What do you think?
Rate this book
Vampire's Promise #1-3
The Vampire's Promise
From master of suspense Caroline B. Cooney, three spine-tingling vampire novels in one juicy volume. A vampire lives in the tower of the creepy old house in town--a vampire who makes promises and grants wishes. Few know he exists. When Althea, Devnee, and Lacey meet the vampire, he offers them the things they want most--popularity, beauty, freedom.But his bargains come for a price. How much are the girls willing to pay? How many lives will they destroy? And is there any way out of a vampire's promise?
496 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
49 people are currently reading
900 people want to read
About the author
Caroline B. Cooney
128 books1,757 followersCaroline Cooney knew in sixth grade that she wanted to be a writer when "the best teacher I ever had in my life" made writing her main focus. "He used to rip off covers from The New Yorker and pass them around and make us write a short story on whichever cover we got. I started writing then and never stopped!"
When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people -- with remarkable results. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. "In a suspense novel, you can count on action."
To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. She often organizes what she calls a "plotting game," in which students work together to create plots for stories. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams!
- Scholastic.com
When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people -- with remarkable results. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. "In a suspense novel, you can count on action."
To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. She often organizes what she calls a "plotting game," in which students work together to create plots for stories. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams!
- Scholastic.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
November 8, 2009
That blurb is a bit of a misnomer because Lacey doesn't fit into that. Her situation's entirely different and is actually the polar opposite of the other two girls. But I'll get back to that in a moment.
Normally I review these compilation books separately because they are separate books but it just would have been redundant, even for a series so a 3 books in 1 review is what you're going to get.
The first two, Deadly Offer and Evil Returns are pretty much the same story, just with different names. Both girls are considered plain, boring and invisible. I think under any other circumstances they would have been considered just normal girls but these books are about severe stereotypes. You get one mould and that's what you fit into. So you have the plain Janes that want nothing more than to be pretty and popular and loved and not dull.
They both live in this old Victorian mansion and a vampire lives in between these inside and outside shutters in the tower room of the house (I'll come back to the vampire in a moment). He bleeds into their lives, offers them wishes, or really answers wishes, in return for a life. In order to get you have to give. They wish for popularity and smarts and friends and boyfriends and in return the people that were once popular get tapped by the vampire and, essentially, trade places with the Janes.
In the end the Janes feel guilty, rescind their wishes and feel that it's better to be plain and normal and boring and win people over the old fashion way instead of sucking the life from those that have what you want in order to achieve it. Nice, happy, resolved endings.
Seriously, those two books were the exact same thing. So much so that I thought it was a waste of my time to read the second one but I kept reading thinking that maybe something different would happen, you know? No. The exact same storyline with the exact same characters, just with different names.
The third book, Fatal Bargain, was the redemption. It was completely different than the other two. Whereas the first two had the extreme stereotypes (the jocks, the pretty girls, the plain girls, the popular people), this one had more balance. People weren't shunned but at the same time you were able to get into their heads and see what they were thinking about everyone else around them. They all fit their own moulds but the walls weren't so high that they couldn't climb out of them. The characters actually had depth. They had dimensions and at the end of the story they were something more than paper dolls.
What I didn't get was the insistence that Lacey was an airhead. It was said a fair amount of times but her actions didn't reflect those words. She ended up being the strongest out of the entire group and when I said she didn't fit the mould of the other two, Althea and Devnee, she never made any wishes. That was never the situation in this story.
The other two girls lived in that house with their families but in the last book, the house was abandoned and the kids were partying in it. They had woken up the vampire and he wasn't in a wishing mood. He gave them the option of sacrificing one for him to feed on so the rest could leave. That was it. No pretty looks or popularity to be given. Lacey didn't make any wishes. None of them did.
The writing was very stagnant from one book to the next. I preferred the third on all levels only because of the variety from the last one. It was more multidimensional and fulfilled the horror motif better than the other two.
There were some gaps in the plot, like Althea and living in the house. Her parents never made an appearance. In fact, it kept sounding like she lived in that house by herself. That really bothered me.
In all three books, the vampire had the same descriptions. Considering these were limited points of view, it read to me like all these kids saw this vampire with the same eyes. In every single book, the vampire's skin was the color of mushrooms. Would they really all make that same observation?
