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Vampire's Promise #1
The Cheerleader
Point Horror never dies, it just gets better...
Cheerleaders are beautiful, popular and exciting - girls that Althea longs to be. But Althea is nobody - she gets no phone calls, shares no laughter and has no friends. Then one day she meets him, a vampire who offers to make her a cheerleader in exchange for a simple bargain.
Soon Althea has everything she desires: beauty, friends, success. But Althea wants more - and she'll do anything to get it...
Cheerleaders are beautiful, popular and exciting - girls that Althea longs to be. But Althea is nobody - she gets no phone calls, shares no laughter and has no friends. Then one day she meets him, a vampire who offers to make her a cheerleader in exchange for a simple bargain.
Soon Althea has everything she desires: beauty, friends, success. But Althea wants more - and she'll do anything to get it...
179 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1991
41 people are currently reading
1813 people want to read
About the author
Caroline B. Cooney
130 books1,776 followersCaroline Cooney knew in sixth grade that she wanted to be a writer when "the best teacher I ever had in my life" made writing her main focus. "He used to rip off covers from The New Yorker and pass them around and make us write a short story on whichever cover we got. I started writing then and never stopped!"
When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people -- with remarkable results. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. "In a suspense novel, you can count on action."
To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. She often organizes what she calls a "plotting game," in which students work together to create plots for stories. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams!
- Scholastic.com
When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people -- with remarkable results. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. "In a suspense novel, you can count on action."
To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. She often organizes what she calls a "plotting game," in which students work together to create plots for stories. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams!
- Scholastic.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
September 7, 2021
The Cheerleader has one of the most iconic covers in the Point Horror series.
But how does the book fair?
I actually felt it had similarities with Sinclair Smith’s - Dream Date where the main protagonist Althea popularity is improved by a supernatural character.
This time a vampire has made a pact with Althea as he has the ability to make her popular whilst in return she must nominate a person for him to drain their energy from.
Of course it’s a take on the price of fame. But once the vampire has helped Althea to gain popularity, he uses it against her and threatens to take it away.
It’s easy to see Althea being trapped into this situation and feeding her ‘addiction’.
An enjoyable quick read, brought back so many teenage memories of devouring these!
But how does the book fair?
I actually felt it had similarities with Sinclair Smith’s - Dream Date where the main protagonist Althea popularity is improved by a supernatural character.
This time a vampire has made a pact with Althea as he has the ability to make her popular whilst in return she must nominate a person for him to drain their energy from.
Of course it’s a take on the price of fame. But once the vampire has helped Althea to gain popularity, he uses it against her and threatens to take it away.
It’s easy to see Althea being trapped into this situation and feeding her ‘addiction’.
An enjoyable quick read, brought back so many teenage memories of devouring these!
June 28, 2020
Althea is a hard heroine to like, given her absolute entitlement for the better part of the book (she deserves to be on the cheerleading squad, deserves to be popular, etc.). However, I thought the descriptions of the way having friends made her feel were really good, and her yearning was poignant. This was well-written, but I didn't get into it all that much sadly.
The real story here, by the way, isn't that Althea found a vampire in her house. The REAL story is that she is the creepy girl living in a creepy house on the edge of town with NO PARENTS. Where the hell are they? Did I miss that they were on an extended archaeological dig in Egypt or something? I am confused.
The real story here, by the way, isn't that Althea found a vampire in her house. The REAL story is that she is the creepy girl living in a creepy house on the edge of town with NO PARENTS. Where the hell are they? Did I miss that they were on an extended archaeological dig in Egypt or something? I am confused.
August 6, 2024
2.5 stars
I struggled with this one at times, the plot was very predictable, and even for a teen series there was no horror at all. The main character is shallow and unlikeable and found myself wanting to see her fail, which wasn't the authors intention. There are much better books in this series and even from this author. Would give this one a miss.
Althea is a loner and an outcast at her highschool and desperately wants to be popular. She makes a pact with a vampire to offer up victims in exchange for popularity. The guilt starts to build, but will the vampire let her off so lightly?
I struggled with this one at times, the plot was very predictable, and even for a teen series there was no horror at all. The main character is shallow and unlikeable and found myself wanting to see her fail, which wasn't the authors intention. There are much better books in this series and even from this author. Would give this one a miss.
