The Bunnicula series of chapter books is decades old, yet continues to win new fans aged 8 and up with each new generation of young readers.
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $5.99)
This book is written by Harold. His fulltime occupation is dog. He lives with Mr. and Mrs. Monroe and their sons Toby and Pete. Also sharing the home are a cat named Chester and a rabbit named Bunnicula.
It is because of Bunnicula that Harold turned to writing. Someone had to tell the full story of what happened in the Monroe household after the rabbit arrived.
Was Bunnicula really a vampire? Only Bunnicula knows for sure. But the story of Chester’s suspicions and their consequences makes uproarious reading.
Since its first appearance in 1979, Bunnicula has been a hit with kids and their parents everywhere, selling over 8 million copies and winning numerous awards.
Howliday Inn (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $6.99)
Harold and Chester could hardly believe it.
The Monroe family was going on vacation without them. Bunnicula, the family rabbit, would be boarded with a neighbor. But they, the family’s loyal dog and cat, were to be sent away with strangers; they were to spend a week at Chateau Bow-Wow.
Chateau Bow-Wow, observed Chester, soon after they arrived, could more properly be called Howliday Inn. Though what was howling, neither of them knew.
Chester had his suspicions however; only a werewolf could make that chilling sound.
The Celery Stalks At Midnight (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $5.99)
CHESTER, the cat, Harold, the dog, Bunnicula, the vampire (?) rabbit, and Howie, the wirehaired dachshund puppy, return in this sequel to Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery and Howliday Inn to ask the question: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of lettuce?
Chester has just finished retelling the tale of Bunnicula to Howie, who has just joined the Monroe family, when he discovers that Bunnicula is missing from his cage. Chester stays up all night worrying. What becomes of the vegetables Bunnicula attacks (for he is after all a vegetarian vampire)? Do they become vampire veggies serving their master’s evil ways? Certain that the town is crawling with killer parsnips and homicidal heads of lettuce, Chester sets out with Harold and Howie and a box of toothpicks for spearing the little devils through the heart.
En route to finding Bunnicula, driving tiny stakes through whatever white vegetables lie in their paths and thereby saving the town of Centerville, the threesome have more than their share of adventures, including an encounter with an ill-tempered white cat named Snowball and an unexpected trip to the town dump.
Finally the strange actions of everyone in town, including Toby and Pete Monroe, convince Chester that he may be too late, that Bunnicula and his minion vegetables may have taken over the town. Chester and his merry band race to save what souls they can. But, of course, Chester has been known to be wrong before.
Nighty-Nightmare (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $5.99)
An overnight camping trip! Not Harold’s idea of fun. Too many mosquitoes, ticks and cockleburs. But when the Monroe family set out, their faithful dog Harold was with them, mostly because he remembered that camping could also bring s’mores and toasted marshmallows. Howie, the other family dog, and Chester the cat were also included in the trip. Only Chester thought the idea was completely insane. The woods, he informed Harold, were not only full of cockleburs and ticks, but of spirits, evil spirits who prey on the innocent. And on this, the worst night of the year — St. George’s Eve, when all spirits are set loose — who knew what could happen.
What Harold knew was that Chester was a well read, over-stimulated cat, full of weird ideas. He did not take Chester’s worries too seriously. He had s’more to think about. But then, the Monroes set up camp near two strange men and their even stranger dog, and things began to happen that made even Harold wonder. Could Chester be right?
This begins a long night, full of terrors and alarms, full of Chester’s horrifying tale of how Bunnicula, the vampire bunny, was born and came to America, full of storms and a total sense of danger; and at the end came surprises that even Chester could not have predicted.
Once again, the Monroe family may be the victims of evil forces or only of Chester’s strange imagination. But whichever, the result is suspenseful and very, very funny.
Click here to browse all the titles in the Bunnicula series.
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