Vampire Breath

Goosebumps #49

by R.L. Stine

They're baa-ack! Make way for the bestselling children's series of all time! With a fresh new look, GOOSEBUMPS is set to scare a whole new generation of kids. So reader beware--you're in for a scare!

Tough. That's Freddy Martinez and his friend, Cara. They're not afraid of anything. But that was before they went exploring in Freddy's basement. Before they found the secret room. Before they found the bottle of Vampire Breath.

Poor Freddy and Cara. They should have never opened that bottle of Vampire Breath. Because now there's a vampire in Freddy's basement. And he's very, very thirsty. . . .

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction, Vampires, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vampire Breath is the 21st-book in the Classics Goosebumps Reprint series; it was #49 in the original Goosebumps series.

I received the entire Reprint series for Christmas a couple of years ago and have been slowly revisiting these classic tales. They're just so silly and nostalgic. I love picking them up every once and while as a palate cleanser.



In this story we meet Freddy and Cara. They're around 12-years old, I think, and best friends. Their friendship-style is a bit combative, they are always rough-housing and trying to one-up each other with how tough they are.

For those of you who have read many Goosebumps books, this will not surprise you, as it's something that Stine includes quite a bit. If you are newer to these stories, you may possibly read this and be like, wait, these two are friends? They seem more like enemies?



There's not a lot of kind, supportive, non-contentious relationships to be found in the Goosebumps world. Nevertheless, to me, this is old hat, so I grew use to their combativeness fairly quickly.

On one particular day, they're playing together in Freddy's basement, and while rather aggressively wrestling around, they end up knocking over a piece of furniture, revealing a secret door behind it.



Unable to stifle their curiosity, they end up going through the door to explore. They stumble into a mysterious chamber where they find a bottle labeled, Vampire Breath.

Like the proverbial pandora's box, when they crack that bottle open, a whole host of unexpected and problematic events begin happening to them. Will either Freddy, or Cara, make it through this Saturday unscathed?



I read this one in just under 2-hours. I was on a ferry to the mainland for an appointment and it was a great way to pass my very early morning travels.

It doesn't require a lot of brain power, but I did find it engaging enough to keep me interested. It had a typical Stein ending, IYKYK, but nonetheless, an entertaining tale. We love a vampire story in this house!

[Ethan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vampire Breath is the worst book I've reread from the original 62 Goosebumps books, and is one of the worst books I've ever read in my life. It has some of the laziest writing I've ever seen, and is the most repetitive of the entries I've reread in the series, in so many ways, and that's really saying something. Avoid at all costs, unless you're rereading all 62. For those of you that want to be spared from reading this terrible book, a spoiler-laden plot summary follows, which will show you just how repetitive and idiotic this book is. Enjoy!

- The kids (who are friends) discover Count Nightwing lying in a coffin, in a room at the end of a tunnel that originates in the basement of the boy's house and travels under a vacant lot next door

- Count Nightwing whines: "I'm thirsty! So thirsty!"
- Count Nightwing whines: "I need to find my fangs!"
- Count Nightwing says: "Give me the bottle of Vampire Breath!"

(Count Nightwing and the kids travel back in time, because the Vampire Breath, which for some reason is capitalized like it's a brand name or something, can do anything the story requires to keep it moving along, including send people back in time)

Back in the past now, in Count Nightwing's castle:

- Count Nightwing whines: "I'm thirsty! So thirsty!"
- Count Nightwing whines: "I need to find my fangs!"

- Kids try to escape the castle (the steps below were played out probably ten times):
    1. Go into one of the endless rooms in the castle
    2. Look for a window to escape from
    3. Oh! This one has bars on it! Can't escape from this one!
    4. Start again from step 1

- Nightwing and kids try to race each other to the somehow only full bottle of Vampire Breath in a castle with endless amounts of vampires living in it (they need it to survive, so you'd think there'd be an abundance of it)

- The kids find the full bottle

- The kids play Monkey in the Middle, tossing the bottle back and forth to each other to keep it from Count Nightwing

- There is a physical altercation to gain control of the bottle

- Count Nightwing whines: "I'm thirsty! So thirsty!"
- Count Nightwing whines: "I need to find my fangs!"
- Count Nightwing says: "Give me the bottle of Vampire Breath!"