Althea is a loner and an outcast at her highschool and desperately wants to be popular. She makes a pact with a vampire to offer up victims in exchange for popularity. The guilt starts to build, but will the vampire let her off so lightly?
November 26, 2024
Caroline B Cooney does it again!
Atmospheric and creepy, this book just hits the spot. A protagonist who is willing to sacrifice her friends for a chance at popularity but is it worth it? The sense of dread anytime you feel the vampire around is so tangible, I love Cooney's way with words. And the setting! The tower room with the shutters and creeping vegetation...so evocative.
I'm obsessed with the fact that Yellowjackets had a flashback to S1 Misty reading this book -- just chefs kiss.
Atmospheric and creepy, this book just hits the spot. A protagonist who is willing to sacrifice her friends for a chance at popularity but is it worth it? The sense of dread anytime you feel the vampire around is so tangible, I love Cooney's way with words. And the setting! The tower room with the shutters and creeping vegetation...so evocative.
I'm obsessed with the fact that Yellowjackets had a flashback to S1 Misty reading this book -- just chefs kiss.
September 14, 2022
Did Althea’s parents even exist? I don’t remember seeing any mention of them at all. Parents are usually semi-absent in these books but this one took it to the next level
January 2, 2016
This was a surprisingly smart instalment in the Point Horror series. Although the plot isn't scary in the same way that some of the other books in the series are, it is definitely creepy and disturbing.
Althea longs to be popular, but is barely noticed at school. She wishes she could be like Celeste, one of the most popular cheerleaders, who seems to have everything - lots of cool friends (including cute guys), the adoration of students and teachers, good grades, and lots of attention.
When Althea meets a vampire who lives in a shuttered room in her house, he offers her a bargain - if she brings him Celeste, he will give her the popularity she longs for. He isn't a bloodsucking vampire, he simply drains people's life energy, leaving them slow and exhausted, so it's not like he's going to kill Celeste. Althea agrees, despite her initial reluctance, and finally gets the life she's always wanted. But she needs to maintain her popularity, and the only way to do so is to bring the vampire new victims...
'The Cheerleader' is a 'horror' novel on the surface, but really it's about the need to belong, and the price of popularity. While several Point Horror books have characters who are either Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) or Too Bitchy To Live (TBTL), Caroline B. Cooney neatly evades these traps. Althea makes decisions of questionable morality and intelligence (i.e. making a deal with a vampire and essentially feeding him victims) but her motives for doing so are understandable, and she does increasingly question the morality of what she's doing.
Even better, Celeste is not presented as a Queen Bee Bitch type, she is actually rather likeable, and this adds another layer to the story because she doesn't deserve what happens to her, and Althea knows it.
The vampire is wonderfully frightening, evil, and gross, no sparkling and awesome hair for this guy. He is not the kind of vampire you want in your house.
I really was impressed by this one, it seems to stretch outside the typical formula for PH books. I will be looking out for more of Caroline B. Cooney's contributions to the series.
Althea longs to be popular, but is barely noticed at school. She wishes she could be like Celeste, one of the most popular cheerleaders, who seems to have everything - lots of cool friends (including cute guys), the adoration of students and teachers, good grades, and lots of attention.
When Althea meets a vampire who lives in a shuttered room in her house, he offers her a bargain - if she brings him Celeste, he will give her the popularity she longs for. He isn't a bloodsucking vampire, he simply drains people's life energy, leaving them slow and exhausted, so it's not like he's going to kill Celeste. Althea agrees, despite her initial reluctance, and finally gets the life she's always wanted. But she needs to maintain her popularity, and the only way to do so is to bring the vampire new victims...
'The Cheerleader' is a 'horror' novel on the surface, but really it's about the need to belong, and the price of popularity. While several Point Horror books have characters who are either Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) or Too Bitchy To Live (TBTL), Caroline B. Cooney neatly evades these traps. Althea makes decisions of questionable morality and intelligence (i.e. making a deal with a vampire and essentially feeding him victims) but her motives for doing so are understandable, and she does increasingly question the morality of what she's doing.
Even better, Celeste is not presented as a Queen Bee Bitch type, she is actually rather likeable, and this adds another layer to the story because she doesn't deserve what happens to her, and Althea knows it.
The vampire is wonderfully frightening, evil, and gross, no sparkling and awesome hair for this guy. He is not the kind of vampire you want in your house.
I really was impressed by this one, it seems to stretch outside the typical formula for PH books. I will be looking out for more of Caroline B. Cooney's contributions to the series.
