Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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!
