A sure sign of creativity is how an author approaches a familiar, well-worn subject. For example, take A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE VAMPIRE UPRISING, the debut novel by Raymond A. Villareal. The subject, as the title suggests, is vampires. But how Villareal presents this household horror troupe is unlike any vampire novel you have ever read before.

The body of a young woman, presumed to be an illegal immigrant, is found in an Arizona border town. But then the woman’s body suddenly disappears from the local morgue. Not long afterwards more dead bodies are found in the same area – and then disappear in the same manner.

The mystery of the dead and disappearing bodies is soon brought to the attention of a biomedical researcher for the Center of Disease Control. A virus is determined the cause of the deaths and reanimations, and given the name Nogales Organic Blood Infection (or NOBI).

The surviving NOBI population grows and soon the U.S. faces the reality of a community of vampires in their midst. Then these vampires – who prefer the name Gloamings – resort to legal means to secure civil rights and live among humans. But when a wealthy businessman who recently became a Gloaming runs for political office, everyone realizes that this breed of vampires must be confronted before they take over the country and eventually the entire world.

Villareal shifts the narrative focus between several different characters in successive chapters. We hear mostly from the CDC biomedical researcher, a seasoned campaign manager, a cynical FBI investigator, and a member of a renegade religious cult dedicated to the destruction of the Gloamings. The chapters are presented as first-person recollections, but also as report documents, interview transcripts, and other forms.

The novel’s most obvious contribution to the wealth of vampire literature is the Gloamings’ struggle for civil rights, owing to Vallareal’s experience as a practicing attorney. Along the way, however, the author adds additional and subtler attributes to vampires. They still must have human blood to survive, but their prolonged life span and increased strength and vitality is almost irresistible. Thus many humans long to be “re-created” by a Gloaming bite; although there is a great risk that the change will not take and result in death. The Gloamings must restrict their activities to the night, as is traditional, but their images and voices cannot be recorded due to radiation from their bodies.

Most notably, however, these vampires (although never referred that way) make far more inroads into human society than in any previous narrative. This results in a tension that becomes one of the novel’s central motivations: Do the Gloamings sincerely wish to co-exist with humans? Or do the Gloamings see humans as nothing more than a sustainable, renewable source of food?

Unfortunately Vallareal falls in love with his research, and the events are too often slowed in a mire of legal or medical terminology. While this adds to the verisimilitude, it cannot help but confuse lay readers and threaten loss of interest. Nonetheless the way Vallareal eventually dovetails several of the characters and events makes the effort to stay with the novel more than worthwhile.

Should Vallareal end up a “one-hit-wonder” and fail to produce another work of fiction, his PEOPLE’S HISTORY remains a unique and highly recommended contribution to vampire fiction. It should appeal to fans of crime and legal thrillers as well as horror devotees. —Alan Cranis

Get it at Amazon.