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littledollreads's review
4.0
Thank goodness all of the stories here were good and I can finally get back into this series. After being enormously disappointed by my inability to finish off the previous book in this series I am glad I can get back with this one. It seems like a lot has happened with the fandom recently and I want to catch back up, but my inability to skip around leaves me the choice of straight through everything I missed.
That being said this was a great collection of stories. It felt good to get back to kids after the last set of stories and it even made me think back to the previous books to see if I could predict the likely outcomes. It was very interesting that siblings were such a big part of this book as so far there has only been one other story involving siblings in the past 9 stories.
Now for some spoiler summaries and discussions.
Our first story starts hard. In it, we have a pair of brothers who don’t get along great after their parent’s divorce. One day the older brother tries to scare his younger brother by dragging him into the maintenance room of Freddy Fazbears Pizza to see Foxy. After leaving he is then set upon by a series of misfortunes that almost lead to him losing an arm and an eye so that he can be a pirate just like foxy. There is some back and forth between the brothers trying to figure things out and just when they think that they have it solved boom truck. In the end, he does lose those arms and eyes as well as everything else.
Our second story follows a thief who after stealing a pair of novelty glasses from a little girl is plagued by visions of Ballora stalking her and slowly approaching ever closer. No matter how far she runs the animatronics is there following her until she sets things right.
The third story starts out so ordinary and you could almost miss the hints that are being dropped. It isn’t until a bit of the way in that what could possibly be an animatronic arrives and the hints start to really build up. And then bang, Chica, and of course it was going to be Chica with the girl’s name of Suzie. Of course, Suzie was dead before the story even started.
I have to say that these were some really great stories and additions to the lore. None are breaking into my favorites of the now 12 shorts but neither are they taking the case for some that I just didn’t like.
The first story was so well foreshadowed that it felt great when everything finally clicked into its terrible places. Not the most original ending but one that felt fitting. I always have this moment in these stories when they are full of background characters that the main character really would look like they were going crazy from an outside perspective and It is interesting to me. I’m glad that we finally got foxy as he is one of my favorites.
The second story may be the first one to have a truly happy ending that doesn’t involve robot destruction. Think about that. The only other happy endings were, Into the Pit and Out of Stock. In both of those different versions of the animatronics are killed in order for the kids to be free but with this story, ballora is not ever destroyed.
The third story has some serious vibes to it. Immediately I was thinking this reminds me of the silver eyes trilogy but I don’t really know why. Specifically, the parts when Charlie thinks back to her life before Afton ruined it. It also reminds me of What Remains of Edith Finch if you have ever heard of that game. After that, it is just really clever. I had a thought for what the twist might be after getting a couple of pages in and had to go back and start over to see if I was imagining things or if I had caught onto the trick. The further into the story and the more I figured I had gotten it right. Suzie not talking much and when she did not being responded to, the ‘rotting smell’, her family’s sadness, and the kids being almost sympathetic for why her sister had become distant at school. And of course, I was right. But I am an avid consumer of theories and this only serves to cement them so the twist is a bit wasted on me. This one is also the least horror or frightening of all the stories. It is more lore than anything else.
Now for my favorite part of these reviews the connectivity to the rest of FNAF lore.
The first story features Freddy Fazbears Pizza open for business so there’s that. We also get Foxy in a staring role along with what was definitely a bit of magic courtesy of a pentacle and candles. A cure is looking really good for the explanation here. It was also interesting that at the end it felt like the kid’s soul was still attached to his dead body and hadn’t gone anywhere unlike most souls in the universe.
The second story has Circus Babys Pizza World open for business but we never go inside. We also have Ballora being wired as always. She has always been one of the stranger animatronics and unless she is somehow invisible now too I’m not entirely sure what kind of trickery she is up to.
The final story is definitely the most connected and probably important for lore purposes. We are really going hard on the Chica is Suzie thing. Here the murders have already happened and it is a known fact that they were done by a serial killer. It feels a lot like how the other books dealt with this part of the story. And again ghosts.
I overall really liked this book and am so excited to get back into the swing of things with FNAF lore.
That being said this was a great collection of stories. It felt good to get back to kids after the last set of stories and it even made me think back to the previous books to see if I could predict the likely outcomes. It was very interesting that siblings were such a big part of this book as so far there has only been one other story involving siblings in the past 9 stories.
Now for some spoiler summaries and discussions.
Spoiler
Our first story starts hard. In it, we have a pair of brothers who don’t get along great after their parent’s divorce. One day the older brother tries to scare his younger brother by dragging him into the maintenance room of Freddy Fazbears Pizza to see Foxy. After leaving he is then set upon by a series of misfortunes that almost lead to him losing an arm and an eye so that he can be a pirate just like foxy. There is some back and forth between the brothers trying to figure things out and just when they think that they have it solved boom truck. In the end, he does lose those arms and eyes as well as everything else.
