The Curious Curator's Book Blog

American Vampire follows the appearance of a new breed of vampire, an "evolution" that happens when the vampires from Europe travel to America to further their wealth, and one of them accidentally turns a local criminal. This new breed is a little different - they can walk in the sun, are immune to wood, their strength wanes during the new moon, and so on.

The story follows Skinner Sweet, the first American vampire, from the wild west to 1920s Los Angeles, where we also meet Pearl Jones, an aspiring young actress. It was written by Scott Snyder and Stephen King, and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque.

It's strange to see all the blurbs and comments saying that this is an original portrayal of vampires. While it's nice to get a break from all the stories where vampires are just bad boys with feelings, I wouldn't consider this an entirely new approach, but instead a return to how things should be. These vampires are vicious, vengeful and violent, but still manage to be strangely charming. The story is compelling and the artwork, gritty and rough, lends itself well to the book's atmosphere. The dialogues sometimes felt flat to me, specially when it involved the Old World vampires, who seemed rather corny and cliche. Still, this was an enjoyable read and I'll be looking forward to the next volume.