Stitch and Bear

A long-running Irish blog with reviews of the best restaurants in Dublin and throughout Ireland. Some wine and cocktails thrown in for good measure!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

The Strain is the first book in a trilogy from Oscar award-winning director Guillermo Del Toro and Hammet-winning author Chuck Hogan. It's a bone-chilling, epic vampire story that is the complete opposite the to world of Twilight. Guillermo Del Toro created a fanastically evil, yet beautiful world in his amazing film Pan's Labyrinth, and now we can get to read his take on the vampire myth.

This story is a good, old-fashioned vampire story with real nasties and this first installment lays the ground for what should be a truly fantastic set of books. It takes certain elements of vampire lore and combines them with modern science and epidemiology, resulting in a modern horror tale. The novel contains strong elements of famous vampire stories, such as the original Dracula, the famous I Am Legend, all the way through to the vampires in Blade II. However, the authors have done an amazing job in creating a new vampire lore.

The novel is a page-turner, captivating the reader and drawing them in from the very first scenes. From the minute that Flight 753 lands in New York, seemingly full of dead passengers, the scene is set. The main characters are extremely well developed and I am already anticipating the next novel in this series so that I can find out what happens.

It's clear that the novel was written with the big screen in mind. As you read, you can clearly picture each scene in your head. It won't take much to turn this novel into a film, as I'm sure Guillermo Del Toro is planning. If you're a horror fan, then you will love this, and trust me, quiet sounds in the house at night will never seem the same again.
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