And in the last book, the vampire declares that if someone sacrifices themselves for the group, he cannot take them as a victim. It appeared that that applied to one character but when another did the same exact thing, it didn't obviously to serve the plot. Hole much?
And the writing was updated, which irked me. It's as if the new generation wouldn't understand the terms used in the early 90s. It really hit me that it'd been updated was when I caught the mention of the word DVDs. Not in 1991 they weren't. I mean, was that necessary? Is a VHS tape that much of an anomaly to teens today?
And for the vampire, I went both ways with him. First, I honestly don't think this was a standard blood-drinking vampire. His victims, when he was done with them, were all exceptionally tired which led me believe that he was a more psychical vampire that drained energies as opposed to blood. A very different take that I really liked.
There was nothing sexy about him, which is also a nice twist. He's decay and rot and swamp and everything you'd think death would be. His cape is woven of the souls of the people he's killed. He's intangible and tangible all at the same time depending on the strength of his power and he can seep into you if you allow your wishes to be brought to fruition. He's a disease that penetrates the mind and seeps into your soul. Very creepy and very different. I liked it.
What I didn't get, though, was that he occupied the shutters in the tower. I had a hard time picturing that. The idea was that if the shutters were ever opened, it would unleash the vampire so to prevent that, there were shutters both inside and outside the windows. I just didn't get it. In the last book we see just where the vampire resides and by that book it's clear that he is confined to the tower until someone releases him. I don't think it centers around the shutters as much as the first book intoned.
So, the bottom line is that the last book, Fatal Bargain, is the best out of all of them. It has the most depth, it's the creepiest, the least superficial and the most well-rounded. The other two, pick one, read it and move on. The writing, to me anyway, culminates in that final book. The first two were just way too similar and stocked with cardboard characters for my liking.
But all three of them get bonus points for the creep of a vampire. It's not something I see often, a vampire in this form, and it makes me like it even more. He's portrayed as the evil, disgusting piece of rot he actually is and it makes the character that much more spine-chilling.
Normally I review these compilation books separately because they are separate books but it just would have been redundant, even for a series so a 3 books in 1 review is what you're going to get.
The first two, Deadly Offer and Evil Returns are pretty much the same story, just with different names. Both girls are considered plain, boring and invisible. I think under any other circumstances they would have been considered just normal girls but these books are about severe stereotypes. You get one mould and that's what you fit into. So you have the plain Janes that want nothing more than to be pretty and popular and loved and not dull.
They both live in this old Victorian mansion and a vampire lives in between these inside and outside shutters in the tower room of the house (I'll come back to the vampire in a moment). He bleeds into their lives, offers them wishes, or really answers wishes, in return for a life. In order to get you have to give. They wish for popularity and smarts and friends and boyfriends and in return the people that were once popular get tapped by the vampire and, essentially, trade places with the Janes.
In the end the Janes feel guilty, rescind their wishes and feel that it's better to be plain and normal and boring and win people over the old fashion way instead of sucking the life from those that have what you want in order to achieve it. Nice, happy, resolved endings.
Seriously, those two books were the exact same thing. So much so that I thought it was a waste of my time to read the second one but I kept reading thinking that maybe something different would happen, you know? No. The exact same storyline with the exact same characters, just with different names.
The third book, Fatal Bargain, was the redemption. It was completely different than the other two. Whereas the first two had the extreme stereotypes (the jocks, the pretty girls, the plain girls, the popular people), this one had more balance. People weren't shunned but at the same time you were able to get into their heads and see what they were thinking about everyone else around them. They all fit their own moulds but the walls weren't so high that they couldn't climb out of them. The characters actually had depth. They had dimensions and at the end of the story they were something more than paper dolls.
What I didn't get was the insistence that Lacey was an airhead. It was said a fair amount of times but her actions didn't reflect those words. She ended up being the strongest out of the entire group and when I said she didn't fit the mould of the other two, Althea and Devnee, she never made any wishes. That was never the situation in this story.
The other two girls lived in that house with their families but in the last book, the house was abandoned and the kids were partying in it. They had woken up the vampire and he wasn't in a wishing mood. He gave them the option of sacrificing one for him to feed on so the rest could leave. That was it. No pretty looks or popularity to be given. Lacey didn't make any wishes. None of them did.
