DEADITORIAL
I’ve been fascinated by vampires and, to a lesser degree, slayers most of my life.
Just thought I’d share that little tidbit.
As a kid living in Brooklyn in the ‘60s, I remember sleepovers with my friends on Saturday nights. We would curl up with our unique combo of ice cream dixie cups mixed with M&Ms and soda (tasted great back then, but nauseating when tried years later) to watch Bela Lugosi and all of the classic Universal monsters on "Creature Feature", the horror showcase that aired on what was then WNEW, New York, but has now become a FOX station.
Yeah, "Creature Feature" got us through many a weekend when Monday couldn’t come fast enough. Not that we were waiting for the new school week, but it was starting on each Monday that we would run home from school (truly embodying what has become a generational cliché) to watch the newest episode of Dark Shadows, and follow the undead exploits of Jonathan Frid as the 175-year-old vampire, Barnabas Collins. And if that wasn’t enough of a vampiric fix, we would head to Flatbush Avenue and one of the (single-screen) movie houses to catch the latest Christopher Lee Dracula film, Robert Quarry’s Count Yorga, William Marshall’s Blacula or any other movie featuring a guy or gal with fangs. Admittedly things dried up a bit by the late ‘70s, though there would be a few highlights along the way to the ‘90s, among them Frank Langella’s interpretation of Bram Stoker’s famous Count, the alternatively scary and funny Fright Night, Near Dark and many others. Television also managed to score with Tobe Hooper’s four-hour adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot, and the TV movie The Night Stalker, which introduced reporter Carl Kolchak to the world. Carl would return in the TV movie sequel The Night Strangler and 20 one-hour episodes in which he would take on different denizens of the supernatural. Then of course there was the primetime version of Dark Shadows that fell victim to the Gulf War rather than a vampire’s bite; and the exploits of vampire turned cop Forever Knight.
Sitting here in early 2001, it amazes me that in this fast-paced, high-tech world we live in, that the vampire genre is still alive and well, continuing to capture the imagination of filmgoers and television audiences. Non-believers need only look to the phenomenal success of the WB’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, two hit series based on a failed feature film; and the fact that sequels to Blade and John Carpenter’s Vampires are in the works, as proof. Plus there are numerous vampire-related projects in various stages of development, among them a big-budget remake of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, which was previously made as The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man.
And, of course, there’s V&S’s original live-action series, Dark Commandos (www.darkcommandos.com), created by co-editor Thomas Sanders and myself, which chronicles the adventures of a team of vampires that carry out secret missions for the U.S. government.
Which brings us to Vampires & Slayers, a sister site to Dark Commandos that is designed to explore the world of the undead and the attempts of those who would try to destroy them in film, television and in literature. Our goal with this site is to provide interviews, complete retrospectives, reviews, fiction, comics and previews of upcoming productions. Basically we’re trying to turn this site into a clearing house of information pertaining to vampires.
We’d like to make both sites as interactive as possible, so we’d really appreciate whatever feedback you have to offer on either V&S or Dark Commandos via our message board or through email. Let us know if you agree with our reviews, or post your own. What would you like to see covered? Your interaction will allow both sites to reach their full potential.
Well, the coffin is open. What are you waiting for?
Fangs for stopping by.
Edward Gross
Co-Editor-in-Chief