Mini Review--Demons of the Hellmouth: A Guide for Slayers by Nancy Holder (& Rupert Giles)

 

Demons of the Hellmouth is a fully licensed guide to the vampires and other demons that flocked to the Sunnydale Hellmouth in Joss Whedon’s cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This in-universe illustrated guide is written by Rupert Giles, and also contains handwritten notes from Buffy and Willow. This unique book promises a diabolical romp through the highlights of the beloved show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demons of the Hellmouth: A Guide for Slayers is Rupert Giles'—with help from Nancy Holder—guide to all the worst demons and vampires of the former Hellmouth that was Sunnydale. It’s a guide meant to educate potential or future Slayers in their mission to find evil.

This book is exactly what I had hoped for in another read this week, in this book you get details and historical notes on all the vampires, demons, and other creatures Buffy encountered during her time in Sunnydale. 

I actually really enjoyed this! If you’ve watched the series you pretty much know everything already but this was a nice compilation of all the baddies from seasons 1-7! We get the details on who and what these creatures were and how—if applicable—they were defeated.

It was kind of a nice series recap too, if put on fast forward. While it contains details and information through the series finale, events that carried over to Angel’s final season are not included. So the information feels a little incomplete. Mostly in reference to Angel, Darla, and Spike, and even Cordelia—as she gets mentioned in the comments of the others.

What made this extra fun is that book is written as if Giles was really writing it. There is also commentary in the margins from Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Faith. I actually loved these little comments too. It basically highlights some line of text and one of the quartet makes a comment that is totally fitting for the character!

That the book ends with a nice commentary to the future Slayers made me smile. It’s like the series will continue to live on even though it’s over. This is definitely a read for all the Buffy fans out there! It’s a pure delight and it has me needing to re-watch the series again!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars