Дебора Хоу - Bunnicula

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Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery

25th Anniversary Edition

Bunnicula Book 1

by Deborah and James Howe

2004

Jacket Text

Books by James Howe

A Few Words About Bunnicula’s 25th Anniversary

Editor’s Note

The Arrival

Music in the Night

Some Unusual Goings-On

A Cat Prepares

Chester Goes into His Act

Harold Helps Out

A (New) Friend in Need

Disaster in the Dining Room

All’s Well that Ends Well … Almost

Publication Info

Jacket Text

Front Flap

IN 1979 ATHENEUM FIRST PUBLISHED Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery to great acclaim. A beloved story that has become a modem classic with millions of copies in print worldwide, Bunnicula has made countless children laugh and carrots quake with terror. With an eyecatching new jacket by C. F. Payne and a new preface from James Howe, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce a brand-new generation of readers to the crazy antics of Bunnicula, Chester, and Harold.

It all begins when the Monroes go to see the movie Dracula . At the theater, Toby finds something on his seat—a baby rabbit, which the family takes home and names Bunnicula. It proves to be an apt name, at least as far as Chester the cat is concerned. Well-read and observant, Chester soon decides that there is something odd about the newcomer. For one thing, he seems to have fangs. And the odd markings on his back look a bit like a cape. Furthermore, Bunnicula sleeps from sunup to sundown and is only awake at night. And then there are the vegetables … the white vegetables.

Is Bunnicula really a vampire? Only Bunnicula knows for sure. But the story of Chester’s suspicions and their consequences—as told by his canine pal, Harold—makes uproarious reading.

Rear Flap

James How wrote the award-winning best-seller Bunnicula with his late wife, Deborah Howe, in 1977. The couple went on to write one other children’s book, Teddy Bear’s Scrapbook , before Deborah’s untimely death from cancer in 1978.

After Bunnicula ’s publication in 1979, James Howe quit his job as a literary agent to pursue writing full-time. His many other popular books for children include the five sequels to Bunnicula ; The Tales from the House of Bunnicula series; the Bunnicula and Friends Ready-to-Read series; the Sebastian Barth mysteries; the Pinky and Rex series; A Night Without Stars ; Morgan’s Zoo ; and the picture books Horace and Morris But Mostly Dolores , Horace and Morris join the Chorus (but what about Dolores?) , and Kaddish for Grandpa in Jesus’ Name Amen . He is also the author of several acclaimed novels for older readers, such as The Misfits and The Watcher , and is the editor of the anthologies The Color of Absence: 12 Stories About Loss and Hope and 13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen . James Howe lives in New York State.

JACKET ILLUSTRATIONS COPYRIGHT © 2004 BY C. F. PAYNE

JACKET DESIGN BY RUSSELL GORDON

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Rear Cover

“Luckily Bunnicula is the kind of story that does not age, and in all probability, will never die. Or stay dead, anyway …”

—Neil Gaiman

“Bunnicula was one funny, scary, must-read vampire bunny when he first showed up. Now it’s twenty-five years later, and he hasn’t changed a bit. Very scary. Very funny.”

—Jon Scieszka

“As a kid, I saw the classic movie Dracula and became instantly afraid of vampires. Many years later, I read the classic children’s book Bunnicula . Now—in addition to vampires—I am also afraid of bunnies. I hope you’re happy, Jim.”

—Barbara Park

“James Howe is the king! Bunnicula rules!!!” —Dav Pilkey

Books by James Howe

Bunnicula Books

Bunnicula (with Deborah Howe)

Howliday Inn

The Celery Stalks at Midnight

Nighty-Nightmare

Return to Howliday Inn

Bunnicula Strikes Again!

Bunnicula and Friends

The Vampire Bunny

Hot Fudge

Picture Books

There’s a Monster Under My Bed

There’s a Dragon in My Sleeping Bag

Teddy Bear’s Scrapbook (with Deborah Howe)

Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores

Horace and Morris Join the Chorus (but what about Dolores?)

Kaddish for Grandpa in Jesus’ name amen

Tales from the House of Bunnicula

It Came from Beneath the Bed!

Invasion of the Mind Swappers from Asteroid 6!

Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom

Screaming Mummies of the Pharaoh’s Tomb II

Bud Barkin, Private Eye

The AmazingOdorous Adventures of Stinky Dog

Sebastian Barth Mysteries

What Eric Knew

Stage Fright

Eat Your Poison, Dear

Dew Drop Dead

Pinky and Rex Series

Pinky and Rex

Pinky and Rex Get Married

Pinky and Rex and the Mean Old Witch

Pinky and Rex and the Spelling Bee

Pinky and Rex Go to Camp

Pinky and Rex and the New Baby

Pinky and Rex and the Double-Dad Weekend

Pinky and Rex and the Bully

Pinky and Rex and the New Neighbors

Pinky and Rex and the Perfect Pumpkin

Pinky and Rex and the School Play

Pinky and Rex and the Just-Right Pet

Novels

A Night Without Stars

Morgan’s Zoo

The Watcher

The Misfits

Edited by James Howe

The Color of Absence: Twelve Stories about Loss and Hope

13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen

TO

MILDRED AND LESTER SMITH—

WITH LOVE

A Few Words About Bunnicula’s 25th Anniversary

Twenty-five years?

Impossible.

Harold hasn’t grown any older. How is it that I have?

Oh, that’s right, I’m not a fictional character. Just my luck. Sometimes I feel as if I were inside a story, though—one I could never have imagined, a story with thousands of characters, unexpected plot twists, and no end in sight. That’s the best part: It’s a story that’s still being written.

It started with only a handful of characters. Two, to be exact. One night in 1977, two underemployed actors, a husband and wife who didn’t know the first thing about writing a children’s book, sat down at their tomato-red kitchen table and jotted some notes about a vampire rabbit and the “typical American family” with whom he came to reside. There were a brother and sister, their parents, a cat named Chester, and, of course, “Count Bunnicula,” the mysterious rabbit. By the next day, the brother and sister had become two brothers, and another pet had been added to the family—Harold, a dog.

Bunnicula—A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe was published in April 1979. Debbie, who had been diagnosed with cancer several months into the writing of the book, did not live to see it in print. She died in June 1978, at the age of thirty-one. Getting on with my life as best I could, I continued with my day job as an assistant to a literary agent while going to school in the evenings to earn a master’s degree in theater directing. I had lost interest in an acting career and gave little thought to the book Debbie and I had written just for fun or the impact its publication might have—although, truth be told, the day I first held the published book in my hands was one of the most thrilling of my life.