The Strain began life as a television pitch, but when Guillermo del Toro delivered his idea for a realistic story of vampire pandemic, complete with long, complex character arcs and anal parasites, Fox execs wanted a show that was more Buffy than an undead version of The Wire. When they asked him to turn his idea into a comedy, del Toro teamed up with author Chuck Hogan to rework The Strain as a trilogy of novels.

But now, a The Strain television series is back on the table. Variety reports that Grady Twins Productions, a production company started by Marti Noxon and Dawn Parouse Olmstead, is working with del Toro and Hogan to develop a three season series, which they plan to shop early next year.

It's perhaps ironic, given that Noxon was a writer and executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was the sort of vampire dramedy Fox likely had in mind, not to mention a show we ourselves have accused of defanging the vampire genre. But Noxon, whose writing and production credits include the slow-burning Mad Men, is certainly no stranger to smart writing and gradually developing character arcs, and can hopefully deliver the over-the-top mania and horror del Toro's work demands.

[Variety]

The Enchantment Emporium, Tanya Huff (DAW)

In this urban fantasy, Allie Gale's grandma disappears, leaving behind a strange shop that sells magical supplies to the local witch population. When Allie takes it over, she's suddenly involved in a mysterious struggle within the Canadian magic community. If you ever wanted to speculate about the witch population of modern Toronto, this is your book.

Naamah's Kiss, Jacqueline Carey (Grand Central Publishing)

From the io9 review:

This is a novel of pure adventure, with a kick ass heroine who gets to fight, do magic, and get laid just like the swashbuckling heroes of old. It's a perfect beach read. And the best part is the Jacqueline Carey is extremely clever – don't let her fool you with all that romantic frippery. She manages to slip a lot of interesting, subversive messages into this swords-and-sorcery tale.

The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (Subterranean)

The women of a Victorian brothel are hired to cater to the needs of a party of businessmen holding an auction for a mysterious piece. They find themselves quickly involved in intrigue and espionage, in a story with flecks of steampunk and classic mystery. We reviewed it (along with a couple of other Baker books) here.

Wild Thyme, Green Magic, Jack Vance (Subterranean)

This career-spanning collection of stories from Jack Vance includes a wide variety of genres, including a few science fiction stories about other worlds. Vance's ability to build worlds has been praised by Frank Herbert, Poul Anderson and Robert Silverberg.

Fragment, Warren Fahy (Delacorte)

A reality show crew on a ship stumble on an island ecosystem inhabited by parallel-evolved monsters. From the io9 review:

If you like monsters and mad science - and who doesn't? - this is the perfect book to take on your vacation or on that long plane ride to a remote island. However, if you're looking for characters who move outside of two dimensions, you might want to give this one a pass.

The Year's Best Science Fiction 26, edited by Gardner Dozois (Griffin)

I'm a sucker for well-complied science fiction anthologies, and this one appears to be no exception. Including 30 stories from masters and new writers alike, this collection also has an extended list of honorable mentions. It looks like a pretty hefty resource for the short story geek.

Green, Jay Lake (Tor)

A fantasy / steampunky tale of international espionage and mythology. From the io9 review:

At times unsettling but always compelling, Green abounds with intrigue and adventure. A feminist fable lovingly written with a father's hope and concern for his daughter's future, Green is the story of a strong-willed young woman trying to find her place in a world that would rather ignore her. Green will not be ignored.

A Monster's Notes, Laurie Sheck (Knopf)

This novel turns inside out one of the oldest science fiction stories. The story imagines Frankenstein's monster not as Mary Shelley's creation, but as her companion, consoling her in a time of sorrow. He discusses with her all of the facets of humanity, trying to understand human connection in a world where he doesn't belong. It's a tale of speculative alternate history, couched in a story of compassion and companionship.

Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles WIlson (Tor)

A speculative future of post-oil America. From the io9 review:

Peak oil has left the world a churchy, early-industrial shambles in Robert Charles Wilson's new novel Julian Comstock. An engaging cross between post-apocalyptic series Jericho and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, it may be the best science fiction novel of the year so far.

Haze, L.E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor)

An agent of the now-Chinese-run Earth investigates a planet surrounded by a haze of nano-satellites. He finds an eerily familiar world of superior technology.

