The New Evil by R.L. Stine
Bless. There’s a point in this book when you want to shake Corky, Debra, and Kimmy. And I just shook my head. But honestly though, most of the book works. I do love that when I think of Christmas these days, my first thought goes to crazed killers though. Reading R.L. Stine as a teen will do that to you. This is the fourth book in the Fear Street Cheerleaders series. Just a continuation of the prior installments with Corky and her friends trying to […]
Halloween Party by R.L. Stine
So I don’t even know what to say. What a crazy ride this book was. Also it takes place in 1984 and I maybe laughed at how some of the characters were talking. But the main plot and reveal of what the villain was up to made me go what in the world. And then I started to wrack my brain and wonder if I had seen a tv movie based on this book or what since it sounded familiar to me. I never read […]
We get a prologue from a murderer again. And we get a prologue that takes place weeks after the story actually opens. My favorite. Yay. Johanna Wise is one of Shadyside’s poor kids. Her mom has been working two jobs ever since she and Johanna’s dad got divorced–with all of the single parent households in Shadyside, I have to assume the divorce happened while he was awaiting trial on federal charges. She’s envious of Dennis Arthur and his crowd–the wealthiest kids in Shadyside. With enough […]
In the first chapter of this book, we learn Deena Martinson broke up with Gary Brandt. So they’re both still in high school. I’m telling you: Shadyside time warp. No one escapes. Janie, Faith, and Eve are all best friends. They were the head of the committee for the school dance, and they have to meet up after school to count the take and turn it over to the principal. Before they can get started, however, the mysterious new boy at school appears while clutching […]
Once more, we’ve got a Fear Street book that doesn’t even take place in Shadyside. The tenuous connection is a character who lives on Fear Street. I’m tempted to go back and count how many Shadyside High students live on Fear Street so far. Too many to make the street’s reputation plausible, I think. We open this time not with a murderer, but with a victim. Claudia Walker wakes up on the beach with her face severely burned, her eyes swollen shut, and her body […]
Some of these books feel like very special messages: don’t make prank calls, don’t lie and spend the night on an island without any adults and try to cover up a murder, don’t cheat. The messages always seem to miss something, though, since kids making prank calls discovered and helped catch a murderer. I guess the idiots on the island helped catch a couple more murderers. The ‘don’t cheat’ message seems to work, though. At least don’t cheat with someone else’s boyfriend, because you might […]
