The Vampire in My Bathtub

Seabrooke's (The Haunting of Holroyd Hill) lighthearted vampire novel sends up some monstrous assumptions but ultimately leaves readers with little to chew on. When 13-year-old narrator Jeff and his divorced mother move to bucolic Wicklow, W.Va., they tip the population to 1,011. Excitement builds for Jeff after he discovers a trunk in his closet and unlocks a French vampire, Eugene, from a 117-year slumber. This chubby, perennially starving fellow is a ""good vampire"": he eschews blood and raw meat, salivates rather than shudders at garlic, sleeps in the bathtub during the day and watches TV all night. Jeff's arch voice coupled with the outsider's view of modern inventions, old movies and the Home Shopping Network provides some humorous moments. However, the third-person narrative that breaks into the novel intermittently--and chronicles the goings-on of Eugene's evil enemy vampire (and cousin), Vennard, the New Orleans vampire community and Eugene's love, Carlotta--is too stilted and exaggerated to build much tension (e.g., ""The clock strikes the hour but Vennard has long been awake, pacing the floor""). Even the climactic confrontation with Vennard offers little suspense. Ages 8-12. (Nov.)