House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds (Ace)

This book came out a little while back in the rest of the world, but this month marks its publication in the United States. It's a space opera of post-humanity and colonization, with the added twist of relativistic travel. As a result, this novel chronicles a mystery distorted by time. It's certainly nice to see a space epic that explores some of the complexity of actual interstellar travel. We reviewed it here.

The Strain, Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (William Morrow)

Master of Horror Guillermo del Toro brings vampires back from their whiney post-Buffy image. From the io9 review:

The Strain is a breakneck thrill ride chronicling only the first four days of the vampire plague that may destroy civilization. The cinematic quality really comes though, making the book feel more like a action blockbuster than a thought-provoking horror novel.

This weekend at Fangoria's Weekend of Horror, director and writer Guillermo del Toro sat down with co-author Chuck Hogan to talk about their new book series The Strain. After yet again calling today's sparkle-vamps lame and praising classic Eastern European vampiric lore, he divulged how The Strain could have been the most amazing TV show ever.

"We started collaborating on it about three yeas ago," GDT explained to the crowd. "Originally I wrote an extended [series] bible for Fox TV. It was a long-form narrative, because I was completely addicted to The Wire. And I thought what if we bring that kind of reality into a vampiric pandemic. I went to Fox with a 12-page proposal. And they said, "We like it. Can you turn it into a comedy?" And I fucking grabbed my ticket and went away."

"I couldn't find any other format. I didn't want to do it as a movie, because then I would have to shorten the character arcs. It would be the same set of problems. I knew there was some violence and brutality in the proposal that I wanted to try out. And cable may have allowed me to do it. I find cable these days to actually be much more free than the movies. And [when you're making a movie] they're always trying to do everything PG-13, so fuck that shit."

"I talked to my literary agent.... I wanted to find a partner who was heavy into procedural stuff. Because when I wrote Mimic, and I could write fucking Mimic and I wasn't being ass-raped, I found that my New York looked anything but New York. I read a lot of bad books and then this man [The Strain co-author Chuck Hogan] came out like a fucking prince charming and I read his books and my hair floated and music came. I was hooked. He's a sick bastard. We ended up collaborating in more ways... some of the sickest shit in the book. Some of it is his fault. When you get to the passage that includes to anal blood worms, this [i.e., Hogan] is the man who made it. You'll get to it."

Also interesting (apart from the anal blood worms) is the fact that the beginning of GDT's The Strain reads a lot like the beginning of Fox's new TV show Fringe. Now the director was not personally making any claims of copy-catting, BUT comparisons have been made by others. Guillermo del Toro merely said:

"I pitched it to Fox four plus years ago, so if you see anything to do with Fringe, either it's a coincidence, or blame Fox. Because the [Strain] pitch opens with a 747 stopping dead in the middle of the runway. The CVC comes in and opens the door, and everyone is dead. So call Fox if you have any complaints, I myself don't think twice about it."

This book began life as a TV series pitch to FOX, a few years back. Del Toro scoffs at the romanticized image of the vampire that infests modern media, and wants a return to the dark folkloric roots of the creatures. He isn't alone: many of us are sick of these pale and pretty poseurs, brooding about their cursed immortality and chatting up jailbait by the Orange Julius. Oh sure, they can go all scary cat-face, just before they fight cheerleaders, but usually they look like they're trying to get a record deal. Honestly, what happened to the Horror? Someone who considers you a source of protein is not a good role model.

It's common to lay the blame for all this at the feet of Anne Rice, but it goes back further than that. Bela Lugosi's dapper aristocrat, dressed for a night at the opera, lunges to mind. The original Dracula is responsible for much of the bodice-ripping and doomed-love themes that still flit around the genre. The appearance and mannerisms of Count Dracula were inspired more by Bram Stoker's relationship with the stately and imposing actor Henry Irving than any actual Eastern European folklore.

Del Toro and Hogan pay tribute to Stoker's classic, while presenting a more primal depiction of the undead as figures of repugnance and terror. At the same time they borrow heavily from Richard Matheson. His excellent I Am Legend was the perhaps the modern novel first to deal with vampirisim scientifically, as a disease. It was made into an enjoyable film in 1964. While not exactly groundbreaking, The Strain combines the ancient stories that scared the kreplach out of our peasant ancestors, with our modern and wholly rational panic about plagues. The attempt is somewhat effective, although it falls short of the vampiric reinvigoration del Toro and Hogan seem to desire.

