If anybody could usher in a badass return to form for the vampire genre, it would be Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately, that won’t be happening any time soon. 
Gaiman recently spoke to The Independent and told them he abandoned his next big novel because it had a vampire in it, and there have been too many vampires lately:
“The saddest thing is that it runs the risk of making vampires not scary. I will be glad when the glut is over. Maybe they will be scary again. I like my creatures of the night a little nocturnal,” he said. “My next big novel was going to have a vampire. Now, I’m probably not. They are everywhere, they’re like cockroaches.”
He said he hoped that mainstream culture would lose its interest in the undead so that vampire fiction could regain its potency. “Maybe it’s time for this to play out and go away. It’s good sometimes to leave the field fallow. I think some of this stuff is being over-farmed,” he said. [Independent via SciFiWire]
Gawdammitsomuch, Twilight. We could have had a big vampire novel from Neil Gaiman. I know he didn’t name Twilight specifically, but I’m blaming it anyway. Vampires aren’t sparkly, abstinent vegetarians.
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I hate “Twilight” and all of the bullshit it spawned. You know it’s bad when a God amongst men [when it comes to writing.] says, “Nah, I think I’ll pass.” I cry FOWL!!! If Gaiman truly wanted to help literature, he’d do the book.So what if Vampires and Zombies are over-saturating the market? THIS is when you’d get your best sales. Maybe you’d actually help the market and make them brutal again like they’re supposed to be. Show them how it’s done Gaiman… don’t give up on us….
My girls saw Eclipse yesterday and have been talking about it non-stop. I wrote them out of the will.
Forget sales, Rob. A Gaiman vampire novel would be a good opportunity to get some of the Twihards to read a good book for a change.
But… but… American Vampire is so good…
By the way, I like that all three ads for me are for Williams Sonoma. YES, I SHOP THERE, ROBOTS, THANK YOU.
You have to love the pretentious audacity of the graphic novel community looking down their noses at Twilight. Excelsior!
Giant man swallowing vaginas are over saturating the market too (I’m looking at you Kardashians) but that didn’t stop Gaiman writing about them.
Huge cop out. People that read and appreciate contemporary good literature will read it and love it be righteously freaked out. when you think about it, it’s all been done before, and so it will again, nothing new is ever new. Write your face off Neil, it’s a sad day when an amazing author is afraid to go toe to toe with another. unless of course it’s just all about the bottom line, and in that case just admit it.
did someone call him a god? You sir, are a mongoloid. Pick up some fucking Hemingway or Krakauer or even lame-balls Stephen King. Gaiman wrote a mediocre comic series and a couple forgettable books…are you ordering out of scholastic magazine or something?
To Serve Vamp! It’s a coloring book!!!
I can think of a lot of words to desribe Neil Gaiman and his writing and his characters, but “bad-ass” isn’t one of them.
Phht. Comparing Stephen King to Neil Gaiman? Someone’s obviously never read American Gods. At least Gaiman knows how to end a story properly.
Most people who read Twilight could not get through a Neil Gaiman book. Sorry Twilight is at a 2nd grade reading level. We need another great vampire novel. My dear Ann Rice has gone to the bright side. So sad
I love Gaiman novels but he is right about the dumb “MAKE EVERYTHING VAMPIRE EL O EL” phase that is going on now.
The Passage by Justin Cronin is the “badass return to form for the vampire genre” that you’re desiring. Seriously, the vampires are actually scary, and kill people. Lots of people. Grade A writing as well.
The Passage by Justin Cronin. read it.
Did someone just recommend Hemingway as good literature?
AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Sure, he’s great if you’re into self-indulgent writing and utterly dislikeable characters. Hemingway is almost as annoying as Meyer, albeit in a completely different way.
Damn,
Mention the word “Twilight” and you quadruple your sales and traffic.
Never read it but the same old shit everywhere, good book, bad book.
He should write the book anyway. It’s for a different market and his vampires would be different. I think it’s the YA vampires who are getting “old” (I’m still into it, but agents/publishers aren’t).
Gaiman could even emphasize that his vampires are dark, evil, or whatever, to make his book really stand out.
I read the twilight books, and even quite enjoyed reading them (wouldn’t claim they were well written). They are, however, targeted at a teen audience and thusly read as such. Despite its ridiculous over zealous fan following, probably shouldn’t fault Twilight for being a whiny teen romance… since that was its target. Gaiman could have done a new ADULT targeted vampire novel, which could have been refreshing to say the least.
Fiction is stupid anyways.
You know what’s getting mighty old? I mean besides YA dreamboat vampires (I’m looking at you, Edward, Mick St. John, Stefan, and yes, Angel) and Blade/Underworld leather-clad Eurotrash vampires. Elegant, sophisticated, darkly seductive vampires with aristocratic bearing like Bela, Lestat et al. As well as feral, bestial ghoulish vampires like Orlok, 30 Days of Night vamps, Radu etc. Old and moldering. Boring.
