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Willie Meikle - The Book of the Dark - Page 4

© Linda Suzane

I felt that vampires in current fiction (and other media) were getting too cuddly and had been humanized too far from the bloodsucking bast*rds they are meant to be. I grew up with Hammer horror movies, and I wanted to go back to basics. In the book vampires were created by God before man, but blew their big chance by killing a lamb and drinking its blood. I gave them their own Adam and Eve, their own ten commandments, their own Messiah etc, and had a lot of fun with it. I don't mind a vamp hero, but I don't want people to forget that, first and foremost, a vampire is a blood sucking fiend. That's what they are, that's what they do. The pale and interesting look, the high cheekbones and the good dress sense are just a nice to have by-product.

I can vividly see the demon in my mind. It would make a great movie creature as it slowly transforms from a skeleton into a vampire. Do you see movies in your head while you write? Would you like to see your book turned into a movie?
My first ever story started when I saw a kid playing with ice in a puddle. I thought "What if the ice shot up his arm and engulfed him?" and the next thing I knew the whole story was there in my head demanding to be written down. It's at this point that it runs like a movie....before that it's more like a still picture that only starts to run when I look closer in my inner viewer. And I'd love to see a movie of one of my stories. Hammer Studios have started up again....wouldn't it be great for them to pick up THE BOOK OF THE DARK? Ewan McGregor is perfect for the lead. And he's Scottish. :) And Barclay Books are actively pursuing selling the film rights for "Island Life" so I may get there yet. Then I can gleefully go along to the theatre with my tub of popcorn and shout abuse at the big dumb hero that gets cast in it.

The Book of the Dark is the vampire Bible. Where did you come up with that idea for the origin of Vampires?
I had a religious childhood...strict Church of Scotland... and the Old Testament fire and brimstone stuff stuck in my mind. Also, everybody seems to be pushing ancient Egypt as the source of vampires so I tried to be different. Besides, it was a lot of fun doing the mock-biblical texts. Several people don't believe it

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