Graphic Novels We Love: The Accursed Vampire | The Curse At Witch Camp ⛺

Posted on Monday, June 24, 2024 by Grae

Cover image of "The Accursed Vampire: The Curse at Witch Camp," featuring three white-fanged vampire children in a grassy field at night time. The field is tinged purple with plumes of pink smoke creeping across, and off in the distance are an animatronic dinosaur and bull (two structures left behind in an abandoned mini-golf course). The first vampire child, Dragoslava, has completely pale white skin and is wearing a black cape. The second vampire child, Quintus, is Black and wearing a tshirt, shorts, and sneakers. The third vampire child, Eztli, has brown skin, spikey black hair and taloned bird feet for legs, and is wearing a tshirt and shorteralls.

This year’s Summer Reading theme “Adventure Begins At Your Library” invites you to seek out all kinds of adventure, whether outside in the humid grassy wilds of Mid-Missouri summer (🥵) or in the climate-controlled cozy comfort of your favorite indoor reading nook (🛋️).

One of the most classic summer adventures your kiddos might go on or just be returning from is summer camp, which is where we find some of my favorite fictional characters of all time: Dragoslava, Eztli and Quintus, the vampire kid gang at the center of Madeline McGrane‘s frightfully delightful “The Accursed Vampire” series. In this second installment of the series — check out this past blog by fellow vampire admirer and children’s librarian Megan to find out why you should also read the first! 🧛‍♀️ — Drago, Eztli and Quintus are off to witch camp at Moon Lake with their caretakers, vampire Sara and witch Ayesha, for a summer of spectacular spells, buggy swarms, theatrical productions and begrudging fun. Drago in particular is still healing from their previous abusive family dynamic and learning to trust that their found family of Eztli, Quintus, Sara and Ayesha are here to stay (💞) AND also think that Drago is a pretty cool vampire kid (😎).

While Eztli and Quintus take to camp like bats to a bug-filled summer night sky, making friends fast and joining in various group activities, Drago is skeptical, grumpy and a little hurt that the other campers don’t seem to want to hang out with them. So Drago goes off exploring the edges of camp on their own until they stumble on a very creepy abandoned mini-golf course on the other side of the lake and meet an enemy from their past who starts to become . . . their friend??? 🤔 But back at camp, campers have started mysteriously disappearing, including Ayesha and Drago will have to use their outsider status, as well as confidence in themself and in their true friendships, to break the curse unleashing chaos and destruction on the camp and potentially the entire world. 😱

With themes about community, bullying, belonging and nurturing one’s intrinsic self-worth, this middle-grade graphic novel is such a heartwarming read. 💖 Perfect for anyone navigating the joys and difficulties of finding their place within the larger group.

Page detail from "The Accursed Vampire: The Curse at Witch Camp," featuring a drawing of a cardboard picture frame with various dried pasta shapes glued onto the frame. Inside the frame is a photo of various children campers in tie-dyed tshirts. There are two rows of children in tie-dyed shirts standing in front of some bushes. The first row contains the main protagonists of the graphic novel, Quintus, Eztli, and Dragoslava, who are all vampire children. The second row contains four human campers. On the far right side of the photo, a zombie camper scares one of the alive children campers in the second row.