November 21, 2011
For a throwaway YA vampire fiction, The Cheerleader is actually pretty immense. It's so readable that I've returned to it every few years and I'll probably be reading it into my thirties.
I still remember vividly so many scenes from this book. The party, when she sits on the stairs and can't make conversation because there are so many different types of music coming from the different rooms of her house. Or how she dances in Pizzahut because she's popular, finally popular, and that's what popular kids do apparently.
Althea just wants a friend, and I find it pretty easy to empathise with that. The vampire (who is repulsive -- a nice change from the modern-day sparklers) promises to give her what she wants. As contemporary vampire fiction goes, I would venture to say that, despite its brevity, this one's up there with Stephen King and Anne Rice in its originality. Definitely better than Twilight or a Rachel Caine novel.
I still remember vividly so many scenes from this book. The party, when she sits on the stairs and can't make conversation because there are so many different types of music coming from the different rooms of her house. Or how she dances in Pizzahut because she's popular, finally popular, and that's what popular kids do apparently.
Althea just wants a friend, and I find it pretty easy to empathise with that. The vampire (who is repulsive -- a nice change from the modern-day sparklers) promises to give her what she wants. As contemporary vampire fiction goes, I would venture to say that, despite its brevity, this one's up there with Stephen King and Anne Rice in its originality. Definitely better than Twilight or a Rachel Caine novel.
December 27, 2023
how pointless and dull. the range of emotions in the story was incredibly flat: popularity great, vampire scary! everything the book had to say about social life was shallow and underdeveloped. althea was annoying. nothing about her made sense to me. where were her parents? she was so blinded by her naivete that she was incapable of seeing that she probably could have made friends had she tried, made an actual effort. the side characters were devoid of personality, they were just oh so wonderful and popular, and that was literally it. no depth whatsoever. the vampire thing got boring pretty quickly as well.
i'm giving it 2 stars because the writing style was above the usual level of ya horror thrillers of the '80s/'90s. even to me that seems like a flimsy argument, but whatever.
i'm giving it 2 stars because the writing style was above the usual level of ya horror thrillers of the '80s/'90s. even to me that seems like a flimsy argument, but whatever.
September 10, 2023
Wow! I was actually impressed with this YA horror novel. This was very suspenseful and well written for a younger audience aimed book. 5 stars and I can’t wait to read the rest of this series and more Point Horror books in the future.
September 3, 2012
Rating: 4 of 5
The Cheerleader was among the many Point Horror books I read in the early 90s, between the ages of 12 to 15. In those days, when I wasn't buried in a Stephen King novel, nine times out of ten I was reading L.J. Smith, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Caroline B. Cooney, or Richie Tankersley Cusick. Their novels always thrilled and entertained, and yes, there was a healthy dose of jumps and creepies.
Nowadays, I'd recommend the Point Horror books for younger 12- to 15-year-olds, who want to dip their pinkie toe in the horror pool. (These books will likely fall short for anyone who's already dabbled in adult dark fiction or film.) The horror elements are mild, for the most part, and some of the teenager-y behavior may seem a little outdated. But other than that, these are great fun!
Note: My rating is based on what I remember from 20+ years ago and, of course, includes a fair share of sentimentality.
The Cheerleader was among the many Point Horror books I read in the early 90s, between the ages of 12 to 15. In those days, when I wasn't buried in a Stephen King novel, nine times out of ten I was reading L.J. Smith, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Caroline B. Cooney, or Richie Tankersley Cusick. Their novels always thrilled and entertained, and yes, there was a healthy dose of jumps and creepies.
Nowadays, I'd recommend the Point Horror books for younger 12- to 15-year-olds, who want to dip their pinkie toe in the horror pool. (These books will likely fall short for anyone who's already dabbled in adult dark fiction or film.) The horror elements are mild, for the most part, and some of the teenager-y behavior may seem a little outdated. But other than that, these are great fun!
Note: My rating is based on what I remember from 20+ years ago and, of course, includes a fair share of sentimentality.
