Jeepers! Zoinks! Can You Help Those "Meddling Kids" Solve The "Legend of The Vampire"?
Written: Apr 11 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Funny but suspenseful story, great illustrations.
Cons: Hard to find in retail stores.
The Bottom Line: When acts start disappearing from the Vampire Rock Music Festival, the gang at Mystery Inc. go under cover to find out exactly who are behind those vampire masks!
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| Freak369's Full Review: |
Scooby Doo is a cartoon that never fails to make me smile, well, that is until Scrappy Doo was introduced. I tell you, that dog was what ruined the Scooby Empire. There aren’t many cartoons that I watch on a regular basis - Speed Racer, Beavis & Butthead, Scooby, Billy & Mandy and a few others top the list. Not all cartoons are made for kids but when it comes to almost all of the Scooby Doo related books, graphic novels and movies, they are ‘all age friendly’. I’d been looking for this book to try to complete a series from Cartoon Network; my elation was dashed when I saw that I would need another 17 books to actually complete it. Hey, at least I have it an honest try. Even so, you can’t argue with the price of $2.00 for a hard cover book [another eBay find] that was in almost band new condition. If you think Scooby Doo is the coolest dog on the planet ... get your Scooby snacks ready and ride along with them as they try to solve the mystery of the Vampire Rock Music Festival!
Scooby Doo And The Legend of Vampire
Mystery surrounds Vampire Rock, the nickname that the locals have given this rather creepy place that is supposedly haunted by Yowie Yahoo. As usual, the members of Mystery Inc. manage to find some type of trouble when they are on vacation and their trek into the Australian Outback is no exception. They are there for a music festival and it doesn’t take them, or rather Scooby, to see a glowing pair of red eyes peering out from the bushes. Then, if the red eyes weren’t weird enough, a pack of dingoes [wild dogs] appeared before them but were soon scared off by the music. Following the sound they ended up at the Vampire Rock Music Festival and who else is on stage practicing but their old friends, The Hex Girls. You have to love their names; Thorn, Dusk and Luna.
The weirdness level rises when Russell and Daniel, the coordinators of the festival, tell them that the contestants keep disappearing and those that are still around are dropping out of the show. Daniel’s grandfather drives by in a jeep and throws his two cents into the pot, “Vampires!”. According to the two promoters, a band from last years festival had been kidnapped and Yowie Yahoo turned them into vampires that were now hunting and kidnapping the current years participants. Yoinkes, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun does it? But wait, it gets better. The gang dress up like a rock group [my lord, where did they find those costumes?] and go under cover to try and solve the mystery. There are more than a few possibilities as to who could be kidnapping the artists but most of the fingers point to Jasper Ridgeway, the former manager of Wildwind, the group that was kidnapped.
Scooby and Shaggy are doing their part too; they find the best way to uncover clues is to sample all the food ... that sounds like a great plan until some vampires show and spoil the fun. They make their rounds but are always followed by those pesky Wildwind vampires. They bust on to the stage while The Bad Omens are practicing just in time to see the vampires swoop down and kidnap them. At this point in the story, everyone is a suspect and no one is sure what is going on or who will be kidnapped next. It’s up to the gang of Mystery Inc. to try and solve this mystery before anyone else is put in danger. There’s explosions, haunted caves, lava balls, more dingoes and Yowie Yahoo to contend with, only the bravest of readers will want to help the gang solve this mystery. You’ll be totally surprised at who the vampires turn out to be and how Scooby Doo saves everyone. But come on, Scooby always saves the day doesn’t he?
My Take
This is a cool book for fans of Scooby Doo, Cartoon Network books or anything vampire related. It isn’t all that long, 32 pages to be exact, but there is a lot of detail to the story. The one thing that I really wished they would have done was to add more information about the Australian things that you see in the illustrations. This is a great book to get kids interested in learning more about Australia; it mentioned dingoes, some local food and boomerangs but those topics can be starting points for them. The illustrations are dead on accurate as to what you would see on the cartoon or in the comic books and for the most part, the vampires and meanies in the book aren’t all that frightening. You don’t find out the name of the group that Mystery Inc. forms to go undercover until the last page of the book. If the suspense is killing you, they are named “The Meddling Kids”.
The Bottom Line
There are some big words in the book so younger kids might get tripped up on them, I’d suggest this for the seven to nine year old crowd but those are just numbers. There are a lot of cool titles in the Cartoon Network / Scooby Doo line and they are a great thing to invest in if you have a child that doesn’t really care for reading but likes Scooby or Cartoon Network. It’s a fun story that has a lot of mystery to it and it keeps you guessing until the last few pages. I mean, it is a given that they are going to solve the mystery so there’s no real suspense there - but you won’t be able to guess who the vampires are and who is being sabotaging the festival.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
Other spooky, haunted & vampire related things for kids ...
Scooby-Doo And The Reluctant Werewolf
Scooby Doo Mystery Mask Mix Up
Vampire State Building
The Vampire Rabbit
Little Vampire Goes To School
The Vampire Who Came For Christmas
The Haunted Halloween Carnival
Vampire's Crypt
Recommended:
Yes
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