Guillermo Del Toro knows from vampires. Just check out Cronos and Blade II. Now he’s teamed with Chuck Hogan to work on a trilogy of novels about a vampiric plague that gets loosed upon the world. The first book, The Strain, hits June 2nd, and there’s a fun trailer for it that you can watch below.

If you’re in Los Angeles, Mr. del Toro is going to be flying in from New Zealand (where he’s deep in pre-production on The Hobbit) to sign copies of the book at Meltdown Comics. Here’s the info:

GUILLERMO DEL TORO SIGNS THE STRAIN A NEW NOVEL BY GUILLERMO DEL TORO & CHUCK HOGAN

When:  Mon, June 1, 11:59pm – Tue, June 2, 2:30am

Where:  MIDNIGHT @ MELTDOWN 7522 W SUNSET BLVD LA CA 90046 www.meltcomics.com

Description: 
We at Meltdown apologize immediately to you, the human race, as we
appear to have made a terrible mistake and we fear that we have doomed
you all. A vampire cannot cross a flowing body of water without the
assistance and direct invitation of a living human being. In Guillermo
del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s THE STRAIN, this fact of dark fiction is key
to understanding the horror that follows in this fantastic and
terrifying new novel. Mankind faces extinction in the form of a rogue
vampire lord from the old country who, with the help of a human or two,
has come to make war on the old way of doing business and repaint the
world with a darker palette. A few weeks ago, a representative of Mr.
del Toro contacted the store and asked if Meltdown would like to host a
signing of this new work. We thought that sounded just fine. We didn’t
blink when it was suggested that it be a midnight signing as we are
night owls as well. Happier still was that we would have a limited
edition hardcover with event-only signed tip in from Guillermo del Toro
on hand that evening. It did strike an odd note when they then asked
that one of us at the store reach Mr. del Toro at home on his private
line (a number that has since been disconnected) and invite him
personally to Meltdown for the signing. So now, having read the novel
in its entirety, we worry that we have invited a vampire lord who has
made a very canny disguise of being a creative type into our home where
he plans to begin some kind of viral Armageddon, thereby dooming the
entire human race and ruining the book signing. The novel also taught
us there is very little we can do in the face of vampire takeover other
than avoid shadows and hoard silver (note to self: visit pawnbrokers)
so we will be going on with the event as planned.”

And here’s the trailer: