Tag Archives: R.L. Stine

Horror Novel Review: The Cheater by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1993’s The Cheater, R.L. Stine tells the story of Carter Phillips.

Carter has everything going for her.  Her father is a judge.  Her mother is socialite.  She’s a member of the exclusive Shadyside Country Club, where she and her friend Jill tear it up on the tennis court.  She’s got a sweet and sensitive boyfriend named Dan.  She’s got the type of name that people are definitely going to remember.  There’s just one problem.

Carter sucks at Math.

And if Carter can’t get a decent grade on the big math exam, she’ll never get into Princeton!

Finally, an R.L. Stine book to which I could relate!  Seriously, much like Carter, I was a pretty good student in high school but Math was never my thing.  I would look at those test papers with all of those numbers and symbols and all of those commands to “show your work” and my brain would just shut off.  Fortunately, my sister had been a year ahead of me and she held onto all of her old math tests.  Since our teacher pretty much reused the same tests from year to year, I was lucky enough to have an answer key.

Every test day, I would wear a skirt and, right before class, I would write the answers on my thigh.  If the teacher walked by my desk while I was taking the test, I would just pull down on my skirt.  Fortunately, the teacher was a male so even if he did suspect that I was cheating, it’s not like he could tell me to lift up my skirt or, for that matter, even get caught trying to look down at my legs.

And that’s how I managed to pass algebra without ever paying attention to anything that was said in class.  I know that I should probably feel guilty about cheating but, to be honest, I don’t.  If I had it to do all over again, I would do the exact same thing.

Unfortunately, Carter doesn’t have an older sister and when she suggests that maybe Dan could take the test for her, Dan is so shocked that Carter has to pretend like she was just telling a joke.  However, Adam Messner, who is a rebel who always dressed in black and doesn’t come from as wealthy a family as Carter or Dan, overhears Carter talking to Dan.  He offers to take the test for Carter, on the condition that Carter go on one date with him.

Carter agrees.  Adam gets a good grade on the test and, as a result, Carter is not only Princeton-bound but her father gives her a pair of diamond earrings.  But now there’s the fact that Carter has to go on a date with Adam and the fact that Adam has decided that he wants more than one date….

It’s an intriguing premise but unfortunately, Stine gets bogged down with one of those murder mysteries that ends with a rather silly twist.  Reading this book, it was obvious that it was written in 1993 because the main theme of the book seemed to be that Carter and her friends were totally right to be annoyed with the idea of having to deal with not-rich teenagers who dress in black and who have tattoos.  One gets the feeling that, if this book were written today, the roles would be reversed with Carter being portrayed as the villain and Adam as the misunderstood victim.

That said, I enjoyed The Cheater.  Stine kept the action moving quickly, Adam was actually a fairly well-drawn character, and I could relate to Carter.  Seriously, Math can be difficult!  The Cheater does the right thing and embraces the melodrama.

Horror Novel Review: The Stepbrother by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1998 novel, The Stepbrother, tells the story of Sondra.

Sondra is a teenager living in Shadyside.  Like many of the town’s teenagers she comes from a broken home but she also has a cute boyfriend named Zach and three close girlfriends, the main one of whom is named Mallory and who somehow is an expert in hypnotism.  Seriously, how does one become an expert in hypnotism before even graduating from high school?  I would think that hypnotism would be one of those things where you would have to spend years in training before you were allowed to even try it out on anyone.  But Mallory is just casually hypnotizing everyone!  I wouldn’t even know where to begin when it comes to hypnotizing people, though I’ve been told that I do know how to cast a spell whenever I enter a room.  I said that with a wink and a smile, by the way.

Sondra also has a new stepfather and a stepbrother named Eric.  Zach is totally jealous of Eric and everyone does keep commenting on the fact that Sondra and Eric do kind of look like they belong together.  Seriously, it’s not like they’re blood-related so why not?  I mean, he is right there!  (I never had a stepbrother in high school but if I did, I can only imagine what would have happened.)  Still, Zach shouldn’t worry because Sondra is too busy freaking out over the possibility of dying in a fire to seriously consider cheating on him.  Sondra keeps having feelings of deja vu.  Mallory suggests that maybe Sondra is the reincarnation of a girl who died in a fire back in the 50s.  And maybe Eric is the reincarnation of the person who was responsible for the fire!

