DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) Read online

  Blake and I just spoke. He’s gung ho for going forward. We talked about some of the plotting and divvying up the workload. Basically, we’d each take a character in the hospital and follow them through the vampire outbreak. Maybe 20k words each separately, then bring the characters together for the finale. Structure it like AFRAID: character scene ending in a cliffhanger, go to the next character ending in a cliffhanger, go to the next…

  This needs to be three people. I’m crazy busy as well, but I’m lucky to not have a day job.

  I’d really prefer working with you before looking for another third partner…

  Joe

  • • •

  I don’t know the timeframe on the new gig. It could very well be a case of “Can you deliver the manuscript in the next 12 months?” Or it could be “We need this by August and here’s a 350-page bible of rules that you need to follow to the letter, while still delivering a creative story with emotional depth and engaging characters, which must not contradict anything in the upcoming unfinished game.” But I can say for certain that until May 1st, there’ll be no DRACULAS work for me.

  Jeff

  • • •

  Oh, poop.

  Okay, now I gotta ask others. I’ll start with F. Paul Wilson. But when this gets made into a Wes Craven movie, remember I asked you first.

  Joe

  • • •

  Heh heh. This is the only time in my life that somebody will come to me before F. Paul Wilson. Rest assured that this is a genuine recognition of the impossibility of cramming another 20,000 words into April and not a “Sorry, too busy!” style brush-off of the type I saw (Big Name Horror Author) give an editor at WHC, leading to the editor being red-faced, quiet, and mildly ashamed for the rest of the party.

  Jeff

  • • •

  Has (Big Name Horror Author) published anything since (Well Known Book)?

  Joe

  • • •

  Lots, you illiterate!

  Jeff

  • • •

  I thought he was dead.

  Joe

  • • •

  Well, that’s what happens when you turn 40—the memory and awareness of the world around you starts to fade, big-time.

  (This will be only be funny for the next 7 1/2 months.)

  Jeff

  • • •

  Who are you, again?

  Joe

  • • •

  That guy you owe $50,000 for ghost-writing WHISKEY SOUR.

  Jeff

  • • •

  I didn’t like that book. Mixing humor and horror is stupid.

  Joe

  • • •

  Hi Paul—

  Taking a complete shot in the dark here, but how’s your writing schedule? Got any free time?

  Blake Crouch and I have this insane idea for a vampire novel that would be a cinch to write, and we’re looking for a third collaborator. Everyone does 20k words, split the rights 3 ways.

  I know you’ve done vamps before, but this is really a different take on it, and the workload would be light for all involved, and also a lot of fun. Sort of like what you did with ARTIFACT, except more linear, and more commercial. And more violent.

  The title: DRACULAS.

  It’s a lot like 28 Days Later with fangs. Capitalizes on both the vampire and the zombie popularity currently fueling genre fiction, but with some big twists. Think Night of the Living Dead in a hospital setting.

  As I said, this is a shot in the dark. I know you’re busy and in demand. I’ve got four book contracts right now (!), and I’m buried in work, but this idea won’t let me be. Problem is, I just don’t have time to write it alone.

  Joe

  * * *

  March 29, 2010

  Getting my head sorted out after WHC.

  This sounds like fun as long as you don’t have too tight a deadline.

  Paul

  • • •

  Jeff said he really can’t do it, so I asked F. Paul Wilson if he wants to join with us.

  Here’s some preliminary thoughts:

  Prologue, three newspaper clippings from a cheesy tabloid. Headlines:

  “DRACULA’S SKULL UNEARTHED IN TRANSYLVANIA! A Romanian farmer uncovered a skull with unique properties while plowing his field near the town of Brasov. The relic, which appears to be ancient and human, has thirty two razor-sharp teeth where normal flat teeth would be.”

  “VAMPIRE SKULL A HOAX?” Discovered by a farmer while sowing soybeans, the humanoid skull with sharp teeth is considered by many to be fake. Fueling this speculation is the farmer’s refusals to let scientists analyze the discovery, claiming it is embodies an ancient curse.”

  “MILLIONAIRE BUY’S DRACULAS HEAD!” Eccentric recluse Mortimer Moorecook of Durango, Colorado, has apparently purchased the so-called Dracula skull from the Transylvanian farmer who unearthed it a week ago, for an undisclosed sum. It isn’t known what Moorecook, who made his fortune on Wall Street during the late 80s, plans to do with the skull, though many are hoping it will be turned over to scientists for study. Moorecook was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, and couldn’t be reached for comment.”

  Chapter 1

  Moorecook gets the skull shipped to him. He’s a collector of vampire memorabilia, and on hand is an historian who had studied vampire legends. When the box arrives, Moorecock cradles the head in his sickly hands—then bites himself in the neck with the fangs. He immediately goes into convulsions. The historian calls the paramedics, who take him to the secluded Miskatonic Hospital a few miles away.

