欧宝娱乐

(This review is from 2004.)

Since it鈥檚 Halloween, I thought I鈥檇 talk about something frightening: Bunnies. Vampire bunnies. Ninja vampire bunnies. Okay, so, maybe not that ninja part. But definitely vampire bunnies鈥攐ne in particular.

So, my roommate (Mr. 鈥淚鈥檓 not in there!鈥� from the other week) was recently given a collection of young adult books as a birthday present. Most of the stack didn鈥檛 interest me, but I did notice one specific volume in the pile. I remember reading Bunnicula as a child, and it very well could have been my first genre fiction book ever. So, intrigued about how I would regard the experience as an adult, I sat down one evening to give the novel another read.

I came out of it with two impressions. First, that is one amazingly fun book. Second, that is one amazingly short book.

On the second point, it turns out that I鈥檓 older now鈥攁nd I鈥檓 used to stories that take a little bit longer to tell. It鈥檚 pretty amazing how few words they managed to pack into so many pages. (It鈥檚 around a hundred, give or take, depending on your edition.) It鈥檚 short. It has chapters, true, but they鈥檙e. . .well, more like extended paragraphs. I was through the book before I knew what had happened.

Part of that, however, was due to sheer enjoyment. Often times, when I look back at things I enjoyed as a child, I find that I displayed an embarrassing lack of discerning taste. (G.I. Joe鈥攐r pretty much any cartoon I watched鈥攎akes a fine example.) Bunnicula, however, was a delightful read鈥攂oth because of how fun it was, and because it proves that I at least had good taste in books when I was young. (Even if my TV habits were deplorable.)

Anyway, about the book itself. Aspiring writers, take note鈥攖here are a wealth of lessons to be learned from this humble story. First off, it has an interesting premise. A normal family discovers a mysterious pet bunny abandoned in a movie theater鈥攁 bunny that turns out to have belonged to Dracula, and how goes out during the night to hunt vegetables and drain their 鈥榖lood.鈥� Amusing, perhaps a bit farcical鈥攈owever, the authors manage to mix this potentially-ridiculous idea with some solid storytelling. The book is told from the viewpoint of the family鈥檚 pet dog, a creature with a healthy dose of personality and an interesting narrative style.

That means we have both a clever premise, a strong character, and a unique viewpoint. Mix with that a solid mystery plot鈥攚hy are these white vegetables appearing around the house, and why does that bunny look so downright evil?鈥攁nd you have a book that will hold its own against pretty much anything you throw at it. I know a lot of modern fantasy novels that could learn a few things from Bunnicula.

So, I recommend that you give the book a read, if you haven鈥檛 already. It鈥檚 fun, quick, and could probably teach you a few things. And, if you did read the book as a child, it might be an interesting experience to pick it up鈥攍ike I did鈥攁nd see how your childhood memories compare to your adult observations.