Paranormal fiction is all the rage right now with beautiful teens falling for sexy vampires and such, but the vampire story I just finished is most definitely NOT your typical vampire story. In fact, there are no sexy vampires and not even any blood-sucking anywhere in this book. There is, however, a cute, fluffy little vampire bunny who will suck all the juice (and color) right out of your vegetables.
The Editor's Note at the beginning of the book tells you that the manuscript for this book was dropped off at the editor's office by a sad-eyed dog. With the manuscript was a letter from the author who identifies himself as the family dog, Harold, and claims that the story in the manuscript is indeed factual (though the names have been changed to protect his family). Harold's story tells how the family (identified as the Monroes) found the orphaned bunny in a seat at the theatre where they went to watch the movie Dracula (which is what led them to naming the bunny Bunnicula). Strange things begin to happen in the Monroe home, mainly to the vegetables which mysteriously turn white over night. Chester, the family cat, is certain that the bunny is a vampire and a threat to the family (even though the only thing Bunnicula seems to be biting is the vegetables). Chester, who is a very well-read cat, turns to The Mark of the Vampire to help him and a reluctant Harold figure out how to rid the family of the alleged vampire bunny. The effects, while not necessarily effective at getting rid of Bunnicula, are quite hilarious.
Bunnicula has been around for quite a while being first published in 1979, and I'll admit that the real reason I read it was because I had some students doing a project on it and needed to know the book to be able to evaluate their projects. With that said, I really liked the book! It was cute and funny and had enough wordplay to appeal to adults as well as kids. At one point, Chester reads that you can kill a vampire by pounding a stake into the vampire's heart, but the "stake" he uses is actually a sirloin "steak" (after I finished reading the book I had to apologize to one of my student groups for correcting their spelling). The book is a quick but fun read. Probably the best recommendation for the book came from one of my students who is VERY picky about the books he reads (he only likes to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Puppy Place books and pretty much refuses to try anything else). After he finished Bunnicula, he was anxious to read others in the series. When I told him I didn't have the entire series, the told me that I really needed to get the rest of them so he could read them. Isn't that what a good book is all about?
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