It begins on the 24th of September, 2010. Echoing the arrival of the Demeter in Dracula, a Regis Air 777 lands at JFK with no lights, and sits on the tarmac with all the window shades drawn. There is no communication from the airliner, not even a single cellphone call from the passengers. Everyone at the scene feels an ominous dread. When local and Federal authorities get inside the plane, all 210 people on board appear dead. Fearing the worse, Dr. Ephriam Goodweather of the CDC is summoned. Ephraim is a recovering alcoholic and is recently divorced. He'd much rather be spending a weekend with his beloved son but duty calls. At the site he and fellow epidemiologist Nora — who is totally hot — suit up and investigate the scene.

There is no sign of panic, violence, or trauma on the plane. Only four people are found alive, but unconscious. When they come to, they have no recollection of anything odd, and complain about sore throats. But since they seem fine, they're allowed to go home. Only the fourth survivor, flight crew member Captain Redfern (like Renfield, get it?), agrees to stick around the hospital to help Ephraim with his inquiries. The deceased are sent to morgues in four of the City's five boroughs and examined for peculiarities. None of the bodies shows any sign of rigor mortis or decomposition. There is still a slight but measurable core temperature, and everyone has a hairline laceration, mostly on the neck. All their blood has been replaced by a turgid white ichor. There are also significant ongoing changes to the internal organs, and a strange growth on the vestibular folds above the larynx.

"Well, good work everybody, let's call it a night and get a fresh start tomorrow. No, I don't think we need to take any extra precautions. The night shift will give us a call if anything odd happens. 'Bye!"

Meanwhile back at the plane, three pieces of undocumented luggage have been found in the cargo hold. There's a kayak, a set of golf clubs, and a huge, long black wooden box covered with grotesque carvings exuding a miasma of menace. The bomb squad finds only a layer of rich soil inside, so they chuck it in an outbuilding with no security and only one camera. What the hell, really? Del Toro has stated he wanted the procedural feel of shows like CSI for this story. Given that series' regard for protocol and scientific accuracy, I'd have to say he got it 100%. Sure, this is a world where nobody believes in vampires but wouldn't extraordinary circumstances call for, oh I don't know, extraordinary measures? I think the golf clubs are sent to Broom Lake for further study.

The next day there is a total eclipse of the sun over New York City (look it up – no there isn't.). During the eclipse, or occultation as the authors prefer, the big box of dirt disappears mysteriously from the airport. An old man shows up at the morgue, annoying everybody by insisting that the bodies be destroyed. The cops arrest him, but not before he totally creeps Ephraim out with his ranting about UV light and ancient evil, blah, blah, blah. The four survivors are acting oddly, and their throats are feeling worse. One of them, a Marylin Manson-style rockstar, is getting his freak on with some groupies and gets really, really freaky. Another man is at his suburban home with his family and dogs when... well, best Toolshed of Horror since Shaun of the Dead. Before the night is out, all the corpses from the 777 are missing but the authorities insist everything is just fine. Ephraim, the brilliant doctor, is beginning to suspect otherwise.

From fairly early on, we learn all this is part of a Nefarious Plan by the creaky, old billionaire, Palmer Eldritch who wants to live forever. Uh, guys — Philip K. Dick called, he wants his villain back. Very little of the Plan is revealed. I suppose it will all make sense in the subsequent volumes, that's suspense, right? So far it shows all the logic and business acumen I've come to expect from South Park's Underwear Gnomes. Mostly Eldritch shows up once in a while tenting his hands and softly saying, "Excellent!"

The plot so far is rather silly, but I really liked the rebooted old-school vampires. They resemble Max Schreck from Nosferatu a great deal, as well as the Reapers from del Toro's Blade II. The change is brought upon by a crazy-ass virus using tiny parasitic worms as a vector. All the organs are replaced with new structures, cancerous mockeries of human anatomy, the genitalia wither and hair falls out in clumps. Grey mottled flesh writhes constantly as the worms take residence in the circulatory system. Preternaturally fast and strong with a predator's heightened senses and always hungry.

After most of these people's personality has been burned away, all that remains is a compulsion to return home to be with their Dear Ones. In all the gruesome descriptions of the attacks and feeding is the sense of horrific violation and betrayal. Your friends and family are part of a new family and want you to join them. Give Momma a kiss.

