We had the pleasure of speaking with renowned Hollywood concept designer, writer, and illustrator Ricardo Delgado about his 2021 book, Dracula of Transylvania, and its 2023 companion, The Art of Dracula of Transylvania. Now, Ricardo is back with another horror-themed vampire book on Kickstarter, once again joining forces with Clover Press for Vampyre: A Horror Folktale.
In this book, Ricardo blends his personal experiences with elements of classic horror. Presented in both Spanish and English, VAMPYRE: A HORROR FOLKTALE comes in a stunning hardcover edition, featuring over 200 pages packed with historical maps, Delgado’s intricately crafted creature designs, and photographs of real locations from the story, both past and present.
With the Kickstarter campaign launching on January 20th, we caught up once again with the talented creator to discuss his latest book and what fans can expect from this exciting campaign. So, let’s welcome back Ricardo Delgado to GVN Talking Comics.
Connections Between Dracula of Transylvania and Vampyre: A Horror Folktale
GVN: Thank you once again for sharing your thoughts with us, Ricardo. The first two times were about your book: History Bleeds Evil: Dracula of Transylvania and the corresponding The Art of Dracula of Transylvania. Both were very successful endeavors. So, with that in mind, your new book, VAMPYRE: A COSTA RICAN FOLKTALE, exists in the same universe as DRACULA OF TRANSYLVANIA. What connections or thematic threads link the two books, and what new territory does this one explore?
RICARDO: Certainly, the historical meeting the supernatural was a theme that worked out quite well before, so returning to it with this project seemed like a natural fit. The passing of history through DRACULA and into here is just not an accident. I feel like history is so interesting yet it’s presented in a rather mundane way in school that when you place supernatural characters in a setting in the past, there’s teaching that happens in a very natural, intriguing way where there won’t be a chapter test the following Friday, lol. In film you look at Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA and even Del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN, the audience gets taken in by the mystery and style of the ghost story they are being told, but you walk out of those pictures with a greater understanding of the time periods they are set in.
Blending Family History with Horror
GVN: This book blends Costa Rican folklore with your own family history. What part of your parents’ stories or your cultural background do you feel most directly shaped the narrative of VAMPYRE?
RICARDO: My parents grew up in a small town in Costa Rica called Alajuela, and it was a magical place for myself and my siblings when we would visit. We grew up in Los Angeles, so we were used to Dodger Dogs, breakfast cereals and cartoons on Saturday morning, so Alajuela was a world filled with daily magic, traditional customs and religious rituals that sparked my imagination. I remember one of my uncles taking me to see BRIDES OF DRACULA in Spanish down in Costa Rica, and there’s a terrific gag at the end of that film that stayed with me, so in the end it’s not such a surprise that I end up writing and illustrating a story set in my ancestral hometown.
Balancing Personal Truth and Supernatural Horror
GVN: In previous discussions, you’ve described the novel as “part folktale, part autobiography.” How did you navigate the balance between personal truth and supernatural horror when building this world?
RICARDO: Oh, that was easy. The story is set in the real historical context of a civil war that happened in Costa Rica in 1948, and during Easter Week, or Semana Santa, as they would. Say, in Alajuela. So there’s a real-life structure to the book that was ready-made for me to drop in a supernatural character like a vampire and turn my parent’s hometown into a ghost story. It’s an exploration of my cultural roots, yes, but there’s a big bowl of vampire mixed in. And not just any vampire: a ferocious shapeshifter! Can’t wait for everyone to read it!
Including Maps and Photos into the Tale
GVN: In addition to the gripping narrative, the book includes historical maps, creature designs, and photos of real locations. What was your process for integrating these visual elements into the storytelling, and how do they deepen the reader’s experience?
RICARDO: It’s my experience in both feature film and animated features that guides me. For the first ten years of my career, I worked around some of the best storytellers in the world: Ron Howard, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg. They all stressed story, story, story. Then I went to Disney Feature Animation and worked with those incredible people, and they stressed not only story but an in-depth research experience that would pay off with an immersive experience for the audience, so that’s what guides me.
In my film illustrator days there would be dozens of photographs that would be taped together to form 360° impressions of all the potential locations in the film, and at Disney we flew up to San Francisco for the day to get into an actual WWI submarine, and I have to tell you that all that research DOES pay off, and so I just followed that process for this book, which is why there’s maps as well as photographs of the locations both back in the 1940’s and today. I want to take the reader on a journey to that time and space, and all of those great storytellers taught me how. It was like I was getting paid to go. To film school! And for that I’ll always be eternally grateful.
How Other Writers Inspired this Book
GVN: The press release for this exciting project mentions influences like Stephen King, Bernie Wrightson, Bram Stoker, and Costa Rican urban legends. If you had to pin it down, which of those inspirations shaped the project most strongly, and in what ways?
RICARDO: I’d have to say that all of them, melded together, helped form this project. I just gushed about some of the great directors I worked with, and that includes Stephen King’s stuff, which I read voraciously in the 1980’s. When I started to write my own stuff, I re-read some of his work and it reminded me how elegantly he writes, a profound straightforward way in which he leads and informs his readers through his stories.
His CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF with the immortal Bernie Wrightson just impressed me so deeply then and now, a true harmonic convergence of both prose and art, all of it embracing a story about a monster. So, there’s a lot of that inspiration in VAMPYRE, standing on the broad shoulders of giants while trying to tell the story of being another country, while also taking on the universal emotion of fear, of being alone and hearing a sound in the darkness that could be anything.
As far as Costa Rican urban legends, this one takes a few of those stories and weaves them together, and I hope everyone will get a kick out of what I’ve come up with.
The Kickstarter Campaign
GVN: Once again, Clover Press will be handling the Kickstarter campaign for VAMPYRE: A COSTA RICAN FOLKTALE. Can we expect the same quality add-ons and special features that blessed your previous works?
RICARDO: Yes, there’s some extra special goodies that Clover is working on, and I hope that everyone enjoys them. I’m going to do some sketches for the project that will be part of the campaign as well! So check it out! On a serious note, this is a very special project for me, to take everyone back into time and to the place where my parents grew up and wrap a Halloween story around it. I’m excited!
Magic in the World
GVN: Thank you again, Ricardo, for your time. For a closing question…from what I have read, this is clearly a deeply personal project for you. What do you hope readers — especially those unfamiliar with Costa Rican folklore — take away from this story?
RICARDO: That there is still magic in the world. And I love card tricks, I really do, but I use the word magic in the general sense of a special place, we all have them, but Costa Rica really is that for me, and when you’re down there’s just enough of a hint of the supernatural that will make those who are curious smile.
Thanks for the time, it’s been a pleasure!
Magic!
The thrilling new book Vampyre: A Horror Folktale by Ricardo Delgado launches on Kickstarter on the 20th.
Check it out then!
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
