Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery

“I shall never forget the first time I laid these now tired old eyes on our visitor.” 

The novel’s opening lines introduce Harold as the point-of-view character who thinks back to when his family brought home the strange little bunny they named Bunnicula. Harold is telling the story from the present, as a much older dog, and it’s clear that the bunny’s arrival in his life all those years ago changed everything.

“There was a flash of lightning, and in its glare I noticed that Mr. Monroe was carrying a little bundle—a bundle with tiny glistening eyes.” 

Harold describes the first time he saw Bunnicula. The foreboding atmosphere created by the lightning storm and the bunny’s strange eyes establishes the story’s eerie mood. The premise of the novel is built around the idea that Bunnicula may in fact be a vampire, and there’s an inherent sense of danger in this mystery. This opening scene creates tension and a looming feeling of peril, but this feeling is underpinned by a lighthearted playfulness due to the bunny’s otherwise adorable appearance.

“Toby’s a nice kid, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t hurt that he shares his stash with me. It was, after all, at one of those late night parties in Toby’s room that I first developed my taste for chocolate cake.”

Out of all the humans in Harold’s house, he’s most bonded to young Toby. Toby is always kind to Harold, unlike his older brother, and he always shares his food with Harold. When