Books: Attack of the Vampire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

I’m not a fan of horror so much as I’m a fan of things that can creep me out and make me jump without having blood splatter and cheap tricks for a cheap thrill. Spooky = Good. Gory = Bad.

When I was little, I could devour all books, of all types, all day long. Some of my favorites were Celery Stalks at Midnight and when I got older, Stephen King (the non-crap. Don’t look at me like that, the man writes more junk than gems, but the gems he writes are awesome).

I jumped at the chance to read Attack of the Vampire Weenies. A book of short stories about ghosts, vampires, dragons, wishes gone bad to remind me of my childhood. Eventually, I’d like to introduce my children to books like these, but they a just a tad too little at the moment. Although, I did find a story or two that was appropriate for my children (ages 7, 5 and 5) most of these stories are probably better suited for older children.

For now, I had to settle for reading most of these on my own. I’m happy to say that Attack of the Vampire Weenies delivered. Mostly.

The titular story was my favorite of the collection to be sure. It was smart, funny, and of course, creepy. It actually made me laugh and then feel bad for the doomed characters.

Several of the other stories were very clever in their twists, and actually shocked me with their endings. I’d recommend it to older children who like a bit of horror.

Unfortunately not all of the stories can be the best and some of them fall a little flat, making me wonder how they were supposed to come across as scary. For example, Fourth and Inches. A story about a dragon and a princess wasn’t warped or creepy. That didn’t make it a bad story, but it didn’t fit in with the collection itself.

I plowed through the book in a couple of hours, a few minutes for each tale. I remember my favorites very easy while others were immediately forgotten. Having said that, I recommend this read for older children with a taste for something lacking romance, but full of fun.

Dawn Del Sontro lives in Virginia with her husband and three children. She’s been working on her best selling novel for so long that when it does come out, it’s going to end the world as we know it. In her spare time, she plays video games to wrack up her headshot count and prepares her family for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse. As she likes to tell her friends and family, “Zombieland and World War Z aren’t just entertainment, they are guides for survival. Resident Evil is a prophecy of the future.”

Related Stuff: