Readers seem thirsty as ever for vampire tales, and Seth Grahame-Smith is more than happy to inject some new blood into the genre.
“The Last American Vampire” is the latest novel from the 39-year-old author (“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”) and screenwriter (“Dark Shadows”). It’s a follow-up to “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” which Grahame-Smith penned in 2010, then adapted for the big screen in 2012.
Grahame-Smith is aware his latest book probably won’t end up in theaters—”I don’t think there’s anyone clamoring for a sequel [to the movie] at this point”—but that won’t leave him out of a job any time soon. In November, the Hollywood Reporter named him the 16th-most powerful author in Hollywood, with the tally of his current projects up to 10.
Among those gigs is writing the screenplay for “Beetlejuice 2,” working on two upcoming “Lego” movies and helping to write next month’s Oscars show.
Speaking by phone Tuesday, Grahame-Smith talked about putting vampires in space, jumping into the director’s chair for a beloved book and why he’ll never act again.
GO: Seth Grahame-Smith will be doing a book signing at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville (123 W. Jefferson Ave.) on Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. More information is available at andersonsbookshop.com.
When did you know you wanted to write a sequel to “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”?
It was probably during the writing of my second book with Grand Central [Publishing], which was called “Unholy Night.” Without giving too much away, I think the ending of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” sort of left things open for the further adventures of Abe and his vampire mentor Henry, and I really liked writing that book. Writing books for me is usually a slog. I’m usually sitting there, second-guessing myself and struggling with every sentence. For some reason, “Vampire Hunter” just came easily and was one of the most fun experiences, if not the most fun experience, I’ve had writing anything. I think it was because I loved the characters, I loved the world.
Was this second book more difficult to write?
Much more difficult … because I felt the pressure of wanting to deliver for the people who’d really liked the first book … and also wanting to make the book sort of bigger and more sensational and weave in more characters. And I also weave in a little bit of a mystery in this book, which is something I’d never done before. … It was definitely fun to write. It just wasn’t as fast. … The spectacle of it was the stuff that really slowed me down because it’s almost like building a big action scene in a movie but albeit on paper, so you want to make sure people know what’s going on, where the action’s happening. You want to make sure it’s visceral and entertaining and vivid.
The end of the book brings us to the end of the 20th century, the beginning of the 21st. When and where would a third book in the series, if you were to write one, take place?
It’s kind of wide open, frankly. And right now I’m not thinking about it. … I’m not opposed to it, but I have no plans for it. … After a couple of years of working on a book and then the book comes out, really all you can focus your energies on is hoping that the book will be well received and hoping that people really like it. And the last thing you want to do is think about starting another book. [Laughs.] … The thing about this world, though, is that because these characters essentially live forever, or in Henry’s case, 500 years old. You can jump back and forth in time.
When do you think the readers will have their fill of vampire stories?
Frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t already. It’s funny. That was I think one of the fears I had about this book. … Hopefully they’re not completely finished with vampires, at least not for the next few months while I try to sell copies of this book. … [But] go back to really the first sensational vampire novel, “Dracula, and there’s kind of an unbroken chain of fascination through books and movies and films for the last 120 years with vampires, and they don’t seem to be going away.
Bram Stoker, he has a bit of a cameo in your book, and there’s a mention of Anne Rice in the very beginning. What other versions of vampires influenced you, for better or for worse?
I’m certainly a fan of Anne Rice growing up and still am a fan of her vampire novels. I appreciate “Dracula” for what it is. It’s not the breeziest read in the world by today’s standards [but] it certainly created the genre more or less. … Stephen King has written about vampires, and actually more than once, at least two or three different takes on what they look like and what they are. So I would say it’s fair to say everyone from Stoker to King to Rice.
There are a ton of other historical and literary figures in “The Last American Vampire.” Was there a person or an event that you wanted to include initially but ended up not being able to?
There are probably a dozen of them at least. … Initially I was fascinated with [laughs] the idea that maybe vampires were the ultimate test pilots or astronauts when they were first starting Gemini and NASA was coming together. That was an interesting idea that ultimately it was too much of a left turn for the narrative and something I had to scrap.
You have a lot of other projects in the works, beyond books. Have you always been a good multitasker?
I’m learning to be a good multitasker. It’s taken me several years to sort of catch up with the pace that everything seems to be moving at right now. I’ve gotten better at writing on laptops, in hotel rooms and on planes. … But I would never complain about the pace because I’m doing everything that I’d always hoped I’d be doing. I’m writing books and making TV shows and making movies. I feel extremely fortunate and, as hard as it is, I’m certainly not a victim. [Laughs.]
When did you know you wanted to be a writer and get involved in TV and movie production?