  Chapter 2

  New nurse first week. Cancer ward. Hates seeing all the dying, but likes the job and needs the money for her sick mother, who’s a patient there.

  Chapter 3

  Husband and expectant mother hurry to hospital while she’s in labor. Twins. Could be a long labor and complications.

  Chapter 4

  Lumberjack hurt in accident, recovering from chainsaw injury. Twenty five stitches. He’s so tough he drove himself to the hospital, so his truck—filled with axes and chainsaws—is parked in the lot.

  Chapter 5

  A gung-ho good ole boy gun-crazy cop (think Kevin Kostner from Silverado) is the boyfriend of the historian. Meets her at the hospital (To propose? Has ring on him?)

  Alternate POVs (including draculas), chapters end in cliffhangers. No way to get out of the hospital because they spread too fast and knew enough to shred the tires on all the vehicles outside. Vamps also destroyed phone system. Hospital has a “no cell phone” rule and blocks the use of cells with a jammer.

  Dracula rules:

  All of their teeth (not just canines) grow long and sharp, so big they shred through their lips and cheeks.

  Claws grow. Able to see in dark. Can smell blood like sharks.

  Must drink blood every hour, or they die. Any blood: animal, human, blood banks. If one of them is cut and bleeds, the others turn on him and devour him. Lick up every drop off the floor and walls. Fight over bones to get the marrow.

  Without blood, they autocannibalize themselves, sucking their own blood.

  An hour to mutate. No cure.

  No vampire gimmicks. Crosses, sunlight, garlic, stakes—nothing kills them but fire and beheading. No turning into bats or mesmerizing victims.

  These are rabid dogs with bigger teeth. They exist only to drink blood. Rudimentary, childlike thoughts, and some problem solving abilities, but no speech (can’t with teeth so big) and no humanity or sense of their former selves.

  Joe

  • • •

  More possible scenes:

  Millionaire being rescued at the end because they think he’s normal: reverse NOTLD.

  Lumberjack ripping a stitch. All the draculas nearby start sniffing the air and screaming.

  Lumberjack and cop in a fist fight. Deadly, because if either of them spills blood, they’ll be stampeded.

  Birth scene, woman in labor, fighting off draculas who s
mell it happening.

  Joe

  • • •

  Did Paul write back and say “Dude, the occasional short stories are okay, but please don’t forget that I created…REPAIRMAN JACK!!!”

  Jeff

  • • •

  Paul’s in.

  Joe

  • • •

  Wow. Congrats!

  If the project gets stalled and you find yourselves on May 1st still ready to get going, let me know!

  Jeff

  • • •

  May 1 might be doable for a start date if you can commit. Me, you, Blake, and Paul. Blake and I are working on an outline.

  Joe

  • • •

  Okay, I can commit to a May 1st start date! I’m in!

  Jeff

  * * *

  April 1, 2010

  Jeff Strand says he’s in, as long as we don’t get started until May 1.

  So we have our team. :)

  Joe

  * * *

  May 7, 2010

  Hey guys—

  Here are the preliminary rules for DRACULAS. We have four authors: JA Konrath, F. Paul Wilson, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand.

  Everyone will be responsible for 15k words. Blake and Joe will be responsible for the set-up and the finale (though the finale will be based on everyone’s input.)

  The main idea for the story is a simple one: Night of the Living Dead in a rural hospital in Durango, Colorado, with vampires.

  The idea for collaboration is equally simple. There will be four sets of protagonists. Each of the writers will take them through the vampire outbreak in the hospital. The chapters will be short, and end in cliffhangers. Then, when we’re putting the book together, we’ll alternate chapters. This is an ensemble piece with multiple heroes all battling the same evil in different wings of the hospital.

  Here’s what we have as far as a set-up, rules, and characters. Jeff and Paul can each decide first which character arc they’d like to write for.

  Whether you want your characters to survive or not is up to you. The very finale will be a reverse Night of the Living Dead ending. Instead of killing the hero thinking he’s infected, one of the infected will be mistaken for human and removed from the hospital by rescuers, presumably to go on and infect the world.

  This is a fast-paced, visceral book done in real time with a lot of action set-pieces based on deconstructing vampire myths. More on that in a moment. Here’s the set up:

  Prologue, three newspaper clippings from a cheesy tabloid. Headlines:

  “DRACULA’S SKULL UNEARTHED IN TRANSYLVANIA! A farmer in Romania uncovered a skull with unique properties while plowing his field near the town of BRasov. The relic, which appears to be ancient and human, has thirty two razor-sharp teeth where normal flat teeth would be.”