The writing was very stagnant from one book to the next. I preferred the third on all levels only because of the variety from the last one. It was more multidimensional and fulfilled the horror motif better than the other two.
There were some gaps in the plot, like Althea and living in the house. Her parents never made an appearance. In fact, it kept sounding like she lived in that house by herself. That really bothered me.
In all three books, the vampire had the same descriptions. Considering these were limited points of view, it read to me like all these kids saw this vampire with the same eyes. In every single book, the vampire's skin was the color of mushrooms. Would they really all make that same observation?
And in the last book, the vampire declares that if someone sacrifices themselves for the group, he cannot take them as a victim. It appeared that that applied to one character but when another did the same exact thing, it didn't obviously to serve the plot. Hole much?
And the writing was updated, which irked me. It's as if the new generation wouldn't understand the terms used in the early 90s. It really hit me that it'd been updated was when I caught the mention of the word DVDs. Not in 1991 they weren't. I mean, was that necessary? Is a VHS tape that much of an anomaly to teens today?
And for the vampire, I went both ways with him. First, I honestly don't think this was a standard blood-drinking vampire. His victims, when he was done with them, were all exceptionally tired which led me believe that he was a more psychical vampire that drained energies as opposed to blood. A very different take that I really liked.
There was nothing sexy about him, which is also a nice twist. He's decay and rot and swamp and everything you'd think death would be. His cape is woven of the souls of the people he's killed. He's intangible and tangible all at the same time depending on the strength of his power and he can seep into you if you allow your wishes to be brought to fruition. He's a disease that penetrates the mind and seeps into your soul. Very creepy and very different. I liked it.
What I didn't get, though, was that he occupied the shutters in the tower. I had a hard time picturing that. The idea was that if the shutters were ever opened, it would unleash the vampire so to prevent that, there were shutters both inside and outside the windows. I just didn't get it. In the last book we see just where the vampire resides and by that book it's clear that he is confined to the tower until someone releases him. I don't think it centers around the shutters as much as the first book intoned.
So, the bottom line is that the last book, Fatal Bargain, is the best out of all of them. It has the most depth, it's the creepiest, the least superficial and the most well-rounded. The other two, pick one, read it and move on. The writing, to me anyway, culminates in that final book. The first two were just way too similar and stocked with cardboard characters for my liking.
But all three of them get bonus points for the creep of a vampire. It's not something I see often, a vampire in this form, and it makes me like it even more. He's portrayed as the evil, disgusting piece of rot he actually is and it makes the character that much more spine-chilling.
April 20, 2012
I have to admit right off the bat, this automatically gets at least three stars for nostalgia alone. I read these stores when I was 12-14, back when they were The Cheerleader, The Return of the Vampire, and The Vampire’s Promise. However, I admit, it was the final one that stuck with me through the years.
The Cheerleader / Deadly Offer was the one I could least relate to. Though I understood (to a degree) how alone Althea felt, I was never one who yearned to be with the popular people. In fact, I didn’t much like this character until the very end. Then (and now that I’ve reread it), she really redeemed herself in my eyes.
I also found it hard to relate to Devnee. While I got feeling plain and dull and being intimidated by being the new girl in a school where everyone already knows their place and how to navigate everything, I was very put off by the way she viewed her family. The cruelty of her classmates made it hard to hate her, even though she did come across as a bit of a doormat. However, she started fighting much earlier, and she comes off as more likable than Althea.
This final story with Lacey is the one that stuck with me through the years. The vampire’s monologues, the teen’s thoughts and the fact that they seemed, while a bit stereotypical, still three-dimensional. Then there was Lacey. She wasn’t overly popular, but didn’t really long and yearn for it. I could definitely relate to that. However, she was also very strong and brave while afraid. She was basically who I would want to be if I were in her situation. In addition, I managed to like the other kids because they did their best to try to step up to the plate. This book has a very different set-up and plot that the first two, but that is actually explained nicely near the end. This would have to be my favorite of the three.
Since this is an omnibus, I have to give stars based on it all. It gets three for the first two and nostalgia, with five for the last. Averaging about four. Definitely worth the cost, though I would recommend only buying the last one if you have the chance.
