AMERICAN GHOUL by Michelle McGill-Vargas – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

American Ghoul by Michelle McGill-Vargas
Published by Blackstone Publishing on September 3 2024
Genres: Adult, historical, Horror
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A highly entertaining debut, American Ghoul excels with standout characters and unexpected humor.

You can’t tell from the rather serious cover, but American Ghoul is extremely funny and much more lighthearted than I expected. This is due mostly to the pitch perfect voice of the main character Lavinia, a recently freed slave who finds herself in a very unusual predicament. Michelle McGill-Vargas mixes historical fiction and vampires in a completely unique way, and I highly recommend this impressive debut.

American Ghoul takes place in Georgia not long after the end of the Civil War. When the story opens, we meet Lavinia, a Black woman who has just been arrested for murdering her white companion Simon Arceneau. Lavinia is in jail and is telling the story of how she came to be there to the arresting constable, a man named Martin. Little by little, Lavinia’s unorthodox story unfolds, as she explains to Martin how she met Simone, how she discovered Simone was a vampire, and how Lavinia became a “ghoul” after being bitten by Simone. Simone convinces Lavinia to leave town with her, hoping she will help Simone find food and protect her during the day when she sleeps.

Lavinia is eager to start fresh. She’s been working for a plantation owner, and while not technically a slave anymore—the story takes place several years after the Emancipation Proclamation—she longs to break the chains of her service. And so she agrees to Simone’s proposition, although she soon finds out she has her hands full with Simone, a childlike vampire with a terrible blood lust who can’t control herself. Lavinia steps in to make sure Simone is only “eating” bad people and manages their day-to-day lives, as they make their way towards Chicago, a mythical place where Lavinia is convinced she will finally be free.

But the longer they are together, the more bodies start to pile up in their wake. Lavinia does her best to hide Simone’s kills, but two women traveling alone—one white and one Black—tend to attract attention, and it isn’t long before various people they meet along the way start to suspect they might be responsible for the recent murders popping up in the area.

American Ghoul reads like a buddy comedy at times, and I can honestly say I’ve never read a buddy comedy involving a former slave and a vampire, so props to the author for coming up with such an audacious idea. Right away, Lavinia’s voice shines through and takes control of the story. Lavinia is outspoken and bossy, which it turns out are good qualities to have when you’re trying to manage a ravenous vampire. She’s also searching for human connections, and because Simone is a vampire, she can’t fulfill those needs for Lavinia. Lavinia goes out of her way to meet new people, like the attractive fisherman King Jones who could be a possible love interest, or the Wiltshires, a couple who live in a big, beautiful house and own a saloon. She isn’t above going after opportunities that will better her position, and it turns out she’s very good at getting her way.

Simone is also a well done character. Before she was turned, she was vapid and pampered, and now that she’s a vampire, she vapid and deadly. Simone might not be the sharpest tool in the toolbox, but when it comes to eating people, she knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. I liked that Simone doesn’t really think things through, after all, that’s what Lavinia is there for. Simone simply chooses a victim and attacks, with no thought to the aftermath. One of my favorite things about Simone’s selection process was that she insists that different nationalities taste different. So she’s always on the lookout for something exotic (Romanians) as opposed to something bland (the English). But as interesting as these two characters are on their own, it’s their interactions with each other that make this book so good. Simone and Lavinia are opposites in every way, which makes their dialogue laugh-out-loud funny.

And because of the setting and time period, the story deals with racism and how it affects Lavinia. She was born into slavery but now finds herself a free woman. Still, the attitudes towards Blacks haven’t changed at all, and Lavinia is still treated poorly wherever she goes. The author makes sure her message comes across loud and clear, but she does it with a light touch, which I appreciated. And now that Lavinia finds herself practically shackled to a vampire, she wonders whether she’s actually free at all, or if she’s traded one form of slavery for another. In addition to the action and humor, there’s a lot of food for thought.

Simone’s killings are suitably violent and bloody, and Lavinia has to clean up the mess each time, which includes doing something with the bodies. I did struggle a little with the mechanics of how one becomes a vampire, versus how one becomes a ghoul. Lavinia is a ghoul, which means she has some of the benefits of being a vampire—she doesn’t need to sleep or eat—but she doesn’t crave blood, and she has a psychic connection with Simone. During the story, some of Simone’s kills come back as vamps and some don’t, which was confusing at times.

Still, this was such a fast-paced, fun story. I also think it would make a fantastic Netflix movie, since the characters are so vividly drawn. Michelle McGill-Vargas is a writer to watch, and I look forward to her next book.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.