Enjoy Vampire Stories? Try This Novel

If any of you have read Mary Downing Hahn’s books before, you know what to expect. She usually writes romantic ghost stories that tie into history or an old decrepit building. Her books are intriguing, spellbinding and have a flavor to them that you can really taste.

When I began reading “Look For Me By Midnight,” I expected something of the same sort. It started with an old building, an inn that had been restored. Then the murder story that goes with the area was revealed. A young girl was found at the bottom of a cliff in the sea, her throat slashed, her skin rinsed by the sea water. She appeared as white as a “snow maiden.”

This is all typical of Hahn’s books, but then a vampire is brought into the plot. The violence becomes grotesque and sickening. The end of the book seems cold-blooded and disturbing. Its mentality reminded me of the Salem witch trials.

Although Hahn seems too grotesque and harsh in this book, it does have its good points. Hahn really shows how divorce affects kids. In her portrayal of Cynda, the main character, you can tell that Hahn remembers what it’s like to be a teenager. The characters are very realistic and understandable.

Overall, it was a pretty good book. It’s definitely not Hahn’s best, but if you like vampire stories or the poem “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes, you might want to pick up this book.