And what a kiss. No retractable canines needed here. Vampire 2.0 comes with a fabulous new nutritional input system you'll just flip for. The jaw unhinges like a PEZ dispenser, but instead of candy, a stinger-tipped tendril whips out a meter or two, piercing a major artery. Paralytic venom and virus go in, red, red blood is pumped out. As a nice added detail, they defecate while feeding, a thin transparent slime that reeks of burnt ammonia. Edward never does that. Soon (how long is not quite clear) each victim turns ready to infect more people, adding to the hive of bloodsuckers. The only reason vampires never took over the planet before is because of some Ancient Pact by six Master vampires. Now a seventh rogue Master has made a deal with Palmer Eldritch, and the infection spreads geometrically across New York City.

Yeah, all kinds of furious handwaving here.

Fortunately we have some fearless vampire hunters on the case. Ephraim and his trusty sidekick Nora hook up with that ranting old guy from the morgue. Abraham Setrakian has been hunting the revenant strigoi since he first encountered one at the infamous Treblinka II concentration camp. All his life, eccentric University professor has been doing the Van Helsing thing, tracking and killing vampires all over the globe. Now he runs a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem. This would seem an anti-climax, but it has proven to be an excellent way to amass a stockpile of weapons and other items of dubious provenance. Setrakian gives Eph and Nora a crash course in vampire-killing. Crosses and holy water are useless, these are strictly secular suckers. Sunlight works best, if you can pull them from their nests, a high-powered UVC lamp will cook them nicely. Silver, not wood, does a lot of damage and decapitation is always a good idea.

The old frail professor is still a major badass head-cutter and Eph is a quick study with a sword. Nora can wield the weaponized nail gun with the best of them, but she's there mostly to look totally hot and scream at appropriate moments. The new team gets a big boost when Vasily Fet joins the cause. Vasily is New York's finest Pest Control Officer, an expert in rats and their underground world. Swings a mean length of rebar too. Also look out for Gus Elizade, an eighteen year old hood whose mean streets just got a whole lot meaner. He seems fated to fight vamps too, but his future looks doubtful.

The Strain is a breakneck thrill ride chronicling only the first four days of the vampire plague that may destroy civilization. The cinematic quality really comes though, making the book feel more like a action blockbuster than a thought-provoking horror novel. The publisher is hyping the heck out of this book, and it will sell like a Dan Brown of the Undead. It has some dopey parts, but is also pretty entertaining and scary. This would be an excellent vacation read, although I would not recommend reading the first fifty pages on an airplane if you are a nervous flier. Save it for the beach soaking up the UV rays.

You can purchase The Strain now from Amazon,
or support your local independent bookseller.

There is also a Spanish-language version, Nocturna, in trade paperback.

Commenter Grey_Area is known to all the strigoi as Christopher Hsiang. He regularly enjoys drinking los vampiros in his neighborhood. ¡Muy sabroso!

On the left, you see a picture of a Revenant (there is also video of them in action in the jail scene clip below) and on the right is a Reaper from the GDT directed Blade 2. They both look pretty similar, minus the "stinger" from the new vamps. Funny enough, I'm completely OK with the similarities. First off, because Blade 2 was actually a refreshing and interesting look at the vampire world (how could you not love the snap open jaws?) and second, I'm a believer in GDT's work. He's a trustworthy director, so I have no doubt that even if the Revenants are similar to the Reapers, they're still going to be a bad ass infection of bloodsuckers that make you scared of things that go bump in the night.

Trailer:

Jail Scene:

Check out the The Strain's website for more details and listen to a chapter being read by Hellboy Ron Perlman himself (which is surprisingly coherent).

The novels are supposed to include a CSI-style procedural feel, which should be interesting on its own, let alone the bad-to-the-bone vampires he describes. It's comforting to know the vampires in this series will "fill the scary void of an animated corpse that lusts after your blood...breaking and violating our safety with a sense of dread and horror." Now that is actually sexy. Speaking of sex appeal, Del Toro takes a crack or two at the vamps of today and tells the viewers, quite blankly that his vamps are a "a plague of creatures where you did not recognize their humanity - but our own inhumanity in them." Sounds like perfection.

Here's a tease promo from the Harper Collins site:

They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and 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.

A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Eph Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing . . .

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city-a city that includes his wife and son-before it is too late.

The Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy, will be out on June 2nd.