It seems as though vampires have had their time in the sun as far as pop culture goes, which is to say that they seem to have burnt out long ago following the tail end of the Twilight craze. With new vampire properties such as The Invitation and First Kill being far less than impressive, one may start wondering if the issue lay with the subject matter.
We might have the answer in the near future, because there’s a palpable chance that the one and only Guillermo del Toro will be gearing up for a film adaptation of The Vampire Tapestry, and if the master of the macabre himself can’t piece together a good vampire flick, then all hope is truly lost for the bloodsuckers.
Per What’s on Netflix, a recent copyright registration between Necropia, Inc. and Netflix had its title revealed as “Vampire Tapestry; motion picture project.” The last project between these two companies happened to be del Toro’s Pinnochio, which was recently nominated for an Academy Award.
Del Toro, of course, has close ties with both companies, being the co-founder of Necropia and having worked under a lucrative deal with Netflix since 2020. It’s no stretch of the imagination to think that this Vampire Tapestry project will involve the filmmaker in some capacity.
As for the material, it’s almost certainly an adaptation of Suzy McKee Charnas’ 1980 novel of the same name. Known as a piece of feminist sci-fi, The Vampire Tapestry follows the plight of Dr. Edward Lewis Weyland, a biological vampire desperate to learn exactly what he is and why he’s so hellbent on killing humans for their blood.
Given the book’s episodic, freestanding nature, and that the copyright indicates that the Netflix project is a film, it would be fascinating to see how such material would translate to a feature. Here’s hoping that del Toro will end up breathing life back into a genre that seems to have dried up.