First published in 1990, Haunted tells the story of Melissa, a teenager who would seem to have the perfect life.
No only does she come from a wealthy family and live in a nice, big house that is located right in the middle of Fear Street but Melissa is also a popular student at Shadyside High and she has a boyfriend named Buddy. Plus, she’s just celebrated her birthday and, as a present, she got a brand new car! The only thing that Melissa really has to worry about is the possibility of her house being broken into by the elusive Fear Street Prowler and the fact that a bitter ghost named Paul keeps materializing in front of her and claiming that she killed him and he’s come back from the dead to get revenge. Paul is not only a revenge-seeking ghost but he also taunts Melissa for being rich. Perhaps the only thing worse than being haunted is by being haunted by a ghost from the lower classes. I mean, seriously, I don’t even want to think about it….
(Usual disclaimer: I do NOT believe in ghosts.)
Melissa is not only annoyed by Paul’s bad manners but also by the fact that he claims that she killed him when she has absolutely no memory of who he is. In fact, when she does some simple research to see if anyone recently killed Paul, she discovers that no one named Paul has been murdered recently. Paul himself admits that his memory is a little bit fuzzy, as well. Accusing someone of murdering you when you’re really not sure isn’t a cool thing to do, Paul. Stupid ghost.
Then, one night, Melissa sees Paul hanging out with his other less-than-wealthy friends. Only, this Paul is alive and he’s even more of a jerk than his ghost! Melissa realizes that Paul’s ghost is from the future and that therefore, Paul has not died yet but will and apparently, she’s going to be the one responsible! But how can that be when Ghost Paul is turning out to be not that bad and actually kind of sweet?
(Myself, I’m more concerned with how Living Paul and Ghost Paul both existing at the same time seems like one of those things that would cause the universe to split open or something. I mean, it just doesn’t seem right.)
This is one of R.L. Stine’s stranger books. The plot doesn’t really make much sense but you have to kind of admire the fact that Stine just went with it and didn’t even bother to try to make any of it seem plausible. Sometimes, it’s best just to embrace the silliness of it all and that’s what Stine does here. The book’s attempts to deal with class differences were fairly shallow but then again, when you’re a teenager, you’re always at you’re most shallow when talking about who is rich and who is poor so, on that level, Stine did a good job writing for his target audience. The important thing is that Melissa was a relatable and sympathetic character and she definitely deserved a less petulant ghost.
Through the Shattered Lens 