Q + A Katy Birchall - How Not To Be A Vampire Slayer

October 26th 2021

Can you tell us about How Not to be a Vampire Slayer?

How Not to be a Vampire Slayer is about Maggie Helsby, a young girl who moves to a place called Goreway with her parents where there are legends of vampires, ghosts and monsters lurking in Skeleton Woods. That’s why it is strictly out of bounds. But Maggie has never been scared of anything and when she wanders into the woods, she comes across an ancient enchanted castle and comes face to face with a vampire, Sharptooth Shadow…who turns out to be vegetarian.

Sharptooth and Maggie embark on an unlikely friendship, but things get tricky when they discover that Maggie is chosen to be the next Helsby Vampire Slayer and suddenly their friendship is threatened.

What inspired you to write about a reluctant vampire slayer?

I absolutely LOVE Halloween, but I hate scary films! So I wanted to write a story about a friendly vampire and then thought a good twist might be for them to befriend the very person who is meant to be their greatest enemy. As soon as the idea was in my head, I had to start writing it. It was so much fun to create!

Who are your favourite vampires in fiction?

When I was a teenager, I was a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, of course, the spin-off series, Angel. So Angel would be up there. Dracula is a very big influence on this book, so he’s definitely one of my favourites.

What are your favourite Halloween traditions?

Without a doubt, my favourite Halloween tradition is decorating the house and preparing party bags of sweets for trick-or-treaters! Last year we had a giant blow up pumpkin (it was as tall as me!) outside the house, and spider webs and witches hanging across the windows. I just LOVE seeing all the costumes, it’s such a fun night of spookiness.

What’s your favourite part about writing funny books?

I love coming up with ideas and silly scenarios that might make people laugh, and then working out a way to write them as funny as possible on the page to try to capture the exact scene I have in my head. I love reading funny books, so writing them is such an honour and I only hope my books bring the same kind of comfort and joy to readers that I get from delving into the funny books of others!

What children’s books are you most looking forward to reading this Autumn?

I’m really looking forward to reading The Wild Before by Piers Torday, Mystery of the Night Watchers by A.M. Howell, and Following Frankenstein by Catherine Bruton

How Not To Be A Vampire Slayer is published by Scholastic and is out now.