I knew at a very early age. … I grew up in a very book-centric household. My stepfather owned a rare and used book shop … [and] he was primarily interested in genre—sci-fi, fantasy, horror—and so I got introduced to that world at a very early age. I got introduced to things like Dean Koontz and Stephen King, but also the more classic kind like Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury. … And then my mother was and still is actually an editor for books. … So we were a very book-friendly household, and reading was just kind of a thing that you did. It was unquestioned.
For me, though, my fascination with the movies was the stronger pull. … The wall of my bedroom when I was a kid, I didn’t have posters of bands or football players or anything like that. I literally would cut pictures out of Premiere magazine of cameras and filmmakers and things like that and put them on my wall. It was an obsession from an early age, and I knew I wanted to go to film school, and I knew I wanted to write.
Have you had the chance to work with anyone that you used to read about when you were young or who ended up on your wall?
In the last five or six years, [I] have a lot of these weird full-circle moments of working with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, working with Steven Spielberg, working with Stephen King. … Now, I never sat down with Stephen King or hung out with him or anything like that, but just having even that much of a connection, you can’t help but feel a sense of awe about it. [But] I would never go up to those people and say, “Hey, I used to have your picture on my wall,” because I think that would freak people out.
You’re working on a lot of projects, including several screenplays like a couple of “Lego” movies and “Beetlejuice 2.” Are those projects that you jumped on right away when they came up, or did you have to give it some thought?
No, those were no-brainers. For me, the opportunity to do anything with Tim is always — he could ask me to write anything and I would jump at the chance because I just love his energy and I love working with him. And then the “Lego” stuff, I loved the first movie, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors who are sort of the heads of the “Lego Brain Trust” [and] the next several movies, they’re just great guys and exceptionally smart and funny and I have a lot to learn from them.
You’re also set to direct a remake of “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”Did it take a lot of convincing to jump from screenwriter and producer into director chair?
Well, actually, no. … It was more about convincing myself and just say, “This is what I want to do.”… I waited and waited and sort of questioned whether or not it was the right time. It was the right story. No book affected me more when I was a 13-year-old kid than that book, and it’s always been one of my favorite stories. … Revisiting [the 1983 movie] years later, I feel like it just hasn’t aged well and it’s certainly not something that’s part of the culture today. That movie’s not really part of the conversation. You never see it on TV. Kids aren’t exposed to it at all. I thought there was an opportunity to bring that story to a whole new generation of kids who I think would really benefit from seeing it and from knowing that book within that story and knowing Bradbury.
But before you get on that, you have the Oscars next month. You’ll be writing the show for that. How’s that going?
There’s a great group of people led by Greg Berlanti, who’s a good friend of mine who I produced a couple of things with before. … I look at that as just more of something to do that’s interesting and exciting and just a new experience. And again, it was very easy to say yes to that because Greg called and said, “Hey, I’m putting together a team and I want you to be part of it.” And it was a no-brainer. … It’s fun to think that something like a billion people listening to something that you wrote live on television around the world. It’s an interesting and exciting sort of prospect.
You were really outspoken last month on Twitter about Sony pulling “The Interview” from theaters. Do you think the message got across in the end, or there was a lesson that was learned from that whole deal?
I think the message is that we cannot let anyone dictate our right to free speech. … If the message didn’t get across before, then in the wake of what’s happened in Paris in the last week, I think the message is certainly getting across now. When you look at Charlie Hebdo, and the fact that they’re reacting to a slaughter of 12 of their employees by publishing the biggest print run of their most provocative cover ever, that’s basically the opposite reaction to what happened in the case of “The Interview,” where we had one anonymous threat about some violence in theater chains and there was a complete and total capitulation based on that. I think that was a mistake.
You’ve said it’s unlikely “The Last American Vampire” will make it to the big screen. Any chance that could change and we could see it in theaters?
Never say never, but … I don’t think there’s anyone clamoring for a sequel to “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” at this point. But that said, I think that there are elements of the book … that might lend themselves to something different … [like] a graphic novel … a television show or a miniseries. … I’m always open to that. The first hurdle though, … is whether or not the book does well or whether it’s well received or both.
Ever been tempted to take on a bigger role in front of the camera?
Never. Never. No, no, no, no. Whatever talents I have as a writer or a director are already questionable. I think that there’s absolutely no question, however, that I am a terrible, terrible actor and should never be given a role in any [movie]. … At the end of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” the movie, there’s a scene where we’re in the present day and there’s a guy sitting at the bar with Henry Sturges. So I was in Louisiana while we were shooting, and the director thought it would be fun if I was the guy at the bar.
Texting Man, I believe, is your credit on IMDB.
Texting Man, right, yeah. … I was so nervous. The minute we sat down to actually rehearse anything, every time he said action, I would start giggling, smirking to the point where I was really pissing Dominic [Cooper] off. … And every time I made eye contact with him, I just lost it. I think that was probably the last time I should ever, ever be on camera in anything.
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