FESTIVAL 2026

Hemo Sapiens

by Emily A. Weedon

Dundurn Press

FESTIVAL 2026

Hemo Sapiens

by Emily A. Weedon

Dundurn Press

Synopsis

These women are out for blood.

“Filmic, funny and genuinely terrifying, Hemo Sapiens is part detective story, part vampire myth and an all-biting (pun intended) exploration of the horrors of pregnancy, and the power of sisterhood.” — Paola Ferrante, author of Her Body Among Animals

Detective Luke Stockton is preparing for his first child with his wife, Beatrice, but balancing work and home is a challenge as she is behaving with increasing strangeness. Beatrice begins to frequent a medspa offering mysterious prenatal checkups, leech treatments, and vampire facials. And, against his will, Luke finds himself irresistibly drawn to the spa’s sophisticated owner, Cleo, who has a deadly secret to keep.

The pressure builds for Luke as he investigates a series of murders involving exsanguinated runaway boys. Trailing a perplexing killer, and bent on protecting his wife and their child, Luke is thrust into a shadowy, erotic world of wealth, subterfuge, and danger. And the closer he gets to the truth, the more danger he courts for himself and his family.

Hemo Sapiens is an audacious and bloodthirsty fairy tale, pitting one man against a community beyond good and evil, in a modern tale of intrigue and female sexuality.

About the Author

Emily A. Weedon is a CSA award–winning screenwriter of Chateau Laurier and Red Ketchup, and author of the epic dystopia Autokrator. You may have seen Emily in The Bride of Chucky feature film, and she played Lucy in two separate productions of Dracula, and growing up checked out Dracula and other vampire books more than anyone else in the Coe Hill library. It was probably inevitable that she would write a novel about vampires. Hemo Sapiens is her second novel. She hosts and programs Toronto's wildest and funnest reading series, Drunk Fiction. Emily is represented by Carolyn Forde at Transatlantic Agency. 

Read more about Emily A. Weedon

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