Ffangs the Vampire Bat and the Kiss of Truth [Paperback]

Ted Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Ffangs lived with the other vampires on Vampire Island, but he was different from the rest as he couldn't stand the sight of blood. When he arrives in London everyone is too frightened to listen while he tries to explain that he only wants to be human and he finds himself facing the vampire hunter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber Limited (April 30, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571154611
• ISBN-13: 978-0571154616
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,720,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story, strangely attired, May 27, 2005

By 

Brian Burns (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ffangs the Vampire Bat and the Kiss of Truth (Paperback)

I'm not sure if this is appropriate for children - the story and drawings are a bit hallucinatory, though the underlying message is wonderful, along the lines of Pinnochio. It certainly caught my attention when I first read it at age 20. Ffangs is a vampire who wants to be human, but when people see him they flee in fright. Through the various (and many) twists and turns in the story he finds a girl named Selena living in the bottom of a dark pit, who has a snake in her mouth. The snake is the Truth, whose bite makes people what they really are. Ffangs eventually gets his wish, and the story ends in a wonderful way, with Selena vanishing and Ffangs setting off to find her. The last line of the book is

(The adventures of Ffangs will be continued in the next book.)

which is a great way to end a story, though to my knowledge the sequel was either never written or never published. That's okay though, maybe there was never even any sequel planned.

My only quibble with the book is that the drawings don't match the tone of the story, at least to my eye. They are filled with explosive, manic energy, while the story itself works on a much deeper level. Also, the story begins with the story of a rooster named Attila, which while somewhat of the same theme, serves mostly as a strange introduction. One can see Attila as the poet himself, if one is inclined to read things into the story.