The Cheerleader / Deadly Offer was the one I could least relate to. Though I understood (to a degree) how alone Althea felt, I was never one who yearned to be with the popular people. In fact, I didn’t much like this character until the very end. Then (and now that I’ve reread it), she really redeemed herself in my eyes.
I also found it hard to relate to Devnee. While I got feeling plain and dull and being intimidated by being the new girl in a school where everyone already knows their place and how to navigate everything, I was very put off by the way she viewed her family. The cruelty of her classmates made it hard to hate her, even though she did come across as a bit of a doormat. However, she started fighting much earlier, and she comes off as more likable than Althea.
This final story with Lacey is the one that stuck with me through the years. The vampire’s monologues, the teen’s thoughts and the fact that they seemed, while a bit stereotypical, still three-dimensional. Then there was Lacey. She wasn’t overly popular, but didn’t really long and yearn for it. I could definitely relate to that. However, she was also very strong and brave while afraid. She was basically who I would want to be if I were in her situation. In addition, I managed to like the other kids because they did their best to try to step up to the plate. This book has a very different set-up and plot that the first two, but that is actually explained nicely near the end. This would have to be my favorite of the three.
Since this is an omnibus, I have to give stars based on it all. It gets three for the first two and nostalgia, with five for the last. Averaging about four. Definitely worth the cost, though I would recommend only buying the last one if you have the chance.
May 1, 2011
I would have to summarize this book by saying I was disappointed. The first two short stories had a very shallow, one dimensional main character. The story line was alright, but could have been developed more and been more than just an ok story. The ending did not seem well thought out. It almost seemed like the author got to a certain page number and just decided it is time to end this story now. The third short story was better, but still left me a little disappointed. The characters where not shallow, but after development some it was kind of just dropped. One character had past lives and in those lives experiences with vampires. This could have been brought into the story much more to add details and layers to the story, but it was hardly mentioned. The stories are worth reading, but I would not recommend this book as one of my favorites. It was simply average.
October 25, 2017
Not sure I would read the entire trilogy bc the 2nd in the series sounded just like the first. Very pleasant and her descriptive language is beautiful.
January 14, 2017
You wouldn't believe what I found in my library. Yep, a real B-class horror. Something we all (I guess) read when we were kids before we went to sleep at summer camps to prove we were badasses who couldn't get scared that easily while we were hoping we wouldn't go to our tents alone or that we wouldn't need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.
It all starts as a dare - a party in an abandoned mansion - oh yeah, we all know where this leads. So, the vampire is more like a slime in the air with a cape and fangs and he has the possession of the door while there is the other vampire who has the windows - that's kinda weird and grotesque I must admit.
The vampire seems rather cool (in a let's-play-a-game mindfuck we know from Saw horrors) giving the teenagers a choice - one to remain, the rest to go. It's up to them who stays with the vampire. That's awesome, a lot of potential in it since the author spent some time describing each person's character qualities (don't worry, there is the whole squad of archetypes: a pretty blond barbie girl, an athlete, a clever kid, a rich kid everyone hangs out with only because of the money, the social star, and also the weird unpopular kid who knows things without even realizing it) but they are not reaching their potential when given the choice. There is not much drama, just some escape plans. It doesn't get much better from there.
It all starts as a dare - a party in an abandoned mansion - oh yeah, we all know where this leads. So, the vampire is more like a slime in the air with a cape and fangs and he has the possession of the door while there is the other vampire who has the windows - that's kinda weird and grotesque I must admit.
The vampire seems rather cool (in a let's-play-a-game mindfuck we know from Saw horrors) giving the teenagers a choice - one to remain, the rest to go. It's up to them who stays with the vampire. That's awesome, a lot of potential in it since the author spent some time describing each person's character qualities (don't worry, there is the whole squad of archetypes: a pretty blond barbie girl, an athlete, a clever kid, a rich kid everyone hangs out with only because of the money, the social star, and also the weird unpopular kid who knows things without even realizing it) but they are not reaching their potential when given the choice. There is not much drama, just some escape plans. It doesn't get much better from there.
