Book Review: Goosebumps – Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine

Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine is Goosebumps book 49 in the original series order. I was excited since this is the first vampire book in Goosebumps so far. The vampire fun takes a while to get going as the main vampire can’t find his teeth. You see he is old and now has false Vampire teeth. I did roll my eyes at that but thankfully Stine does feature some real vampires and when one is revealed it is terrifying. One vampire reminded me a lot of Claudia from Interview with a Vampire who was constantly getting scolded for playing with her food. The book had a great opening starting with a scary story. Then a creepy hidden tunnel reveals a hidden room with Vampire Breath. Vampire Breath has powers that all Vampires need, I guess it is not real Vampire Breath or you think the vampires would have an endless supply. The pace slows down after time travel is involved. The pace is slow but the tension of the kids just wanting to escape is throughout. The ending is very lame and one of the worst. There’s a final twist that was okay even though it is very predictable. Totally 90’s things of note kids used to have to search hard for flashlights before we could use our phones. The concept of Vampire Breath is interesting and only Stine could come up with it. I felt it could have been used better in the story. Vampire Breath was published on November 1, 1996.

Plot Summary: Freddy and his best friend Cara find a hidden room in Freddy’s house. In the hidden room sits a coffin. The kids being curious open it up but they don’t find a body, but what they do find is a bottle of Vampire Breath is an old bottle. Cara pulls the tab and the room fills with green smoke and a body is now in the coffin and starts to rise. It is a vampire who is very confused about how he got there, but one thing that he is sure of is that he’s thirsty. The kids start to run as the vampire chases them. The last time when they used the Vampire Breath it made him appear, maybe if they use it again he will disappear. But when they do things don’t go as planned as they are transported a hundred years in the past to the Vampire’s lair.

What I Liked: The Vampire Breath is a neat concept, but not without its flaws. I liked the kid’s time-traveling to the vampire’s lair. I loved the scene with Gwendolyn as she tries to help but it goes wrong. The vampire with false teeth was a little bit funny even though I did roll my eyes. The opening scene was very well done with Freddy telling a horror story to the kid he’s babysitting. The first quarter of the book was decently scary until it was revealed the vampire had no teeth. I do like the vampire’s promise that everything will be fine when I get my teeth I will not be thirsty and make you a vampire. I loved the cover art a lot I remember it very well as a kid.

What I Disliked: Vampire Breath, how did the vampires keep running out, don’t they have an endless supply it is called Vampire Breath. The end was pretty lame it reminded me of The Girl Who Cried Monster’s ending. The final twist was lame too and I saw coming. The overall story was not that great and had some plot holes.

Recommendation: Vampire Breath tried to be different and just did not work. There are some good scenes throughout this story, but as a whole, it wasn’t that good. I will not recommend reading Vampire Breath.

Rating: I rated Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine 2.7 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: Here’s my full ranking of the 49 Goosebumps books that I have read in order from my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) Ghost Camp, 8) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 9) One Day At Horrorland, 10) Night of the Living Dummy, 11) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 12) A Shocker on Shock Street, 13)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 14) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 15)Attack of the Jack-O’-Lanterns, 16)The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 17) Say Cheese and Die, 18) Let’s Get Invisible, 19) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 20) Welcome to Dead House, 21) Monster Blood II, 22) The Beast From the East, 23) The Girl who Cried Monster, 24)Deep Trouble, 25) The Ghost Next Door, 26) Say Cheese and Die – Again! 27) Night of the Living Dummy 2, 28) My Hairiest Adventure, 29) Be Careful What You Wish For…, 30) Return of the Mummy, 31) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 32) The Haunted Mask II, 33)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 34) How to Kill a Monster, 35) Attack of the Mutant, 36) Go Eat Worms!, 37) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 38) The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 39) Bad Hare Day, 40) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 41) Vampire Breath, 42) Monster Blood, 43)Night of the Living Dummy III, 44) The Barking Ghost, 45) Egg Monsters from Mars, 46) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 47) You Can’t Scare Me!, 48) Legend of the Lost Legend, and 49) Monster Blood III.