He’s the man behind 30 Days Of Night.

He’s writing stories set in Gotham City.

Eben and Stella and the concept of the feral or unromantic vampires came a bit later.

Why did you decide to make them so vicious and animalistic?

Ad content continues below

Simply because vampires werent scary anymore.

That was new then.

Unfortunately it also tamed them.

Rice made us want to be vampires.

I wanted to make them scary again.

It really was just that simple.

The vampires in 30 Days of Night could care less about seducing you.

They want your blood and all the begging and praying in the world wont stop them.

I live in LA and before that I lived in Washington DC.

Er, why cant any planes fly out of Barrow in the dark?

Because the airport is closed!

Theres no visibility, high winds.

Will there be a follow-up movie using the story ofDark Days?

I sure hope so.

Youre now working on another comic book will you be looking to turn that into a movie, too?

If Wikipedia said it, it must be true.

It actually started as a comic pitch.

After it got rejected by places like Vertigo and the like I tried pitching it as a film.

The pitch fell on deaf ears so I tossed it into a drawer.

Years later I handed Tec at IDW my rejected pitch list and he though the vampire thing sounded cool.

After that my world exploded.

Very strange the way the whole thing went down.

Is there any difference in writing for the screen or writing for a comic book?

When I write comics I wear a cape.

But seriously, there are many, many differences.

With comics I can have any budget I like.

What was it like letting other writers write stories within your universe for30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales?

Was that the initial pitch, to put the story in Gotham?

Plus Gotham has a reputation for housing dark characters.

I like to think Simon is right at home under the shadow of the bat.

There are thing Batman says and doesnt say, things he does and doesnt do.

There are also different continuities.

Will Simon Dark ever encounter Batman or any other established DC Universe characters?

What version of Gotham does he live in some Batman titles are darker/grittier/more adult than others, for example.

You never know what will happen in Gotham After Midnight.

Anything is possible…even the impossible.

Steve Niles, thank you very much!

30 Days Of Night is available now on DVD.

Read our review of the cinematic releasehere; and the DVD here.