It oughta be a movie: Certain Dark Things, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I heard about this book shortly after finishing Moreno-Garcia’s excellent and genuinely horrific ‘Mexican Gothic’ and my thought was: A neo-noir urban fantasy set in Mexico with multiple vampire types, including bird-like Aztec ones? Yes, please! But I had a hard time tracking the book down until recently and wasn’t sure why. Apparently, it was originally published in 2016 but then went out of print because the publisher folded. It existed as used copies and internet rumors until 2021 when it was resurrected – so, very appropriate for a vampire story! I was pleased to find that it does indeed deliver a fresh take on what remains, despite oversaturation, one of my favorite mythical creatures.
We begin the story with Domingo, a seventeen-year-old trash picker. Despite his clearly rough life he is by nature a rather optimistic person, and he really likes vampire comics. These beings are still somewhat mysterious and romantic to him because, unlike the rest of the country, Mexico City is (theoretically) a vampire-free zone. Riding the subway one night he encounters a beautiful and mysterious young woman: “The way she moved, heavy boots upon the white tiles, bob-cut black hair, with a regal stance, it made him think of water.” Appropriately, as it turns out, since that’s what her name, Atl, means. The book cover gets her hair and jacket - and bioluminescent dog! – right, but not so much her face. As the book notes later: “Nobody could accuse Mexican vampires of being pale”. She asks if he’ll come home with her and offers to pay him. Domingo is slightly taken aback, assuming this is a sex thing…but hey, it's not like he’d expect a girl like that to pay attention to him under normal circumstances, so why not?
Atl is, of course, a vampire, but seems to be trying to be an ethical one. After drinking Domingo’s blood, she insists he take iron pills with orange juice and pays him more than he'd normally make in a month. He uses the cash to clean himself up and come back with a gift, puzzling her1. Domingo’s cheerful “Sure, you can have my blood whenever you like! Let’s hang out!” attitude toward Atl actually reminds me a lot of Yu in ‘Seraph of the End’. It seems more like questionable judgement in this case, though, since the vampire is not his presumed-dead beloved friend miraculously returned, but a total stranger! Atl thinks he seems like a nice kid, and she’d rather not drag him into her mess, which includes a drug war between her clan and a group of European vampires known as Necros… but she does need blood, and help. Trouble soon follows in the shape of an impulsive young Necro named Nick Godoy, who is bent on revenge.
1. ‘Had he…bathed? And the clothes looked new. What was this, a bizarre courtship ritual?’
Atl’s people, the Tlahuihpochtli, are based on stories Moreno-Garcia’s grandmother used to tell of witches who could transform into turkeys and who drank the blood of children at night. In the book, these native vampires can shape-shift to grow feathery wings and do prefer young blood, though people in their teens or twenties are more often the target. Actually, it is only the females who transform, and they are stronger and longer-lived. Tlahuihpochtlin society is therefore matriarchal, with the women taking on warrior and politician roles and the men things like healing and scholarship. They were priestesses under the Aztecs, benefiting from the blood sacrifices. We also encounter two other sub-species of vampire - the Necros have sharklike rows of teeth, can mind-control humans, and can eat regular food, while the Revenants are solitary Nosferatu-looking types who can suck life energy from humans and vampires alike - and hear about several more. Humans learned about the existence of vampires around 1970 and did not respond well (from the vampire point of view).
There are reflections of quite a few
real-world issues in this book, the most obvious being class and the violence
resulting from the drug war. Atl reflects on what Domingo’s life must be like
for being a vampire’s assistant to seem like a sweet gig2, and the
way that her family has long preyed on kids like him, recruiting them as drug runners
and blood sources. We see a glimpse of an older “Renfield’s” life; it is to
Atl’s credit that she doesn’t really want that for Domingo but, at the same
time, you can see how the chance for travel, adventure, and romance (not to
mention regular meals!) appeals to him3. Then there is the
Tlahuihpochtlin’s semi-endangered status. Atl refers to the Necros as
“colonizers”, but they are just the latest trouble to come from Europe, the
first being the smallpox and other diseases that devastated their native food
source/symbionts. In Mexico City, Atl is also an undocumented immigrant of
sorts, always nervous that someone will ask for her papers (or check her
temperature). Somewhat oddly for a vampire story, the book several times seems
like it’s going to touch on queerness and then veers away abruptly. According
to the guide in the back, Tlahuihpochtli are expected to take a single male
consort but may have various female lovers; The closest we get to this in the
main text, however, is a blink-and-you’ll miss it line indicating that Atl has
kissed other vampire women. Of course, she does sleep in a closet, so maybe that's appropriate!
2. Replying to Revenant Bernardino’s comment: “Serotonin…The low levels in our brains make us violent, impulsive, self-destructive…You are foolish to seek the company of vampires,” Domingo says: ‘“Humans are not very nice either.” He thought about the Jackal, who beat him…Kids disappeared and they weren’t snatched by vampires…Cops could spend the weekend beating you, or pimps could decide they needed a new warm body. Atl wasn’t beating him and she wasn’t pimping him.’
3. Basically, I think Domingo's theme song for Atl would be “Uptown Girl”, while hers, more honestly, would be "Maneater".
Seeing the world alternately through the perspectives of Domingo and Atl is a lot of fun, if sometimes a bit sad. Some might find Domingo annoyingly naïve; that isn’t exactly wrong but, like Atl, I couldn’t help but find him endearing as well. I was a little tentative about tagging this as “romance”. Domingo has this sweet, first-love-type-crush on Atl. However, while she thinks he’s pretty attractive, for a human, and is desperately lonely without her family, they are still different species. On some level he’s always going to be something like a dog to her – cute, loyal, lovable…but not an equal, and not something you can afford to get too attached to, given their shorter lifespan. Bernardino the Revenant claims that vampires can't really love, but are ultimately just their hunger; will Atl prove him wrong? Nick Godoy brings another energetic, youthful, but slightly unhinged perspective. He makes an intimidating and hateable villain, even if his obsession with Atl is a tad over-the-top sometimes. And, of course, what would a noir be without a jaded detective? I can’t say I enjoyed Ana Aguirre’s chapters as much but seeing this world through the eyes of a middle-aged human who is losing faith in her ability to change anything or even keep her family safe is a useful perspective to have.
Adaptation Issues:
Being inspired by noir films in the first place, this book already has a lot of visual imagery. If brought to screen, it would likely resemble ‘Bladerunner’, with semi-futuristic details mixed in with urban grubbiness. And probably a lot of ‘bi-lighting’, as the cover suggests! A film could also bring a little more depth to this world. For instance, bioengineered animals must be fairly common or else Atl’s dog would stand out too much; they don’t get described in the book but could be seen in the background of the film without interrupting the story. It would be truest to the text to cast both leads with Mexican actors who are darker-skinned and, certainly in the case of Atl, more indigenous-looking than the cover art suggests. For a fantasy story, the special effects budget wouldn’t have to be huge – no one turns into mist or swarms of bats - though Atl’s wing-reveal deserves a bit of CGI attention.
