The Traveling Vampire Show

The Traveling Vampire Show

Author	Richard Laymon
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Horror Fiction Vampire Fiction Coming of Age
Publisher	Cemetery Dance Publications
Publication date	May 2000
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	534 pages
ISBN	978-1-58767-000-8
OCLC	44409667

The Traveling Vampire Show is a 2000 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon.

Plot

The book follows three 16-year-olds on an idle summer day in 1963. The narrator, Dwight, and his best friends Slim, a tomboy, and Rusty, an overweight male, find fliers for an exotic vampire show. They sneak a peek at Valeria, who is billed as the world's only living captive vampire. Later they sneak into the show itself and discover a sinister truth about the vampires.

The book focuses on the interactions between the three teens and their sexual awakening.

Publication

The first run of the book included two special limited editions. A signed limited edition hardcover (1000 copies) had the same production values as the hardcover and included a signature sheet. The traycased lettered edition (26 copies) was signed and lettered, and bound in leather with a satin ribbon page marker and additional full-color artwork.

Reception

The book was one of Laymon's more popular novels and won a posthumous Bram Stoker Award for best novel in 2001. A starred review from Publishers Weekly praised the novel for its "emphasis on atmosphere" specifically pointing out the social and sexual tensions among the three teens.

Film adaption

Independent filmmaker Chris Sivertson wrote a film adaption of the novel and planned to direct the film for release in 2011.