Interesting thoughts, yet one must bear in mind that there are always two sides to every
story! In The Kaiserine's Champion, Manfred is told that the Secret Police are
ruthlessly wiping out vampyre nests in the capital; when he arrives in Doctor Schmidt's
laboratory he sees chains set into the walls and observes the broken and stained
plaster, which suggests that (vampyre?) prisoners have clawed at the wall in agony.
I'm not altogether sure how being persecuted and hunted to the point of extinction
earns the vampyres a "villain" label -- and neither is Manfred, who explores such
doubtful thoughts in the follow-up story, a kind of "The Vampyres Strike Back" which
shows the other side of the coin, the vampyres' struggle to survive. All of which tells
you that the supposed villains of the piece have purpose & motive that go beyond mere
hunger -- they're not simply the supernatural version of a shark, driven by desire to
feed and nothing else. I think this is something I've always had in mind, an intention to
draw a clear dividing line between vampyre and undead, between thinking sentient
creature and mindless bloodsucker. Once I knew what I wanted "my" vampyres to be,
they took up their roles in the Manfred stories and associated novels without any more
help from me.
What do you like about vampires? Do you consider yourself a vampire fan or are they
just part of the cast of characters?
What's not to like? By definition they're cool and otherworldly. No, I'm not a vampire
fan (let's switch to standard spelling to avoid confusion!) from the viewpoint of
compulsively grabbing a book and reading it just because fangs and a cloak are visible
on the cover. But I will give the genre due consideration in all its varied forms, from
Marvel Comics to Rice via Abbott & Costello and Point Horror. I was brought up with
the genre and understand its wide appeal only too well.
Have vampires crept into any of your other stories?
Frequently. If they're not the suspects, then they're the protagonists. I like to think I
avoid using vampires gratuitously, for example an ordinary murder mystery that hinges
upon a character gasping, in the final scene, "My God, he was a vampire all along!" If
vampires are included in the story, they're pivotal; remove them and the story deflates.
I have several oddball vampire stories that don't seem right for any markets, but that
doesn't stop me from liking them, and their all-too-human vampire characters,
immensely.
The Kaiserine's Champion is supposedly the first in a series based in the same
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