![]() ![]() These vampires, like those in Stephen King’s Salems’ Lot are those weak against faith and religion. In this type of vampire tale the vampire remains shrouded in mystery and magic, it’s origins frequently mystic. On the one hand you have what I think of as the “supernatural” approach. With vampire stories, as with zombie fiction, there are two major paths writers can take. Though, on the whole, the balance is definitely in favor of originality. Unfortunately it walks that same line between originality and familiarity. The Strain is a fairly quick read that at 416 pages manages to maintain a razor’s edge like balance between pacing and atmosphere. As the horror is slowly revealed events slowly spiral out of control as vampirism begins to spread quickly across the city of Manhattan. From there the story shifts to modern day where a Boeing 777 lands at JFK, then immediately falls silent. The kind of folksy, cautionary tale whose moral involves eating your vegetables and obeying your elders. The Strain begins with a simple story a grandmother tells her grandson about a vampire. ![]() While I am both familiar and a fan of del Toro’s work, from the woefully underrated Blade II to the masterful and haunting Pan’s Labyrinth, I am not at all familiar with Mr. ![]() The Strain is the first in a trilogy of novels co-authored by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I had planned on finishing Open Your Eyes first but I mentioned that I had The Strain to a friend and was immediately guilted into reading this first so that I can hand it over. ![]()
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