4 stars

Richard Laymon

THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW

Leisure

ISBN 0-8439-4850-7

2001

On the outskirts of a small town in the summer of 1963, the Traveling Vampire Show prepares for a midnight performance featuring Valeria, "the only living vampire in captivity." First-person narrator Dwight and his two best friends, Rusty and Slim (a girl who changes her nickname in accordance with her favorite reading material of the moment), all sixteen years old, can't resist the allure of the show's advertisements, even though the venue is a sinister plot of land where murdered corpses have been found, and nobody under eighteen is supposed be allowed anyway. Things begin to go wrong from the moment they arrive at Janks Field, the afternoon before the show, in hopes of catching a glimpse of Valeria. A vicious dog traps them on top of a shed, and in the process of trying to escape, they become separated. The rest of the day unfolds with practically nonstop suspense, yet still allowing room for atmosphere, character development, and the deepening relationship between Dwight and Slim. Are members of the Traveling Vampire Show following and threatening the three teenagers? Are these strangers dangerous or merely creepy? What, if anything, do they have to do with the sinister Cadillac Twins, two men by whom Slim was almost abducted a month earlier? Most important, is Valeria a "real" vampire? The heroes' better judgment tells them otherwise, but they can't suppress a tinge of fear that vampires may really exist.

With the help of Dwight's sister-in-law, Lee, they gain admission to the performance. From that point, events rush toward a breathtaking climax. Through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Dwight, we do not learn the truth about Valeria until almost the end. In a denouement no reader is likely to anticipate, the heroes uncover the secret of the Traveling Vampire Show. Slim, facing the villains with her bow and arrow, and Dwight, prepared to risk his life for his equally brave sister-in-law, prove to be true heroes. Their brash friend Rusty may not merit that label, but he, too, is a vivid and memorable character. The 1963 small-town setting lends a special dimension to the story. For Boomers, the imaginary return to the summer before Kennedy's assassination will provide a pleasurable exercise in nostalgia (at least, it did for me). For younger readers, this book offers a visit to a vanished world of rotary telephones and only three channels on TV, when teenagers had easy access to weapons but wouldn't dare be caught upstairs in the home of a friend of the opposite sex. In a small way, though, Dwight and his friends do not ring completely true for me, both too "adult" and too innocent at the same time. I was fifteen in the year of this story, and I had never even seen written a couple of the words that drop casually from these kids' lips when no adults are present, much less ever heard them spoken aloud. (I can believe Dwight and Rusty might use the F-word between themselves, but not in front of Slim.) And my sisters and I certainly wouldn't have been allowed to wear bikinis. On the other hand, I have trouble accepting that Dwight and Slim, at sixteen, still relate as "best friends" and are only beginning to explore their sexual attraction for each other. (Slim's abusive family background may help to account for this developmental lag, though.

While actually reading the book, however, I noticed these factors only as minor niggles in the back of my mind. More than a horror novel, THE TRAVELING VAMPIRE SHOW is a warm, sometimes heartbreaking coming-of-age tale about characters who spring to life from the first page. The comparison that reviewers have made to Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, a classic tale of two boys trapped by a sinister carnival in a small town, is fully justified. Laymon's novel, though, features Bradbury-esque characters grown into adolescence, with all its anxieties and joys. Unforgettable and un-put-downable.

Reviewed by Margaret L. Carter