Let the right one in: Dark, awful, and beautiful

This post was originally published in 2009.

I sometimes go through “phases” as relates to my chosen reading material.  Sometimes I’m all about non-fiction, with popular science titles or historical works being the flavour of the month but just at the moment I’m in what I’d call a “vampire phase”.  I’ve recently been devouring (sorry) Charlaine Harris’ South Vampire series, opens a new window, after sampling a dose of Sunshine, opens a new window and currently I am supping of the irresistibly creepy Let the Right One in* by Swede John Ajvide Lindqvist.

My curiosity was piqued by reviews of the film. Coming out as it did around the time of the phenomenally successful Twilight, comparisons were unavoidable. David Farrier, of TV3 reviewed the film and said that it was “actually worth watching” since unlike Twilight, “the book isn’t rubbish”. Encouraged by this I decided to give it a go.

One of the common themes within vampire fiction is that of loneliness and isolation.  Let the right one in is no different but the execution is very deftly done. There’s something in the portrayal of the damaged, socially distant characters, combined with descriptions of icy Swedish settings that makes you feel a little cold even in a New Zealand summer. So there’s something undeniably sweet about two people making a connection amongst all this loneliness.  It’s just a little unfortunate that one of them is a petite vampire named Eli and the other is a bullied, outcast boy named Oskar.

I’m only half-way through the book, so I don’t know yet how it ends. Unlike many more formulaic treatments of vampire/ human relationships I have no idea where it might go (but I suspect somewhere dark, awful, and beautiful**). It’s not a book for the squeamish, with some fairly gruesome and disturbing content but it has an elegiac tone you don’t often get from your average Stephen King (not that I consider Mr King average). So if you’re looking for something a little different from your run-of-the-mill fang-tastic potboiler, Let the right one in might be just the thing.

*The title comes from a Morrissey song and the need that vampires have to be “invited” before they can enter the domicile of their “victim”.  Makes you think twice about the Avon lady, don’t it?

**I finished it. This was an accurate prediction.

Find more

• Let the right one in: Book, eBook, eAudiobook, and film versions
• Vampire fiction
• Court Theatre production of Let the right one in