Yeah, okay.  Whatever.  If I’m not very enthusiastic about this book, it’s because I don’t believe in reincarnation and I always find reincarnation stories to be pretty boring.  This one features Sondra flashing back-and-forth from the 80 to the 50s and trying to avoid dying in a second fire but it all felt way too predictable to be effective.  If you’ve seen one movie or read one book about reincarnation, you’ve pretty much seen and read them all.

(That said, if I did believe in reincarnation, I would assume that I was probably Edie Sedgwick in a past life.  Or maybe Alice Roosevelt.  Or perhaps Victoria Woodhull or Evelyn Nesbit.  I once had a dream where I was Mary Kelly, Jack the Ripper’s final victim, in a past life.  One thing I find interesting about reincarnation is that everyone’s past life was always so exciting and melodramatic.  Nobody was ever just some slop in a past life.  Instead, they were a wealthy celebrity who died under the most tragic of circumstances.)

Finally, the whole hypnotism subplot was silly even by the standards of R.L. Stine.  Of course, I have to admit that I’m also not a big believer in hypnotism.  I went to a hypnotism demonstration in college and I’m proud to say that I could not be hypnotized, largely because my ADD and my own stubbornness made it impossible for me to clear my mind.  Everyone else at the demonstration was rather easily hypnotized but not me!  I’ve always taken a good deal of pride in that.

Horror Novel Review: The Bad Girl by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1999’s The Bad Girl, Dawn and Jan are high school students who, while fooling around in the chemistry lab, accidentally create a serum that they subsequently discover can bring the dead back to life.

At first, they just bring a frog back to life.  Then, they bring a dog back to life.  Dawn and Jan are apparently more powerful than God and they’re just in high school!  Still, being all powerful doesn’t make it any easier for Dawn to balance her boyfriend, Clint, with her secret boyfriend, Will.  Nor does it make their classmate Cindy any less annoying.  Cindy is the type who always follows the rules and who is quick to snitch to the teachers if anyone does anything wrong.  Everyone went to school with someone like Cindy and no one could stand her.  Of course, today, the Cindys of the world spend their time on social media, reporting people for violating the terms of service and telling everyone to “wear the damn mask.”

(Remember when the folks on twitter suddenly decided that Nurse Ratched was actually the hero of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?  We live in a world of Cindys.)

Anyway, Jan and Dawn may not like Cindy but they still feel bad after they accidentally run her over in their car.  So, they usually their special formula to bring Cindy back to life.  Cindy returns but she doesn’t seem to be too happy about that and soon, she’s seeking revenge on everyone who she feels has mistreated her.  It doesn’t help that having been brought back from the dead has not only given Cindy super strength but it has also made her impervious to harm, as Jan and Dawn discover when they continually try to kill her.  Eventually, they do find out that the serum can cause those recently risen to explode but how do they trigger the explosion?  I’m just going to go ahead and be a spoiler and say that the explosions are triggered by ridicule.  So, bullying is the solution, regardless of what Dr. Phil might say.

As far as the Fear Street books are concerned, this was pretty dumb but I did like the fact that Dawn and Jan just happened to accidentally create a serum that can bring the dead back to life.  I mean, what are the chances of just accidentally creating something like that?  I imagine that there are scientists who have spent their whole lives trying to do what Dawn and Jan managed to do in just two minutes of dumping together random chemicals in the chemistry lab.  I mean, this is the equivalent of an episode of Saved By The Bell where Zack and Slater accidentally bring back Becky the Duck and Artie the Chameleon.  The fact that these two idiots can do it just by randomly mixing chemicals together leads me to suspect that maybe I’ll accidentally discover the formula as well someday.  Of course, I’ll be a bit more careful about it than our protagonists were.  Seriously, just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should!

Horror Novel Review: Dead End by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Horror Book Review: Haunted by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Horror Book Review: Missing by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

First published in 1990, Missing tells the story of Mark and Cara Burroughs.  They’re siblings who have just moved to the town of Shadyside.  Along with their parents and their cousin Roger, they live in a house located on Fear Street.  Even though they are new students, they’re already popular enough that Mark is dating Gena and everyone from school shows up to party at their house while their parents are gone for the night.

Now, there’s a lot of negative things that you can say about the town of Shadyside and Fear Street in general.  I mean, it’s kind of a violent town.  How many homicidal maniacs have lived in Shadyside?  Over the years, how many students at Shadyside High have either been murdered or seriously injured?  But, it should be noted that Shadyside High is notably welcoming to new students.  I know that, when I was in high school, the new transfer students were always initially viewed with suspicion.  That was especially true if they were from any other place than Texas.  (Since my family moved around a lot when I was a kid, I knew far too well what it was like to be the new kid at school so I always tried to be nice to everyone, even if they were from up north.)  At Shadyside High, though, new students can go from moving into new home to throwing a huge party in just a matter of weeks.

Anyway, this party comes to an end when a cop shows up, not to complain about the noise but just to ask if Mark and Cara know anything about a nearby burglary.  After all of their guests leave, Mark and Cara realize that their parents have yet to come home.  What has happened to their parents and how is it connected to Roger, Gena, and a strange monkey statue?  And why is a mysterious van parked outside the house?  And what’s happening in Fear Street Woods!?  That’s a lot of questions and fortunately, Mark and Cara decide to solve the case themselves as opposed to going to the police.  (It should be noted that the phones at the house are all dead and, since this book was published in 1990, Mark and Cara are dependent on their landline.  The 90s were a difficult time.)

Missing was the fourth of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street novels and it’s fast-paced with a lot of enjoyably silly melodrama.  This is one of those books where no one is who they originally claim to be, including the parents.  One could argue that all of the plot contrivances don’t hold together under close scrutiny but Stine keeps the plot moving so quickly and fills the book with so many weird moments that it really doesn’t matter.  The book is full of cliffhangers and Stine wisely doesn’t let things like realism get in the way of resolving those cliffhangers.  By the time a major supporting character shows up, from out of nowhere, with a gun in order to save the heroic siblings, I was giggling with joy.  Seriously, does every resident of Shadyside just happen to have a weapon just casually lying around the house?

Horror Book Review: Into the Dark by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

First published in 1997, Into the Dark tells the story of Paulette Fox.  Paulette has been blind since birth but she hasn’t let that stand in her away.  She’s one of the most popular students at Shadyside High.  She has two best friends, Jonathan and Cindy, who are devoted to her.  She enjoys eating the pizza at Pete’s Pizza, watching silly slasher films with her friends, and taking piano lessons at the Music Academy.  And, assuming that she can get her overprotective parents to sign off on it, she’s looking forward to taking self-defense classes.

Best of all, she’s got a boyfriend!  Brad has just moved to Shadyside.  Like Paulette, Brad loves music and wants to make it his life.  Unfortunately, Brad does not come from a rich family so he has to work as a janitor at the Music Academy.  Brad seems to be sweet and considerate and he treats Paulette like an adult.  Paulette touches his face and discovers that not only is he very handsome but he also a scar on his eyebrow.  Scars are sexy!

However, no sooner has Paulette started hanging out with Brad than strange things start to happen to her.  Twice, she is nearly run over by a car despite the fact that Paulette is always careful while crossing the street.  (The second time, Paulette is convinced that someone pushed her, even though everyone tells her that they didn’t see it happen.)  She starts to get weird phone calls.  According to Cindy, someone has broken into Paulette’s bedroom and painted all sorts of threatening messages on the wall.  Even worse, Brad starts to act strange.  Sometimes, he’s the considerate and nice Brad that she wants to date.  Other times, he acts possessive and creepy.  Her friends tell her that she needs to stay away from Brad, especially after he’s accused of robbing Pete’s Pizza!  But Paulette remains convinced that only she can figure out what is truly happening with Brad….

This is an R.L Stine novel so there’s really no way that you won’t guess what the big twist is.  In fact, if I remember correctly, it’s a twist that Stine has used in quite a few of his other books.  Because I’m a nice reviewer, I will not spoil what the twist is but …. I mean, seriously, you figured it out while reading the previous paragraph, right?

Obviously, Into The Dark won’t win any points for originality but still, as far as the Fear Street books are concerned, Into the Dark is an entertaining and quick read and Paulette is a likable and relatable heroine.  Indeed, Stine actually appears to have done some research for this book and the passages where he describes how Paulette navigates every-day life without being able to see ring true.  Paulette may be blind but she’s also a typical teenager.  It’s easy to roll your eyes when she repeatedly refuses to call the police despite the number of weird things that happen to her but seriously, what teenager wants to call the police for anything?  When I was 17, I was woken up by what I thought was the sound of someone breaking into my house and, even though I had a phone and could have easily called the police, I instead grabbed a golf club and walked around the house in my t-shirt and underwear, searching for the thieves.  When you’re 17, you think you’re immortal and, even more importantly, you don’t want to have to deal with any authority figures.

(Incidentally, there were no thieves and it was all just my imagination.  Yay!)

Finally, who couldn’t relate to Paulette’s confusion about Brad?  Sometimes, Brad is extremely nice and caring.  Sometimes, Brad is cold and kind of a jerk.  That sounds like every guy I knew when I was in high school.  Like the best of Stine’s book, Into the Dark works because the reader can relate to it, even if they’ve never lived on Fear Street or been threatened by …. well, I won’t spoil it.  But you already figured it out, right?

Book Review: Runaway by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tired of being used as a test subject by a mad scientist and feeling guilty about an accident that caused the death of two of her friends, telekinetic Felicia Fletcher has run away!  After using her powers to escape from the pervy dude who gave her a ride, Felecia ends up in Shadyside.  She not only get a job as a house sitter on Fear Street but she also enrolls in high school and gets a job at the Burger Basket…

Wait, what?

Now, the whole telekinetic thing is pretty cool and I cheered a little when she caused the pervy guy’s car to crash.  I mean, if you’ve got the power to do that, why not?  But who runs away from home just so they can enroll in high school and get a job working at a fast food restaurant?  I mean, it just seems like there’s more that she could do, especially considering that she has super powers.  Along with going to school and finding a low-paying job, Felecia also develops a crush on her classmate and co-worker, Nick.  Unfortunately, Nick is dating Zan.  Zan doesn’t appreciate the new girl trying to move in on her man.  Felecia’s main concern, though, is making sure that no one discovers that she’s a runaway.  SO WHY DID YOU ENROLL IN HIGH SCHOOL AND GET A JOB UNDER YOUR REAL NAME, FELECIA!?

Seriously, Felecia might have telekinesis but she obviously has no common sense.

Soo, Felecia is getting strange letters from someone who claims to know who she is.  Someone also breaks into her house, a crime that Felecia can’t report without running the risk of being discovered.  Felecia tries to control her powers while also discovering who is stalking her.

Even by the standards of R.L. Stine, the plot is fairly incoherent but the fact that Felecia has psychic powers (and, with the exception of Nick, pretty much zero friends) adds a new wrinkle to all of the usual Stine melodrama.  Felecia has a lot to deal with, from avoiding the police to avoiding her crush’s girlfriend to avoiding the people searching for her to avoiding her Fear Street stalker.  In fact, Felecia has so much to deal with that it’s impossible not to like and root for her.  I might not have telekinesis but I could still relate to Felecia’s desire to just have one normal, relaxing day in her life.  I liked that Felecia was trying to regain control of her life and there’s a pretty cool scene where The Burger Basket basically explodes.  This was definitely one of the better Stine books that I’ve read this month.

Book Review: The Fire Game by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Jill, Andrea, Diane, Max, and Nick want get out of taking a superhard Geography test.  What can they possibly do, since apparently into not an option to study or to track down someone who has a copy of the test from last year?

If you said accidentally start a fire in the school library so that the test gets cancelled, congratulations!  You could be the star of an R.L. Stine novel!