![Profile Image for Carol [Goodreads Addict].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1626057011i%2F10717098._UX200_CR0%2C33%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
November 18, 2015
I picked this up at a used book sale as part of a trilogy, all bound together. I thought it sounded interesting but believe me, it wasn't. Althea enjoyed popularity and success in middle school. She is now a sophomore in high school but all her friends have divided off into groups and she just can't seem to fit in with any of them. She so wants to be popular and to be a cheerleader. She moves into a huge house with a tower. Upon opening the shutters in the tower, she frees a vampire. He promises her that in exchange for him granting her the popularity she so desires, she must do something for him. She must ultimately decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to make her wishes come true. In my opinion, this story completely lacked in content and did not flow at all. I found Althea to be shallow and completely uninteresting. The other two stories in the trilogy will have to wait, if I decide to read them at all. I do not recommend this book.
June 11, 2022
My original rating still stands so let's just get that out of the way.
Out of the trilogy that Cooney wrote with her vampire, I always remember The Cheerleader the most in details and characters. It's also so misleading when you see that there is a vampire in this book even when it clearly graces the cover despite the eerie cheerleader in the foreground.
This and the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer novelization by RTC (even the film) are what dragged me into liking vampires before moving to the big guns of Anne Rice and even Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire.
It's an interesting mix to add in cheerleaders to a vampire story but horror and cheerleading seem to go so hand in hand.
Althea is a girl who is so ignored in high school it is almost so pitiful because even I had some friends when I was a sophomore in high school. Her luck can't be that bad but she just happens to move into a creepy house with a tower room and hidden in those shutters...is a vampire.
Althea doesn't truly mean to let the vampire out and despite her fear, she can't help but be intrigued by the scenario he presents her.
"Suppose...I could make you popular."
I never knew vampires were like djinns but apparently this one is so powerful he can make Althea a social butterfly and she knows that the cheerleaders are the top tier in the popularity pyramid.
The catch is that Althea needs to deliver a victim to the vampire for the deal to be sealed. Althea knows that freshman Celeste shouldn't be on that team...she has plenty of time to be beautiful and popular being one of those type of girls but Althea has been out in the cold for so long.
Althea finds a way into the popular crowd to try and get close enough to Celeste to put her in the vampire's "path" as he puts it. The next day, the football players, cheerleaders and even people Althea doesn't know are admiring her, hanging on her every word and Althea couldn't be happier.
Then she sees how different Celeste has become and Althea starts to get second thoughts but all of the popularity, everything she has ever wanted, is so enticing...what more could Althea ask for?
But Althea isn't the one asking for more...the vampire wants more victims and Althea must bring them to him. He says he will take her popularity away and Althea is faced with being alone or accepting the vampire's bargain...
Maybe it still resonates with me as feeling so much of an outsider in middle school and even in high school on the very fringe of being invisible. There's some hint in Cooney's writing that perhaps Althea sells herself short and could be popular if she tried harder because there's a boy named Ryan who knows Althea's name before she even gets Celeste close enough to the vampire?...
You can have your own interpretation and theory to whether the vampire has any really influence (even a small bit) on the degree of Althea's popularity or not but it's still a good read with a bittersweet and, of course, open ending.
Out of the trilogy that Cooney wrote with her vampire, I always remember The Cheerleader the most in details and characters. It's also so misleading when you see that there is a vampire in this book even when it clearly graces the cover despite the eerie cheerleader in the foreground.
This and the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer novelization by RTC (even the film) are what dragged me into liking vampires before moving to the big guns of Anne Rice and even Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire.
It's an interesting mix to add in cheerleaders to a vampire story but horror and cheerleading seem to go so hand in hand.
Althea is a girl who is so ignored in high school it is almost so pitiful because even I had some friends when I was a sophomore in high school. Her luck can't be that bad but she just happens to move into a creepy house with a tower room and hidden in those shutters...is a vampire.
Althea doesn't truly mean to let the vampire out and despite her fear, she can't help but be intrigued by the scenario he presents her.
"Suppose...I could make you popular."
I never knew vampires were like djinns but apparently this one is so powerful he can make Althea a social butterfly and she knows that the cheerleaders are the top tier in the popularity pyramid.
The catch is that Althea needs to deliver a victim to the vampire for the deal to be sealed. Althea knows that freshman Celeste shouldn't be on that team...she has plenty of time to be beautiful and popular being one of those type of girls but Althea has been out in the cold for so long.
Althea finds a way into the popular crowd to try and get close enough to Celeste to put her in the vampire's "path" as he puts it. The next day, the football players, cheerleaders and even people Althea doesn't know are admiring her, hanging on her every word and Althea couldn't be happier.
