Alex asked Dan Davis:

Have you watched Guillermo Del Toro's 'The Strain'? That was the first time I heard the name 'strigoi' in connection with vampires myself... I have to say, Vampire Heretic was a rather gruelling read due to the graphic description of the atrocities committed therein. That begs another question: does constantly writing about such violence, cruelty and suffering numb you to it somewhat?

Dan Davis I watched the first few episodes and enjoyed them but for some reason I didn't carry on. With the crimes in Vampire Heretic I did my best to avoid going into too much detail and also to avoid showing them happening. Rather, I have characters describing events they witness to Richard or to the court. And when I did I also edited out the worst of the details which are described thoroughly in the court documents.

Heretic was the grimmest one I've written due to the demographics of the victims of the crimes.

In general, though, violence has never bothered me. Suffering does, however, and over time I have become increasingly sensitive to writing about it. I don't enjoy reading relentlessly grim, miserable stories. I hope the action, adventure, heroism, and humour help to balance the harshest elements in this series.

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