“Zombie Vs Vampire”  synopsis  © 2009 Jim Terr

Jingle Withers and Crystal Withers Wallerbee both wish they’d had a more normal life and more normal parents – instead of the bohemians who took them on a teenaged vacation to old Gothic middle Europe – with such disastrous results.

Now zombie and vampire respectively, Jingle and Crystal have “passed” for years – but only barely – on the fringes of large, anonymous cities like L.A. and New York – and only rarely in touch with each other.

Now, with their mother’s passing, each of them hopes to inherit her grand little southwestern hotel, The Plaza Concorde. This trendy venue would provide a steady income and the perfect cover for these two strange but socially-adept creatures – not to mention a delicious parade of guests who might also occasionally supply needed “sustenance.”

But the reading of Mother’s will leaves the matter of ownership unresolved, creating a tense situation between these two already dangerous siblings.

Keeping up a normal façade takes an extraordinary amount of effort for two such odd beings, especially when competing to be the most warm and genial possible host and manager of this small, close-knit “family” operation. And the beautiful, ripe, somewhat innocent heroine commanding the front desk provides constant temptation for both of them, and a flash point for their bitter frustration and growing antagonism.

Still, you gotta keep smiling. Or at least minimize that haunting, gaping rictus.

It’s dangerous, though, to be fooled by a smile. Woe the hapless serial killer who encountered these two in the night, thinking he had found two defenseless victims. Of course they played along with him as long as it provided them a rare chance for amusement…

But even zombies and vampires have a warm and protective side, which can emerge when an even greater evil than themselves threatens their hotel and their little “family.”