Joe Vampire by Steven Luna #review

Title: Joe Vampire
Author: Steven Luna
Link

I took a shine to Joe from the moment I dipped into Joe Vampire, and although the novel is slow-moving, I nonetheless enjoyed Joe’s particular brand of humour, which is unintentional on the character’s part and very nicely expressed on author Steven Luna’s. Certainly the premise of a neurotic Jewish vampire coming to terms with his own “change of life” is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise saturated market.

Joe’s spent most of his life sort of chugging along without really engaging with anyone. He’s had two failed relationships and plays synth bass in what sounds like a truly dismal electro band with his best friend Hube. On top of things, just as it looks like girl number three, Chloe, is going to be “it” so far as relationships go, he gets turned into a vampire.

Joe Vampire is structured as a series of blog posts, and we get to share in Joe’s assorted misadventures, from his humorous coping mechanisms when it comes to overcoming the blood lust (with coconut water of all things) to his meetings with other vampires and his initial attempts at dating once his fangs have grown in. And, though you’d expect a story like this to remain low-key, Luna gives it a lovely little twist near the end in a way I did not quite expect.

Characters are all undeniably quirky, and I’ll wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who’s exhausted by fangless glitterboys or manly fanged beasts with unstoppable appetites for blood and… other things. Luna unashamedly pokes sticks at the genre, much to my amusement and delivers an overall solid read.