June 24, 2012
This book was full of one-dimensional characters that were very superficial. The vampire didn't really behave like a real vampire. I would say it had better similarities to the serpent from the Garden of Eden (okay, so some vampires can be described that way). But the vampire entices girls with the promise of popularity or beauty. They just have to give someone else to the vampire in order to have it. But the real problem I had with the characters? They gave a sense that life wasn't worth living if you weren't popular or beautiful, even after you realized the error of your ways.
This book bothered me, and it was really difficult for me to finish. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
This book bothered me, and it was really difficult for me to finish. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Read
April 4, 2009HORRIBLE, Skip it
February 23, 2011
Really? They published this?
March 18, 2011
I did not like. It was too boring.
January 27, 2021
Definatly better than most of the other vampire books they have floating around now.
December 31, 2019
The last 5 pages were good. The rest of the book was incredibly tedious. Also did CBC make up "dwindle-head" or is it a real insult?! Either way it was over used.
March 7, 2021
I read these growing up and I was delighted to find these on amazon. I think that these books are not deemed as worthy as they should be. I still really enjoy reading them to this day.
April 29, 2011
Do not care for it very much
July 22, 2021
I really enjoyed
The Cheerleader
, and I really didn't enjoy
The Return of the Vampire
, so my expectations for The Vampire's Promise were muddled. This book closes out a very loosely connected trilogy.
Caroline B. Cooney takes the story in a slightly different direction here, with a truly intriguing concept. After unwittingly breaking into the home of a vampire and awakening the creature, our characters are presented with a choice - and I was very much looking forwarding to reading the discussions that would surround the making of this choice. Unfortunately, the book feels like Clooney is trying her hardest to not address this concept at all.
I did like the various characters and how Cooney's narrative jumped between them. I couldn't help but feel that Clooney either didn't have conviction in her central cast or lost interest, hence the introductions of the various characters outside of the house, but for the most part I thought these were fine too. I'm still not entirely sold on Cooney's writing style, but it definitely worked better here than in The Return of the Vampire . That said, there were far more uses of 'dwindle-head' in this book than was necessary.
This could have been a really interesting conclusion to a somewhat messy trilogy, and there's several compelling directions which Cooney hints towards, but the book never seizes its full potential. The Vampire's Promise is a totally fine Point Horror entry, although due to the dabbling in the supernatural I am inclined to be more favourable towards it.
3/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) The Dead Game - 4/5
3) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
4) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
5) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
6) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
7) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
8) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
9) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
10) April Fools - 3.5/5
11) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
12) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
13) Freeze Tag - 3/5
14) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
15) The Accident - 3/5
16) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
17) Funhouse - 3/5
18) The Window - 3/5
19) The Invitation - 2.5/5
20) The Perfume - 2.5/5
21) The Train - 2.5/5
22) The Waitress - 2.5/5
23) The Snowman - 2.5/5
24) Beach House - 2.5/5
25) The Mall - 2.5/5
26) The Boyfriend - 2/5
27) The Fever - 2/5
28) The Cemetery - 2/5
29) Mother's Helper - 2/5
30) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
31) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
32) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
33) Beach Party - 1/5
Caroline B. Cooney takes the story in a slightly different direction here, with a truly intriguing concept. After unwittingly breaking into the home of a vampire and awakening the creature, our characters are presented with a choice - and I was very much looking forwarding to reading the discussions that would surround the making of this choice. Unfortunately, the book feels like Clooney is trying her hardest to not address this concept at all.
I did like the various characters and how Cooney's narrative jumped between them. I couldn't help but feel that Clooney either didn't have conviction in her central cast or lost interest, hence the introductions of the various characters outside of the house, but for the most part I thought these were fine too. I'm still not entirely sold on Cooney's writing style, but it definitely worked better here than in The Return of the Vampire . That said, there were far more uses of 'dwindle-head' in this book than was necessary.
This could have been a really interesting conclusion to a somewhat messy trilogy, and there's several compelling directions which Cooney hints towards, but the book never seizes its full potential. The Vampire's Promise is a totally fine Point Horror entry, although due to the dabbling in the supernatural I am inclined to be more favourable towards it.