Then she sees how different Celeste has become and Althea starts to get second thoughts but all of the popularity, everything she has ever wanted, is so enticing...what more could Althea ask for?
But Althea isn't the one asking for more...the vampire wants more victims and Althea must bring them to him. He says he will take her popularity away and Althea is faced with being alone or accepting the vampire's bargain...
Maybe it still resonates with me as feeling so much of an outsider in middle school and even in high school on the very fringe of being invisible. There's some hint in Cooney's writing that perhaps Althea sells herself short and could be popular if she tried harder because there's a boy named Ryan who knows Althea's name before she even gets Celeste close enough to the vampire?...
You can have your own interpretation and theory to whether the vampire has any really influence (even a small bit) on the degree of Althea's popularity or not but it's still a good read with a bittersweet and, of course, open ending.
July 6, 2024
I read this with my book club that I run on Instagram where we revisit Point Horror and other books from our childhood - @talespointhorrorbookclub
Tagline - She wants it all. But he wants blood...
Memorable For – Vampire and absent parents!
Blurb -
Cheerleaders are beautiful, popular and exciting - girls that Althea longs to be. But Althea is nobody - she gets no phone calls, shares no laughter and has no friends. Then one day she meets him, a vampire who offers to make her a cheerleader in exchange for a simple bargain.
Some Thoughts -
Well it all starts in a dark and chilly November. Pizza Hut is the hip place to be! And Althea wants herself a slice! Althea wants to be popular! Nobody has ever entered the shuttered tower room in her house until Althea opened the shutters and released a living person in a locked coffin... a Vampire! As long as Althea does what he asks he can make her popular! And popular basically it means visiting McDonalds and Pizza Hut and getting to sit in booths….oh and getting on The Cheerleading squad! But Althea soon discovers that there is a price to being popular….. surely handing over one victim will be enough to keep the vampire happy won’t it? Or will Althea have to lose everything for her to have something?
Other highlights include totally absent parents, the hilarious thoughts of bashing a vampire to death with a chair, an old fashioned vampire, lots of telescope talk, dodgy dancing and lots of talk about Pizza Hut! 😋
Tagline - She wants it all. But he wants blood...
Memorable For – Vampire and absent parents!
Blurb -
Cheerleaders are beautiful, popular and exciting - girls that Althea longs to be. But Althea is nobody - she gets no phone calls, shares no laughter and has no friends. Then one day she meets him, a vampire who offers to make her a cheerleader in exchange for a simple bargain.
Some Thoughts -
Well it all starts in a dark and chilly November. Pizza Hut is the hip place to be! And Althea wants herself a slice! Althea wants to be popular! Nobody has ever entered the shuttered tower room in her house until Althea opened the shutters and released a living person in a locked coffin... a Vampire! As long as Althea does what he asks he can make her popular! And popular basically it means visiting McDonalds and Pizza Hut and getting to sit in booths….oh and getting on The Cheerleading squad! But Althea soon discovers that there is a price to being popular….. surely handing over one victim will be enough to keep the vampire happy won’t it? Or will Althea have to lose everything for her to have something?
Other highlights include totally absent parents, the hilarious thoughts of bashing a vampire to death with a chair, an old fashioned vampire, lots of telescope talk, dodgy dancing and lots of talk about Pizza Hut! 😋
July 29, 2020
I first read this book 23 years ago, when it was called The Cheerleader, and I loved it. It was one of the few horror books I owned, so I read it multiple times. I'd wanted to re-read it as an adult for ages, but I only realised last night that it's now titled Deadly Offer and tracked it down. (And the cover of this edition is nowhere near as cool as the original!)
As an adult, the book was not as fantastic as it was when I was a teenager, but I can definitely see why I loved it. Althea is a conflicted character (probably because she seems to have no parents and lives in a scary haunted house by herself -- where are her parents??), and she just wants to belong, and to be popular and liked. Who didn't/doesn't want that as a teenager, or even as an adult to some extent? Even reading it now I can still feel the warmth and comfort that Althea experiences from her vampire-created popularity.
Cooney has perfectly captured a non-popular kid's idea of what it's like to be popular. I remember finding Althea's longing quite relatable (although I would never have admitted it), and I loved everything to do with vampires at the time. It stood up to adult scrutiny better than I expected, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to other adults now. It's an OK book; the four stars is mostly nostalgia.
