The tale that unfolds in Hell’s Gate, though fictional, is a convergence of several real and little-known events, including the actual design and partial construction of the world’s first manned spacecraft (the antipodal bomber) at the end of World War II. From Eugen S?nger’s Silverbirds the Nazis intended to release nuclear or biological weapons (on the United States and elsewhere) from an altitude that would be completely indefensible by the Allies. Other weaponry, including the Wasserfall surface-to-air missiles and the FA-223 Drache helicopter, were also moving off the drawing boards by the end of the war. While the tragic and delusionally blind rocket scientist Maurice Voorhees is fictional, men like him did (and still do) live, and certain historical figures, including Hanna Reitsch and Dr. Ishii Shiro, are real.
As for Desmodus draculae, these creatures actually existed in Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, perhaps until as recently as the coming of the European explorers. In fact, famed vampire bat biologist Arthur Greenhall (one of author Bill Schutt’s mentors) believed that the draculae might not have gone extinct at all, and that they or a closely related species could exist even now. We have, however, taken some dramatic and speculative liberties with the taxonomy and biology of our “night demons.” In reality, Desmodus draculae was not formally described until 1988 (by Morgan, Linares, and Ray). Their fossils, like those of most species that lived in the tropics, are few and far between (given the poor rate of fossilization in environments like rainforests). If, however, the skull fragments of D. draculae uncovered by researchers had belonged to juveniles (rather than adults), then their raccoonlike size would be accurate. Nonetheless, most people are surprised to learn how intelligent modern vampire bats have turned out to be. Author Bill Schutt (who maintained two colonies of vampire bats while studying them at Cornell) documented incidents where the sanguivores mimicked the behavior of chicks, coaxing mother hens to let them snuggle under their brood patch—a richly vascularized region, typically used to warm both eggs and chicks. These “chicks,” though, used the opportunity to feed on their adoptive mothers. Another vampire bat species figured out how to coax hens to settle down into a mating position, so that it could mount-and-feed. Physiologically, the saliva of living vampire bat species is a cocktail of chemical anticoagulants (like the clot-busting and aptly named desmokinase). These substances are applied to the single, crater-shaped wounds that vampires inflict with their razor-sharp incisors and canines. Since the victim continues to bleed long after the bats have drunk their fill and departed, the scene of a vampire bat attack is only a step down from the one depicted in the stable scene. In reality, the vampire bat’s prey eventually dies from either blood loss (smaller species like birds) or infection (an open wound in the tropics is a gateway to disease).
We have, however, trespassed on known and suspected aspects of Desmodus draculae biology by equipping our creatures with greater brawn and a biological weapon somewhat akin to the lethal bacterial cocktail used by Komodo dragons and other monitor lizards. As for mammals, there are few “venomous” species (e.g., the platypus has a venomous hind leg spur), though the slow loris (Nycticebus), a cute-looking primate might fit the bill. Reportedly, it licks an exudate from a gland on its arm, which when mixed with saliva, can trigger a toxic reaction after a bite. Real-life vampire bats do not inject hemorrhagic bacteria into their prey—just a chemical cocktail of anticlotting agents. We hope readers will forgive us this trespass because we have been dreaming for years about penning the proverbial “believable” vampire story. Their ability to use their sono-scans to control the behavior of their prey is also (thankfully) a figment of abstract speculation.
The Hell’s Gate region of Brazil is real, and is already so strange in its scenery and biology that we saw no reason to exaggerate the vegetation and the landscapes beyond reality (except for the fog and the occasional “living fossil”).
What else in this novel is based on true stories and actual science? Much else, as follows: