Up until recently, I had only really ever loved one book featuring vampires. You likely can guess which book that is, yes, ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. But in the past few years a few have really caught my attention, so it seems only fitting that Bloodsick by bestselling and awarding-winning author Adam Cesare might fall into the category of vampire stories I actually like. I wasn’t wrong. Bloodsick is a brutal, coming-of-age, horror story where you might actually be the lucky few if you weren’t invited to the big party.
A vampire awakens from a 300-year hibernation, bringing a plague of undeath to a working-class Massachusetts town. With the high school’s most notorious party house serving as ground zero for the infection, it isn’t long before the affliction spreads through the entire student body and beyond.
Ava, who’s hesitant to take the next step with her football star boyfriend, and Nick, Ava’s best friend who pines for more, must band together with an unlikely ally to fight a horde of their newly turned classmates.
Let’s be honest, there are only a few who can write a high-school party that goes terribly wrong like Cesare. Of course, his highlight in this is with Clown in a Cornfield, but in Bloodsick things go wrong in a different way. Similar to what I said in my opening, maybe not being at the party is the cool thing, maybe the safer place to be. What seems like is going to be a fantastic night with friends turns ugly and doesn’t stop there.
On top of Cesare’s ability to immerse us in the high school experience, Adam brings to the table a bit of himself in this story as well. Bloodsick takes place in Massachusetts, near where the author attended college at Boston University. With this, there are plenty of local references such as grocery stores and convince stores that really bring things close to home for me. I grew up in Maine, but lived my 20s in Massachusetts, so these locations are present in my mind and bring a sense of local flair that those who know might enjoy, but those who don’t know won’t be left in the cold. They are nods to local living, but not integral to the story itself.
Additionally, Cesare weaves in his love for movies, but beyond that physical media. There is this special attention paid towards what takes place in movies, especially those features vampire attacks, but a love for movies overall. Adam is known for his love of physical media and it shows in Bloodsick, that’s for sure.
As with Cesare’s other horror stories, he takes this story into the dark and doesn’t look back. Bloodsick is brutal vampire tale, not for the faint of heart. There is intense body horror in addition to the more emotional horror felt by these characters trying to navigate high school both as students and faculty. Bloodsick has this taking what we know of being a hormonal teenager and brings it to life with the hunger of the undead. Adam always reminds me that I know I didn’t enjoy high school, but at least I wasn’t attacked by clowns or in this case a 300-year vampire and the plague they bring about.
Bloodsick is a truly terrifying, character-driven horror story where navigating high school seems like the easy part of being a teenager. Bestselling author Adam Cesare delivers a story plenty of body horror that will frighten you in many ways. Bloodsick sinks its teeth into the horrors of being a teenager and turns them into a bloody and disturbing coming-of-age tale.
Bloodsick hits bookstores everywhere on January 19, 2027 from Union Square & Co. The audiobook, narrated by Chelsea Rebecca, is available via Libro.fm!
