World Mag has reported that director Guillermo Del Toro (Cronos, Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth) is working on a trilogy of vampire novels, with crime author Chuck Hogan. The first of the books will be titled ‘Strain’ and is expected to arrive next summer. Del Toro had this to say.

The idea is epic in scope. The trilogy advances in unexpected ways and each book contains unique and surprising reveleations about the history, physiology and lore of the vampiric race, tracing it’s roots all the way back to it’s Old Testament origins.

In addition to the upcoming novels, Del Toro is working on a film adaptation of ‘J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit’, a third ‘Hellboy’ film, and his take on Frankenstein.