Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy writer and director Guillermo del Toro has teamed up with thriller writer Chuck Hogan to create a series of novels for HarperCollins.

The proposed trilogy will kick off next summer with The Strain, in which New York City is invaded by a vampiric virus, which can trace its origins back to the time of the Old Testament.

Del Toro is currently in pre-production on New Line and MGM's two The Lord of the Rings prequel movies, and is also attached to remakes of Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Slaughterhouse 5.

Hogan is better known for his procedural crime novels, including The Standoff and The Prince of Thieves, which is currently in preproduction as a vehicle for Ben Affleck.