Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery

“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 Bunnicula arrives, Harold is jealous because the rabbit initially takes Toby’s attention away from him.

“He’s a bunny and we found him at a Dracula movie, so we’ll call him Bunny-cula. Bunnicula!” 

The bunny’s name has two layers of meaning. Mrs. Monroe explains that the technical reason why the bunny is called Bunnicula is because the family found him during a vampire film. But Chester becomes wholly convinced that the bunny’s name actually reflects his character. The name Bunnicula demonstrates the Monroe family’s sense of humor, but it also illustrates Chester’s overwhelming anxiety about the nature of the bunny’s true identity.

“I feel at this time there are a few things you should know about Chester. He is not your ordinary cat. (But then, I’m not your ordinary dog, since an ordinary dog wouldn’t be writing this book, would he?)”

Harold displays a high level of self-awareness as a main character. He is not only an intelligent dog who’s capable of writing a book, but he’s also a loyal companion to Chester.

“Every night when the family is sleeping, Chester goes to the bookshelf, selects the midnight reading, and curls up on his favorite chair. He especially likes mystery stories and tales of horror and the supernatural. As a result, he has developed a very vivid imagination.” 

Chester’s love of mystery, horror, and supernatural literature helps explain why he believes Bunnicula is a true vampire. His books portray vampires as blood-sucking creatures, so when he catches Bunnicula sucking the juice out of vegetables, he immediately connects Bunnicula to the literary blood-suckers. His reading fuels his paranoia that Bunnicula is a vampire. This leads him to commit strange acts in hope of saving the Monroes from what he believes to be a bloodthirsty bunny.

“I noticed the peculiar marking on his forehead. What had seemed an ordinary black spot between his ears took on a strange v-shape, which connected with the big black patch that covered his back and each side of his neck. It looked as if he was wearing a coat…no, more like a cape than a coat.” 

Chester tries to convince Harold that there’s something too strange about Bunnicula’s appearance to be a coincidence. The more Chester investigates the rabbit’s appearance and mannerisms, the more he becomes sure that the rabbit is really a vampire. The mystery surrounding Bunnicula’s true identity is fueled by Chester’s vivid imagination. Any time Chester notices something strange about Bunnicula, he immediately makes a connection to the horror and mystery books that he’s always reading.

“As I watched, [Bunnicula’s] lips parted in a hideous smile, and where a rabbit’s buck teeth should have been, two little pointed fangs glistened.”

Chester is convinced that Bunnicula is a vampire, and these assumptions fuel the novel’s mystery plot. Harold initially believes Chester’s theory and goes along with his plans to stop the rabbit. But eventually Harold feels sorry for the bunny and realizes that maybe they’re wrong about him. This tension between Chester’s theory and Harold’s compassion ultimately leads to the novel’s climax, and Bunnicula’s true identity is never revealed. Instead, the characters learn to live with the bunny as a fellow pet in the Monroe household.

“Could Chester be right? Was this harmless looking little ball of fluff really a vampire?” 

Every assumption that Bunnicula is actually a vampire comes from Chester. Harold initially believes Chester’s theories since his observations about Bunnicula seem to align with everything that he’s read about vampires.

“For a moment, panic seized me. I thought she’d run out of dog food. But then I remembered the events of the previous evening.” 

Harold hears a scream coming from the kitchen, and his first reaction is fear at the thought of missing a meal. This demonstrates the humor that underpins the central mystery of the novel. Chester may be convinced that Bunnicula is really a vampire, but Harold remains an easygoing dog who is more concerned about not having his beloved food than whether Bunnicula might suck the family’s blood.

“Mrs. Monroe picked Chester up and cuddled him. I was praying she would not add insult to injury by kissing his nose, which he hates more than anything.”

After Chester tries to pantomime the actions of a vampire in hope that the Monroes will understand what’s going on with Bunnicula, Mrs. Monroe interprets Chester’s behavior as him needing more attention. This moment reveals the gulf that exists between the Monroes and their pets. Chester and Harold are sentient creatures who can communicate with each other but not with the Monroes. As a result, the Monroes treat Chester and Harold as common pets, leaving Chester to investigate Bunnicula’s identity on his own.

“That’s because you’re too dumb to bathe yourself. Cats always bathe themselves, it’s a rule. Everyone knows that.”

Much of the witty banter in the novel revolves around Chester and Harold teasing each other over their species-specific characteristics. They are friends, but they are also keenly aware of each other’s flaws.

“Chester appeared at the door, carrying in his mouth what looked every bit like a nice, big, juicy raw steak. My eyes popped, my teeth dropped Bunnicula, my mouth opened, and I began to drool.” 

Harold is an intelligent, sentient dog, but he still carries his canine instincts. He’s driven by his desire for food and loves to chew on human shoes. These typical dog behaviors add a playfulness to the novel that contrasts with the darker mystery of Bunnicula’s origins.

“To avoid any suggestion of violence (I’ve never been one for the sport of hunting), I preferred to think of myself as the creature’s mother, carrying it off to safety.”

Harold helps Chester with his devious plan, but he makes it clear that although he carried Bunnicula in his mouth, he did it gently rather than with violent intentions. This demonstrates his gentle nature. While Chester wants to stake Bunnicula to end his supposed secret reign of terror, Harold wants to save his life because he views him as an innocent, adorable creature.

“I guess I realized that my heart just wasn’t in the destruction of the bunny vampire.”

Harold decides that even if Chester is right about Bunnicula being a vampire, it doesn’t mean the bunny should be destroyed. Even if Bunnicula is a vampire, the bunny must be a nonviolent one because he’s never hurt anyone. Since the bunny only sucks vegetable dry and not the Monroe family, Harold’s okay with his presence in the household. This causes a rift between Chester and Harold, and the two stop speaking as a result.

“One evening, I dropped by Bunnicula’s cage to chat. I’d found myself doing that more and more since Chester had stopped talking to me. Of course, Bunnicula didn’t talk back, but he was a good listener.” 

This is the first time Harold acknowledges Bunnicula as his friend. As Harold and Chester drift apart due to their differing opinions regarding Bunnicula, Harold spends more time with Bunnicula and realizes that the creature makes a great friend. Bunnicula never speaks, but he listens to everything Harold says, unlike Chester.

“Go back to bed, Harold. This is larger than the two of us. It may seem harsh, but I’m only being cruel to be kind.”

Chester defends his starvation of Bunnicula because he believes he’s harming the bunny for the greater good of the Monroe family. Harold disagrees. In his opinion, Bunnicula hasn’t harmed anyone, so intentionally starving the creature seems cruel. This divergent opinions reveal why the two formerly close friends grow apart.

“Upon seeing Bunnicula about to enjoy his first bit of nourishment in days, Chester leaped across the table, seemingly without touching the floor, chairs, or anything else between himself and our furry friend and landed directly on top of the bunny.” 

Chester feels betrayed when he finds out that his former friend Harold is actively sabotaging his plan to destroy Bunnicula. The climax of the novel occurs in the scene, when Chester tries to attack the rabbit and everything that’s been stewing between the pets comes to a head. This moment is also important because although Bunnicula is starving, no one actually sees the creature eat. This furthers the mystery regarding Bunnicula’s true identity.

“Mom, doesn’t Bunnicula look kinda sick?” 

The pets have constantly tried to communicate with the Monroe family throughout the novel, but they’ve failed. Toby is Harold’s closest human companion and is the most sensitive to the pets’ communicative promptings. This proves true in this scene. Toby is the only human who realizes that Bunnicula looks sick.

“Looking back on that night, I remember thinking that this whole mess could never be resolved happily.” 

Harold admits that the situation seemed hopeless after the Monroes caught the pets fighting at the dinner table. Harold was worried that his relationship with Chester would never be the same and that Bunnicula would starve to death.

“The vet worked everything out very nicely.” 

The veterinarian solves the issues in the Monroe household by intuitively attending to the needs of each pet. This means saving Harold from shots, diagnosing Chester with sibling-rivalry syndrome, and feeding Bunnicula an all-liquid diet.

“I asked Chester later what a sibling was, but he wasn’t speaking to me. So I looked it up. It’s like a brother or sister. And sibling rivalry means you are competing with your brother or sister for attention.”

The veterinarian diagnosed Chester as having sibling rivalry with Bunnicula. Harold is hesitant to confirm this diagnosis, but he thinks it accounts for the way Peter and Toby treat each other. They often compete for their parents’ attention, and there are many parallels between their behavior and Chester’s actions toward Bunnicula. The veterinarian’s diagnosis theorizes that Chester was afraid of how Bunnicula’s presence in the home would change the family dynamic.

“These days, everything is back to normal in the Monroe household—almost. Bunnicula liked his liquid diet so much that the Monroes have kept him on it. And oddly enough, there have been no problems with vegetables mysteriously turning white since.”

The novel’s central tensions are resolved by this point, but Bunnicula’s true identity is still ambiguous. The vegetables have stopped turning white since Bunnicula’s been given a liquid diet, which could imply that Chester’s theory was correct all along. But even if Chester was right, Harold was also right about Bunnicula being harmless.

“The Monroes never knew anything of Chester’s theory. They changed markets and to this day believe they were the victims of a curious vegetable blight.”

The Monroes think all the drama that happened between the pets stemmed from Chester’s jealousy over the new addition to the family. They never realize that Bunnicula was secretly draining their vegetables at night, and they never consider that Bunnicula could be a vampire. The Monroes’ lack of awareness demonstrates the communication gulf that exists between the humans and their pets. No matter how much Chester and Harold try to communicate with their owners, the Monroes never understand what they are trying to say.