You Thought Reborn Babies Were Creepy? How About Vampire Reborn Babies?

We were downtown recently, just having finished brunch, and decided to walk around the square. Just a couple of doors down we have a cute little kitchen store. It’s always a fun place to cruise, and as I’m checking out, with a brand-spanking new garlic press in my hand, there at the register is a box labeled Garlic Twist. It was the same price as the garlic press so I swapped.

This thing is awesome. Give the cloves a whack with the bottom of the press (it’s nice, sturdy acrylic). Remove the outer layer and toss them in the garlic twist. Slip the lid on and twist the top and bottom in opposite directions. Stop twisting when the garlic is the desired consistency. It works equally well with a single clove or a handful.

The package says you can also do ginger or olives or cherries. I haven’t tried that, but it should work just as well.

I just caught up with the next two volumes in the series: iZombie, uVampire and Six Feet Under and Rising and I'm pleased to report that iZombie moves from strength to strength, taking a kitchen-sink approach to eschatology that incorporates vampires, mummies, proper BRRRRAAAAAINNNSS zombies, poltergeists, and a sewn-together golem who has been scheming for centuries to bring about the end of the world by means cthulhoid.

The stories are both fun and suspenseful, and the creators are clearly going to great lengths to top each other with new kinds of clever weirdness. Each volume ends with a bunch of little metacomics that tell the back-story while borrowing the visual and storytelling styles of Casper the Friendly Ghost, Scooby Doo, and other comedy-horror forebears of the genre.

Having finished book three, I've pre-ordered book four at my local funnybooks emporium. If you enjoyed iZombie but lost track of the series like me, you've got a treat in store (and if you never started, that's an even bigger treat that awaits).

Book 1: iZombie: Dead to the World

Book 2: iZombie, uVampire

Book 3: Six Feet Under and Rising ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/03/08/izombie-books-2-and-3-stylish.html/feed 2 http://boingboing.net/2011/11/04/a-quick-qa-with-chuck-hogan-co-author-of-the-night-eternal.html http://boingboing.net/2011/11/04/a-quick-qa-with-chuck-hogan-co-author-of-the-night-eternal.html#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:28:24 +0000 Rob Beschizza http://boingboing.net/?p=127759 Chuck Hogan is the co-author, with Guillermo Del Toro, of The Night Eternal, which concludes their best-selling Strain trilogy. He is also the author of Prince of Thieves, recently filmed as The Town.]]> Chuck Hogan is the co-author, with Guillermo Del Toro, of The Night Eternal, which concludes their best-selling Strain trilogy. He is also the author of Prince of Thieves, recently filmed as The Town.

Q: Now that the Strain Trilogy is finished, is there anything that you would change about it if you were starting again?

A: Not realistically. Books and movies are never finished, only surrendered. There are always things you wish you could insert after the fact, but nothing about the trilogy feels lacking. We had a plan and we executed it, with many unforeseen twists and turns along the way.

Q:What kind of research did you do for the books?

A: Much research. I had never set a book in New York before, for example. That was a lot to learn just to get us up and running. Guillermo seems to know a little bit about everything, and he was able to indulge his interests (as, for example, Mesopotamian architecture). We incorporated lots of details involving biology, morphology, mythology, lots and lots of –ologies. As to the characters, no they are not based on real people, but we certainly do identify with them. One pleasure of working on a trilogy is watching characters warp and grow over time.

Q: People often predict plagues on the scale of the Black Death, devastating the world. In the trilogy, the vampires “infect” humans, and the hero is a doctor from the Centers for Disease Control. What's the message in connecting vampirism with disease?

A: This reflects one of Guillermo's earliest thoughts about the story, that vampirism would be spread like a virus. This prompted us to take an epidemiologist's view of the plague, which contributed to the novels' realism. Disease control, however, is just that: control, not eradication. It is a constant battle, being fought within our bodies and within the body of humanity.

Q: How would you adapt the books for film and, besides yourself, who would be an ideal director for the project?

A: Guillermo has said that he would have to make six movies to get in everything he wanted, which makes a film adaptation unlikely. There are plans for dramatizing the books, though nothing to announce at this time. And naturally he would be spearheading any adaptation.

Q: The supernatural is one of the hottest genres in entertainment right now. What is it about human nature—and, perhaps, the uncertain times in which we are living—that draws people to horror? Why do we like to be scared and what scares you?

A: Dracula appeared at a time of great technological revolution, utilizing telegraphs, typing machines, and blood transfusions. Today we face another great revolution, starting with the powerful wireless devices we carry in our pockets – whose inner workings few of us truly understand. But despite our obsession with staying connected and informed, we are still vulnerable to our fates and our nightmares.

Q: What was the best and the worst things about writing the Strain Trilogy? For many people, writing is a full-time job. How did you juggle the books with your movies and other projects?

A: The best thing about it for me was to immerse myself in a genre I'd always loved to read. I know Guillermo appreciated the freedom of prose, of not having to budget his scenes but instead to let his creativity flow. As co-writers, we are essentially writing half a novel over the course of a year or so, which actually isn't that onerous. Like anything worth devoting time to, it is both hard work and great fun.

Q:Neil Stephenson said he used a spreadsheet, when writing Reamde, to keep track of all the layers. How did you keep the characters and events straight and flowing smoothly while writing the three volumes of The Strain?

A: Guillermo has a better mind for that than I do. I don't even know how to make a spreadsheet, but I certainly relied on lists and many pages of notes. Anything you can do to stay organized and free up the creative side of your brain is a good thing.

The Night Eternal is out now.

Previously at BB: The Strain ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/11/04/a-quick-qa-with-chuck-hogan-co-author-of-the-night-eternal.html/feed 7