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In Other Words
In Other Words is the site blog for Globe Books. It is written by Peter Scowen and by guest bloggers from the literary world.
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Monday, June 8, 2009 3:58 PM

Now THAT's how you promo a vampire book

Peter Scowen

Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Award-winning director of Pan's Labyrinth, as well as Blade II, Mimic and Hellboy I & II, has just released a novel that is the first part of a trilogy about a plague-like virus that turns people into vampires. Not surprisingly, the web trailers for the book, called Strain, are unusually good -- more like big-budget movies, really, especially when compared to the sombre-voiced-narration-over-still-image efforts that make up the vast majority of the genre.

Del Toro, who co-wrote the book with noted thriller writer Chuck Hogan (Prince of Thieves), says in an interview that he wants to reclaim the iconic literary figure of the vampire, who lately has been most often portrayed as a moody teen with good intentions and outrageous hiking skills. Judging from the trailers, his vampires are going to be nasty, bloodthirsty freaks who will never be invited to a high-school prom, at least not on purpose.

The first book is in stores now; the next two, The Fall and The Night Eternal, will be released in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

The trailers, made by a del Toro protege named Francisco Ruiz Velasco, don't skimp on atmosphere and makeup, and the acting's not bad either. Here they are in the order you're supposed to watch them; the first one is a bit generic, but nos. 2 and 3 will make your skin crawl.

UPDATE: The publisher, HarperCollins Canada, is inviting people to make their own trailer for the book and submit it. Entries will be judged by del Toro and Hogan and could appear in a Canadian movie theatre later in August. Details here.

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In Other Words Contributors

Peter Scowen

Peter Scowen is a communities editor with the Globe and Mail and is responsible for the Globe Books website. He is a veteran reporter and editor who has worked for a number of dailies and alternative weeklies in Toronto and Montreal. He is the author of Rogue Nation: The America the Rest of the World Knows.

 
 

Judith Fitzgerald

Judith Fitzgerald -- poet, editor and cultural critic with 30 works (including poetry, biography, anthologies and children's books) to her credit -- writes about poetry for In Other Words and is a contributing reviewer for this newspaper as well as a Poetry Fellow of the Chalmers Arts Foundation. Short-listed for (or recipient of) several major honours including the Fiona Mee, Trillium, Governor-General's Poetry and Writers’ Choice Awards (among others), she recently completed The Adagios Quartet. The ex-Torontonian now calls the Almaguin Highlands home.

 
 

Linda Leith

Linda Leith is the founder and artistic director of the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival. The annual festival was the world's first multilingual (including English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Italian, Urdu...) books festival when it was launched in 1999. Linda's most recent book is Marrying Hungary (2008).

 
 

Brian Joseph Davis

Brian Joseph Davis is an artist and writer based in Toronto. He's the co-founder of Joyland.ca and has written for Arthur Magazine, The Utne Reader, and Eye Weekly. He's the author of the books Portable Altamont (Coach House, 2005) and I,Tania (ECW, 2008), which Slate.com called "the book of your fever dreams."

 
 

Ben McNally

Ben McNally has been a bookseller in Toronto for more than 30 years and has been operating his own store, Ben McNally Books, in the heart of Toronto's financial district on Bay Street since September 2007. In partnership with the Globe and Mail, he co-ordinates the popular Sunday Authors Brunch Series at the King Edward Hotel, and has, for the past two years, been the bookseller at the International Festival of Authors.