Afterword: Bloody Fun [Stoker’s Count and His Charming Eyes]

I was so desperate to get this book out before my twentieth birthday―my birthday is in August, so evidently I have failed. Still, beyond just pride, I think the reason for that desperation was fear.

As I write this, I’ve yet to lose anyone in my life. Nobody I ever valued or knew well has ever died, no family members, no friends, not even any artists or authors I really admired. And so I was afraid that, if I were to have a true brush with death, I would no longer be able to finish this novel. I feared that I would become someone who could no longer love that little weak vampire and his reluctance to let anything go. Perhaps I’d find him childish, I’d tell him to just accept reality and kick him out of my heart. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened yet, and so I was able to conclude this project without any existential crises. All that’s left is to see how I’ll feel once reality does finally catch up with me: will I still be able to root for this selfish protagonist of mine?

All that aside, let’s talk about vampires.

You know, I once swore to myself that I’d never do a vampire story. Because everyone’s done a vampire story! Certainly most of my biggest inspirations have. It would just be too on-the-nose, too derivative if I did it too!

But then I watched Hellsing and I couldn’t resist anymore. The idea formed itself in my head―funnily enough, not the idea for this book you’ve just read, but the idea for what will become the second installment. I won’t spoil the surprise here, but anyway, once it got in there, it just wouldn’t go away. And so, reluctantly, reluctantly, I indulged the forbidden desire.

So, since I’m here anyway, having failed spectacularly at upholding my principles and with a vampire book figuratively in my hand, I might as well sing the praises of all the vampire stories that have inspired me thus far.

The aforementioned Hellsing ought to come first―not Hellsing Ultimate, mind you, though that too is a legendary series, but I mean the original TV series Hellsing. Whatever else you might say about its incomprehensible plot and somewhat ugly early digital animation, it had the aesthetics down perfectly. It exudes the quality of vampirism, of being a quintessential vampire story, which not even the OVA could match (not to mention the masterpiece of a soundtrack).

This book probably wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Ryohgo Narita’s Vamp!, whose strange world, eccentric characters and original vampire mechanics have charmed me deeply. I must also pay my respects to the definitive vampire romance, Tsukihime, whose character dynamics have no doubt influenced this story, as well as to Hirohiko Araki’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Nisio Isin’s Monogatari Series for their contribution to the canon of really weird vampires.

And with that, I’ve proverbially paid my dues. The aesthetic of vampirism is somewhat rooted in referencing past works, I think. You need to build it up while taking from the pile of ideas we call the vampire mythos, and that pile is one we each build up story by story. So I hope I’ve been able to contribute just a tiny bit to that charming pile.

And now for the acknowledgements: a big thank you to Ced Naru and Volt McVolt, whose unrelenting criticism has forged this book into the best version of itself that it can be, as well as to Persia, Life, Jeff and Sam for their help in proofreading. Thank you to the members of the Honkaku and Zaregoto communities for always providing encouragement. And most of all, thank you, to the reader that’s followed me through to the end. See you on some other night.

Genma496, September 2024

BGM “Moonlight (Gekkou)” by Hideyuki Fukasawa

from Tsukihime ~A piece of blue glass moon~