First published in 1995, Dead End begins with Natalie making what seems like the right decision.

Realizing that her boyfriend, Keith, has had way too much to drink at a party, Natalie refuses to ride home with him.  Instead, she joins her friends Carlo, Gillian, and Todd in getting a ride from their sweet and responsible friend, Randee.  Seriously, Keith has already fallen down a flight of stairs and made the party awkward by throwing up all over the place.  Drunks are so annoying!

Anyway, Randee is driving everyone home when a sudden fogs rolls in and makes it difficult to see the road ahead of her.  Uh-oh!  Better pull over until that fog clears up or your might — AGCK!  Randee smashes into a car!  And then she drives off, without even bothering to get out of the car and make sure that the other driver is okay!  Natalie freaks out but all of her friends explain to her why they can’t run the risk of going to the police.  I mean, Randee wasn’t even supposed to be driving the car!  Someone else has a relative in the hospital!  Todd’s father has just started a new job and it would be really awkward if his son got arrested for being a passenger in a car!  Natalie eventually agrees to keep quiet about the accident.

But then, the next day, she discovers that the car they hit belonged to the mayor’s sister.  And now the mayor’s sister is dead!  Can Natalie and her friends keep the secret, even though there now appears to be someone stalking them and doing stuff like leaving spoiled meat around as a warning that they’re dead meat as well?  Can Natalie figure out who the mysterious stalker is before all of her friends are killed?  And will she be able to work out her relationship issues with Keith?  Seriously, priorities!

If this sounds familiar, it’s because R.L. Stine pretty much just transported the plot of I Know What You Did Last Summer to Shadyside and he really didn’t bother to add any surprising twists or turns.  The end result is one of the more forgettable entries in the Fear Street series.  There is one nicely macabre death scene in which someone basically loses their face but otherwise, this is Stine on autopilot.

In the end, I guess the important thing is that the book reminds its readers not to drink and drive and that’s a good thing.  As well, if a sudden fog rolls in, pull over.  It’s just not worth the risk!