How about something different? Redneck vampires. (No, not cowpunk or gothabilly. Fat Walmart rednecks.) Clown vampires. Angel-vampire hybrids.
Aw, screw it.
Well he must know a thing or two about vampires seeing as how he joined a cult which sucks the life, will and cash out of it’s brain-dead followers. Yay for Neil Gaiman being a scientologist moron!
Uh, there are plenty of pretty freaking scary vampires in Twilight. Even some members of the Cullen family have trouble resisting Bella’s especially sweet-smelling and delicious-tasting blood. You don’t think the Volturi are scary, luring unsuspecting tourists into their underground lair and slaughtering them? Jane with her ability to cause agonizing pain with a thought? Or James and Laurent or Victoria and her vampire army butchering half of Seattle? Vampires with almost no weaknesses or vulnerabilities, including sunlight? Have any of you people actually read the books?
The fact is, there’s not a lot more that can be done with vampires. Even the idea of “redneck” and “Walmart” vampires has been done…see Buffy The Vampire Slayer tv show. IMO Meyer is to be commended for actually doing something somewhat original. She creates a small “family” of vampires who choose to reach for a higher way of living, explores how their decision not to feed on humans truly civilizes and refines them and makes them compassionate and introspective, contrasting this with the amorality and supercilious arrogance and condescension that is typical of vampire attitudes toward humans. The Cullens’ choice is all the more amazing given that vampires in “Twilight” are pretty much invulnerable and unkillable except by other vampires, werewolves, or by heavy weaponry (like daisy cutter bombs, maybe). No stake through the heart or crosses or garlic or shriveling in sunlight bullshit.
Actually this is the main flaw I see in the Twilight books…why didn’t vampires simply take over the world and turn all human beings into slaves and cattle? What’s stopping them? Even if all human beings became aware of their existence, what exactly could we do about them, even if we outnumber them by a few billion? They could easily kill or turn human political military leaders, and we’d have to turn most of the planet into a wasteland to wipe them out.
Er, Neil isn’t a Scientologist. His parents were when he was a small child (in the early 60′s)but he is very much NOT a Scientologist now. He has stated so many times when asked publicly. Also Twilight is an immature woman writing herself into her fantasies. It’s like Mary Sue fanfiction at its worst. I honestly tried to read it, got a couple of pages in and just started laughing. “He asked was I hungry but I didn’t say my stomach was full. Full of butterflies”. It’s Sweet Valley High with emo hair. Just read American Gods or Anansi Boys or Gaiman’s wonderful short stories. Neverwhere’s not great though. If he isn’t your cup of tea read ANYTHING ELSE! If you want dark read Wuthering Heights, HP Lovecraft, Jane Eyre, Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill (only book to ever genuinely scare me) or HUNDREDS OF OTHERS of more quality. Just stop forcing that lobotomised tripe on us please. Thank you. There ends today’s rant.
Fortunately, I managed to successfully ignore the whole Twilight craze and all that is to it, and I am sorry that it prevented Neil from finishing his new book (for now). However – believe it or not – Twilight brought a few good things into existence; I recently purchased the Eclipse soundtrack from the Metric website, thinking it was their album (talk about impulsive shopping, right?) and although I was disappointed that it was not all Metric, there are some really beautiful songs on it (e.g. by Sia Furler). And that did actually brighten my day.
So while Twilight may have messed up Neil’s marketing plans, I am sure he will have his book published in a few years, perhaps with a much greater success than he could hope for in the current situation.
There’s a lot of it going around – Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies. You have vampires in the Underworld series as well, and while the movies might be stylish yet barely average, they still portray vampires in a way that is acceptable. Blade series were over the top, yet fun and vampires did what vampires do (and more). The Wolfman comes to mind as well, which portrayed werewolves as they should be – never mind that it was an ok movie.
But Twilight series takes the cake! Not only they piss on the idea of vampire as a fearsome and unusual creature, far smarter and deadlier than a zombie – they make them shiny disco balls in the sun, who are amateur incurable romantics, falling in love with the most boring girl in the USA. Even Daybreakers was far better than any of the Edward-Bella riddled nonsense.
“Uh, there are plenty of pretty freaking scary vampires in Twilight…Have any of you people actually read the books?”
The answer is: NO, Sally.
Vampires. Amusement for children and morons. Oh my, nothing to do, nothing to do… Where have all the adults gone?
This is the most depressing news I’ve read in a while. Bloody Twilight. I blame you too.
Look, the Twilight books were written and no they were not good literature. I hate the fact that they are not nocturnal, but what I hate more is that people won’t shut the fuck up about them. Don’t read them if you don’t want to. There are tons of poorly written novel series and they don’t get this much attention positive or negative. You people are keeping this bullshit on the forefront of daily conversation. Move the hell on.