- The kid realizes the bottle they're struggling over is empty after all, and they need to keep looking

- The kids find the full bottle

- The kids play Monkey in the Middle, tossing the bottle back and forth to each other to keep it from Count Nightwing

- There is a physical altercation to gain control of the bottle

- Count Nightwing whines: "I'm thirsty! So thirsty!"
- Count Nightwing whines: "I need to find my fangs!"
- Count Nightwing says: "Give me the bottle of Vampire Breath!"

- They are transported back to the present

- One of the stupidest twists (possibly the stupidest) I've seen in the series so far occurs

- Something happens on the last page that makes absolutely no sense and is just downright stupid bush league nonsense

- The End

CAWPILE rating:

Characters: 2.0
Atmosphere / Setting: 2.0
Writing Style: 2.0
Plot: 1.0
Intrigue: 1.0
Logic / Relationships: 1.0
Enjoyment: 1.0

= 10 total
÷ 7 categories = 1.42 out of 10
= 1 star

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* (because I like Goosebumps!)

A mediocre Goosebumps book!

But I did enjoy the main characters. Freddie and Cara are best friends and they fight like siblings. One day accidentally they discover a hidden doorway and a tunnel in Freddie's house. In the end of the tunnel, there lies a coffin with satin linings. A bottle lies inside. They open it and a pungent smelling gas leaks from it. And when they look inside the coffin, there is someone lying inside.

Meet Nightwings, a vampire who has lost his fangs and needs the Vampire Breath (the bottle they just opened) so that he can regain his energy and resume his search for his fangs. He takes them into the past, into a dark castle where there are a lot of vampires like him. And they do turn into bats!

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

With numerous books about ghosts, werewolves and mummies it’s great that theirs finally a book about vampires in the series.

Stine also adds a fun mythology to he’s vampires, the need their bottle of Vampire Breath to help with their memories, strength and time travel.

It’s quite an entertaining runaround as they hunt for the bottle, with plenty of thrills along the way.

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

#49 "Open wide and say... mouthwash!"
Freddy and Cara aren't afraid of anything. So when they find a secret door in the basement game room they are all about exploring it. But what they find hidden there is truly frightening. Now they have a serious problem. A serious problem that's hungry... for blood!

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

But what does it do for you?" I demanded.

"Everything!" Count Nightwing shouted. "Vampire Breath does everything for a vampire! It allows us to travel in time. It can make us invisible and reappear again. It keeps our skin smooth and clear. It gives us energy. It helps us sleep. It keeps our bones from drying to powder. It freshens our breath!"

This book is very strange. Freddy Martínez and Cara Simonetti are best friends. They are also very physical with each other, wrestling with each other and getting in fights with each other all the time. Serious fights. I mean, not seriously emotionally, but potentially physically harmful.

It's during one of these fights when Cara body-slams Freddy into a china cabinet. The wall behind the cabinet reveals a hidden door. The children can't help exploring - after all, Freddy's parents are out, they are always "out." They find a dank, long tunnel. At the end is another room, with a coffin inside. They open it, only to find that it is empty except for a bottle labeled VAMPIRE BREATH.

Cara opens the bottle and a green, stinky mist pours out. When it clears, an old man is lying in the coffin. He wakes up, and he's thirsty...
...

