This year is the fortieth anniversary of my first published book, Crypt of the Vampire. I've blogged about it before, and longtime readers will already know the story of how it came to be written -- and revised (in 2013) and later expanded (in 2016) by David Walters.
And if you're familiar with the Mirabilis blog you'll also know how the Golden Dragon Gamebook series led to my lifelong friendship and creative partnership with Leo Hartas -- which also weaves back into the present day and my Jewelspider RPG, which is being illustrated by Leo's son Inigo. Everything's entangled.
In the introduction to David Walters's 2016 version I wrote:
"As my preference when running role-playing games is to let the players drive the story, I dispensed with the long introduction usual in gamebooks at the time. There’s no spoon-feeding here, no overt mission. You aren’t told your history. You are the hero, as the back cover blurb used to say, so your background and motivation are up to you. I’m not saying it works. You as the reader must decide that. I’m just saying it was deliberate. Crypt of the Vampire is my love letter to Hammer horror, and I wanted it to have the pace, vigour and dislocating dreamlike quality of the best of those movies."
Is there anything more to say? Yes, plenty. The full origin story of Crypt of the Vampire has yet to be told, but it's coming soon. With Samhain approaching, expect to hear the creak of a coffin lid, the howl of wolves, and the flapping of leathery wings. There's no escape -- so stock up on garlic and hawthorn stakes now, and watch this space.
While you're waiting -- have you tried this Golden Dragon mini-adventure, "The Island of Illusions", that Oliver Johnson and I wrote back in 1984? And listen to this comparative analysis of two very different Gothic novels by the virtual hosts on NotebookLM.
To get you in the mood for Halloween, here are some vampire movies I've enjoyed. Got your own favourite? That's what the comments are for.
I'll check out those few vampire films you mention that I haven't seen, Dave, having watched Viy the other day. Some of the special effects were cracking in that given the origin and age of the film. On the subject, I watched 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' the other day. It wasn't too bad, but had one of those unforgivable flaws you hate. In this case, the crew's inability to find the monster below deck during daylight hours, despite the ship seemingly being all of 30 yards in length.
ReplyDeleteOh, I couldn't be doing with that, Andy. Thanks for the heads-up. I was already dubious after hearing it has the tired old trope of vampires bursting into flames when hit by the sun's rays -- that always struck me as too literal and SF-ish for the genre. Maybe I'll replay "Return of the Obra Dinn" instead. (It's coming to something when the videogames are actually better at storytelling than the movies.)
DeleteBtw I was meaning to ask if you've seen Dream Horse. Not a great movie, but a cracking real-life story.
I heard about Dream Horse upon release but didn't watch it, Dave. I suspect because of Dream Alliance's 30 runs, it won 5 races and I backed it the other 25 times! I'll perhaps give it a go now the painful memories have faded a little.
DeleteReturn of the Obra Dinn was released someway after my gaming halycon days, but it looks interesting. On the vampire front, given Salem's Lot is a favourite book, has recently been remade and David Soul died earlier this year, I should give a shout out to the 70s version. I haven't watched it in ages but I remember it being one of the better Stephen King adaptations. I've also realised I've gone my life not knowing whether David Soul was Starsky or Hutch (now clarified). I have the same issue with Cagney and Lacey. And as for Ant and Dec, despite my wife informing me a dozen or so times which one is which, my brain stubbornly refuses to retain the information!
I'm in the same boat, Andy. My wife tells me that Ant always stands on the left, which makes sense, but what works against that it's Dec who's the titch. Without googling it, I'm going to have a guess that David Soul was Hutch. No clue about Cagney and Lacey -- I'd have been watching Knight Rider on the other channel!
DeleteYou'd be right about Hutch, Dave. I'd like to be able to take the high ground and say I didn't watch Knight Rider, but you'd also correctly guess I'd be telling a fib! Spy Hunter. Now there's a computer game!
DeleteAs a matter of fact, Andy, I even got to work on the Knight Rider videogame twenty years later. As part of the background research I had to watch loads of old episodes, which was no great hardship though it did start to go off a bit after a couple of seasons. Still, what doesn't?
DeleteCor blimey, Dave. Or should that be KARR blimey! I'm currently watching Better Call Saul. That's bucking the trend so far.
DeleteI see what you did there, Andy. Come to think of it, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Succession, Elementary and The Shield all managed multiple seasons with no drop-off in quality, so maybe I should revise my rule.
DeleteCongratulations on this particular 40th Dave! I hope you celebrate it with a suspiciously blood- red bottle of wine, and a few episodes of Buffy the Vampire slayer as well, of course!
ReplyDeletePS I guess that all such writerly celebrations are "Paper Anniversaries"? ; )
Thanks, John. My wife and I base our wedding anniversaries on the periodic table, and applying the same rule to Crypt of the Vampire makes this the zirconium anniversary, but paper makes more sense!
DeleteLovely work on the anniversary version. A delightful romp through a haunted mansion, lots of deaths for the foolhardy and the unwary, and the illustrations are beautifully coloured too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, James. The credit is mostly Leo's, I feel -- those illustrations still have a unique spooky charm.
Delete