Thursday, April 25, 2013

'V' is for 'Vampires,' their dynasty and apocalypse.

'V' is for 'vampires,' that mildly evolved undead. An executive zombie, really. According exclusively to one series of accounts from the annals of the triclopes, this strain emerged shortly after an apocalypse of meteors wiped out all dinosaurs and most plant life. The skies were blotted out by seemingly eternal clouds of ash, which were the perfect circumstances for vampires to give living a shot.

A vampire's best friend.


So you knock off most of the sauropods, and most of the giant plants. That left the mammals in control, which is when vampirism really took off. The World of Night, where rats and fanged birds carried the plague across the entire continent. Tribes of infected centaurs and humans laid waste to any straggling healthy civilizations.

It was vampirism like the world has never known since. There were so many that they were forced to hold each other back and let blooded critters breed. They farmed people, region by region. The imps and centaurs still live where vampires stuck them, claiming ancestral birthright, even though that birthright was a nightmarish pen. The wars of that period were of impatient vampires against cultured ones, killing each other over the expiration dates of mammals. And then there was the apex predator.There’s the legend – the awesome legend – of the infected tyrannosaur rampaging the south coast. It never spread the disease because it just ate anything it came across – centaurs, dorads, anything. Your people hid in a cave? Then a bat flutters in, and before you realize it, the bat turns into a vampire tyrannosaur and he’s eaten your entire tribe. I love that people believe it’s still skulking in the volcanoes of the south. I don’t even care if it’s real. Who doesn’t want to believe in a vampire tyrannosaur, blending in with lava mist or drinking sharks at the bottom of the sea?

Surprisingly unsafe from inventive vampires.
If it’s still swimming around, it’s almost all that survived. Because under the torrents of dust, they were unbeatable kings and queens, spreading their disease at will and treating the planet as a buffet. Then the planet closed for business by clearing its atmosphere. It was the first morning in nine hundred years. The sun crawled across this continent, frying skinny-dipping biters, their ranchers and warlords, some fleeing in the forms of bats or wolves, though still more standing slack-jawed in awe. They’d thought the sun was a fairytale.

Funny that they all turned to fairy dust. I hear faeries eat vampire bones, and pay handsomely if you can find some.

Hands-down, the best apocalypse. It was just a sunrise. A little twinkling of a nearby star, checking to see how we were doing and eradicating most of the undead in existence. If only it was that easy to get rid of tentacle monsters.

31 comments:

  1. I'd be careful not to mess with any bats....just in case!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is brilliant. I love the idea of vampires farming. It makes so much more sense than hanging around sleasy nightclubs. And the description of vampires as executive zombies still has me chortling. Megathanks. Today was challenging and you have just improved it dramatically.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the best thing I could do with my blog today. I'm happy to have been of any service on an unkind day.

      Delete
  3. You words are so thought provoking. You are a very gifted writer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Melanie! Did anything particularly provoke you about this post?

      Delete
  4. The layers of history piled up here are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Executive zombies" - oh, I do love that description! Although I'd expect a typical vampire to be a lot smarter than most executives (which are usually little smarter than zombies).

    I hope that vampire t-rex is still roaming around. That just sounds like all kinds of awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! In talks, "executive zombies" usually gets a chuckle. And the legend of the vampire t-rex will definitely make it into my novels. It's sort of the Nessy of this world.

      Delete
  6. I'm still digesting the fanged birds image while I search the trees for signs they might be out there. You've created quite the apocalypse, all right.

    Stopped in from the AtoZ to join your site and say hello. I'll never meet all of these bloggers, but if the apocalypse is near, it won't matter, will it?

    Great to find your blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not unless the internet survives an apocalypse, or makes a comeback in a later one. Glad to meet you, too!

      Delete
  7. Wonder what all is blending in the lava mist. Thought-provoking - meteor as an aid to the rise of vampires. Who else would appreciate the night as much?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone with a really bad migraine? Nah, I can't world-build around that...

      Unless...

      Delete
  8. I'm thinking I may need a Faerie for a pet...

    KaTy Did at: Life's Ride As I See It

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1) No migraine! Bad, go away! John feel better now! (Did it listen?)
    2) I love the voice in this. The sense of humor is very familiar...
    3) I missed this apocalypse in the timeline- when did it occur?
    4) I loved the logic in this.
    5) ...I don't have a five.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for willing my migraine to die. It is waning, at least.

      This occurred before the recorded timeline and is technically an apocryphal apocalypse. It occurs directly after the initial death of dinosaurs - they managed to skip the entire World of Night period, and rose from the dead many centuries later. That is, if this apocalypse happened at all.

      Delete
  10. Wow! This world of yours is truly frightening. I love the concept of vampires being executive zombies. That's great. And the vampire tyrannosaur--let's just leave him be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Him, or her! I'm pretty sure this legendary critter will get poked in a future novel, if it exists.

      Delete
  11. Oh my. John, I just love your work. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're too kind! Did anything in particular tickle you about this one?

      Delete
  12. I wouldn't have wanted to be around during that time.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vampires are one of my favorite monsters and I love your take on them for your world.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is a really great post. I love how the vampire t-rex is having shark shakes and then the day dawns and everyone is toast. This would be a great first line of a novel (if only it wouldn't end so soon): "It was the first morning in nine hundred years. The sun crawled across this continent, frying skinny-dipping biters, their ranchers and warlords, some fleeing in the forms of bats or wolves, though still more standing slack-jawed in awe."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I hadn't thought about that! But now I know the perfect short story to re-apply that line to. Thank you, Shell. It'll be something to work on just as soon as the I finish the third draft of Last House.

      Delete
  15. John, I am astounded by your imagination.

    ReplyDelete
  16. A vampire t-rex....they'd never see that one coming...lol.

    An 'executive zombie'...hehe, I like that one :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh yes, another legendary creature, the vampire tyrannosaur. The most fearsome predator the world has ever known. During the darkness of day, it hunted for mammals in the labyrinth of caves that are found along the southern, coastal lowlands. Driven by an insatiable appetite for blood, they have been known to enter the sea and feed on unwary great white sharks. If only I could've gotten a photo before that apocalyptic sunrise.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What's not to love about this post? Vampires living in a world in the grip of an impact winter, vampire tyranosaurs, and an apocalypse caused by sunrise! Perfect.

    Rinelle Grey

    ReplyDelete
  19. Best vampire post ever! :)

    Vampire Tyranosaur... hahahahahahaha! Love it. :)

    I fell behind somewhere... will have to catch up on W later.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is my favorite post of yours so far. I mean, I was already quite thrilled with 'executive zombie' and 'fanged birds' but then you take it to another level by introducing me to the awesomeness of an infected tyrannosaur. And then you chase it with the simple (yet best) apocalypse: a sunrise.

    ReplyDelete

Counter est. March 2, 2008