Because this blog is as much about what I’m writing
and reading (says so, right up there on the banner, yep), I thought I’d take
this week’s post to talk a little with one of my favorite authors, Rick
Gualtieri, about his horror-comedy series The Tome of Bill, aka the Bill the
Vampire books.
Doesn't LOOK like a guy who'd rip your throat out, does he?
Also, thank god, no sparkly emo crap.
I met Rick through Twitter, and soon after
discovered his wonderful books: Bill the
Vampire, Scary Dead Things, The Mourning Woods, Holier Than Thou, and Sunset Strip so far in the Bill series.
He’s also the author of the horrific Bigfoot
Hunters; The Poptart Manifesto, a collection of shorts; and some thoughtful
occasional rants on his website, www.poptartmanifesto.com. Here, he’s kindly agreed
to let me pick his brain a bit on the juxtaposition of funny and bloody things
we both enjoy.
************************
Kris Silva: When you first had the idea to write Bill the Vampire, were you considering a
more traditional horror approach at all, or was the comic tone your first
choice?
Rick Gualtieri: I envisioned Bill the Vampire as a horror comedy from the very start, but one
with serious undertones. In other words, I never saw Bill as slapstick.
The situations he was thrust into were always supposed to be deadly
serious with real consequences. It's the characters who create the main comedic
focus - spending more time mocking their circumstances than screeching in
terror.
KS: Are there other comedy-horror works which
influenced you in writing the Tome of Bill series?
RG: From a writing standpoint, there's a lot of
urban fantasy out there with comedic elements. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files is
probably the foremost example of this. The difference is that in series like
these the comedy is a typically an add-on. For mine I wanted it to be one
of the major focuses. Because of that I'd say film has been a greater
influence on me. We're talking movies like “Ghostbusters,” “Army of
Darkness,” and “Big Trouble in Little China.” These are all films that could
have been traditional horror with a more straight-laced cast, but instead are
played for laughs due to the attitudes of their heroes.
KS: Those are all great films. I can think of scenes in
each that echo the dark humor in your books. However, you also work in a LOT of
really...beg pardon ...juvenile silliness. The scatalogical Bigfoot jokes in The Mourning Woods come to mind. Yet
those jokes are in the midst of a deadly serious situation. Tension breaker or
pure love of silly jokes?
RG: A little of both, but I have to admit that, of
all the books I've written, The
Mourning Woods is the one most played for laughs. That's both a
positive and negative. I think it's easily the funniest of the series,
but at the same time probably trades off a bit of character development for the
sake of the jokes. That's really the fine line I walk with this series: how to
keep it humorous without the characters devolving into complete morons.
I am constantly worrying about that balance. That was one of my
biggest fears with Sunset Strip.
It takes place in the same world, but focuses on different characters.
The end result was a dark urban fantasy rather than a comedy.
Switching genres in the same world is nerve-wracking because you want
people to enjoy the story, but have to accept the reality that many won't
because you're not meeting their expectations.
KS: Do you have a favorite scene or scenes among these
influential films which just kills you every time you watch?
RG: Bruce Campbell just utterly kills me up in “Army of
Darkness.” He has so many great scenes in that movie it’s hard to pick just one
– albeit I am particularly fond of the line, “Good, bad...I’m the guy with the
gun.”
The Tome of Bill: Now available in Family Snack Size!
KS: Horror-comedy, or comedic horror, seems to have a
more narrow audience than either genre separately. I've always wondered why
more people DON'T find the juxtaposition hilarious. For instance, in your
books, Bill's coven operates a suicide help line in New York City in order to
lure in fresh meals. As horrible as that sounds, it's also deeply funny! Any thoughts
on why some people don't relate to that sort of sardonic humor?
RG: All humor is subjective. That's the reality
of writing comedy - you are absolutely guaranteeing that a percentage of
the population will find you about as funny as a train wreck. Trying to
appeal to everyone is probably a surefire path to failure, leading to watered
down jokes that will offend none and mostly likely earn you a few pained
chuckles at most. I write the types of humor that would make me
laugh and hope that I'm successful in targeting it to like-minded people.
If I fail...well, one has no business writing comedy if they can't laugh
at themselves when they get properly smacked down.
KS: My favorite scenes in your books are the ones with
that blend of horror and humor, especially when in the midst of something
deadly serious, a desperate joke by one of the characters pops up like an offering
to the Humor Gods. In Bill the Vampire,
for instance, Bill's backtalk to Jeff, the vamp who turns him, is clearly as
much of an instinctual response out of dread as anything else. Bill’s obvious
desperation makes it even funnier! The use of a vintage Transformer toy as a
holy weapon is hilarious, too, and every geek guy or girl who's ever treasured
a mint condition action figure enough to imbue it with its own aura of holiness
will definitely cheer Tom during the climactic fight scene!
I know you collect Transformers. Have you ever repelled the undead with one?
I know you collect Transformers. Have you ever repelled the undead with one?
RG: Forget the undead. I’m more worried about my kids
getting their hands on them. Vampires would be a vacation.
KS: What are your favorite scenes in each of the Tome
of Bill books? The ones you personally found the most fun to write?
RG: I’m fond of any times I get to drop snippets of
history into things: vampires at Troy, Beowulf as an Icon, and other stuff like
that because it gives me a chance to add some fun backstory to this world.
Specifically, though, I think my two favorite scenes in
the series so far were from Scary Dead
Things and The Mourning Woods
respectively. In the former, it’s Gan’s first meeting with Sally. It sets up
their dynamic going forward and I loved introducing a character who could crack
Sally’s veneer a bit. Bill’s first meeting with the Sasquatch chieftain in The Mourning Woods is my other favorite.
Just visualizing that scene from within the main character’s head quite frankly
cracks me up – as sad as it might be to laugh at my own jokes.
KS: That scene IS hilarious. What better time for poop
jokes than when you’re in danger of being squashed by a Sasquatch, after all...
What books do you currently have in the works, ready to
unleash upon the unsuspecting?
RG: I’m nearly finished with Goddamned Freaky Monsters, book 5 in Bill’s series. Following that
I’m working with Tim Greaton on a collaborative story which is shaping up
nicely. From there, we’ll see. I have no shortage of ideas in the pipeline, but
whenever I try to schedule too far in advance it becomes a near guarantee that
I’ll work on something different.
KS: I know you also write straight horror (Bigfoot Hunters) and even erotica. Each
of those has its own appeal, certainly; is there a genre you find most
comfortable to write in, and is it easy for you to switch between them?
RG: I don’t write erotica, but Cole Vance does. Whether
he has any connection to me, I really can’t say. [smiles]
Seriously, I’m probably most comfortable with urban
fantasy, but I don’t have much trouble switching to a different genre for a new
book. It’s all about getting into the character’s heads. If I can do that then
all is well. If I can’t then that probably means it’s not the right story for
me to be working on at that moment.
Many thanks to my guest, Rick Gualtieri, whose Bill the
Vampire books give hope to geeks everywhere! Rick’s books can be found for
purchase on Amazon.
