Vampire Kisses: Graveyard Games, Volume 1

Vampire Kisses: Graveyard Games #1

by Ellen Schreiber, Xian Nu Studio (Illustrator)

Things might finally be back to normal for Raven and Alexander-- as "normal" as they can be for a goth teen in a small town and her dreamy vampire boyfriend. But the secretive couple soon discovers that Alexander's now full-blooded vampire cousin Claude and his friends are still lingering in Dullsville. And when they all become involved in the same local production of "Cinderella" that Raven is pushed into costume designing, once again their worlds collide. Raven suspects Claude and his dubious crew must be up to something, especially when Claude shows interest in the play's leading lady. Can Raven and Alexander keep a close watch on the gang and still make sure the curtain rises on opening night?

Genres: Manga, Vampires, Graphic Novels, Romance, Young Adult, Comics, Paranormal

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Before I took pen to paper, I was an actress. I attended a local university majoring in theatre and spent a summer in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where I learned about the “Old Bard” from amazingly talented teachers.

When I returned from London, I relocated to Chicago where I lived for five years. There, I graduated from the Second City Training Center and performed improv, Shakespeare, comedies and dramas--I even sang and danced on a cruise boat--without falling in Lake Michigan! A classmate of mine from Second City and I created and performed a two woman show for a year before I braved it alone doing stand-up comedy. It was during this time I began to write an adult novel about a rock star--I had always enjoyed writing...

Fast forward a couple of years along with a move home where I was performing “stand-up” at comedy clubs in the area. On a plane to LA to decide my fate-- “to move to LA or not to move to LA” that is the question, my big bro, Mark, coincidentally with the same last name as mine (author of PRINCES IN EXILE, DREAMS OF THE SOLO TRAPEZE and STARCROSSED) handed me a young adult book he found at the library he thought I’d like to read during the flight.

As I read the book, I thought, ‘I can do this!’

I returned from LA, and instead of moving there, I wrote my story about the rock star as a young adult novel and called it JOHNNY LIGHTNING.
Mark, my writing mentor, edited JL for me. He was kind enough to send the manuscript to his publisher in Belgium--Facet--and they published it! In Dutch!

I was now on a new life path!

In 2001 HarperCollins made me an offer I couldn’t refuse! Not only was HarperCollins going to publish TEENAGE MERMAID, but it was in a language I could read and book stores I could walk into! HarperCollins also bought VAMPIRE KISSES and COMEDY GIRL.

It was a dream come true!

Since beginning my new life path, VAMPIRE KISSES, TEENAGE MERMAID, and MY MOTHER, THE CLOWN have been published by Facet in Belgium and JOHNNY LIGHTNING has been published in Germany by Ravensburger.

Then my fabulous editor at HarperCollins asked me for a sequel to VAMPIRE KISSES!
HarperCollins published VAMPIRE KISSES 2--KISSING COFFINS and now the soon to be released VAMPIRE KISSES 3--VAMPIREVILLE. I am currently writing VAMPIRE KISSES 4!

When I'm not writing about the love affair between vampire obsessed, goth girl Raven and my favorite mysterious dark-eyed hottie, Alexander Sterling, I enjoy working on my other novels, shopping for Hello Kitty items, and attempting to gain control of the remote from my boyfriend.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm...I didn't really like this one as much as I liked the other comic versions. I liked the idea of a gothic Cinderella play, but it just wasn't that interesting. The plot was a lot better in the others. I laughed a little, but it didn't hold up to my standards. The books themselves have a bit of a fluffy, kitchy type of charm. The comic just was kinda blehh. The art looked a bit different. I only noticed it when I looked from the actual comic to the character pages. Alexander looked a lot more attractive. Now, he just looks like a wonky girl. I couldn't even ship him and Raven because they ended up kinda looking like siblings, which grossed me out.