As an adult, the book was not as fantastic as it was when I was a teenager, but I can definitely see why I loved it. Althea is a conflicted character (probably because she seems to have no parents and lives in a scary haunted house by herself -- where are her parents??), and she just wants to belong, and to be popular and liked. Who didn't/doesn't want that as a teenager, or even as an adult to some extent? Even reading it now I can still feel the warmth and comfort that Althea experiences from her vampire-created popularity.
Cooney has perfectly captured a non-popular kid's idea of what it's like to be popular. I remember finding Althea's longing quite relatable (although I would never have admitted it), and I loved everything to do with vampires at the time. It stood up to adult scrutiny better than I expected, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to other adults now. It's an OK book; the four stars is mostly nostalgia.
January 3, 2020
I absolutely loved these books as a teenager and came across it when I visited my parents and had a really strong desire to re-read it.
The writing style doesn’t flow so well in places and it’s a bit confusing that Althea is 15/16 years old and has no parents?! Like seriously, where are her parents? Even so, I think this is one of the most original vampires I’ve ever heard of.
Through drinking the victims blood, he is able to suck out their life force so they are left tired, droopy and confused with little personality. It’s especially Interesting because, as he doesn’t kill them and they are able to function on some level, the morality aspect is a bit more interesting cos you can see how Althea is justifying it to herself. It also just highlights how desperate things can be for teenagers. This isn’t exactly a great work of fiction, but it was my favourite book as a teenager, it was something I really related to and it ultimately has a pretty good message for young girls, so buy it for your 12+ kids!
The writing style doesn’t flow so well in places and it’s a bit confusing that Althea is 15/16 years old and has no parents?! Like seriously, where are her parents? Even so, I think this is one of the most original vampires I’ve ever heard of.
Through drinking the victims blood, he is able to suck out their life force so they are left tired, droopy and confused with little personality. It’s especially Interesting because, as he doesn’t kill them and they are able to function on some level, the morality aspect is a bit more interesting cos you can see how Althea is justifying it to herself. It also just highlights how desperate things can be for teenagers. This isn’t exactly a great work of fiction, but it was my favourite book as a teenager, it was something I really related to and it ultimately has a pretty good message for young girls, so buy it for your 12+ kids!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2017
I understand wanting to try a new approach to vampire novels but this one was bad. A vampire makes a girl popular in exchange for her choosing people who he can drain. Can he not go and get his own victims? The thing that really stood out is there are no mention of parents or family. Does a high schooler really live alone in an old house and is the vampire her guardian? So many questions and no answers.
April 13, 2018
So, this book is about a cheerleader who makes a deal with a vampire in exchange for popularity at her high school. There's a lot here about issues that kids face and how the kids treat one another. There is some cool, creepy atmosphere going on here. I especially enjoyed the dreamy quality of some of the scenes involving the vampire. There isn't any gore or violence or death but there is a great, dreary vibe throughout and a lot of the writing is startlingly poetic. A great, gentle read!
April 16, 2021
Another fun journey into the world of Point Horror. This time with a vampire! This one differs from the ones I've read so far because of the main character not actually being a black and white goodie. Althea certainly isn't the most likeable of people, and it makes for some interesting reading.
March 11, 2011
Dude, since when do vampires grant wishes, anyway? Isn't that genies or something?
June 5, 2019
A vampire who grants wishes in exchange for sustenance makes a bargain with average, boring Althea. She'll hitch victims in the orbit of his deadly glamor and in return she'll gain popularity at school.
After her first offering, it was almost too easy. Adulation came to her quickly and effortlessly, and by the second day she was wearing it like a mantle. It was intoxicating but really, she should have read the fine print. If she wants to keep her status, she would have to offer more. Much much more.
One thing I noticed about Cooney is that she sometimes puts a lot of disjointed and irrelevant thoughts in her characters' heads. It resembles a third-person stream of consciousness style that in her case is laden with mixed metaphors. It can turn out messy and graceless like in her other book Perfume, but in this one it's not nearly as trying.
Althea is not easy to root for, not least because she can be very shallow. Different strokes for different folks I guess. For one so young she has learned to sacrifice people (and quite literally, at that) to gain status, power, and recognition. This might have served her in good stead once she enters the snake pit that's the adult world but alas! The book evidently has a different agenda to push, and we do have our lead's conscience to contend with. The question remains: is it too late for her to back out?
