Oh, No! My Substitute Teacher Is a Vampire

By J. Nicholls

Halloween has always been Adam’s favorite day of the year, even though his appearance makes it hard for him to look good in a scary costume.

But when his school’s principal is attacked in his office, looking scary becomes the least of Adam’s problems-- because there might be something actually scary in town, like a real-life vampire. And Adam has a prime suspect-- the new substitute teacher, who is taking his vampire costume a little too seriously.

With Halloween on the brink of cancellation, Adam teams up with his sister and their best friends for a night of trick-or-treating none of them will ever forget...

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Nicholls
• Release date: Oct 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005967789

Book preview

For Puma

Contents

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Copyright

1.

You look like a dork.

Adam studied himself in the mirror and sighed, realizing his sister was right. The vampire costume he was wearing was great, but with his pudgy build and thick glasses there was simply no way for him to pull it off— not in any way that was reasonably scary, at least.

I look like a vampire clown, he said.

Nicole smiled evilly. Good thing clowns are in this year— scary ones, at least.

Adam frowned, then shrugged. It was just like his sister to say mean things in an effort to get him down, and usually it worked— but this time he wasn't going to let her get to him. He picked up the bottle of fake blood he'd bought from the dollar store and squeezed some onto his chin, so it looked like he'd just been drinking somebody's blood.

Adam, you have ketchup on your chin, Nicole said.

He rolled his eyes. Knock it off.

Hey, I'm just trying to save you from embarrassing yourself.

He set the bottle down and looked at his reflection again. He looked like a goofball, and there was no getting around that.

Oh well.

He left the bathroom and collected his backpack from the hallway. He went downstairs to the kitchen and headed for the front door. He could hear Nicole trailing after him, but he ignored her.

Please don't tell me you're actually going to school looking like that.

I sure am.

But Adam, think how it makes you look.

He stopped at the door and turned to face her. So?

You look like a total loser.

"According to you, I always look like a total loser. What about it?"

"Well, at least think about how it makes me look. People know we're related."

He smiled at her, baring his fangs. You know what? That's not my problem.

Then he turned and left the house, heading for school. Halloween was his favorite holiday of the year, and he wasn't going to let anybody or anything ruin it for him— not even his sister.

2.

The instant he walked through the front doors, Adam could feel eyes on him. People standing by their lockers turned and stared, many snickering either openly or behind their hands. Lots of people were wearing costumes, but none of them that he could see looked silly like his did. There were plenty of other vampires, but they all looked real… like they might actually pounce on him and drink his blood.

Adam ignored the people who were laughing as he went to his locker. He put his backpack inside and took out his books for first period, which was math— and that was good, because he liked math.

Mr. Percetti's classroom was at the other end of the school, so Adam turned and headed in that direction. He passed more people who pointed and laughed, but— like before—