs and crypts and mausoleums. Reading between the lines, Key found it quite interesting that graves were not graves at all, but more like apartments; and tombs were not like tombs at all, but more like houses; and crypts were more like mansions; and mausoleums were more like estates.
    It was with the accumulation of such residents, and with the formation of such residences, that the G.O.A. finally asked Skulk the undertaker to retire. As a retirement bonus, he was given a gold watch and a free trip to Hawaii.
    After his retirement ceremony, vampires took on the role of undertaker. They hired the Dwarves to build the Necropolis Castle and they gave themselves the title “Keepers of the Dead.” Beginning with the first Queen of the Necropolis,