The vampire chases them. They run. He corners them and attempts to suck Cara's blood, but realizes that he has no fangs. Upon opening the bottle of VB again, Count Nightwing, Cara and Freddy are transported back to 1890. There, Cara and Freddy make numerous escape attempts while Nightwing searches for VB. Long story short, they finally get back to the present and it's revealed that Count Nightwing is Freddy's grandpa. And Freddy's parents are vampires. Freddy will get his fangs in about 100 years. Oh, and the very, very end hints that Cara is a werewolf.

Exciting, right?

Tl;dr - Not the best Goosebumps entry, but fun.

[Crimson_Silence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. So this is my number three favorite goosebumps. I had no idea.

They're all vampires 🧛
Great twist.

However, I didn't care about the story itself. There were a lot of things that could have and should have been done differently. I did give it three stars because I like the ending of finding out they were all vampires that made a 2-star book a three.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Vampire Breath
What I thought about this book as a a kid: I have very fond memories of reading this book in two places as a kid.I remember reading it under a lamp in my parents living room.I also remember reading this in my parents car on a road trip somewhere.As far as the book goes I remember liking it pretty good when I was younger.I remember loving the time travel stuff and I remember the ending being pretty fun.I also remember the vampire trying to find his teeth and not really remembering what Vampire Breath actually does,other then Time travel.

Plot:The story starts with two kids named Freddy and Cara.Freddy is babysitting this kid and Cara tags along.He is telling this scary story about a werewolf,scaring this kid.Cara tries talking him down,but he keeps going.Freddie ends up tickling this kid and thats the end of that.They head home to their basement and begin playing air hockey in Freddie's basement.They begin to tickle each other and they knock over a China cabnet.Behind the wall is a door.They open the door and find a cave.The kids grab flashlights and begin to explore this cave.The cave leads to another door and the kids open this one and they spot a coffin.They open the coffin and inside is nothing but a bottle.They read the label on the bottle and it's titled Vampire Breath.One of them open it and out comes this green mist thats really smelly.They close the bottle back.They get ready to leave but spot an old, bald man inside the coffin.He wakes up and says he's very thirsty.He says his name is Count Nightwing and he gets ready to bite the kids,but he has no teeth.He asks for the Vampire Breath and explains that the Vampire Breath has powers.It can help him travel through time and restore memory.They get ready to escape ,but the door is shut without a knob on the other side.Count Nightwing makes the kids search for the Vampire breath and says he will let them go of he finds it.They eventually do,and Count Nightwing opens the bottle,only for the kids to get transported to Count Nightwing's Castle.Here,Count Nightwing tries to find his teeth.The kids  spot more coffins and these vampires rise up and turn into bats.The kids try to find a way out and try to escape through a window.Freddy falls  and Count Nightwing saves him.They explore outside of this room they see this hallway,it's filled with doors on each side and it's very big. They find another room when this girl like Gwendolyn turns out to be a vampire and tries to attack them.This leads to a fight between her and a returning Count Nightwing.The kids leave agian and find another room that has another bottle of Vampire Breath.This leads to a keep.away game aginst Count Nightwing and the kids.This is basically the climax so ill stop here.
What I thought about this book is an adult:I enjoyed a good majority of this book, but I do have my nitpicks. First off,I want to say that the setting was excellent. I love the creepy Gothic castle, I love the fact that we saw other vampires, even though they didn't really do much. As far as nitpicks go, I didn't love the fact that Count Nightwing wasn't super intimidating.He threatens to turn the kids into vampires, but he can't find his teeth.He doesn't really do much other than just leaving the kids and looking for teeth.He floats and seems to have some kinda power holding people in place,which is cool.I also didn't like the first twist.The ending is fine,but the first twist kinda had a spot that could be easily fixed if Cara and Freddy were siblings.Thats all I'm going to say about that.I give Vampire Breath a 4 out of 5 stars, I did think that the settings and the atmosphere was really great.But the actual villain wasn't super scary and it just had a few things that could've been fixed.I also wanted to talk about the reprint issue that had the special features in the back.It had a Q and A with R.L.Stine,some facts about weird food animals eat,Some slime and ice cube recipe thing and more.