I don't remember much of the earlier ones to make a good comparisons, but the styling of the characters was cool. I loved all the outfits and clothing. Especially the guys, very hot haha. My favorite was Claude. God, he is really gorgeous! He has sexy hair and I like his lip ring. I wouldn't mind having him as my Prince Charming. I wish there had been more Trevor though. He's my favorite part of the books, so I was sad that he wasn't in it much, just kind of lurking abouts in the background. I hated Tripp. He came off as a whiny, little tool-bag. I wanted someone to just ship him back to Romania because he was mega-annoying.

I'll probably read if they make any other ones, but I'd much rather just read the books.

[Shaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richtig unnötiger Folgeband, super trashy und da die Künstlerin hier eine andere ist, wirken die Charaktere auch nicht mehr ganz so wie im "Original" (und die eigentlich miese Story erledigt den Rest) aber trotzdem.... Ich habe Tränen gelacht.
Basically Grufti High School Musical meets Twilight????

[Fergielover16 · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love the fist three pages with the introduction with the info who tells whos who i like claude i luv the pages where they start of reading with a kiss i thought the pictures were picture perrrrfect the pic were soooooooo full of detail i love the dresses

[Capric0rn31 · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.75*

[fulano]

✨childhood nostalgia read✨

[Rayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide if I am amused or kind of mad at the cute silliness of the whole thing. Don't know why I keep expecting differently from Vampire Kisses, but whatever. Anyone that's acquainted with the series can expect more fluffy romance, expected and convenient "plot twists" and a big, bordering on gag-worthy dose of gothic cuteness. Really liked how the drew the clothes but absolutely hated the new character design. The drawings were inconsistent throughout the manga, I mean, Alexander's eyes had a different shape in every shape, Raven's hair grew, bulked up and then shortened with each chapter and there were a lot of missing details including a drawing towards the end when the artists simply left the details on Alexander's boots drawn half-way, and they looked bad! Alexander and Claude don't look nearly as handsome and attractive as they looked in the other volumes and I don't particularly liked those full Jolie-lips on Alexander, he honestly looked like a girl. A bad looking one. I may rant but I know I'm going to buy the next one so, what the heck? Just get the same studio as the previous mangas back on the job! Seriously, that wonderful art was all these mangas had going for them!

[Kiersten Powers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with this one unlike the first three in the series they were awesome but this one was a little confusing and the art was not the same which I also did not like but over all love the series

[Saturnus · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was sooo good i totally love this manga serie, i hope there are coming soo many more books!!

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute :)

[Tatoanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it a interesting book

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

epic book, and i L.O.V.E. the pics

[Ai Nicole]

LIKE. LIKE. LIKE. <3 <3 <3 ;) Need I say more????

[musiclover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book/series

[J-Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should not have picked any of this manga up. If I read this manga series 10 years ago, I would have ate it up, but I like a wide variety of situations and genres now. Classic vampires that are allergic to garlic just don’t do it for me. At this time, I agree more with the modern vampire aesthetic!Basically, they are just strong humans that drink blood, avoid sunlight, and are killed by decapitation and burning. Stake to the heart and garlic is plain and boring.

Also, I prefer the cousin because he is more of a angry vampire while Alex is a wimpy vampire.

[Annie Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars!

It was a very fun read, very goofy, and cheesy, which was great. I laughed at how Becky was in this one. She wasn't as shy, and she's come out of her shell.
I loved seeing Alexander getting involved with school stuff, and interacting with teens his own age. Raven...she, as a costume designer...hahahaha! She always gets herself in unique situations ^^

Definitely a fun, and easy read!

[Ember Air]

A cute little story - a little difficult to follow at times (felt like whole pages might have been "edited" out). My inner theatre-nerd had a great time with this story-line! It was a lot of fun to read/see the characters getting ready for their production. Overall, not the best manga in the series, but not the worst book in whole series either.

[Kassandra Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the art style; the proportions of the bodies were off, and it seemed a bit rushed. The story didn't make sense either, and it seemed like Alexander was attending their school now. If Claud and the gang are full vampires, shouldn't they be out of school due to the sunlight? The manga just seems weird compared to the others.