The day after the fire, school is still a bore.  Our group of friends, who are all gymnasts for some reason, want to get out of class so that they can hang out with Gabe, the supercool new kid who has an odd fascination with burning things.  What’s the best way to get out of school?  How about blowing up the boy’s bathroom?  Not only does that cause classes to get canceled but everyone now gets to hang out on Fear Island!

R.L. Stine’s 1991 book, The Fire Game, is all about people like to set fires.  Admittedly, the book doesn’t really go into the reasons why these people are so obsessed with fire.  For the most part, it’s just something that they do because they’re not imaginative to come up with any other way to skip school.  (Has no one ever heard of faking not feeling well?  When I was in high school, all I had to do was say the word “cramps” and the gym teacher would practically escort me off campus and tell me not to come back for a week.  It’s not that difficult.)  Anyway, eventually a house burns down on Fear Street and all the members of the Fire Club are like, “Wait!  We didn’t do that!”  It looks like someone is trying to frame the arsonists!

The main problem with this book is found in the last sentence of this paragraph.  Yes, the Fire Club is, more or less, innocent of burning down that house and killing the homeless man who was living inside.  But, they’re still a group of people who DELIBERATELY SET FIRES!  It’s like, “Okay, it sucks you’re being framed for that one fire but how about all the ones you actually started?”  Not a single lesson is learned and usually, I’m in favor of that but in this case, our heroes are actually doing something that could kill someone or something.

Still, even if there’s absolutely no one to really root for in this book, it’s hard not to be a little impressed by the fact that R.L. Stine felt that gymnastics and pyromania would be a natural combination.  Though the majority of the book is Stine on autopilot, arsonist gymnasts is at least an interesting concept.  Plus, Arsonist Gymnasts sounds like it would be a great band name.

Book Review: Truth or Dare by R.L. Stine

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this 1995 book from R.L. Stine, a group of wealthy teenagers decide to take a vacation from Fear Street and Shadyside High.  They decide to spend the weekend skiing but, once they reach their mountain lodge, they end up getting hit by a blizzard.  They’re going to be trapped inside for a day or two.  Because the storm took out all the phone lines (and since this book is from the age when everyone was dependent on a landline), they are cut off from the world.  If anything bad happens in the cabin, there will be no way to get help.  If anyone is driven to kill someone else, there will be no way to call the police.

Now, if I was in that situation, I would probably try to pass the time in the safest and least dramatic way possible.  I mean, if you’re going to be stuck with a group of people for a day or two, you should probably try not to do anything that could cause anyone to lose their temper.  The best thing to do is try to have fun and not obsess on the situation.  However, since this is an R.L. Stine book, everyone decides to play Truth or Dare.

Great idea!  Nothing bad has ever happened as a result of playing Truth or Dare!

Though I played it a few times and I always managed to survive, Truth or Dare is still a strange game to me.  First off, why wouldn’t you just automatically take the dare?  But, beyond that, there’s this weird assumption that everyone is just automatically obligated to follow the rules of Truth or Dare, even if it means hurting someone.  Inevitably, anyone playing Truth or Dare is going to have at least one deep dark secret that they are going to get asked about, something like: “Did you cheat on your partner?”  And instead of just saying, “No,” even if the answer is “Yes,” they always reply, “I’ll take a dare instead.”  Well, just the fact that you took a dare at that point is pretty much the same thing as answering yes.  There’s really no way to win this game, other than to lie whenever you’re asked a question that could potentially lead to you being murdered.  But that would mean breaking the rules of Truth or Dare!  It would apparently be better to die.  I guess it’s all about ethics.

Anyway, not surprisingly, the game of Truth or  Dare does lead to someone being murdered.  They get a hatchet in the back and the killer leaves it there to be discovered by the rest of the group.  AGCK!  This killer isn’t messing around.  Anyway, you can probably guess where all this leads.  The initial suspect looks guilty but is actually innocent.  The killer is the person that most people would least expect.  Stine mentions that chair lift enough times that you just know it’s going to be the setting for the climax of the story.  It’s a typical R.L. Stine novel but it is one that teaches an important lesson.  For the love of all things good and decent, do not play Truth or Dare!