IT IS hard to remember a time when pirates and vampires were not the ubiquitous staples of books and films that they are today.

Bookshop shelves are currently groaning under the weight of tomes dedicated to maritime marauders and the undead, largely thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean and the Twilight saga.

But it pays to step away from Captain Jack Sparrow and the Cullen clan.

In a move of literary genius, albeit years before pirates and vampires became cinematic and literary catnip, author Justin Somper blended the two genres and came up with a cast of characters called Vampirates.

He started writing the Vampirates books eight years ago and now has six to his name, the last to date – Immortal War – being published last July.

Their demographic is the 10 to 15-year-old market, although they are read much more widely, and more than a million books have been sold in 35 countries including China.

The first book, Demons of the Oceans, has now been turned into a full-length stage play called Vampirates that is coming to Bridport Arts Centre next week.

The year is 2505. The oceans have risen. A new era of piracy is dawning.

A vicious storm separates twins Connor and Grace Tempest, destroying their boat and leaving them fighting for their lives in the cruel, cold water.

Picked up on one of the more notorious pirate ships, Connor soon finds himself wielding a cutlass. But does he have the stomach to be a pirate?

Grace finds herself aboard a more mysterious ship. Kept under lock and key she’s assured no harm will come to her, just as long as she follows the enigmatic captain’s rules. But why does his crew only show themselves at night?

“The books came about through sheer serendipity,” said Justin. “The word ‘vampirates’ came into my head one day and I felt that it was the idea for a book that I had been waiting for. It took me quite a while to get my head around the size of the idea and the fact that it would be bringing these two huge genres together.

“This was all before Pirates of the Caribbean and at that time pirates had been languishing in the wilderness for a long time. Vampires have never really gone out of fashion of course and there has been a real fever for them over the past few years. But I was just wondering what I could do to make pirates cool again when Johnny Depp as Capt Jack Sparrow came along and did most of the work for me.

“I just couldn’t believe that no one had come up with the idea before.”

The play came about at a school festival where Justin was reading and Scene Productions, who are staging the show, were performing. One of the actors read one of the Vampirates books, liked what they saw and approached Justin with the idea of a play.

In an ideal world, he would also like to see it as a film.

“There have been overtures about a film but I am waiting for the right person to come along – Spielberg or someone!” said Justin.

“I would consider animation for a television version but I’m holding out for a big budget screen film with real actors and lots of special effects.”

Vampirates is at Bridport Arts Centre in South Street, Bridport at 7pm on January 28.

Tickets are £10, plus concessions from 01308 424204.