The long-awaited novel The Loneliest Vampire in NYC is finally out on Amazon.com (and going to wider release mid-October) but still many people ask, who is the Loneliest Vampire and why is he so lonely?
We caught up with Stanley (last name withheld) and spent some time talking with him at the Pourhouse Bar on Water Street.
Us: So thanks for meeting with us and welcome to Vancouver
Stanley: No problem, I like it here, dark and gloomy a lot of the time, which is good for my complexion (he laughs).
Us: Speaking of the damp Northwest there's a popular fiction series about vampires set in nearby Washington State, in which the vampires, while they prefer the grey skies, have no real reaction to sunlight other than they sparkle - what do you think of that?
Stanley: (laughs) Sure why not, and why stop there? Maybe they could all go hang out at the beach and work on their tans.
Us: So you're saying it's not very realistic, vampires cannot go into direct sunlight?
Stanley: Well they can, but they won't 'sparkle' they'll start to smoke then they'll burst into flame and dissolve to ash.
Us: Right. But we notice you drink, contrary to popular belief - and made famous by the Bela Lugosi line in Dracula, "I don't drink...wine."
Stanley: Yeah a lot of people always ask about that but listen I don't make the rules, all I know is thank God I can drink...booze, because it's gotten me through a lot of lonely years.
Us: Is that what immortal life is like - just a years of long lonely nights?
Stanley: Wow, you're brutal, now I do need a drink (he orders an Absinthe). To answer your question, no it's not all just solitary nights wandering the streets. But when you're around as long as I am there's bound to be more times when you find yourself on your own - there's just a lot of time to fill up is what I'm trying to say.
Us: Yes but the book is called The Loneliest Vampire in NYC and it's about you, so why have you been single out as especially lonely.
Stanley: Well if you'd read the book, which clearly you haven't, you would know that I do have friends and I do get out and socialize. I'm just not as shallow as some vampires, I don't do the whole club scene, I'm not that into fashion, so I guess it's all relative really. I mean I'm off fighting zombies - thank you very much - so because I do that instead of preening for the paparazzi and trying to get myself on page six I'm called lonely, which some people read as 'sad loser,' instead of thoughtful introspection.
To be cont.
