Jim McDoniel (1)

Well, it was whimsically charming, had plenty of gore and comedy, and was obviously inspired by the old TV show Dark Shadows. In the story, Puritans imprison an English Count Orlok-style Nosferatu (our main protagonist) then freed by the new residents of his old house, like Barnabas, becomes a fan of a Dark-Shadows-esque vampire-detective TV show which happens to employ real vampires; chaos ensues when he reaches out to meet them helped along by the child-genius brother and show superfan older sister homeowners. The vampire lore, especially concerning the “Old Ones” (ancient vampires), was very interesting with a few new twists. This novel does make good use of the fish out of water component inherent in the premise and delivers the horror with the old vampires as well as through the gruesome kills and the graveyard humor (pun intended) of the main character. It also cheerfully plays with vampire lore, another aspect of the novel that I really enjoyed.
To be fair, this is not a mind-blowing or completely original novel, but I do like it and would recommend it. For such a long book it read quickly, I was never bored by the text, and it probably would have gone faster had I actually read it rather than listened to it. I also enjoyed the themes of vampire identity and the gatekeeping of the “modern vampire lifestyle” by the pretty Ann Rice-style vampires (some of which sport glitter lotion while clubbing lol).… (plus d'informations)

Fantastically Hilarious

This is one of the best things I've read in vampire verse. Take an ancient, powerful vampire and throw him into the modern era where vampires are weak and beautiful. Throw in his nemesis reincarnated into the body of sociopathic eight-year-old boy, and an older sister who is taking zero crap. Shenanigans ensue. It's the battle of the ugly, ancient, and powerful versus the beautiful, famous, and not-so-bright.

While I did find the sister, Amanda, to be extraordinarily annoying, I found Simon, the boy nemesis to be very amusing. He kept Yulric--and basically everyone--on their toes. And I am totally on Yulric's side, because vampires are not actors pretending to be human, pretending to be vampires, and they certainly do not sparkle...But we can keep the good looks, lol.

It's a must read for fans of humor and vampires, and people who thought WTF?! after reading the sparkly vampire books.… (plus d'informations)