The Vampire of Taipei by Richard Yu

Word Count: 7000 words | Critique type preference: Online

Content warnings:

Ableism, Abuse, Animal cruelty or death, Blood, Classism, Death/Dying, Disregard for personal autonomy (kidnapping / enslavement / abduction), Drug use, Self-harming Behaviors, Suicide, Violence (gratuitous / extreme)

Author Notes:

These are the first three chapters of my gothic horror/historical thriller novel, The Vampire of Taipei.

Basically, would you continue reading this book if you’d read these first three chapters? If you had the urge to quit reading, can I ask at which point you felt that? Was there a point where you felt locked in to the story, and if so when?

Do you know who this story is about, what it’s about, including the stakes, setting or genre? Do you care about any of the characters or what they want? Are there any major emotions you might feel while reading? Boredom? Confusion? Intrigue? Tension? Annoyance?

What kind of story would you expect this to be? Do any of the non-English names or words hinder your reading experience?

I’m aware the three chapters are longer than the 6k limit, so I’ve marked that limit in the manuscript and would encourage you to quit reading if you are not enjoying the text. If you would just let me know where you quit reading and why, I would very much appreciate it.

On the flipside, I have completed a 2.5-ish draft of the manuscript, and all 95k words are ready to be Beta-Read if you want to know where the story goes.

Thank you for reading,
Richard

Notes to organisers:

I wasn’t sure if I should reach out to the Beta Reader group with the full novel, but I reckoned that book openings are the hardest so I posted the first 3 chapters here. I hope that’s okay.

Submitted: 24 January 2025

Last updated: 10 June 2026 at 18:28

Author Email: es**********@***il.com