3/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) The Dead Game - 4/5
3) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
4) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
5) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
6) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
7) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
8) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
9) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
10) April Fools - 3.5/5
11) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
12) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
13) Freeze Tag - 3/5
14) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
15) The Accident - 3/5
16) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
17) Funhouse - 3/5
18) The Window - 3/5
19) The Invitation - 2.5/5
20) The Perfume - 2.5/5
21) The Train - 2.5/5
22) The Waitress - 2.5/5
23) The Snowman - 2.5/5
24) Beach House - 2.5/5
25) The Mall - 2.5/5
26) The Boyfriend - 2/5
27) The Fever - 2/5
28) The Cemetery - 2/5
29) Mother's Helper - 2/5
30) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
31) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
32) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
33) Beach Party - 1/5
June 25, 2019
I rarely give a book this rating. I might give it half a star extra because the third part did get my heart racing slightly. So it was okay enough to get an emotional reaction from me.
I am certain I saw this suggested as an ad on Facebook or some other social media source with the tag line, "If you liked Twilight, you'll like..." I can assure you if you loved Twilight you will not like this book or these stories at all!
This compendium holds three complete stories. From the reviews I read before reading it seems they were released with other titles originally. Not a good sign.
Side note: I also try very hard to not provide spoilers; there may be one or two in the following observations.
In the first book we are introduced to the house with the shuttered tower room. A room you are not supposed to enter. The shutters are to remain closed. This part I didn't mind, even I would have tried to open those shutters. Of course, opening the shutters has consequences...releasing a vampire. In this case, a young girl having trouble fitting in in high school is the victim. She was popular in middle school, but her friends all separated when they hit high school. Not sure why. My best friends from high school all had different interests and we still stayed together. Oh, well. So this girl wishes to be popular and there are consequences.
In the second book, a new family has moved into the house and the teen daughter is normal looking. She too wishes, many wishes, the first to be beautiful. And there are consequences.
These first two stories have extremely shallow characters and plot lines. Basically the moral is be careful what you wish for. There is redemption as each decides to stand up to the vampire. Again there are consequences and the vampire actually remains.
The final episode or installment is basically The Breakfast Club meets Nosferatu and Dracula. Turns out there are two vampires inhabiting the tower room. Neither take any real form beyond skin tone, fingernails, teeth, and cloak. Both are pure evil. (Actually, I prefer Nosferatu and Dracula to these vampires.) A group of teens plan to spend the night in the abandoned house's spooky tower room, of course, terror ensues. SPOILER ALERT! The teens take turns trying to thwart the vampires. In the end one comes up with a great solution. The group gets away, but the vampires are not vanquished! Plus the teens forget what happened in the tower.
A friend asked me why I was still reading it? A fair question. Basically, I am not a fan of DNF. I try to push through and what to find out what happens. If I end up not liking it. Well, I gave the author and story a full shot. If I end up liking it, that's a bonus. In this case, I did not like it and was frustrated by the ending. However, not a waste of my precious reading time because I learned something from the experience.
Sorry, not a goodread.
I am certain I saw this suggested as an ad on Facebook or some other social media source with the tag line, "If you liked Twilight, you'll like..." I can assure you if you loved Twilight you will not like this book or these stories at all!
This compendium holds three complete stories. From the reviews I read before reading it seems they were released with other titles originally. Not a good sign.
Side note: I also try very hard to not provide spoilers; there may be one or two in the following observations.
In the first book we are introduced to the house with the shuttered tower room. A room you are not supposed to enter. The shutters are to remain closed. This part I didn't mind, even I would have tried to open those shutters. Of course, opening the shutters has consequences...releasing a vampire. In this case, a young girl having trouble fitting in in high school is the victim. She was popular in middle school, but her friends all separated when they hit high school. Not sure why. My best friends from high school all had different interests and we still stayed together. Oh, well. So this girl wishes to be popular and there are consequences.
In the second book, a new family has moved into the house and the teen daughter is normal looking. She too wishes, many wishes, the first to be beautiful. And there are consequences.
These first two stories have extremely shallow characters and plot lines. Basically the moral is be careful what you wish for. There is redemption as each decides to stand up to the vampire. Again there are consequences and the vampire actually remains.