Jacktion!: I completely agreed with you until I remembered my sister-in-law and all of the girls who have spawned out of her generation…. Many twihards haven’t actually read the books, as it turns out. They don’t read. They just like the movies. It’s very sad. If we could only get them to read, the world might be much different.
I use Twilight as a deliberate tool as to what women to date. If they like it- goodbye. I want the girl in the picture.
Okay, I agree that Twilight is bad. However, for Mr. Gaiman to say that he isn’t writing something, because there are too many books out there, seems to say to me that he was just going to regurgitate an idea that already exists. Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies, Demons, Angels and the like are great for fiction because there are traditional myths that you can pull from and work against to create something brand new. To just give up on the idea because it’s trendy is moronic. Trends will come and go, but if your writing is great, it will stand the test of time.
So, I would like to begin by saying that I have read the Twilight series. I enjoyed it for what it was, trashy teen romance…with vampires.
I would also like to state that I feel that Gaiman is a coward. If I have what I believe to be a great novel, I will not forgo writing it because there’s simply too much competition.
Vampires, werewolves, zombies; all of these will continue to be used in pop culture, get used to it. The simple fact of the matter is that these things are just facets of our own humanity. Vampires representing our need to feed off of one another, werewolves being our savage nature, and zombies showing our mindless pursuit of our desires.
I will continue to read books regardless of the way they are received by society, because I think society has it’s collective head up it’s arse most of the time.
I would like to end by saying, at least Twilight got some of your kids to put down the remote/joystick and pick up a f’ing book.
I want that t-shirt the girl is wearing at the top. XD
Guys… what Neil Gaiman said was taken out of context. They twisted his words around, that quote isn’t correct. In fact, I don’t believe he even mentioned Twilight. Check his blog, you’ll see.
And I kind of agree with Sickofthis, the Twilight hating is getting as old as the Twilight gushing. The book series was neither spectacularly good or spectacularly bad, if you ask me, so I don’t get why it’s getting such extreme reactions. We all should probably just move on.
Neil Gaiman did not, in any circumstances, badmouthed Twilight. I don’t know why his remarks about vampire field being overfarmed are turned to be about Twilight, but, as Brianna pointed above, this is completely out of context.
Neil Gaiman is a scientologist. He just paid the Scienos half a million dollars through his business partner, Mary Gaiman and he’s listed in good standing in their directories. Gaiman lies about his status to get your money. Vampires are an archetype now, to argue against them is pointless. Gaiman is trying to ride on the Twilight publicity wave.
what a copout – don’t worry popularity, focus on quality
who cares if vampires are everywhere? here’s your chance to teach everyone a lesson – show them you can write a GOOD vampire story
you could say “every song has a melody and a beat” and still write a good one
Crepuscular: adj. Of or pertaining to twilight.
Crapuscular: adj. Of or pertaining to Twilight.
At least we still have a badass Doctor Who episode being written by Neil. That’s something to look forward to for 2011. <333
sure, we might be running the risk, but it is a small risk at best
This is the real interview
[www.ew.com],,20301186,00.html
The problem with todays society is that we cannot accept other people for what they like. So what if people like twilight? Whats wrong with it?
I enjoyed all the twilight novels, I also enjoy Gaiman’s work. Does that hinder my intelligence at all? No. Stop trying to conform people to what you perceive as “good” or “bad”, and just worry about who you are and what you like.
Oh, the snobbery.
Fiction is subjective, there are many different things that contribute to a novel becoming successful.
Yes, Meyer’s writing is disgraceful and practically unreadable to many people who are used to more sophisticated works. However, just because i require intelligent and engaging grammar and vocabulary to enjoy a novel does not mean that everyone does.
Some people just want something easy to read with cheap cheap thrills and the ‘perfect man’.
The Twilight phenomenon has hit for a reason, i.e. many people like it for a reason. Just because you or I don’t understand it, doesn’t make it wrong.
I laughed so hard at the internet ranting in the comments.
Laughed.
So.
Hard.
Why is everybody blaming *just* Twilight for this? Twilight’s not the end-all be-all of vampires in todays culture. True Blood is just as annoying, and there are plenty of other people riding Meyer’s coattails to swell the vampire scene even more.