The ending was pretty promising, so I'll be reading the rest of this trilogy. I'm rating it 6.5/10 or 3 stars out of 5.
After her first offering, it was almost too easy. Adulation came to her quickly and effortlessly, and by the second day she was wearing it like a mantle. It was intoxicating but really, she should have read the fine print. If she wants to keep her status, she would have to offer more. Much much more.
One thing I noticed about Cooney is that she sometimes puts a lot of disjointed and irrelevant thoughts in her characters' heads. It resembles a third-person stream of consciousness style that in her case is laden with mixed metaphors. It can turn out messy and graceless like in her other book Perfume, but in this one it's not nearly as trying.
Althea is not easy to root for, not least because she can be very shallow. Different strokes for different folks I guess. For one so young she has learned to sacrifice people (and quite literally, at that) to gain status, power, and recognition. This might have served her in good stead once she enters the snake pit that's the adult world but alas! The book evidently has a different agenda to push, and we do have our lead's conscience to contend with. The question remains: is it too late for her to back out?
The ending was pretty promising, so I'll be reading the rest of this trilogy. I'm rating it 6.5/10 or 3 stars out of 5.
December 3, 2018
Despite some hilarious passages, this is pretty good for a Point Horror and quite creepy. Possibly my favourite so far.
June 27, 2021
I really liked the pace of the book and the message at the end.
August 31, 2021
Not my favourite point horror but was a good quick read.
June 23, 2023
That ending was like a wet fart…
Doubt I’ll check out the sequel
Doubt I’ll check out the sequel
March 15, 2021
Good story about how everything can't just be handed to you. I liked it
February 25, 2022
So far, in my quest to re-read the Point Horror books from my childhood, this one has possibly been my favourite.
Characters are more well-rounded, although still rather vapid. The supernatural element is a bit more appealing to me in this book than previous PH I have re-read, which have had no supernatural elements at all.
Reading this, I realised that Cooney's description of the vampire (mushroom like, and soft but slightly spongey skin) is how I've always imagined a vampire when I read about them. I think this is where I first ever got this description and idea from, so that was a nice realisation.
A fun re-read.
Characters are more well-rounded, although still rather vapid. The supernatural element is a bit more appealing to me in this book than previous PH I have re-read, which have had no supernatural elements at all.
Reading this, I realised that Cooney's description of the vampire (mushroom like, and soft but slightly spongey skin) is how I've always imagined a vampire when I read about them. I think this is where I first ever got this description and idea from, so that was a nice realisation.
A fun re-read.
June 20, 2020
The story was lovely, and I genuinely enjoyed reading about a vampire who’s traits weren’t as predictably described as other vampires are. But the main character, Althea, has an interesting name and that’s about it. Her personality is extremely lacking. Other than “wants to be popular”, we don’t know anything about who she really is.
For Cooney, the lack of depth in a main character was astounding. I understand Althea was plain and boring, but it still needs to be described. It took several chapters to place her hair color in my mind’s eye. Also, does she even have parents? A family? A 16/17 year old in high school with no income doesn’t live alone with a vampire.
Some things need to be detailed, even if they’re not necessarily plot related. Other characters families are at least mentioned. Becky’s mother tends to her when she falls ill. Students discuss their strict parents. Althea doesn’t. In fact, she hardly speaks at all. It played into her delusional world being controlled by the vampire’s magic, but this may have been a more powerful book if it had been written in the second person.
The only thing about this book I think I won’t be forgetting, is that the damn vampire was the color of mushrooms.
For Cooney, the lack of depth in a main character was astounding. I understand Althea was plain and boring, but it still needs to be described. It took several chapters to place her hair color in my mind’s eye. Also, does she even have parents? A family? A 16/17 year old in high school with no income doesn’t live alone with a vampire.
Some things need to be detailed, even if they’re not necessarily plot related. Other characters families are at least mentioned. Becky’s mother tends to her when she falls ill. Students discuss their strict parents. Althea doesn’t. In fact, she hardly speaks at all. It played into her delusional world being controlled by the vampire’s magic, but this may have been a more powerful book if it had been written in the second person.
The only thing about this book I think I won’t be forgetting, is that the damn vampire was the color of mushrooms.
