Vampire Mom

by Don Whittington

Winston is horrified when a mysterious necklace transforms his cookie-baking mother into a strange creature straight out of a monster movie, and when she is attacked by a neck-biting demon, Winston decides to save her. Original.

Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

Reviews

[Alex Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heads up: Don Whittington’s six Avon Camelot kids’ horror books tied to this are actually not only part of an untitled series, but interconnected stories with kids Brock and Winston as the central characters for each. And yes, there is an overarching narrative, of which I won’t spoilt but it’s ODD to put lightly. This is NOT what you probably think this book is gonna be; Vampire Mom is anything about a vampiric mother, but rather about pendant dimensions, succumbing to or fighting against evil, and Benjamin Franklin. (I am 100% serious). If you’re looking for probably the most abstract kids’ horror book ever, this is a safe bet, although I would recommend reading Werewolf Tonight beforehand, as this seems to be the second in the series. Again, overarching narrative. To brief my thoughts on this piece: I loved the characters, most easily the protagonist and their development as they are tested on how far they’re willing to go for revenge, even if it means losing themself. It’s really something and made way for an all-time moment for the genre. The writing is great (good prose and swing, plus Ben Franklin’s loquacious ramblings), a funny after-party like postlude to the core events that I really enjoyed and is generally not common for kids’ horror, and some interesting/appreciated larger-than-life ideas at play, like destiny and (again) pendant dimensions. Some mild takeaways would be the rather thick first third of the book, the general misdirection of the title and first few chapters of the book, and some confusing narrative and writing choices. Overall, 8.5/10. Really damn good, even if it’s not what I wanted. I will be coming back to this universe, just gimme some time and some banger eBay listings. I bet my entire life earnings that Claude and Benjamin Franklins are in a closeted romance (200 years in solitude? No way I’m wrong).