These days, we have a tendency to want a scientific explanation for everything—even in our most outlandish fantasy stories. Writers of vampire fiction, in particular, have come up with myriad explanations for how vampires come into existence, whether it’s a genetic mutation or some blood-borne disease. In Peeps, Scott Westerfeld has a particularly unsexy explanation: parasites. Through the eyes of teenage protagonist Cal, Peeps gives us the scoop on being a vampire, including the good, the bad, the awkward, and the gross.
A year ago, Cal moved to New York City to start his freshman year of college, completely unaware that there was a parasite out there that could reduce you to a state resembling the vampires of myth and legend. This parasite gestates among the city’s rats, before bubbling up to the human population where it can be spread through bites, kisses, or sexual contact. Cal gets infected by the first girl he ever sleeps with and unknowingly passes the disease onto several of his subsequent paramours. But luckily for Cal, he turns out to be a carrier—he shows a few of the symptoms, such as night vision and increased strength, but he hasn’t devolved into a flesh-eating maniac. He’s now made it his mission to hunt down all of the “parasite positive” people—or Peeps—that he infected and to learn as much as he can about parasites in general. The hardest part of living with the parasite is knowing that he can never kiss another girl again, and that he can’t let the world find out about vampires. Both of those things become a lot harder after he meets Lacey.
Interspersed between the chapters of the novel are passages of scientific factoids about real parasites that presumably come from Cal’s research. The fictional vampire parasite is compared to Guinea worms, toxoplasma, and parasitic wasps. The inclusion of so much real science helps to make such an outlandish premise seem more believable. But these passages also serve to establish an overarching philosophy in the novel. Throughout these passages, Cal meditates on the fact that parasites are a natural part of life, and they can do both harm and good. Some parasites even seem to have evolved fortuitously to put a stop to something even more destructive. By the end of the novel, Cal begins to think that Peeps may be here for a reason, too—that there’s something out there much worse than vampires, and only the Peeps can stop it.
I love when authors take such an overworked (but never out of style) genre as vampire fiction and manage to do something completely unexpected with it! Almost everything about this novel felt new and fresh, from the basic premise of vampirism being caused by sexually transmitted parasites to the depiction of the “vampires” themselves. In Westerfeld’s world, Peeps suffer from something called “the anathema,” which makes them hate everything that they once loved. This provides an explanation for why they avoid sunlight and leads to humorous scenes in which Cal wields an Elvis action figure like a crucifix to corral an ex-girlfriend formerly obsessed the King of Rock and Roll. I also liked Westerfeld’s approach to the question of why vampires exist. Vampirism isn’t a curse or a happy accident; it’s an evolutionary development designed to protect the rest of humanity from something much more dangerous….
The vampires in Scott Westerfeld’s Peeps are not sexy, mysterious, or aristocratic, but rather fun, silly, and a bit gross. But the story is refreshing in its weirdness and almost comforting in its message. If you want to check out Peeps for yourself, you can find it at your local retailer or buy it online and support The Gothic Library in the process by clicking this Bookshop.org affiliate link. Don’t forget to share your thoughts with me in the comments!