Musings Across A Continuum

The Strain, first Manhattan…

Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Genres, Horror Reading

“They have always been here… Vampires.

In secret. In darkness.

Waiting. Now their time has come.

In one week Manhattan will be gone.

In one month, the country.

In two months, the world.”

Guillermo Del Toro has teamed up with Chuck Hogan to pen a trilogy of vampire novels, the first of which releases in June entitled ‘The Strain”. Interestingly The Strain Trilogy has its own website, set up to entice readers with blog entries from characters in the novel, tidbit lead in’s to the first book and features reviews from critics but also from the general public. The site is well designed and portrays an urban setting, of which our tale of horror takes place.

Having been eagerly awaiting this book (in desperado fashion pre-ordering it a couple of months ago), I was excited when Dread Central posted a clip (see below) with Del Toro a couple of week ago, discussing his take on the vampire mythology and what fear in horror should invoke.

The first novel is a vampire vs humanity plot, commencing with an investigation of a plane which has landed at JFK airport, in which things have gone pear shaped on board. Enter our protagonist disease control investigator Ephraim Goodweather, who finds that all but four of the passengers on board are dead. All of the deceased have been drained of their blood. The survivors are released into the general population and strangely the corpses of those killed in the tragedy go missing. Similar victims then begin to appear.

Reviews so far a very positive, stating that the novel manages to maintain suspense and horror throughout, giving gritty description of the terror which unfolds. Some critics already tipping this could be the next big horror franchise, dare I smell the blood like metallic scent of a quality vampire film trilogy? With Del Toro at the helm, I can feel my incisors tingling already!

Ms Harker