Guillermo del Toro Has Already Completed His Vampire Novels

January 9, 2009
Source: MTV
by Kevin Powers

Back in September, Variety reported that Guillermo del Toro had teamed up with writer Chuck Hogan to pen a series of books chronicling the origins of vampires, beginning with a focus on a modern-day vampiric virus that infects New York City. Obviously, we can cite much material that sounds similar, considering the recent trendiness of the night feeders, but the point here is how Del Toro would accomplish such a task given his harried schedule for the next decade. Our friends at MTV caught up with the creative mastermind, and while he didn't elaborate much, he did confirm that the books have already been written. Great news to my ears, since I love the idea of Del Toro's mind taking on vampire.

"The novels – it's been written already. Chuck Hogan and I have been collaborating for over a year. I wrote the outline for that novel almost two years ago. These things seem to happen simultaneously, but the reality is they are announced simultaneously." Del Toro talked a little about the nature of the story: "I wanted to find a place to create a vampiric epic that takes you all the way to the modern day, to find out when the vampires started - going beyond Mesopotamian myth, going beyond all of that. Not the attractive, Brad Pitt-esque, decadent lovers that have sex. I wanted to make them like an alternate species and an alternate spiritual creature to man, and the idea is that the series will flesh out that re-invented vampiric myth - respectful of the lore, but taking you through the ages."

The first book in the series, called "The Strain", is already available for pre-order on Amazon, even though it's not due out until next summer. "The first novel is sort of a procedural horror novel, which starts at an investigation of a plane that is essentially like the ship in [Stoker's] 'Dracula' - it just stopped and everybody on board was dead and an investigation ensues… what happens is an epidemic." I doubt we'll see these stories come to life on screen anytime soon (if not just because of Del Toro's schedule), which means we'll actually have to read instead of watch this time around. But with Del Toro's incredible imagination and enthusiasm, there's little concern that this story won't be the next great addition to the vampire genre.

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