[Zoey De Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good Goosebumps book! This time for Stine's take on vampires, It deals with a kind of unique and creative idea of a Vampire Breath which results to a series of great occurances throughout the story, like the main villain, Count Nightwing is presented in a neutral way where he's kind of a threat and sometimes tries helping and cooperating with the kids to deal with their situation. some of the scenes are kinda off putting and illogical at times and the climax was kinda rushed. the ending is more of a easy cop out but it's a good kind of twist.

It was pretty good, just a few noticable writing issues or the style did put me off but for what the story presented it was pretty enjoyable.

[Gavin Hetherington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent a month re-reading all 62 original Goosebumps books to see if they still hold up today, you can check out my 3.5 hour vlog here: https://youtu.be/2C73xc1FS5o

You can also check out my entire ranking of the original Goosebumps books where I review them from worst to best here: https://youtu.be/lBfaxCOwAnA

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slightly creepy children’s horror story about a vampire in the basement.

[Kelsi - Slime and Slashers · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up for GR

[Kathryn Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was quite a short book. But, I really enjoyed it. I had a few shivvers down the spine! I liked the characters. The end is a really good twist and actually made me laugh. This is definitely one of the better Goosebumps books.

[Βαλάντης Δοξάκιερ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Επειδή λατρεύω πάρα μα πάρα πολύ τα βιβλία του λατρεμένου μου Συγγραφέα Robert R.L.Stine ξεκίνησα να διαβάζω και αυτό το βιβλίο που το άρχισα για πρώτη φορά σήμερα στις 9:30 το πρωί στην ελληνική έκδοση γιατί λόγω το ότι έχω δίπλωμα αγγλικών δεν ξέρω ορισμένες λέξεις σε κάποια βιβλιά και για αυτό διαβάζω περισσότερα βιβλία η κόμιξ φαντασίας και τρόμου μεταφρασμένα στα ελληνικά !!!!!!! Το απόλαυσα επίσης πάρα πολύ αυτό το βιβλίο !!! Σε κάθε βιβλίο του Ο Robert R.L.Stine μεγαλουργεί και κάει θαύματα !!!!! ΖΗΤΩ ΟΙ ΑΝΑΤΡΙΧΙΛΕΣ !!!!!!!

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting and fun take on vampires! I enjoyed the idea of vampire breath and the different uses it had. The twist at the end was so unexpected and I thought it was very entertaining. I would definitely recommend this to others.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun Goosebumps re-read and this one had an ending I totally forgot about! A fun take on vampires and time travel as two friends try to stay alive and get home, VAMPIRE BREATH is entertaining and quite easy to devour on a lunch break. No issues with this one!

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great, fun read! Loved the ending. I rate "Vampire Breath" 5 stars.

[Mikala · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Okay that ending saved it 🤣 that was hilarious

I was bored for a lotttt of this one and felt like I couldn't pay attention to it. But the twist and the ending got me.

[Daniel Stalter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vampire Breath was very much on the goofy side of Goosebumps, but it did well by not taking itself too seriously. It felt like we were in on the joke. The pacing was good, but the book lost a lot of steam in the middle section. It made up for it a little bit at the end, but not quite enough to justify whatever the fuck that castle nonsense was. There were fresh ideas here regarding vampires, which is remarkable when you consider that this book is essentially about the magic powers found in the stank breath of vampires. The two main characters and their adversarial relationship kept the story entertaining even when the plot was spinning its wheels. I would say the book had very similar problems to Legend of the Lost Legend in that respect, only I found this book a bit less grating. It felt like a short story concept that got stretched out too long, but it managed to be more enjoyable than other Goosebumps books that I’ve leveled that criticism at (I’m looking at you, You Can’t Scare Me). There was a silliness and novelty to this book that made it charming in spite of its flaws. I could have chosen to be frustrated by a fun idea that fell short of its potential because it very much fits that bill. Sometimes I will like a book more than others for completely arbitrary reasons I can’t articulate. Vampire Breath just might be one of them.