Our second story follows a thief who after stealing a pair of novelty glasses from a little girl is plagued by visions of Ballora stalking her and slowly approaching ever closer. No matter how far she runs the animatronics is there following her until she sets things right.
The third story starts out so ordinary and you could almost miss the hints that are being dropped. It isn’t until a bit of the way in that what could possibly be an animatronic arrives and the hints start to really build up. And then bang, Chica, and of course it was going to be Chica with the girl’s name of Suzie. Of course, Suzie was dead before the story even started.
I have to say that these were some really great stories and additions to the lore. None are breaking into my favorites of the now 12 shorts but neither are they taking the case for some that I just didn’t like.
The first story was so well foreshadowed that it felt great when everything finally clicked into its terrible places. Not the most original ending but one that felt fitting. I always have this moment in these stories when they are full of background characters that the main character really would look like they were going crazy from an outside perspective and It is interesting to me. I’m glad that we finally got foxy as he is one of my favorites.
The second story may be the first one to have a truly happy ending that doesn’t involve robot destruction. Think about that. The only other happy endings were, Into the Pit and Out of Stock. In both of those different versions of the animatronics are killed in order for the kids to be free but with this story, ballora is not ever destroyed.
The third story has some serious vibes to it. Immediately I was thinking this reminds me of the silver eyes trilogy but I don’t really know why. Specifically, the parts when Charlie thinks back to her life before Afton ruined it. It also reminds me of What Remains of Edith Finch if you have ever heard of that game. After that, it is just really clever. I had a thought for what the twist might be after getting a couple of pages in and had to go back and start over to see if I was imagining things or if I had caught onto the trick. The further into the story and the more I figured I had gotten it right. Suzie not talking much and when she did not being responded to, the ‘rotting smell’, her family’s sadness, and the kids being almost sympathetic for why her sister had become distant at school. And of course, I was right. But I am an avid consumer of theories and this only serves to cement them so the twist is a bit wasted on me. This one is also the least horror or frightening of all the stories. It is more lore than anything else.
Now for my favorite part of these reviews the connectivity to the rest of FNAF lore.
The first story features Freddy Fazbears Pizza open for business so there’s that. We also get Foxy in a staring role along with what was definitely a bit of magic courtesy of a pentacle and candles. A cure is looking really good for the explanation here. It was also interesting that at the end it felt like the kid’s soul was still attached to his dead body and hadn’t gone anywhere unlike most souls in the universe.
The second story has Circus Babys Pizza World open for business but we never go inside. We also have Ballora being wired as always. She has always been one of the stranger animatronics and unless she is somehow invisible now too I’m not entirely sure what kind of trickery she is up to.
The final story is definitely the most connected and probably important for lore purposes. We are really going hard on the Chica is Suzie thing. Here the murders have already happened and it is a known fact that they were done by a serial killer. It feels a lot like how the other books dealt with this part of the story. And again ghosts.
I overall really liked this book and am so excited to get back into the swing of things with FNAF lore.
booksbasilbabies's review
4.0
Four stars for the fourth book in the Fazbear Frights series. And yes, I’m still absolutely shocked by how much I’m enjoying this series. As always, there’s three stories from the FNAF universe—Step Closer, Dance with Me, and Coming Home.
I loved all three of the stories—quite honestly, Coming Home is my favorite only because of the straight up lore answers inside. But all three of these stories are downright excellent, disturbing, and borderline beautiful in a way.
Good, quick, downright creepy read. Big fan.
I loved all three of the stories—quite honestly, Coming Home is my favorite only because of the straight up lore answers inside. But all three of these stories are downright excellent, disturbing, and borderline beautiful in a way.
Good, quick, downright creepy read. Big fan.
miaaaahh's review
4.0
Individual Ratings:
Step Closer: 10/10
Dance With Me: 6/10
Coming Home: 10/10 (my favourite so far)
Step Closer: 10/10
Dance With Me: 6/10
Coming Home: 10/10 (my favourite so far)
tristan___q's review
5.0
I know dat ik dit statistically geen 5/5 stars kan geven, maar simpelweg door Coming Home verdient dit vierde Fazbear Frights boek niets minder. Over het algemeen waren ze alle drie pretty good. Heel verschillend weer allemaal, maar Coming Home wrecked me. Deze novellas zijn nooit literaire hoogstandjes, en ik heb nog geen enkele keer een verhaal gelezen dat echt een 'favorite' werd, maar Coming Home blew me away. Een van de beste dingen die ik ooit heb gelezen eerlijk gezegd.