June 29, 2025
Caroline B Cooney was my least favourite Point Horror author when I was young. As an adult, that hasn't changed all that much, although I rate her higher than D.E. Athkins (aka Nola Thacker). Many people who didn't "get" Cooney's writing as a kid now claim to really like it as an adult, but I'm still not swayed. Flowery writing doesn't get me far if I'm supposedly reading a horror novel and there's zero horror. (Although there is a creep factor I'll get to later.)
Main character Althea, whose parents are nowhere to be found or even mentioned, frees a vampire from the shutters in the tower. Since entering high school, Althea has suddenly become a nobody with no friends. The vampire promises to change all that if Althea brings him girls whose energy he can feed off. Althea agrees to the bargain and suddenly becomes popular and gets a spot on the cheerleading squad. However, she begins to feel more and more horrible about choosing girls to be the vampire's victim.
Cooney's aim here was obviously, yet again, the Christian parable about choosing to do good. It's the same thing in every damn book. Does Althea choose to make the moral decision, or will she go with selfishness that will destroy others? The same-old, same-old for a Cooney book, but she gets a slight pass here because it was so early in her Point output before she had run the concept into the ground.
However, what is far more interesting and creepy about this book, and I'm not sure if this was Cooney's intention, is the dynamic between Althea and the vampire. The other parable here is the fact that he is grooming her into procuring other young girls for him. That is really skin-crawling. In exchange for popularity, she has to hand his victims over to him. That element of the book could really be analysed up the wazoo, and helps it stand out from Cooney's myriad books with the same theme. I also liked the presentation of the vampire. He is more Nosferatu than Robert Pattinson. I don't quibble with the fact he's not the traditional bloodsucking vampire. If anything, this one is creepier.
Not really one to seek out from this line. If you're a fan of Cooney, you might enjoy it more.
Main character Althea, whose parents are nowhere to be found or even mentioned, frees a vampire from the shutters in the tower. Since entering high school, Althea has suddenly become a nobody with no friends. The vampire promises to change all that if Althea brings him girls whose energy he can feed off. Althea agrees to the bargain and suddenly becomes popular and gets a spot on the cheerleading squad. However, she begins to feel more and more horrible about choosing girls to be the vampire's victim.
Cooney's aim here was obviously, yet again, the Christian parable about choosing to do good. It's the same thing in every damn book. Does Althea choose to make the moral decision, or will she go with selfishness that will destroy others? The same-old, same-old for a Cooney book, but she gets a slight pass here because it was so early in her Point output before she had run the concept into the ground.
However, what is far more interesting and creepy about this book, and I'm not sure if this was Cooney's intention, is the dynamic between Althea and the vampire. The other parable here is the fact that he is grooming her into procuring other young girls for him. That is really skin-crawling. In exchange for popularity, she has to hand his victims over to him. That element of the book could really be analysed up the wazoo, and helps it stand out from Cooney's myriad books with the same theme. I also liked the presentation of the vampire. He is more Nosferatu than Robert Pattinson. I don't quibble with the fact he's not the traditional bloodsucking vampire. If anything, this one is creepier.
Not really one to seek out from this line. If you're a fan of Cooney, you might enjoy it more.
November 12, 2022
3.5 stars rounded down to 3.
The book started lame, generic girl wants to be popular so makes a pact with a demonic entity. However, Cooney's writing gripped me about a third of the way in and then I read the rest in one sitting.
I liked how Cooney explored the freedom popularity/friendship gives a person as you can choose who to sit with, or to sit alone and no one will think no-one wants to sit with you.
I disliked how:
- We never learn if Jennie and Celeste recovered once the vampire was defeated
- We never learn if Althea is able to gain friends of her own accord once she's shaken the vampire
Also, the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book.
The book started lame, generic girl wants to be popular so makes a pact with a demonic entity. However, Cooney's writing gripped me about a third of the way in and then I read the rest in one sitting.
I liked how Cooney explored the freedom popularity/friendship gives a person as you can choose who to sit with, or to sit alone and no one will think no-one wants to sit with you.
I disliked how:
- We never learn if Jennie and Celeste recovered once the vampire was defeated
- We never learn if Althea is able to gain friends of her own accord once she's shaken the vampire
Also, the ending felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2010
I love Caroline B. Cooney. I really do. But she does not do the vampire story very well. It was different. But not nearly as interesting as other vampire stories. It was way too tame. Not once in the entire book did you get to read about the vampire doing what vampires do, sucking blood. I wanted way more action.
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