Books › American Vampire (Big Break / Bad Blood)
American Vampire (Big Break / Bad Blood)
200 pages
A sun-drenched, blood-soaked reimagining of vampire lore that bites into the rotten core of the American Dream.
What it feels like
Reading this graphic novel feels like stepping out of the shadows and into a blinding, blood-soaked desert sun. It completely revitalizes tired monster tropes by injecting them with the grit of the Wild West and the rotting glamour of 1920s Hollywood. The pacing is relentlessly propulsive, dragging you through a dual narrative of exploitation and brutal, satisfying vengeance. Its tone is unapologetically pulpy and cynical, matching sharp, hardboiled dialogue with visceral, kinetic artwork that practically bleeds off the page. The atmosphere shifts seamlessly from dusty, menacing frontier towns to the glittering, predatory parties of early cinema. It is a perfect match for readers who love revisionist horror, historical grit, and stories where the victims finally grow fangs of their own.
- Mood
- sun-baked
- blood-soaked
- menacing
- glamorous-yet-rotting
- Tone
- gritty
- cynical
- pulpy
- ruthless
- cinematic
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- the dark side of the American Dream · bloody vengeance · evolution and mutation · exploitation of the vulnerable · predator versus prey
- The writing
- Hardboiled and sharp-tongued, relying on punchy dialogue and visceral, kinetic visual storytelling to drive the horror.
- The arc
- A descent into helpless victimization that violently pivots into a thrilling, blood-drenched crusade for revenge.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave revisionist monster lore, historical grit, and unapologetically bloody revenge thrillers.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- gore
- exploitation
- body horror
About the book
A new vampire for a new century. Cunning, ruthless, and rattlesnake mean, Skinner Sweet has a reputation for cussedness as long as he is ornery. As the first vampire conceived on American soil, however, he's not your usual creature of the night. Stronger, fiercer and powered by the sun, Sweet is the first of a new breed of bloodsucker: the American Vampire. Forty-five years after rising from his grave, Sweet finds himself in 1920s Los Angeles, where the young and beautiful are drawn like moths to the burning lights of Hollywood. Something beyond simple human greed is at work here, however, as struggling young actress Pearl Jones is about to discover. When her movie-star dreams are transformed into a bloody nightmare, Sweet provides her only chance for survival as well as the power to take revenge.
Description from Open Library.
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