From Shelf to Screen

Authors Bram Stoker (Dracula) and Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire) often get the most credit for creating the sinister allure of the immortal, blood-sucking vampire, but in recent years writers like Charlaine Harris, Tanya Huff, and Jim Butcher have made over the undead, transforming creatures of horror into sexy, romantic, intelligent, and even funny characters. Today, vampire fiction is hot, crowding library and bookstore shelves.

"I originally wrote a vampire novel because I wanted to move out of the city, and to do that, I needed a mortgage," said Huff when asked why she was attracted to the paranormal as a literary theme. "I was working in a bookstore at the time, and I noticed that vampire readers are incredibly loyal to their genre. So I thought that if I wrote a good vampire book, I'd have an audience. And I did."

Television executives took note. There was a big gap begging to be filled after Joss Whedon's überpopular urban fantasy series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ended its six-year run in 2003 and its cult spin-off, Angel, was cancelled the following year. Strong, appealing human and supernatural characters in engaging plots were needed.

This past January, two vampire-themed paranormal series adapted from print sources launched on cable television. The SciFi Channel's The Dresden Files, based on Butcher's critically acclaimed mysteries (the tenth book, Small Favor, will be published in April 2008), starred British actor Paul Blackthorne as Chicago wizard-turned-P.I. Harry Dresden. In Blood Ties, Lifetime's adaptation of Huff's popular Vicki Nelson books (Blood Price; Blood Trail), actress Christina Cox took on the role of ex-cop Nelson, who investigates supernatural cases with the help of a 500-year-old vampire who is also the son of Henry VII.

Although only the pilot has been filmed so far, HBO has tentatively scheduled a new series drawn from Charlaine Harris's best-selling "Southern Vampire Mysteries" (Dead Until Dark) for a January 2008 broadcast. Produced by Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, True Blood stars Oscar winner Anna Paquin (The Piano) as mind-reading Louisiana barmaid Sookie Stackhouse, who solves crimes involving vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.

How do the shows stack up to the books? In many ways in print and on screen, Huff's Nelson is an older version of Buffy, tougher, smarter, more cynical but with a soft spot for certain males, including her macho former police partner, Mike, and the virile vampire Henry Fitzroy. With each book in The Dresden Files, Harry moves from having minimal but frightening encounters with vampires to developing an unexpectedly close association with them. This relationship is not as obvious in the TV episodes. As for True Blood, it is too soon to compare the TV version with Harris's books, but one hopes that the talented Paquin will capture Sookie's independent yet vulnerable spirit.

How much an author is involved with the TV production varies. Both Huff and Butcher have had walk-on, nonspeaking roles, while Harris visited the True Blood set as it was built and met some of the crew. "Without exception, they struck me with their questions, their interest, and their knowledge of the books," said the author.

Writers realize that when they sign a contract for a TV adaptation, they give up creative control. Changes have to be made for the small screen, and the authors understand this. For example, some fans of Butcher's books were upset that Bob, a disembodied voice that emanates from a skull, was transformed in the TV series into a ghost of a human wizard (played by Terence Mann) that emerges from the skull. Dresden Files producer Robert Wolf explained to Kyle Braun of UGO.com "that different media have different demands, and so Jim [Butcher] is very hip to that whole process. He just sees it as a different take, a parallel universe to his books, and he's totally cool with that."

Of her experience with Hollywood, Harris said, "When I was trying to decide whom to go with, Alan [Ball] was the one who convinced me he understood what I was doing with the book. It won't be my creation any more when it's on television. It'll be Alan's creation, a completely different animal."

Huff worked closely with producer Peter Mohan. "Although he was under no obligation to do so, Peter has kept me involved from the beginning," Huff explained. "He had me come into the writer's room early on and talk with the writers about the characters and how they interacted. I was incredibly honored to have him ask me to write one of the first season episodes—episode nine, 'Stone Cold.'"

[Sadly, in August SciFi announced that The Dresden Files will not be renewed, and although the second season of Blood Ties is scheduled to start this month, there are reports that it may not air anymore in the United States. For more information, check Huff's blog, or go to the show's web site. Butcher was not available for an interview.—Ed.]