A Swashbuckling Adventure in a World Ruled By Vampires! – VAMPYRATES! Interview with Fred Van Lente

"Through the darkness of the thousand-year eclipse they sail, seeking adventure, treasure—and blood!"

Fred Van Lente and Luca Pizzari have teamed up for Vampyrates!, featuring colors by Adam Guzowski and letters by Jodie Troutman. With the first issue due out on July 8th from BOOM! Studios, I caught up with Van Lente to learn all about his new swashbuckling horror comic book series with bite:

How did the idea for this swashbuckling vampire adventure come about? And what excited the two of you about working together on this for BOOM! Studios?

FVL: We had originally pitched the book to our terrific editor Sebastian Girner when he was at TKO, and then, when he moved to BOOM!, actually reached out to us and it was a perfect fit. BOOM! has so many great horror titles, and it's a great home for our title.

From just the trailer and preview pages, I can tell that this is a richly built world with a lot more to explore. Fred, what can you tell us about Empress Nira and why she's leaving the throne for a life of adventure?

FVL: Vampyrates! is set in a world that is not our own, where vampires are the dominant species. Nira is the hereditary empress of the Vampyrium, which rules the Night Isles for much of the Thousand-Year Eclipse. There are humans, and they outnumber vampires significantly, like cows outnumber us here, but they are second-class citizens who are trafficked between the Night Isles on merchant ships. Nira loses her throne during a coup in the first issue, and accidentally stows away on a pirate ship run by the mysterious Captain Akeyo, who is menacing those shipping lines. So Nira goes from the top of the heap to basically a noob pirate and has to learn to plunder and fight with the best of them to survive.

Fred and Luca, can you talk about your collaboration process? How did you two work together to establish this world and story?

FVL: A very, very long profanity-laced text chain. (laughs) We bounce ideas off each other constantly. We argue a lot, but in a good way that enhances the world and the story.

Fred, what can you tell us about the vampires of Vampyrates and how they compare or differ from traditional vampire myths?

FVL: The fact these vampires rule a world completely different than ours gives us an opportunity to do something different with the genre. The thousand year eclipse means that the world is always plunged into the darkness of night, so our vampires only have to sleep when they're tired (the way Luca depicted the Coffin Deck of our pirate ship is pretty rad). The plants aren't green because there's not enough life for photosynthesis, so they look like plants you'd find at the bottom of the sea.

Our vampires also run the main religion -- which they call the Church of the Last Communion -- so they have no religious symbols like crucifixes to deal with. They cast shadows and see themselves in a mirror, because they're not penalized by reality for "not having a soul." It's good to be the dominant species!

With issue #1 arriving on July 8th, can you two tease what's ahead for our readers and Nira in the world of Vampyrates?

FVL: Nira definitely finds more intrigue and adventure on the high seas than she'd ever find inside a palace. We've got giant monsters, ghost storms, and vampire sharks. Can she rise from lowly cabin girl to pirate queen? You'll just have to pick up the series and find out.

I would usually just ask for some of your favorite vampire movie picks, but I'd love to know your favorite vampire movies and your favorite pirate movies!

FVL: For vampire movies, Hammer Studios were a huge influence on this book. As much as I love Horror of Dracula, and despite my Christopher Lee worship I think my favorite Hammer bloodsucker is the Lee-less Brides of Dracula? Beyond that, Near Dark is near-perfect in my mind. And because of all the sword-fighting in our book, Captain Kronos and the first two Blades, definitely.

Pirates don't have as deep a bench for movies. I tried to rewatch all the Johnny Depp ones to prepare for this book but gave up halfway through the fourth one, despite the fact it's inspired by one of my all time favorite pirate novels, On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. One of my movie hot takes is that Gene Kelly would have made a great Jackie Chan-style comedy-action hero if his career went in a different direction (his Three Musketeers is fantastic), but he did a great pirate movie with Judy Garland called The Pirate that's worth checking out, depending on your tolerance for musicals.

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"In a world ruled by vampires, Empress Nira of the Night Isles has always cared more for sword-fighting and carousing than ruling. But when she escapes a vicious coup by stowing aboard VMS Abyss, a pirate ship run by the mysterious Captain Akeyo, she gets more than she can handle of both.

She must rise through the ranks of the Vampyrates from lowly swab to queen of the Sea of Night—so the oceans will run red with her vengeance! "

For more about Vampyrates! #1, visit: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/840300/vampyrates-1-by-fred-van-lente/

To keep up with all of the great horror titles from BOOM! Studios, visit: https://www.boom-studios.com/