The final episode or installment is basically The Breakfast Club meets Nosferatu and Dracula. Turns out there are two vampires inhabiting the tower room. Neither take any real form beyond skin tone, fingernails, teeth, and cloak. Both are pure evil. (Actually, I prefer Nosferatu and Dracula to these vampires.) A group of teens plan to spend the night in the abandoned house's spooky tower room, of course, terror ensues. SPOILER ALERT! The teens take turns trying to thwart the vampires. In the end one comes up with a great solution. The group gets away, but the vampires are not vanquished! Plus the teens forget what happened in the tower.
A friend asked me why I was still reading it? A fair question. Basically, I am not a fan of DNF. I try to push through and what to find out what happens. If I end up not liking it. Well, I gave the author and story a full shot. If I end up liking it, that's a bonus. In this case, I did not like it and was frustrated by the ending. However, not a waste of my precious reading time because I learned something from the experience.
Sorry, not a goodread.
March 2, 2019
I knew going into this book that it was for a younger audience, but I really like YA and vampires. About half way into story #1 I thought, "I think I would've liked this when I was 11". It felt that young. By story #2, I realized I don't think I would've liked it even then. The pacing of these stories is a real problem for me. The characters' misery goes on for way too long, and then the endings are rushed and anti-climactic. In both the first and second stories I was shocked that they were over, despite hoping for them to end for chapters.
What bothers me most about these stories is the vampires themselves. Not only are they not in any way sexy, which, okay, fine. This was the early 90s, not 2008. But, there's no real lore about the vampires in general. It's confusing how they work, the bits and pieces we do get are weirdly unsatisfying. They seem all-powerful, but are ultimately defeated in very simplistic, again to emphasize, non-exciting ways. You never see or even hear about a vampire sucking someone's blood, though this "event" happens multiple times throughout the series. From what I can tell, the vampire ended up just being more of a metaphor for low-self esteem, depression, evil itself, etc. Ultimately these books were very unsatisfying to me and I would recommend looking elsewhere for a good vampire novel.
What bothers me most about these stories is the vampires themselves. Not only are they not in any way sexy, which, okay, fine. This was the early 90s, not 2008. But, there's no real lore about the vampires in general. It's confusing how they work, the bits and pieces we do get are weirdly unsatisfying. They seem all-powerful, but are ultimately defeated in very simplistic, again to emphasize, non-exciting ways. You never see or even hear about a vampire sucking someone's blood, though this "event" happens multiple times throughout the series. From what I can tell, the vampire ended up just being more of a metaphor for low-self esteem, depression, evil itself, etc. Ultimately these books were very unsatisfying to me and I would recommend looking elsewhere for a good vampire novel.
July 12, 2022
book 1 was good but some of the voice sounded so old-fashioned I couldn't believe the book was first published in the 90s. it reads more like books I've read from the 70s. it wasn't hard to read or anything, just...old?
book 2 was better. not sure if the voice is much more modern but I think the main character was a little more sympathetic. the first thing she wished for was more shallow, but at least she targeted someone who was mean to her instead of someone she barely knew but was nice (not that this is OKAY but it feels like less of a leap into villainy than targeting some girl who was never anything but nice to you, so a more reasonable first step into evil that a character might take)
book 3 had way too much going on. why was there a random cop? and the car thief? I know the thief kiiiiind of played a role but this shit got confusing and bad
if you're going to read this, I say don't bother with book 3
book 2 was better. not sure if the voice is much more modern but I think the main character was a little more sympathetic. the first thing she wished for was more shallow, but at least she targeted someone who was mean to her instead of someone she barely knew but was nice (not that this is OKAY but it feels like less of a leap into villainy than targeting some girl who was never anything but nice to you, so a more reasonable first step into evil that a character might take)
book 3 had way too much going on. why was there a random cop? and the car thief? I know the thief kiiiiind of played a role but this shit got confusing and bad
if you're going to read this, I say don't bother with book 3
August 2, 2019
Very much the Alien 3 of CBC's Vampire trilogy; takes the series in a completely new direction and you're going to either love it or hate it because of that. To me, and very much like Alien 3, the new direction works to refresh the series though can never compare to the original.
I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
June 22, 2021
I only read the first book (Deadly Offer) but for some reason I can’t find the book on its own to rate. This book was ridiculous. First off... no parents? Not realistic. Secondly, the whole story was just awkward and the conversations were super forced. If this was the first book I ever read by Caroline B Cooney, I probably would never have read any of her other books. This was almost painful to read.
