Bunnicula & his fabulous adventures

If I had to recommend a childhood book series that I thoroughly enjoyed, it would be the Bunnicula series. Whenever I would describe it to adults as a child, they looked like they had just heard the strangest thing ever in their lives. For those not familiar with the series, it follows a family of pets on their adventures which center around a vampire bunny that sucks the juices out of vegetables, turning them white.

The first book involves Bunnicula, Harold the Dog, and Chester the Cat. All of the books are narrated by Harold and open with the letter he drops off with the editor, along with the copy of the book he’s written about their latest misadventures. Bunnicula is found under the seat by the Monroe family when they go to see, humorously enough, Dracula on Halloween at their local movie theater. They decided to name the rabbit Bunnicula because it’s a combination of Bunny and Dracula. Harold comes to like the new addition and Chester spends several books despising Bunnicula, even trying to kill him on at least one occasion. The books are littered with puns such as one book in the series titled “The Celery Stalks at Midnight.” This series was a family favorite on road trips. While we could always count on Harold’s narration to have us in stitches, there were more serious lessons to be learned.

The saddest book of the series, in my opinion, was “Return To Howliday Inn.” The Monroe family pets, now including a miniature dachshund named Howie, are returning to Howliday Inn because the Monroes are going on vacation. During their stay, they meet a great dane named Hamlet. He has been left at Chateau Bow-Wow by his elderly owner and is anxiously awaiting his return. Hamlet has learned ventriloquism from his owner and uses it to try to scare the other pets into breaking out of the boarding facility so he can find his owner. He does so by pretending to be a former boarder named Rosebud who met a suspicious fate at the hands of the vet who owns Chateau Bow-Wow. Eventually, Hamlet confesses to the rest of the pets his plan and knows he’s been abandoned by his owner.

His owner’s nephew had taken in Hamlet when his owner told Hamlet he was going to travel the world and couldn’t take Hamlet with him. Chester, who happens to be a cat able to use a computer, finds where his owner ended up. His owner wound up in a nursing home where pets aren’t allowed. On the way to the nursing home to reunite Hamlet and his owner, they stop by the nephew’s house. It’s revealed that he has married and gotten a puppy, in essence replacing and abandoning Hamlet. The two cats in the procession offer to torment the puppy as punishment for Hamlet being abandoned, but Hamlet declines and onward they press. Upon arriving at the nursing home and after much begging and pleading, Hamlet is allowed to stay. 

This book tackled complicated topics such as manipulation, grief, loss, and abandonment. I knew as a child that Hamlet scaring the other pets was wrong, but I felt so bad that he’d been dumped and was just waiting to be put down. Approaching these issues with fictional pets and with a happy ending allowed me to start grappling with these topics earlier in life. I’ll always be grateful for the lessons and laughs the Monroe family and Bunnicula gave me. I hope that every child can find a book series that can bring them as much joy (and good lessons about life) as this one brought me.