Don't get too attached to Noelle, Honor and Wren. They are young, cute, affable babysitters. Unfortunately, they have entered Peculia's world, and Peculia's world is one of semi-comic horror.

As the title of this book suggests, there are vampires afoot. Tired, perhaps, of seeking their prey in the wild or in alleys on the seamy side of town, industrious vamp Nicola takes the novel approach of hiring babysitters -- four of them, to be exact -- when she and her family feel peckish. But when only three members of the local babysitters' club show up for duty, they quickly draft the services of Peculia, who just happens to be passing by en route to buy cereal. George, a young boy with a big crush on Noelle, comes along for what promises to be a quiet evening.

Only it's not. Besides Nicola, who chooses one babysitter for herself, there are three more bloodsuckers in the house: Frekerika, a young, sharp-featured girl; Agenetta, a gargoyle-faced baby; and Grandmama, an ancient, billowing crone. And, while the sitters all seem conscientious enough about their jobs, that may not be enough to save them from thirsty fangs. But Peculia is a bit cleverer than the rest, and besides, George is still on the loose. And George might just have met an important, if unkempt, friend in a camp of Germanic gypsies on the outskirts of town earlier that day.

Peculia & the Groon Grove Vampires is a sexy black-and-white graphic novel in which the humor is subtle, and the violence is real but not grotesque. The monsters look like monsters, while the babysitters look like the sort of appealing young girls who never fare well in teen slasher movies. Peculia herself is quick and resourceful.

Richard Sala's art is crisp and detailed. His style is pleasantly reminiscent of Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez meets Rick Geary. My only complaint? This 80-page graphic novel reads a little too quickly; Sala could easily have added more character development to the tale; and the action should have been resolved a little more dramatically, over a few more panels at least. I guess I'll just have to wait for the next Peculia book for more.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
12 November 2005