Oh, they definitely get better (and Bob the Skull has a larger roll later on. I do adore him). I was thoroughly bored by one plotline coming up in the next few books (though I am pretty freaking tired of vampires) but utterly intrigued by another.

Bob in the TV series is corporeal. Which only makes sense, I suppose, to make him a larger presence in the show. You should check it out -- the first book is one episode halfway through the current run, but everything else is entirely different, plotwise, and quite fun.