Okay, I work at a major chain book store. I have not read twilight or seen any of the ensuing movies. I find no fault with the Twilight following teens. That is who those books are aimed at. I don’t find any fault with Gaiman for his choice. No one wants to write a book with a “trendy” subject when it falls out of trend. If he had the manuscript into the publishers today, it might not be done going through the publishing process until the last twilight movie comes out. Which should signal a bit of a down trend. I think of it as a business choice by him. For the record though Stephanie Meyer came after many other authors who have been writing vampire books for years. Charlaine Harris (True Blood) predates Meyer. Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, Lindsy Sands, Mary Janice Davidson, Kim Harrison, and Laurel K Hamilton all predate Meyer. Not to mention Anne Rice. If your complaint is that the monsters aren’t scary enough perhaps leave the kids section where everything needs to be modified for that age and head over to the adult part of the store.
i have always admired vampire novels esp anne rice writings and when i was taken by a friend to see twilight, i completely hated the concept, a lot of people hated me for doing so because they so love the cullen guy…
i think anne rice is still one of the best vampire authors there is and if gaiman could add a very good book to the collection, then that would be completely fine….
Neil Gaiman is not literature. Gaiman is a hack comics writer with an army of Scientologists pushing his rather inferior product.
Neil Gaiman is underwriting Scientology. The Scientologists list Neil Gaiman in the Cornerstone Newsletter along with Mary Gaiman, as contributing $35,000.00 in 2009. Being listed in the Cornerstone Newsletter means you are in good-standing with the cult.
In 2010, Mary Gaiman was awarded the “Gold Humanitarian Award” for her contribution of $500,000.00 to Scientology. This is significant because Mary Gaiman continues to be Neil Gaiman’s business partner in The Blank Corporation, which is now Neil Gaiman’s Scientology front and how he pays the cult.
Gaiman is also the “Vitamin Heir” of Scientology. The Gaiman family owns G&G Vitamins which reaps 6 million a year from selling The Purification Rundown Vitamins.
Gaiman’s two sisters, Claire Edwards and Lizzie Calciole are not just high-ranking Scientologists, they are the head of RECRUITING and the head of Wealden House, the Scientology stronghold in East Grinstead. These two cannot associate with Neil unless he is in good standing.
ALRIGHT, so verybody calm down, there are obviously different views out there, just because vampires aren’t particularily scary in SOME parts of this novel/movie doesn’t mean it ruins the entire creation of scary vampires. Alright> This is a form of entertainment, you can either choose to watch it or don’t, love it, or hate it, either way, if you hate it so damn much stop spending all your TIME complaining about it ! Its so pointless, what are you gaining from complaining about something you don’t like, uhh annoying people? Like holy sit, get over it and watch and read things that you actually like, its not possible for one series of nice-vampire novels to ruin the entire look of vampires, everyone is STILL scared of vampires alright? So really, stop complaining cause all you are accomplishing is annoying people and putting up fights that really aren’t worth anyones time.
Yayyy. Happiness.
yes, Twilight. Getting kids to read for once…..how horrible
WHERE CAN I GET THE SHIRT PICTURED? it made my day :) and as for the above comment, if you want your kids to read, get them a Harry Potter book. That way they’ll learn things about love, courage, and standing up for your beliefs, instead of “life is pointless without a boyfriend”.
I am totally going to write a book about vampire cockroaches now.
ITT: hipster.
For a bunch of people talking about a writer, a lot of you don’t read very well Gaiman said nothing from which you can infer “I fear the competition!” or “I don’t want my work to get lost in the sea of similar stuff!” or whatever else. Nor did he say he had a complete vampire-BASED novel in his head that he was going to do and that he will now never write. It was vampire-INCLUDING and leaves the possibility either that he could still write it without it the vampire, for example, but essentially tell the same story (e.g. the Graveyard Book would have worked as well with a different character in place of the vampire).
He’s talking about how the vampire exists in our cultural consciousness right now. It doesn’t work (as well) right now to make them scary because the culture is thinking of them as misunderstood outsiders, or, in general, just too saturated with them to the point that they’re like normal members of society and won’t work as a part of a story to invoke the same darkness or fear as a result.
It’s about the pulse of the culture that the work will be released in. It’s not like he’s going to lose his ideas or stop writing…it will come out if it’s worth doing at some later point anyway. If you follow his writing you can see stuff where a part of an idea was expressed in one story and then comes back way later in a completely different work as a fully fleshed out idea. No reason to think this idea, whatever it was/is, won’t do the same.
Gaiman’s novels stink. Gaiman’s movies were all rubbish. And now he attacks a successful, talented novelist like meyer whose characters are memorable and whose plots are great. gaiman is a 3rd rate hack. Go back to comics, gaiman you jackass!
Forget the vampiresm as a theme in Twilight. Twilight is the epidemy of domestic abuse. Edward is not loving, he’s abusive: He orders her around, she (doesn’t make a single decision of her own!) he
manhandles her a lot, he literally drags her around, he stalks her (come on, creaping into your room in the night, following you to see where you go and
then driving away, whispering in your head that you leave when you see another friend, etc etc etc), he disables her car when he doesn’t aprove of she
going somewhere… uh, love? WTF? Bella has no personality nor goals in life, and we never hear what else besides his incredible glorious beauty atracted
her to him. I could go on and on, but I’d never finish!