Score: 3

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog:
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[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok... αυτό το βιβλίο είναι κάπως... "παράξενο". Και η αλήθεια είναι πως δεν μπορώ να αποκαλύψω πολλά, αφού το παραμικρό σχόλιο μπορεί να αποτελεί spoiler. Αυτό που πρέπει να θυμάστε είναι πως θα έρθετε αντιμέτωποι με εξελίξεις που δεν τις περιμένατε σε καμία περίπτωση και που θα σας ξαφνιάσουν. Αν θα το κάνουν ευχάριστα ή δυσάρεστα, αυτό είναι μια άλλη ιστορία. Όσο αφορά εμένα, θα έλεγα ότι το διασκέδασα και ναι, γιατί όχι, το twist του story plot είχε ενδιαφέρον.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have to say this might be my favourite Goosebumps yet XD Definitely better than Monster Blood. And he actually had an interesting new take on vampires, the fact they needed the Vampire Breath to get their fangs, as well as it having the ability to teleport them through time. So strange. I couldn't believe that Count Nightwing turned out to be his grandfather! And that his parents were also vampires? Why wouldn't they tell him.. And that ending though...

[Anmol · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Cara and Freddy find a secret door in Freddy's basement. In that door there was long tunnel that lead to a secer rooom, containing a coffin, which has a vampire in it. Cara and Freddy somehow go back into time. They are almost bitten by vampires. But once they get home they find something very intersting. Read the book to find out!

[Cactus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off quite well with the creepy tunnel and musty basement, described so well you could almost smell it! I liked the banter between the two lead characters. Sadly it got worse as it went on. The search for vampire breath was repetitive. I was going to give it 3 stars but the ending was beyond daft even by Goosebumps standards, so it gets a 2!

[Debra Covell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I promised a student I would read this. Surprisingly silly. I understand why so many children enjoy these for light reading.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun audiobook for spooky season

[Paige Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m doing a full series reread and this was always one of my favorites growing up. I love vampire stories and this is one of the best Goosebumps books in my opinion. I enjoyed it just as much reading again all these years later.

Vampire Breath follows best friends Freddy and Cara as they discover a hidden door in the basement at Freddy’s while playing air hockey. Whenever they go inside they find an empty coffin and then a bottle that’s marked “vampire breath.” Of course they decide to open the bottle and then this awful foul mist trickles out and then all of a sudden there’s an old man inside of the coffin. He makes himself known as “Count Knightwing.” He’s so very thirsty. The friends are terrified and what happens next is what they least expect.

The twist in this one was predictable but didn’t take away from the experience and was such a fun read!

[C.J. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the audio for this one with the $10 credit I got from audible for the beta rewards. Read it for my Goosebumps July!

A little harder to get into as I felt it was rather silly the entire time. I read this at the same time as WtDH and maybe it was just the audio that was messing me up as I was getting into the mindset for the middle grade stuff. Still, glad to be done with another classic GB.

Hidden passageway, vampire in the basement, time traveling, bottles filled with breath that keeps the vampire mentally and physically strong? What could possibly go wrong?

Personally a 3.5/5* for me. Fun.

[Shruti (Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look at his face! Edward would never!
I can't remember what it's about for the all the blood in my body!
4 out of 5 vampires for the name of the book alone. This was my past, Edward was my future.
I recommend this to every Twilight fan before they were born.

[TheseHauntedPages · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun quick read!

[Ulises Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cómo adulto soy consciente de que es un libro para infantes / adolescentes, por ende lo calificarte como tal.
Es un buen libro, es una trama entretenida, tiene momentos curiosos, "creepies" y divertidos, sin embargo se queda algo corto a lo que nos tiene acostumbrados el autor, le faltó un poco más de miedo y misterio.