The third installment in Christopher Moore’s comedic vampire series, Bite Me: A Love Story, is without a doubt the funniest book I have read in ages.  Told with the same off-kilter humor that is found throughout all of Christopher Moore’s novels, it is definitely not your average run-of-the-mill vampire tale.  It’s a love story with a twist.

Set in San Francisco, Moore’s vampire series features characters that include Abby Normal (a perky goth teen with a flair for the dramatic), a giant cat named Chet, a homeless man who is the self-proclaimed Emperor of San Francisco, a team of mostly-stoned graveyard shift grocery store stock clerks who find themselves in the roles of impromptu vampire hunters, a brilliant but nerdy grad student named Steven “Foo Dog” Wong who Abby claims as her “manga-haired love slave,” several ancient and powerful denizens of the night, along with a couple of likeable yet fairly ordinary under-achievers who just happen to be vampires.

I was delighted to discover that much of the book was narrated by the character of Abby Normal, the proud minion of her somewhat bumbling vampire masters.  Her voice is simultaneously sarcastic, melodramatic, and full of over-the-top teen slang.

“I weep, I brood, I grieve — I have sniffed the bitter pink Sharpie of despair and mascara tears stripe my cheeks like a mouthful of chewed up black Gummi bears has been loogied in my eyes. Life is a dark abyss of pain and I am alone, separated from my darling delicious Foo.

But check it — I totally kicked ass against a gang of vampyre kitties.”

Having also read the first two books in the series and intrigued by my intermittent fits of giggles while reading the book during our vacation, my husband could hardly wait for me to finish Bite Me before he began reading it himself.  He literally laughed out loud during certain chapters, something I can’t say I’ve ever seen him do before while reading a book.

Moore’s vampire series begins with the book Bloodsucking Fiends and is followed up with You Suck.  Bite Me is the most recent novel in this fun-filled fantasy adventure that is definitely more comedy than horror.  Though it would be difficult to equate Moore’s humor to that of anyone else’s, it might loosely be compared to that of best-selling author of the Discworld series, Terry Pratchett.  Moore’s writing style is a bit more edgy and outrageous, while Pratchett’s humor is more subtly finessed, but both are sure to keep their readers laughing out loud.  My other favorites in Christopher Moore’s collection include Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal and The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror.

Note: This article was first published as “Book Review: Bite Me by Christopher Moore” on Blogcritics.org.