Bloodchild

by Andrew Neiderman

There's a new addition to the Hamilton family. The adoptive parents couldn't love Baby more if he was their own flesh and blood.

But isn't it strange for an infant to have such sharp teeth? And what nourishment makes Baby grow so big and strong so fast? Not mother's milk...

Now, Mommy's so pale and weak, so drained, as if she's being bled dry. Daddy's entranced by his wif's live-in nurse, whose hypnotic eyes and pointed teeth are just like Baby's. Grandma's disppeared- but she'll be back after dark. Unfortunately.

Only teenage Colleen senses the gathering evil that will turn a sleepy little town into a kingdom of vampires, No one will believe her. Not a living soul...

Only the undead ones.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Fantasy, Novels

268 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Andrew Neiderman is the author of over 44 thrillers, including six of which have been translated onto film, including the big hit, 'The Devil's Advocate', a story in which he also wrote a libretto for the music-stage adaptation. One of his novels, Tender Loving Care, has been adapted into a CD-Rom interactive movie.

Andrew Neiderman became the ghostwriter for V.C. Andrews following her death in 1986. He was the screenwriter for Rain, a film based on a series of books under Andrews name. Between the novels written under her name and his own, he has published over 100 novels.

Reviews

[Taylor R · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I took a shot every time a character mentioned breastfeeding, I would have slipped into a black out, alcohol induced coma.

[Elke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read about a lot of different kinds of vampires, but never before encountered a story about a baby vampire.
So there is a couple who after a miscarriage adopt a baby who for some mysterious coincidence is available for adoption at the clinic right that moment. However, the people giving away the child are adamant about it being breast-fed, which is what Dana had in mind for her own child anyway.

The one thing that really got on my nerves while reading this book was the fuss everyone made about breast-feeding. Given the place and time the book was written, I assume breast-feeding was not too common then, but the author makes it sound like Dana's wish to nurse her child was something extraterrestrial.

Apart from that, the story dragged on for long stretches, never really gaining speed. Only at the very end things get interesting, when some light is shed on the origin of the mysterious baby child who has a special craving for Dana's blood. However, most part is a long-winded succession of feeding sessions and Dana and the baby sleeping all day. Of course, there are small signs indicating something unhealthy about the mother-child relation, but reading about it had me as sleepy as the young family.

Finally, when a conclusion is revealed and some light shed on the big how and why, it seems halfheartedly done and I would have liked to read more details about the little vampire's true family background.

Overall, Bloodchild was an OK read, but not remarkably so.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bloodchild by Andrew Neiderman is very similar to the other works of his that I've read because of its structure. The story itself is quite intriguing and it caught my interest almost immediately. To give a simple explanation for a simple little horror novel, Bloodchild explores what a family might go through if the wife of that family loses her baby in childbirth only to have another's baby offered directly afterward and accept it. After developing an oddly aggressive breast-feeding habit, other abnormalities begin making there appearance, most of them connected to the most obvious of vampire legends. As I said, the story is a good one and it is nicely held together by Neiderman's characters which are surprisingly well-rounded. The problem, again, comes from what I thought was a cop-out ending which was a let down since it seemed like it was going so well. Upon finishing, I felt as is I had spent a gloriously sunny afternoon watching a mother bird care for her eggs and then, when sitting upon them as the night draws closer and the air cools, they colapse under her weight, dropping her feathery birdy bottom into a liquidy, egg-shelly mess of her offspring.

[Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been wanting to read books about creepy children so I was excited to pick this up. I was a little disappointed that the horror elements were more divided among a few different characters. The other antagonists were more creepy to me personally than the baby.

Out of the cast of characters there were only two that I liked, Colleen and Audra. I was surprised to like Audra as much as I did, especially near the end.

The book kept a creepy, almost claustrophobic at times, atmosphere, which I felt did well at holding the tension. As far as enjoyment it varied, the first half I really enjoyed, the third quarter was hard to get through to the point of considering DNFing the book. And the last quarter made me glad I stuck with it to the end.

Plot 3/5
Characters 2/5
Writing Style 4/5
Atmosphere 3.5/5
Enjoyment 2.5/5
Overall Rating 3/5

[Paper Ghost ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 A slow burner of a novel Bloodchild follows the life of a family and their battle against vampires (insert evil laughter here). I'm a sucker for vampire novels (pun intended) as much fun as this one was, it was a bit slow and repetitive at times, it did get weird at some point as well <.< but overall I did find myself quite entertained and constantly looking forward to my late afternoon reading sessions. Neiderman is anything but conventional and he loves to go over the edge of what is morally acceptable, props for boldness. (thumbs up). You do get the ending spoon fed to you so don't expect a work of art going in but hey if you like vampires this is a sweet little book to check out, as always proceed with caution. :D

[Di · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very chill story for a horror. It’s not the kind that would make your heart race. Some of a more seasoned horror reader will probably get bored. Or maybe because i’m just not a fan of vampire stories.

Was able to tolerate the boredom but the ending really killed it for me. It felt rushed. I think the story could go on a little further to give the ending a little more oomph.

But still i’m giving this 3 stars as it is an okay read. I will recommend this to someone starting to branch out to horror genre especially if you like vampires stories.

[Michaël Wertenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off as a weird 'the fear of breast-feeding' tale but ended up just another silly vampire story. The resolution was too fast also. Though I've enjoyed several of this author's books, this one was a dud.

[Payal Banik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surfing through my book collection and clicked on it to know whether its paranormal or not. I started reading and was really caught up with the story and kept reading till the last page. So it was really a page turner, but the story is pretty simple. Hamilton family after losing their child, adopts another child at the hospital on same day. They believed in breast-feeding, which is I think must be uncommon where the author lives. Since in India, its pretty common.
So the baby sucked blood instead of milk and Dana began to change in many ways and there were killings and disappearances. When Audra, Collean's friend disappeared she was determined to find the cause and put an end to it.

[Jocqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book when bookstores and paperback were in style. Loved it. May read it again just because :)