Book Review - 'Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire' by Flavia Z. Drago

I picked this up by chance at my local bookshop today, after figuring: I loved 'Leila, the Perfect Witch' and felt indifferent towards 'Gustavo, the Shy Ghost', and I love vampires, so I'll give 'Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire' a quick go, and complete Flavia Z. Drago's Halloween picture book trilogy.

It turns out 'Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire' is fabulous!

It is definitely a queer narrative, about refusing to conform to gender roles, finding the courage and confidence to be your true self, finding your community beyond any borders, embracing your true colours, and coming out to people, and it isn't just allegory - little Vlad the fabulous vampire is clearly shown to have two vampire mums!

It's always great to see LBGTQ+ representation in a children's picture book!

It's easy to observe how the very concept of vampires has been used as a metaphor for the queer community since white Christian colonisation human legends and storytelling began, so this tale makes sense on all sorts of levels.

And it's so cute!

That Nosferatu-looking, titchy vamp Vlad shouldn't look so cute, but he does! He is Nosferatu Junior, a friendly vampire with a passion for fashion!

'Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire' is a cute little Halloween children's book, with a fantastic and important message. There is pink and candyfloss, as well as grey and spooky things.

Adorable, lovely, monster-loving and freedom-loving.


'Slowly, [Vlad] began to understand that in order to feel good about himself, [...] he didn't have to change,

[...] and he didn't need to hide. [...] Instead, be began to think, [...] It's better to love what makes us unique!'

'Of course, there were lots of times when Vlad still felt insecure. [...] But when he did, there was always someone he could count on. [...] He felt safe, loved and free! [...] And in the end, whether you can see it or not... [...] you might just say that there is a little bit of Vlad in all of us.'


Final Score: 4/5