Thoughts On Writing 2014’s Yuletide Fanfic

[calliopes_pen]

-This story is now officially the longest one I have ever written, coming in at 21,550 words and 41 pages, if you don’t count the quote at the beginning. Kudos to Sean for not giving up on beta reading, whenever (at least once a day, sometimes twice, at least once three times in one day) I made “just one more change.” So it looks like the two types of story prompts that spur me on to frightening lengths are fairy tales (Legend) and vampires (Fright Night).

-As a result of watching the 1985 version too many times, I have at least three prompts I might request for this movie for next year...and one for the 2011 version.

-As mentioned in the author’s notes, the title came from Come To Me—the extra lyric of “give your soul to the night” is only found in Fright Night Part 2 (1988).

-A large chunk of this story was written while listening to the soundtrack from the first film (on repeat) on Youtube for 5 hours. I also tracked down the unofficial commentary from the actors—which, for those interested, is here.

-I located a copy of the novelization of the film from 1985, for a total of $3.50. It didn’t arrive until a few days ago. Something I found interesting was that that version of Jerry (from an older script) apparently did some sort of mind control on Charley for a few moments after his mother invites Jerry in. He made him into a perky little puppet who (while his mother stood there) basically said he couldn’t wait to spend time with him. Once Charley was properly freaked out in his own head, he let him go. That would have been something interesting to see in the movie.

-I located the entire comic book series of Fright Night via a Dropbox file some kind soul posted to IMDB, along with the shooting scripts for both films. Let me know if anyone happens to want the link for that, or the original shooting script for the first or second films. Otherwise, if you have an account on IMDB, you’ll be able to get to the links here. Scroll down to the comment posted on December 4th, and you’ll find them.

-Billy’s age of 113 years comes from the novelization of Fright Night. Jerry’s age of one thousand years comes from Regine’s comment to Peter in Fright Night Part 2. Until I realized he was one thousand after a rewatch of the HD version of the sequel, I had him turned during the time the Black Death was at its peak. Not sure why, but I went off and did in-depth research on it for a flashback that never came to pass.

-The novelization has the last part of the movie set around 2 AM. Since dawn arrives at the end and the clocks said it was 6 AM, everything in the film takes place over the course of 4 hours. In the fanfic, therefore, Charley’s transformation (once he’s convinced) takes about 3 hours.

-Rejected titles: There Is Solace In The Shadows; and Lead Me Not Into Temptation, But Into Blessed Damnation.

-Kudos to anyone that catches a reference to a vampire movie that I haven't already listed in these notes. The ones to Dracula and Nosferatu are a given. By the time of the second film, Charley was hopelessly obsessed with the novel Dracula and ranting at Alex for not giving it a chance. So I assume he's at least read a little of it at the time of the first film.

-Charley’s thought about finding a flamethrower to burn everything down is a mild reference to the remake of Fright Night from 2011. His fretting about how he should have dragged a priest into this, too, is a vague reference to how close they actually are to a church. It isn’t that far away, going by how small the town is when Alex and Peter break into the church in the sequel as they drive to Regine’s.

-The mention of rice stopping vampires is a reference to another legend. In some cases, it stopped Chinese hopping vampires. In Romanian folklore, the vampire can only count one grain of rice a year. So if you throw down a bag of it, they’ll be there for a while, and the victim can move to another village or die by the time they finished. After I wrote that thought in, I read the comics. In a later issue, Jerry is resurrected and during a battle is temporarily halted when one of the protagonists drops rice at his feet as he walks down the stairs. He is compelled to count them all, unable to stop until it’s kicked away. This was completely unintentional on my part, but I left it in.

-The line about Andromeda was originally “pod person from Zontar.” Zontar is the partial name of the film Zontar: The Thing From Venus. I knew it wasn’t right, but thought Charley wouldn’t. It just bugged me, since it wasn’t the name of the planet. It wasn’t a vital thought, so it was changed. And then I read the novelization yesterday and saw that the co-authors used a reference to Zontar in the same type of way. I find this incredibly random, but apparently for movies Charley likes we were on the same bizarre wavelength.

-Billy is either a familiar or a homunculus. For the purposes of the story, and since it seems he can think for himself, I went with the idea he was the former.

-Jerry controlling Charley by not allowing him to move is just what I felt might be the next logical step after how Jerry controlled Amy in the club. The way he knocks him out is inspired by how he forces Amy to awaken.

-Charley fearing Jerry bit him someplace other than his throat? If Fright Night (1985) didn’t come out three months before Once Bitten premiered, it would have been a reference to that.

-The comment Jerry makes of “Don’t you find it easier than pouring blood upon a pile of ashes?” is a reference to Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). Klove kills a few people over the ashes to resurrect Christopher Lee’s Dracula.

-Originally, Amy’s only appearance in the story would have been her screaming in another room. That felt wrong, and since she deserved better—I had her break out of the bedroom at dawn, get to the basement and scold Charley after jumping him.

-According to the novelization, Peter Vincent’s real name is Herbert McHoolihee.

-Yes, Peter will end up living in the apartment complex he was in at the time of Fright Night 2--but because of his silence, Jerry will make sure he gets the penthouse.