August 12, 2017
Caroline B. Cooney has a distinctive writing style; close third person? I'm not sure. The first two books are similar, the third is different. This is meant to be horror, but it's not that creepy. It's a good exploration of high school emotions and growing - and that bumps it up to 3.5 stars.
November 26, 2019
This book was a good ending to a great book I read when I was a child. The stories in this trilogy might feel a bit repetitive especially the first two but I’m glad I was able to at least end the series in my mind.
February 17, 2023
this was pretty good. it’s a trilogy of books that all happen in the same town and have to do with this one creepy house. the third book was probably my favorite and then it would be the first and the second after that.
December 27, 2017
I am rating this book a 4 only because there was a story that I found a little boring and predictable. The other stories I found interesting.
August 30, 2017
Woo, took a few years but I finally finished Caroline B. Cooney's vampire trilogy.
September 24, 2020
The only book worth reading is the third one in this series. The first one is alright, the second is rehashed trash, and the third is amazing.
June 9, 2022
Loved it.
December 17, 2022
Never ever trust a Vampire or make a deal with him, especially at Night and I when there is two of them!!
March 8, 2023
Boring ass book
June 12, 2011
The Vampire’ Promise was a three in one book. It all typically dealt with the same house and the same vampire living in shutter, circular tower of the creepy old house that all the three girls move into. The first and the second was really interesting but I found the third book to be very slow and not something that drives me into reading it. However the overall book was great to read. It may seem like it is repetitive with the same vampire wanting to feel more alive by draining the life of the innocent people brought by each of the girls that lives in the tower and made a contract with the vampire for something they really want. However each story was uniquely different in its own way. Each of the stories revolves around the life of a girl and what they desire, popularity, beauty and freedom. By making a contract with the Vampire, when they open the shutters, the vampire gives them what they want and in return they each must provide him with a victim to get him more powerful. They each believe that it’s not a really big deal giving him a few people because he said they will just be tired that’s all, but when the Vampire takes the ones that true mean something to them, they start to regret what they have done. It is basically a story where the lesson is, if you don’t obtain what you want the hard way with hard work etc… there will always be consequences that follow making on regret the choice they have made. And sometimes it is too late to change everything around. The plots for each story comes quickly and we see each of the character’s grow as they realize what they did to make themselves happy is really ruining the lives of the others. This book is amazingly written and it brings out all my feelings as hate what each character has done to achieve what they want but then I feel as if in the end they did what they were supposed to, to make everything better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2016
The Vampires Promise is about three girls, Althea, Devnee, and Lacey. That all had lived in a house with a very dark spirit. This spirit was a vampire that is thousands of years old. Each girl wants a gift like popularity,beauty, and freedom. The vampire makes the wishes come true but not without a price. When the girls promise to the vampire. They soon find out there is now way that they can get out of the promise.
Althea wanted popularity, for this the vampire wanted the most popular girl in school. Althea succeeded by having a party and delivered the vampire the most popular girl who's name was Celeste. Devnee wanted beauty, for this wish the vampire wanted the name of the most beautiful girl in the school. Lacey wanted freedom each time ended with a fatal bargain. In the end each found out that if you try to get yourself out of a promise to a vampire you end up just like before.
I thought this book was amazing and very good, it grasped my attention from the beginning to the end. It leaves you on the edge of your seats with every page turn. I feel like anyone who knows me would like this book. It's mystery and fantasy all in one. The authors purpose for writing this book was for suspense and teaching a lesson to any one who has made a dangerous promise.
Althea wanted popularity, for this the vampire wanted the most popular girl in school. Althea succeeded by having a party and delivered the vampire the most popular girl who's name was Celeste. Devnee wanted beauty, for this wish the vampire wanted the name of the most beautiful girl in the school. Lacey wanted freedom each time ended with a fatal bargain. In the end each found out that if you try to get yourself out of a promise to a vampire you end up just like before.
I thought this book was amazing and very good, it grasped my attention from the beginning to the end. It leaves you on the edge of your seats with every page turn. I feel like anyone who knows me would like this book. It's mystery and fantasy all in one. The authors purpose for writing this book was for suspense and teaching a lesson to any one who has made a dangerous promise.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews