Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “Coyote Moon” by John Vornholt

It’s common knowledge that Buffy Summers spent the summer vacation after season 1 (1997) at her dad’s crib in Los Angeles, but in this alternate universe novel, Buffy stays at home in Sunnydale. Which is really cool because we get to read about her hanging out with her buddies, Willow and Xander. One Friday evening they’re bored and visit a new traveling carnival for some innocent fun. But…this isn’t a normal carnival, oh no! It’s actually an evil traveling carnival run by werecoyotes! Awesome!

I don’t want to get too far into the details and ruin it, but the main story is about how Willow and Xander both get seduced by sexy (and secretly evil) carnival workers, so now Buffy must team up with Giles to save the day. It’s simple and fun. And at only 164 pages, I read nearly the entire novel at a concert while waiting between the bands. (It was Nix, PainGod, Dreamboat, Leadhate and Imminent End if you really must know.) My only real complaint is I didn’t feel that the banter between the Scooby Gang was as natural and charming as it is in the show. I also really missed Cordelia and Angel.

From a quick internet search it looks like writer John Vornholt mainly works in the Star Trek universe, but he has penned one other Buffy novel named “Seven Crows”, which is set in 2002. So, I might check that out next. Anyway…Coyote Moon! Short novel, easy read, quick pace, fun story. I don’t see how this could have been worked into a Season 2 episode, so reading it as a stand-alone, non-Buffyverse canon novel is perfect. Check it out.