-Satan’s Whiskers is a real drink. Jerry and Billy aren’t exactly human, so they wouldn’t have the ingredients; Jerry may not be able to partake, but he might just be thrilled by the idea of it existing. In the movie, never once did he drink the Bloody Mary that Mrs. Brewster handed him.

-Description of blood loss symptoms (that don’t include moaning in pleasure): heart palpitations, weakness of the limbs, dizziness, etc…come from my own personal experience with being severely anemic, along with some extra research. Due to Charley’s drinking of Jerry’s blood after being drained, some other symptoms would have been halted before they could become too pronounced.

-The virgin on a horse method of vampire detection is a myth I managed to trace back as far as Albania via several sites and reference books. I couldn’t nail down an exact date. I consulted The Vampire Book by J. Gordon Melton, and a few others I bought in the 90’s, to no avail. Why, yes, I have read too many vampire legends over the years. It finally came in handy.

-There is, in fact, a myth about a vampire horse. According to Wikipedia’s list of legendary creatures, the Vukodlak is “an undead vampire horse wolf.” For the sake of Charley’s sanity, they don’t exist in the universe of Fright Night. (And because I couldn’t find enough on it.)

-Jerry’s comment about one of Peter’s movies involving the destruction of a vampire with moonlight through a kaleidoscope was inspired by how Moloch was temporarily defeated with some sort of prism thing that used the power of the Aurora Borealis as fuel in an episode of Sleepy Hollow. (Season 2’s Deliverance, I believe it was) I figured—badly done cheesy movies with Peter, go for the most ridiculous thing there is.

-Another thought on moonlight—Peter was originally going to ask if vampires became stronger by moonlight. This would have led to Jerry saying no, and that he wasn’t about to leap into a volcano like some brooding fool, either. It’s a reference to Varney the Vampire. However, I was uncertain as to how easy it would be to obtain the story in 1985. I’m reasonably certain it was a few more years before I could find it in bookstores.

-Charley’s temporary blindness comes from my interpretation of the way Amy was staring at nothing, and out of it with black eyes as she transformed. Charley’s yellowish eyes in the beginning stages of turning are pulled from the sequel.

-Another scene that wasn’t needed: Peter would have whipped out his tiny broken mirror and watched as Charley’s reflection slowly disappeared. Charley would have been mildly annoyed at the commentary that he was slowly disappearing, while Jerry would be curious. When Billy confiscated everything, I decided he probably took the mirror, too. It could have been a potential weapon in his mind.

-I considered Charley shrieking like a bat as he loses control of his voice for just a second. And then, I watched Fright Night 2: New Blood (2013)...the remake of the remake. (I don’t recommend watching it if you have migraines or seizures due to too many quick cut edits that flash and a hearty dose of strobes in the worst spots.) Charley shrieks like a bat at one point toward the end of the film, after being turned. I decided he didn’t need to, as he'd shatter the windows...because if he did it downstairs, then sunlight would come in the basement, and they would all burst into flames. I gradually turned it into his just wishing for bat sonar.

-Charley’s first meal will be whoever fired Peter, as a gift from Jerry.

-Peter needed some happiness in the story, so you get him discovering fur on his clothes as proof of the existence of vampires. I rewatched the scene with the table leg going into Ed too many times, and concluded there was a chance the coat sleeve could have fallen backwards in the position he was in just enough for bloody fur to cling to him. Roddy McDowall’s acting provided so much inspiration for the section where he returns to Jerry’s house.

-The 16th century Bavarian antique chest Charley accidentally destroys when he’s busy with Amy is a reference to the novelization. It’s what Jerry claimed the coffin Charley thought he saw really was. So now Jerry is out quite a bit of money thanks to Charley being clumsy.

-Another idea scrapped, since Peter’s been through enough and needs to sleep after waiting around and explaining it all to Mrs. Brewster? Billy would have asked Peter for a favor--have him watch the vampires while he drags the extra coffin to the house. Peter would have made his exit long before the sun went down, after jumping at sounds coming from the coffins (and crate) for two hours--dashing out of the doors in the cellar the instant he heard the sound of a vehicle pulling in. There are limits to friendship when it comes to babysitting bloodthirsty creatures.

-Close to the deadline, after it was already posted, I suddenly began to write out the first night out hunting and killing for Charley, along with him prowling Jerry’s house as he desperately waited for his turn after Ed went out for a bite. Either Billy or Amy would get aggravated and smack him down. This was all deleted, along with a chance of him trying to visit his mother before he should, or the story would still be going.

-I wrote Peter’s meeting with Mrs. Brewster…but it didn’t feel right to end with them in a sobbing and confused heap as Peter tries to comfort her. My recipient didn’t request a sad ending, so that was cut and instead you get Jerry listening to Charley’s heart stop as an odd little bookend to Jerry’s first scene. While I believe I still have the scene written two ways, the only thing that made it into the actual story was a thought from Peter that he would be forced into cleaning up her house with a broom.

-The characters in this film were great fun to write for, and it was a joy to fulfill this assignment.