Vunce Upon A Time by J. Otto Seibold and Siobhan Vivian
In J. Otto Seibold and Siobhan Vivian’s “Vunce Upon a Time,” vampires are given a nice holiday, fairy tale treatment as young bloodsucker Dagmar — actually, he doesn’t like blood, he’s a vegetarian — tries to find a way to replenish his candy stash and is tipped off to the human holiday of Halloween by a skeleton boy.
The real dilemma for Dagmar is coming up with an appropriately scary Halloween costume — after all, ghouls of all stripes would find different things scary than a human would. What this all points to, though, are cultural differences and the misunderstandings that create fears. In Seibold’s world, ghouls and humans aren’t all that different, separated by our taste in home decor and house pets more than anything else. Dagmar lives in a gloomy castle that is infected by vultures and zombie moths. He sleeps in a coffin and turns into a bat. Like a human child, though, he likes the idea of dressing up and he loves candy — especially when rendered as packaged absurdities via Seibold’s subversive sensibilities (you have to love the candy “Filthy Rich Candy” with the slogan on its wrapper — “Ka-Ching!”).
In the end, this Halloween tale is one of togetherness — Dagmar will come to understand humans better and humans, actually, kind of already do understand monsters. We love them so much that we dress up every year just like them and celebrate with mounds of candy.
