vampire breath

Title: Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine

Genre: Horror/Vampire

Annotation: When Freddie and Cara's rambunctiousness gets the best of them, the discovery of a vampire in their basement could lead to their demise in the future...and the past.

Review: Freddie Martinez is a fighter, not in a major sense of the word, but usually when it comes to showing his best friend and neighbor, Cara, who's boss. During a night of babysitting, the duo stumble upon a secret passage way in the basement of Freddie's house. At the end of an erie passageway, they stumble upon an empty room -- empty, save for a mysterious bottle that sits inside. The two discover that the bottle contains an ethereal substance called Vampire Breath, and once spilled, releases the frail, ancient vampire known as Count Nightwing. The count's thirst is great, and the one thing that Nightwing needs is the sustenance of his soon-to-be victims. Unbeknownst to Cara and Freddie, the Vampire Breath has many uses, and inadvertently transports the three of them back to the past, where the two friends must elude the clutches (and fangs) of Count Nightwing and get back to their own time.

R.L. Stine has always had an excellent talent for crafting stories for younger adolescents, and after reading Vampire Breath with a more "mature" set of eyes, I can remember why his books were so appealing to me and my friends. Even though the book is not substantial in length by any means, Stine's text has an urgency and speed to it that equates success in the teenage marketplace. Pages turned easily one after another as I sought to find out what would happen to Freddie and Cara. The suspense of the horror genre are exemplified in this vampire story; two young kids face a supernatural foe that must be vanquished lest they meet their doom in his clutches. In the back of one's mind, we have to assume everything will end all right, but the quickening pace of the author's prose urges us onwards with just a twinge of uncertainty. The story doesn't end as one would expect -- Stine punctuates Vampire Breath with a twist that only a Goosebumps novel can summon up.

While I do applaud this book for its entertainment value, but I do not think it is by any means award material. Stine's fiction in serial form beckons to slash fiction with little literary merit. I would encourage young people to read these books because of there fun, effortless feel. Vampire Breath easily illustrated challenges of establishing a more adult personhood, especially for Freddie. In the backdrop of fanciful situations, this teenage boy struggles to assert himself as powerful and independent, eschewing cowardice and rising up again "adult adversaries." Young adults can identify with characters like Cara and Freddie, and feel all the more empowered by them.