[MaKenzie Parish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like it and i liked the magma it was really good but it was a realllly short read

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but just ok. Nothing really got resolved so the ending feels empty. Maybe it’s resolved in the books.

[Danielle Healy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood Relatives are back at it again 🤣 😅 I loved this

[Paula Greenfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story about the goth girl and vampire boyfriend and his cousin.

[Kayla O'Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story. It follows along after the events of Blood Relatives. Some parts got a bit confusing and I felt like it jumped around a little bit. Overall decent.

[Jordan Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! The artwork. The fact that her teacher was so accepting of her goth style for the school play! This is the kind of love and support I needed in high school.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story in this world. I wish I could have read volume 3 of Blood Relatives first but I can't seem to get my hands on it.
Hardcover/Library Binding edition, no 1 on the cover

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something I really liked about this story was that it was not an illustrated version of events that take place in one of the regular books in the Vampire Kisses series. This was a totally new side story that is just a nice edition to the regular series. Having it be a new side story really kept me interested in finishing the story where I normally would have gotten a bit bored with a graphic novel. I definitely felt like Raven's trademark humor was packed into this short volume. I do recommend this story to fans of the series, but there were a few little things that distracted from the story for me. Number one was the ill-fitting title, Graveyard Games. This title didn't have anything to do with the story at all except that Raven and Alexander meet in the local cemetery several times for a rendezvous. I was just left feeling a little bit confused is all and expected more in the graveyard because of the title. The other thing that really bothered me was that the story was written very silly and childish when I expected something more mature and along the lines of the regular series. In spite of these critiques, I would read the next volume in the Graveyard Games series.

[Bara · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first order from Bookdepository. A very successful one to that.

Vampire kisses could be probably classified as my guilty pleasure. A cheesy mortal-vampire romance, easy read with straightforward language. But it's so supremely enjoyable!

The jokes, the characters and the situations they find themselves in are so hilarious!
I have to say I always liked the manga version a bit more than the books but Graveyard games surpassed even Blood relatives.

The graphics are astounding, there's a certain western-like feel in the images coupled with the japanese estetique . I really like it when artist do this.

AND!!! I ship Rocco x Trip! You hear me? They are so cute. (Of course I love the official couple, too. It's just that these two dude are so adorable a girl like me can't stand it. :D)

[rai ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a different artist, so the characters looked a tad different, but overall it wasn't bad. I thought it kind of weird that Tripp was the mastermind, doing all the scheming in the story. In the Blood Relatives, he barely had any parts, so I guess that's why he has a bigger part now. I didn't like how he seemed so evil, though. You would have thougt Claude took up all the evil, but it seems like he has to move over now because the brains of the group wants to be the leader. Though Xian Nu Studio was good, I think I like Rem's illustrations of Vampire Kisses better. I got so used to her style that any other seemed weird.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This continues after the Blood Relatives series in the manga. The art is more rough in this series than in several graphic novel adaptations that seem popular recently. Raven and Alexander are drawn so similarly in black and white that without their wardrobe, they sometimes look nearly identical. One has to admit though, their idea of a Gothic Cinderella is rather amusing. More trouble is likely headed their way as Alexander's cousin is still in town with his gang, creating yet one more hurdle if Alexander and Raven want any quality time together while they're both over-run by the play.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to go back to the Vampire Kisses series in graphic novel form after Tokyopop closed down. I still love the character designs even now that a new studio is working on it. Not my favorite of the previous three graphic novels though. It was a clever premise centering around the play, but the characters kinda felt too melodramatic to me (gushing over boyfriends and small quarrels). Hopefully there's more tension built up over the rival vampires if another sequel comes out (?).

[Jo ♡ˎ´✨ ☕︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's 4.3 to be precise.
I like Vampire mangas and Vampire Kisses is one of my favorites. I've only read the first volume and I really like the style Ellen Schreiber creates of her characters. My fav is Raven and I like her expressions. The plot in the manga is a little bit high-low but the love story between Raven and Alexander is lovely so all in all- I'm pretty much satisfied with the manga. :)