The Girl's Got Bite: The Original Unauthorized Guide to Buffy's World, Completely Revised and Updated

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**Kathleen Tracy
ISBN 0 312 31258 X

This is an interesting read as guides go, but not a particularly useful reference book. The episode guide part of the book inexplicable stops half way through season seven at “Never Leave Me” without so much as an explanation, guess at future episodes, or postscript. The sections about mistakes that made it through the editing process (“Bloopers”) and about the underlying threat in each episode (“The Real Horror”) help make the episode guide fresh, but ultimately don’t make the episode guide noteworthy in the world of guides to the show.

The first half of the book fairs better. It begins with a look at the making of the 1992 movie and the transition into the TV show. The character biographies are listed by categories such as “Current Main Characters,” “Gone But Not Forgotten,” “The Dearly Departed,” and “The Big Bads.” The cast biographies are nice and meaty; at least three or four pages of information on the major players. But the nicest surprise was the section on vampire mythology, both through folklore, literature and film/television. An easy read overall.