BarryHutchison

I’d forgotten.

Somewhere in among our late night brainstorming sessions, our manuscript swapping, and our discussions about the series as a whole, I’d forgotten how genuinely brilliant Tommy Donbavand’s first Scream Street book – Fang of the Vampire – actually is.

Last night, I read it. I’ve read it a few times – usually to give feedback, or to see how Tommy has dealt with a problem from an earlier draft – but last night was the first time I read it with no ulterior motive. Last night I read it for the enjoyment of it.  I wasn’t disappointed.

First up, a disclaimer. Tommy is one of my best friends. I’ve known him for a decade or so, after meeting online at a screenwriting website. Over the years we have critiqued each other’s work, and have now earned the right to be able to say ‘That’s rubbish’ if so required. Likewise, in this review, I would have no hesitation in pointing out things I felt were wrong with the book.

If only I could find any.

Fang of the Vampire is the first book in the 12 part Scream Street series, and quickly sets the scene. Luke Watson is a normal boy, aside from one teeny tiny thing: He changes into a werewolf. Okay, so not all that normal.

When he starts to prove dangerous, Luke and his mum and dad are snatched from their home and transported to a new house by a group of creepy faceless men known only as The Movers. This new house – as you may have guessed – is located on Scream Street, a place where undead lifeforms are sent in order to keep them away from the blissfully unaware human race.

Mr and Mrs Watson find it difficult to cope. Well, when you’ve got a family of vampires living next door, surf bum zombies living down the road, and the local shop is run by a witch, anyone would have trouble settling in.

Luke – determined his parents shouldn’t have to suffer because of what he is – sets out to find a way to escape from Scream Street, so his mum and dad can go back to their safe, normal life.

And that, very roughly, is the concept behind the series. Luke teams up with Resus Negative (a hapless vampire) and Cleo Farr (a calamity prone mummy) and sets out to find the six artifacts which will open the door back to the real world. It’s a fairly simple concept, and it in itself doesn’t make the book stand out.

What does set the book (and the series) apart is Tommy’s writing. Characters such as these could easily have been wafer thin, Hammer House of Horror stereotypes, but Tommy has breathed life (unlife?) into each and every one. From Luke, all the way down to the most minor of supporting cast, each one is a fully rounded, perfectly drawn personality, and they all interact in such a way as to create the impression that Scream Street is a real, functioning community. If a very weird one.

The book is billed as horror, but is it scary? Scary enough for its target audience, certainly, although it’s unlikely to induce any night terrors. Is it funny? Yes. God yes. It’s filled with the kind of gross-out slapstick comedy kids love, but it’s packed with enough subtle gags to keep any adult on bed time story duties amused, too.

The action moves at a breathless, breakneck pace, but is backed up by a carefully plotted storyline, so you never once feel the book is short on substance.

Two years or so ago, when Tommy first mentioned his idea for a street filled with the undead, I thought ‘yep, sounds good.’ Had I known then just how it would have turned out I would have climbed onto my rooftop, stripped naked in the pouring rain and bellowed at the top of my voice: ‘SCREAM STREET IS COMING’.

Because it is. In October. And it’s going to be huge!  Scarier and funnier than a zombie on stilts.  This is one street that everyone should visit.