Welcome to my stop for the blog tour organized by Blackthorn Book Tours for Carlos Colón’s Sangre: The Wrong Side of Tomorrow, a noir thriller with vampires. In this guest post, Carlos is exploring why he writes about vampires and how the vampire can be used as allegory. Born in Spanish Harlem and raised by Puerto Rican parents in the South Bronx, Carlos Colón drew attention from his high school teachers with his penchant for storytelling. When not busy with his multiple projects, Carlos enjoys his private time living in the Jersey Shore area with Maria, his wife of 40 years, and their cat, Tuco. You can connect with him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Vampire as Allegory
by Carlos Colón
One of the best things about being human is, well, being human. It is something that a lot of us take for granted without appreciating what a wonderful gift it really is. But what if that gift was taken away and you had to go on existing without everything that made your life so special? That was not the premise I was pursuing thirty years ago when I began what would eventually become the Sangre novels. At that time, I was tinkering with somewhat of a science fiction tale. It was about a disease that infected homeless mole people living in abandoned subway stations and tunnels in New York City — a disease that made its victims take on vampire-like qualities where they would involuntarily feast on the blood of subway commuters. The intended story was called Vampiritis.
I chose this route because I was interested in making a vampire tale that was as grounded as possible. I wanted to create a story that felt like it was happening to real people, not characters manipulated like pieces on a chess board. The lead character was an NYPD detective named Dominic Torres. He was the one in charge of investigating the mole people as possible perpetrators. The secondary character was Nicky Torres, his brother. He became infected when coming across one of the mole people at a subway station on his way home from work. Eventually Dominic would team up with an epidemiologist in trying to contain the infection. When he learned that his brother Nicky was one of the infected and that there was no cure, the story ended with Dominic having to kill his brother to end his suffering.
So, what happened? Well, as some of my fellow writers know, life gets in the way; work, family, everyday life, etc. Sadly, as a result, the tale fell to the back burner with me just throwing in little dabbles here and there to convince myself I was on my way to creating something. In other words, I was not disciplined enough to give the story the dedication it needed to be fully realized.
Fast forward to about ten years later, I noticed a trend developing. Vampires were gaining a mainstream popularity that hadn’t been seen since the days of Bela Lugosi. Noticing that trend sprouting, I made a mental note to finally get this Vampiritis novel started. But guess what? That’s right, it never materialized. Yet, around that time, I started to play with the idea of switching the lead characters. I found that Nicky, as the victim, was the more interesting character. He had lost the gift of his humanity; his wife, his children; everything he valued in his daily life was gone. In fact, his life itself was gone. Thus, was the birth of Nicky Negrón, turning Dominic into the secondary character, while also making him a brother-in-law as opposed to Nicky’s brother.
Even with that, I still had not developed enough focus to move forward. Shame on me! Meanwhile, vampires as entertainment was booming like disco in the seventies; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Interview with a Vampire movie, the Sookie Stackhouse series, Twilight, you name it. It was probably too late, but I finally said, hey Carlos, maybe it’s time to get your ass in gear. Sometime around late 2007, I did just that. But it was slow moving. Working full-time while handling everyday life, left little time for writing. It was probably just an excuse, though. Some of my fellow writers can probably identify with the inability to discipline yourself to sit in front of your typewriter, computer or laptop for an extended period of time. Hey, the ball game’s on. Look at the grass, I better mow the lawn. Hmm, not enough food in the refrigerator. I better go shopping. Meanwhile, the vampire world continued to thrive, eventually culminating in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain. Yep, you got it, a science fiction story about a vampiric virus turning New York City residents into mindless, undead leeches. My heart sank. Any effort to further continue Vampiritis would be seen as some form of plagiarism.
But one thing stood out. There weren’t many vampire stories that took the subject and used it allegorically. Some did, but most focused on either romance or horror. Yet, the vampire legend is so ripe to tell stories that can allegorically explore subjects that relate to real life.
With that in mind, I decided that would be the path to take. Only then would I be able to create something that was different from anything else. And that I did. Nicky was no longer a mindless, territorial predator. Nicky was still someone who was infected, but he had a genetic resistance that retained his humanity, making him suffer the loss of everything he ever loved. His dishonorable death at the hands of the woman who hypnotized him into bed to feed off him, opened up the doors to allegorically explore adultery, divorce, guilt, remorse and loss. The character of Nicky Negrón was now a fully realized human being, albeit an undead one. His unwillingness to take innocent lives resulted in him feeding on, what in what his eyes, were undesirables; domestic abusers, sexual predators, drug dealers, murderers and others of the sort. This made him a vigilante; judge, jury and carnivore. But who was he to decide who lived and who didn’t.?
It was new, it was exciting, yet grim. In order to make the story a little more entertaining, I provided Nicky with a filthy mouth and a salty sense of humor. A fresh, new type of character was born, a character that was a pleasure to write and read. When Sangre: The Color of Dying came out in 2015, readers fell in love with Nicky and Sangre was chosen as one of the Top Ten Latino Novels in 2016. By that time, however, vampires in the entertainment world had flooded the market. Readers were dismissing anything that had to do with vampires with a roll of the eyes. Yet, those that gave Nicky a chance, found themselves reading a story like they had never read before. Sangre, in flashbacks, treated readers to a deep look at Nicky’s past. It offered the chance to view Nicky’s life as a human being, growing up in a Puerto Rican family living in the Bronx during the 1960’s. The novel combined real life with a sci-fi, paranormal world, just as I had originally intended. It was grounded, it was real, and more importantly, it was human.
Unfortunately, there are still those who would see that there is a vampire in this tale and dismiss it. There’s nothing I can do about that but challenge them to a ten-page read. I usually recommend the first ten pages, but really, any ten would do.
I never intended to write a sequel to Sangre: The Color of Dying, but the readers’ love for Nicky forced one out of me called Sangre: The Wrong Side of Tomorrow. That should say something. Again, the readers loved it and again they want more. Since the second tale ended in a satisfying way, I am still undecided whether to continue on with the Nicky Negrón saga, but more love for Nicky could possibly make that a reality. I therefore would like to see more readers meeting that ten-page challenge. I am that confident that readers would be captivated enough to strap on and join Nicky’s journey. Or perhaps Nicky himself would say it best, “Just sit your ass down and read the fucking book”.
Here is the synopsis of Sangre: The Wrong Side of Tomorow if you are curious.
The harrowing saga of Nicky Negron’s tortured soul continues as the inner and outer demons shadowing Newark, New Jersey’s undead vigilante have no intention of letting him rest in peace.
Knowing his paranormal existence can only lead to complications, Nicky tries not to draw too much attention to himself. This becomes difficult as he learns that he has captured the interest of an unrelenting federal agent.
Suspected of being an assassin for a South American drug cartel, Nicky finds himself dealing with the exact kind of scrutiny he’s been trying to avoid since he was turned almost thirty years ago. It complicates matters even more when Nicky is confronted with another undead presence that is threatening to commit atrocities to the children of a friend Nicky had sworn to protect. This pits the foul-mouthed night stalker, Nicky Negron, against the most horrifying monsters – both the human and non-human variety.
An absolute rollercoaster of a novel, Sangre: The Wrong Side of Tomorrow delivers even more suspense, insight, laughs, and emotional wallop than its predecessor. Nicky is back! See you on the other side…
Want to read this book? Add it on Goodreads.
Be sure to check the other blogs on the tour.
Cover image: Writing desk Photo by Clark Young on Unsplash
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