Althea wants to be popular and would do anything to get in the cheerleading squad, so when the resident vampire offers to make her dream come true, she agrees. But the vampire wants something in return, he wants to be fed...
Althea has a choice, save her friends but lose her popularity, or sacrifice her friends to get what she wants.

There is a cute romance sub-plot in this book, thankfully not involving the vampire, who is pale, has nails like foil, and smells like death. He also seems to like flapping his cloak around a lot.

This was a fairly quick read. It was creepy in places, but not overly scary. ( )

Althea craves popularity. She wants to be a cheerleader - swooned over by all the jocks and the envy of all the girls. When, against custom, she opens the shuttered tower room in her old house, she releases a vampire who makes a deal with her: If she brings him victims, he will give her popularity. Althea finds herself spiraling out of control as the vampire asks for more and more - and she feels she has to give it to him or suffer public humiliation.

Looked at from a superficial point of view, there's really not much to this book. It's barely 200 pages long, and has little plot or character development. It's pretty standard for those Point Horror books that were being pumped out in the '90s. Teen readers should be wary - this is a quick, fluffy read with a (how dare Ms. Cooney?!) a BAD vampire. Yes. That's right. He looks and smells like soggy mushrooms. He feeds on the weakness of teenagers. And he doesn't sparkle. He was in no way, shape, or form romantic. It was SUCH a wonderful change. :) As long as bad vampires don't insult your intelligence, you'll enjoy this book if you're 11-14ish. Or you might enjoy it if you're older and enjoy exploring ideas.

What I liked about this book was that it was more meaningful on a deeper level. There were hints all along that Althea could have made herself popular on her own - that her own attitude ensured her unpopularity. She assumed no one knew she existed, so she hid from everyone. Result - nobody paid her any attention. This is also a story about how far some people are willing to go in order to gain what they want. Allegorically, she sacrificed her morals and trampled on other people in order to achieve her goals - and then she was dissatisfied with the results. It's a story about being true to yourself and how your goals will be more lasting when you achieve them through hard work instead of back-stabbing. Any book that makes me think earns points with me! :)

Another thing that made me think: where the heck were her parents through all of this?! They weren't mentioned even once! Did Cooney mean to do that? I read the second book in the trilogy many years ago, and I remember THAT character had parents... ( )

This was one of my favorite books when I was younger.

Althea has no life and no friends. When she sets free the vampire that has been locked up for ages he offers her the chance to be popular. It seems like a dream come true until she realizes what exactly is at stake. Is she strong enough to do what it takes to ensure that she keeps what has been given or will she finally understand that somethings are just not worth it?

Not for older readers. No real climax. ( )