Elvira: Camp Vamp by Elvira with John Paragon

 

(pb; 1997: YA novel. Second book in the Elvira trilogy.)

From the back cover

“Me? Elvira? Camping? Take a hike!

“Sleeping outdoors in nature is not my idea of a good time—it sounds so unnatural. But how could I refuse the Happy Campers? The girls were desperate enough to ask me to be their chaperone. And why not? I’m as campy as they come!

“First, I followed the Happy Camper Motto (Be Over-Prepared) and packed the three basic beauty groups: clothes, make-up, and plenty of hairspray. The essentials. Then, we headed for the hills at the crack of dawn (my bedtime).

“Someone tried to warn us about the legendary killer beast. But did we listen? Not. Even the human skulls along the trail didn’t scare us. But when our tents got shredded by giant claws, I knew this was no secret admirer. This freak needed a manicure!

“Now it’s up to me to soothe the savage beast—or the Happy Campers could be turned into an unhappy meal.”

 

Review

The second Elvira novel is a fun, fast-moving, wordplay- and double-entendre flirty YA (think mid-to older teens readers) work, more low-key than Elvira: Transylvania 90210 until its last-few-pages and briefly PG-violent and bloody Reveal/climax which fans of The Hills Have Eyes (1977), My Bloody Valentine (1981) and Wrong Turn (2003) may appreciate. Some of these elements might run a big dark for non-horror fans, but the elements, along with Elvira/Cassandra Peterson and Paragon’s effective use of iconic horror imagery, are mostly tell don’t show, so it’s generally adolescent friendly.

Camp Vamp, like Transylvania, works as a standalone, 169-page book, one that’s worth checking out, whether you’re an Elvira fan or a general PG-rated horror fan—bear in mind Transylvania, Camp Vamp and its follow-up, Elvira: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, are out of print and often pricy.