  “VAMPIRE SKULL A HOAX?” Discovered by a Romanian farmer, the humanoid skull with sharp teeth is considered by many to be fake. Fueling this speculation is the farmer’s refusals to let scientists analyze the discovery, claiming it is embodies an ancient curse.”

  “MILLIONAIRE BUY’S DRACULAS HEAD!” Eccentric recluse Mortimer Moorecook of Durango, Colorado, has apparently purchased the so called Dracula skull from the Transylvanian farmer who unearthed it a week ago, for an undisclosed sum. It isn’t known what Moorecook, who made his fortune on Wall Street during the late 80s, plans to do with the skull, though many are hoping it will be turned over to scientists for study. Moorecook was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, and couldn’t be reached for comment.”

  Chapter 1

  Moorecook gets the skull shipped to him. He’s a collector of vampire memorabilia, and on hand is an historian who had studied vampire legends. When the box arrives, Moorecock cradles the head in his sickly hands—then bites himself in the neck with the fangs. He immediately goes into convulsions. The historian calls the paramedics, who take him to the secluded Miskatonic Hospital a few miles away.

  Shortly after being admitted, Moorecock begins to transform into a vampire. He attacks the staff, and begins the spread the infection.

  Chapter 2

  New nurse, her first week on the job. She’s stationed in the cancer ward, which she prefers; that way she can spend time with her mother, who is in the ward dying of cancer.

  Chapter 3

  A husband and wife in the maternity ward. She’s in labor, expecting twins.

  Chapter 4

  A lumberjack, recovering from a chainsaw accident. His truck is parked outside, filled with axes, saws, and other useful tools.

  Chapter 5

  A good ole boy cop, who is the boyfriend of the historian. He’d been planning on asking her to marry him that day, and meets her at the hospital to do so. He’s a gun nut.

  Chapter 6-Chapter 30

  We alternate POVs, following each group of characters as the outbreak goes from some isolated incidents to a full-blown hospital takeover.

  Vampire Rules

  These aren’t brooding, charismatic charmers. These are feral pyschopaths who exists only to gorge themselves on blood.

  After mutating, their teeth grow long and sharp. All of their teeth (not just their canines), and they extend so big they shred through their own lips and cheeks.

  Claws grow. Able to see in dark. Can smell blood like sharks. Strong and fast, but no other supernatural abilities, and no trace of humanity left.

  The draculas must drink blood every hour, or they die. Any blood. If one of them is cut and bleeds, the others turn on him and devour him. Lick up every drop off the floor and walls. Fight over bones to get the marrow.

  Without blood, they autocannibalize themselves, sucking their own blood until they die.

  It takes less than an hour to mutate.

  No vampire gimmicks. Crosses, sunlight, garlic, stakes—nothing kills them but fire and beheading and blood draining. No turning into bats or mesmerizing victims.

  No humanity, no higher thinking. These are rabid dogs with bigger teeth. They exist only to drink blood. Rudimentary, childlike thoughts. Problem solving skills and cooperation, but this dissipates the hungrier they become.

  Blake and I have also got some set-pieces we’d like included in the story: big scenes that will be a lot of fun to write. I’ll let him describe those…

  Joe

  * * *

  May 8, 2010

  I kinda like the gun-nut cop…like many gun nuts, he’s something of a gunsmith and he customizes weapons…he’s off-duty and was on his way to a gun show with a trunkful of all his super-cool heat. He was going to take the historian along so he could propose to the woman he loves most among the things he loves most. His guns have been keeping them apart - she hates them. But she’s going to learn to LOVE them.

  Paul

  • • •

  I’ll take the lumberjack, unless Joe or Blake desperately want him.

  This sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Good work, you two. Pat each other on the back…violently.

  Jeff

  • • •

  Mornin’ Fellas - I talked with Joe, and I’ll take the pregnant couple (my daughter was born just a year ago, so I’m still pretty close to the birthing experience)…Joe will have the nurse/mother dying of cancer.

  I wanted to list out some big set pieces Joe and I have talked about:

  (1) We imagined this scene where, initially, Moorecook goes into the ER convulsing, and then goes ape-shit and bites everything in sight, essentially killing 3 people and a seeing-eye dog. Hospital staff is freaking out, they put the dead in the refrigerated morgue drawers to isolate them while they wait for the CDC to show up…There’s a beat of “whooo, disaster averted, let’s call the CDC, and someone on staff at the morgue late at night, suddenly hears four metal doors begin to rattle, and then this awful screaming coming from the drawers, which begin to be kicked out.

  (2) A woman undergoing a blood transfusion wakes to see a dracula slurping down the contents of her blood bag

  (3) A nurse running in t
error, tries to get to the hospital chapel, thinking she’ll be saved. 30 draculas flood in, shattering the safe in a church/with a cross myth.