My Babysitter's a Vampire (Two Series)

A book series I used to read called My Babysitter Is A Vampire shaped my knowledge about vampires (so if anything I know is wrong or incomplete, that's where I learned it from). However, there was a movie and subsequent TV series by the same name (My Babysitter's A Vampire) shown on Disney Channel this past summer. I originally thought it was unique to Disney since it uses the parody Dusk to make fun of Twilight, which they've used on other shows like Good Luck Charlie. However, the movie and series is actually from Canada and aired there a year ago. I have no way of knowing whether or not anyone there has heard of or read the book series, but some of the lore I read about seems to match up despite the completely different direction the televised series takes on. (It also turns out that Dusk isn't the sole "property" of Disney, as Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated has also used the title to parody Twilight. They even had a parody character for the author Stephenie Meyer. Ann Hodgman and John Pierard pwn you, by the way, lady.)



The first book sets up the premise that a girl and her younger brother are being watched by a vampire - he has no reflection in the mirror and vomits at the mere mention of pizza (which contains garlic). This is the evil Vincent, the recurring villain of the series among others. I don't remember a lot of the different plot points anymore, but the other books in the series are titled My Babysitter Has Fangs, My Babysitter Bites Again, My Babysitter Flies By Night, My Babysitter Goes Bats, and My Babysitter Is A Movie Monster (in which some stupid adult decides to make a movie out of the girl's experiences). Google Books hasn't found any kind reviews, but if I ever found these books again I'd probably still read them. Not sure how well they'd have aged, though. It was the early nineties, after all.



The series is almost completely different, but there are a few similarities, not the least of which being the title and premise. Ethan doesn't look after his little sister properly, and the girl (who is not stupid or completely innocent, by the way) wanders outside and unwittingly witnesses a vampire attack. Their parents come home and aren't too pleased. If Ethan looks familiar to you, or even if he doesn't, check out this review of Gooby by Obscurus Lupa and Iron Liz: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/ol/olp/31484-gooby(it should also be noted who else is in that movie - so that's what they were doing when they weren't involved in filming Harry Potter.)

Anyway, because Ethan is deemed irresponsible, they hire a babysitter to look after her and embarrass him. Their first choice is Erica, a fan of Dusk, who ends up blowing off the job to attend a seniors party. Her replacement is her friend Sarah, also a fan of Dusk but less so now that she's been bitten by her evil vampire ex-boyfriend Jesse (this show's equivalent to the books' Vincent). She ends up ditching too after a while when the four (Ethan's best friend Benny shows up expecting Erica, whom he has a crush on) are attacked by one of Jesse's minions and they find out that Jesse is throwing the party looking for converts, including Erica and another friend of Ethan's and Benny's named Rory. Their rescue mission fails and the two are turned (not unwillingly, I might add, since having vampire powers makes their lives better). It should also be pointed out (although it isn't) that no sex or drinking actually goes on at this party because the vampires don't need either to achieve their goals (especially sex, as it would be counter-productive - apparently only virgins can be turned into vampires whilst non-virgins become ghouls, or so I've heard elsewhere. Take that, Twihards.)

Jesse and his vampire brood set out to steal the souls of the Dusk fans at the premiere of the newest Dusk film by taking over the running of it (all except for the innocent girl at the concession stand selling garlic-buttered popcorn - what the hell were you thinking letting that slip past your notice?!) Armed with holy water (here I was mistaken - turns out regular water indeed does nothing against the bloodsuckers) and some handy vampire-killing daggers Benny's grandma gives them (turns out she's a witch, and so is Benny sort of, and Ethan has visions of the future when people touch him - now we're really screwing with the vampire universe by adding magic to the mix). They also almost fail to stop Jesse but are assisted by Benny's grandma and Ethan's sister casting a spell. Ethan releases the souls of the Dusk fans (who angrily rip Jesse a new one ala Yu-Gi-Oh! Memory World saga when the souls of the murdered Kul Elna villagers are confronted by Atem and the ghost of Aknamkanon) and prevents the souls of Jesse's former cult from rising again. The series continues in this vein, including the return of Jesse in the season finale.

The series is good, and I hope it gets a second season. Not only did it end on a cliffhanger with Jesse escaping, but one episode mentioned a vampire council but didn't go anywhere with it. The magical aspect doesn't detract from the focus all that much (Harry Potter with vampires it isn't), and the pop culture references are hit-or-miss if they extend them too long (like the tanning bulb lightsaber fight toward off the vampires in the movie - even Ethan tells Benny that's enough with the Star Wars quotes). While I would prefer it to have just been about vampires, everything nowadays just has to throw werewolves, witches, and demons into the mix. One thing that differed from the books is how turning a person works. In the books it was a process that took more than one bite from the vampire and happened in stages, such as making them anemic and enthralling them, respectively. In the television series, one bite and you're a fledgling with most of the same powers and become a vampire after you've bitten someone else (even other fledglings, apparently, since Erica bit Rory right after they were both bitten). Sarah prolongs this by biting rodents or by drinking human blood substitute concocted by Benny's grandma, as she hopes to be cured one day. However, during the finale Jesse bites Ethan's arm and she saves him by sucking it like a snake bite, becoming a full vampire herself in the process. That was probably similar to how the first Twilight movie ended, sadly; Erica approves.

All in all, both these series are closest to how vampire stories should be, at least in my opinion. Later we'll look at other fun parodies, but next week is about energy vampirism, which is in fact a real thing.