Matthew Heilman's Blog - Posts Tagged "police-procedural"
Lie Still the Dead
Today is a special day for Ryan Henry and I as the sequel to our vampire novel Come Forth in Blood has been published by Stygian Press. We are grateful to Craig Hines for all of his hard work and for creating the new book’s gorgeous and deliciously blasphemous cover.
The ideas for Lie Still the Dead have haunted Ryan and I for more than 10 years and were initially planned to be part of the first novel. We realized however that the story needed to breathe over the course of two books. With Come Forth in Blood we wanted to ‘Nolanize’ the idea of vampires and vampire hunters and write a gritty, realistic take on classic vampire mythology.
This time, we wanted to scare the fuck out of anyone that takes the time to read this book. We combined our love of “Mindhunter,” “Seven,” and noir-crime fiction with straight up sinister gothic horror. The vampire in this book is mysterious, feral, cruel, unknowable, cunning, and powerful. Unlike the work of Anne Rice (R.I.P.), access to the vampire’s point of view is wholly denied to readers. We never take you into her mind, there are no interviews with her, she does not ruminate on the endless ennui of her immortality from a posh Paris or New Orleans apartment. She is a walking nightmare, fueled by suffering, and rage, still clad in the rotten mourning weeds she was buried in centuries ago.
Whether we actually succeeded in writing the scariest vampire novel since 'Salem's Lot is a subjective matter of personal opinion. But what I can say is that it’s the best work Ryan and I have ever done and we’re immensely proud of it. We hope it finds its audience.
The book is available in hardback, paperback, and eBook from your favorite online booksellers and from www.stygianpress.com
The ideas for Lie Still the Dead have haunted Ryan and I for more than 10 years and were initially planned to be part of the first novel. We realized however that the story needed to breathe over the course of two books. With Come Forth in Blood we wanted to ‘Nolanize’ the idea of vampires and vampire hunters and write a gritty, realistic take on classic vampire mythology.
This time, we wanted to scare the fuck out of anyone that takes the time to read this book. We combined our love of “Mindhunter,” “Seven,” and noir-crime fiction with straight up sinister gothic horror. The vampire in this book is mysterious, feral, cruel, unknowable, cunning, and powerful. Unlike the work of Anne Rice (R.I.P.), access to the vampire’s point of view is wholly denied to readers. We never take you into her mind, there are no interviews with her, she does not ruminate on the endless ennui of her immortality from a posh Paris or New Orleans apartment. She is a walking nightmare, fueled by suffering, and rage, still clad in the rotten mourning weeds she was buried in centuries ago.
Whether we actually succeeded in writing the scariest vampire novel since 'Salem's Lot is a subjective matter of personal opinion. But what I can say is that it’s the best work Ryan and I have ever done and we’re immensely proud of it. We hope it finds its audience.
The book is available in hardback, paperback, and eBook from your favorite online booksellers and from www.stygianpress.com
