Let The Right One In

Let the Right One In (Swedish: Låt den rätte komma in), also known as Let Me In, is a 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm, in the early 1980s. The book focuses on the darker side of humanity, dealing with issues such as existential anxiety, bullying, pedophilia and murder. The book was a bestseller in the author's home country of Sweden and was translated into Danish, German, Dutch, Russian, English and Chinese in 2007 and Finnish in 2008. It has also been translated into Italian, Spanish, Polish, and Norwegian. A Swedish-language film by the same name, directed by Tomas Alfredson, was released in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim. An English-language film adaptation, directed by Matt Reeves, was released on October 1, 2010, titled Let Me In. Synopsis Oskar is a 12-year-old-boy who is being bullied at school. He lives with his mother, who is loving and with whom he initially seems to have a good connection. His father is an alcoholic who lives out in the countryside. Oskar seems intelligent, has morbid interests including crime and forensics and keeps a scrap book filled with newspaper cuttings about murders. He befriends who he thinks is a new girl who moved in next door - Eli. Eli lives with an older man Håkan, a former teacher who was fired and became a homeless vagrant when he was discovered to be a paedophile. Eli is revealed to be a vampire, who was originally a boy. He was castrated about 200 years ago and was turned into a vampire. The two children develop a close relationship and Eli helps Oskar fight back against his tormentors. Throughout the book their relationship gradually becomes closer and they reveal more of themselves and in particular Eli's lengthy history. Håkan serves Eli, whom he loves, by procuring blood from the living, fighting against his conscience and choosing victims who he can physically trap, but who are not too young. Eli gives him money for doing this, though Håkan makes it clear he would do it for nothing if Eli allowed them to be physically intimate. Eli keeps the money in several boxes, along with a variety of different puzzles. These, apart from a few items of clothing and food, are all that fill the apartment. After several failures to acquire enough blood for Eli, Håkan offers to go out one last time if they can spend the night together. With the caveat that he may only touch Eli, they agree, but it is stipulated that Håkan must get the blood first. Håkan's attempt to get blood from the last victim fails, and he disfigures himself on purpose with acid to avoid the police tracing Eli through him. When Eli finds Håkan in the hospital, he offers his own blood and is drunk dry while sitting on the window ledge, but a guard interrupts them and Eli fails to kill him. So that he will not end up becoming a vampire such as Eli, Håkan throws himself out of the window to the ground below. The fall kills him, but he is later resurrected as a vampire, though a mindless one that seeks only to find Eli. Eli is trapped briefly in a basement, but manages to escape. Håkan is later beaten to death. Meanwhile Lacke suspects a child is responsible for the murder of his best friend, Jocke (whom Eli murdered for blood before snapping his neck). Later, he sees Eli as a small, shapeless creature who leaps from the trees at his sometimes girlfriend, Virginia. Eli attempts to drink her blood, but is interrupted by Lacke. Virginia succumbs to vampirism, but does not realize her "infection" until she attempts to prolong her life by drinking her own blood, and finds that exposure to the sun causes boils on her skin. In the hospital Virginia deliberately exposes herself to daylight and bursts into flames. Ending and epilogue After Oskar fights back and injures his main tormentor, the boy's older brother (Jimmy) hunts down and attempts to maim him in revenge, but Eli manages to rescue Oskar in time. In the eplilogue, we are told that Jimmy and Johnny's head's were severed (Almost certainly by Eli. but we are never told) and that Oskar is now missing. In the final chapter, A young boy boards a train with an old suitcase. We are never told who this boy is, but the most popular speculation is that the Boy is Oskar, and that Eli is hiding in the suitcase. It may be possible that the boy is infact Eli (As Eli was once male but now is no longer male or female) although as Eli in the book is described as a female, this is unlikely.