Step Closer 4/5: Deze titel story van het vierde Fazbear Frights boek was pretty good. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik niet echt spooked was, en je weet eigenlijk vanaf het begin al wat er gaat gebeuren. Je ziet gewoon dat Pete door gekke dingen constant bijna z’n arm en oog verliest, en het boek begint met de family die orgaandonors worden. De aanrijding was wel een verassing lol. Vond de broer relatie tussen Chuck en Pete wel heel tof om over te lezen, en was wel heel sad om Chuck aan het einde zo sad te zien. De laatste pagina was weer zo confusing, maar ik denk dat het betekende dat Foxy gewoon weg is van de stage.
Dance With Me 4.5/5: Now this I loved!!! Honestly really refreshing vergeleken alle andere verhalen. Vond het tof om te zien dat dit zich ook op verschillende plekken doordat Kasey natuurlijk naar verschillende plekken ging. Denk wel dat dit kinda shitty ‘homeless people’ rep is, maar then again maybe not aangezien het einde natuurlijk zo positief was. Dat was ook iets refreshings; een positief einde. Tussen al de bloody en sad endings, is dit ook wel leuk voor een keer. Kasey was very fun om te volgen en vond het heerlijk om te zien dat ze voor zichzelf ging zorgen aan het einde.
Coming Home 5/5: ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. Ik had echt absoluut nooit verwacht dat een van deze verhalen van een FNAF boeken serie me zo emotioneel zou maken, maar it really did. Ik kende Susie natuurlijk al, dus het was tof dat ze zo een achtergrond verhaal kreeg. Maar los daarvan was dit gewoon zo mooi, emotioneel en sad. Verhalen over loss en grief kan ik sowieso al niet aan en dat dit gecombineerd werd met een spooky element, was zo goed. Was gewoon zo precious, en het einde was heel mooi. Een heel realistisch verhaal ook (behalve Chica en dat element lol), maar daarmee bedoel ik dat de beschrijvingen van grief zo herkenbaar waren. Vond Susie ook zo immens zielig, want ze had niet helemaal door dat ze dood was en ze snapte niet waarom niemand tegen der praatte. Heel tof verzonnen ook met de doll Gretchen. Just adored it.
Step Closer 4/5: Deze titel story van het vierde Fazbear Frights boek was pretty good. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik niet echt spooked was, en je weet eigenlijk vanaf het begin al wat er gaat gebeuren. Je ziet gewoon dat Pete door gekke dingen constant bijna z’n arm en oog verliest, en het boek begint met de family die orgaandonors worden. De aanrijding was wel een verassing lol. Vond de broer relatie tussen Chuck en Pete wel heel tof om over te lezen, en was wel heel sad om Chuck aan het einde zo sad te zien. De laatste pagina was weer zo confusing, maar ik denk dat het betekende dat Foxy gewoon weg is van de stage.
Dance With Me 4.5/5: Now this I loved!!! Honestly really refreshing vergeleken alle andere verhalen. Vond het tof om te zien dat dit zich ook op verschillende plekken doordat Kasey natuurlijk naar verschillende plekken ging. Denk wel dat dit kinda shitty ‘homeless people’ rep is, maar then again maybe not aangezien het einde natuurlijk zo positief was. Dat was ook iets refreshings; een positief einde. Tussen al de bloody en sad endings, is dit ook wel leuk voor een keer. Kasey was very fun om te volgen en vond het heerlijk om te zien dat ze voor zichzelf ging zorgen aan het einde.
Coming Home 5/5: ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. Ik had echt absoluut nooit verwacht dat een van deze verhalen van een FNAF boeken serie me zo emotioneel zou maken, maar it really did. Ik kende Susie natuurlijk al, dus het was tof dat ze zo een achtergrond verhaal kreeg. Maar los daarvan was dit gewoon zo mooi, emotioneel en sad. Verhalen over loss en grief kan ik sowieso al niet aan en dat dit gecombineerd werd met een spooky element, was zo goed. Was gewoon zo precious, en het einde was heel mooi. Een heel realistisch verhaal ook (behalve Chica en dat element lol), maar daarmee bedoel ik dat de beschrijvingen van grief zo herkenbaar waren. Vond Susie ook zo immens zielig, want ze had niet helemaal door dat ze dood was en ze snapte niet waarom niemand tegen der praatte. Heel tof verzonnen ook met de doll Gretchen. Just adored it.
claresbookshelf's review
4.0
4 out of 5 stars
If I'm being totally honest, this volume was the most messed up and emotionally heavy one yet. I am very glad to have had Dance With Me between the other two because the first was exceptionally messed up and the last almost made me cry.
Sad, I know, but damn was that last story good. Poor Susie and Samantha.
If I'm being totally honest, this volume was the most messed up and emotionally heavy one yet. I am very glad to have had Dance With Me between the other two because the first was exceptionally messed up and the last almost made me cry.
Sad, I know, but damn was that last story good. Poor Susie and Samantha.
adelaidemetzger_robotprophet's review
4.0
Damn. That first story, "Step Closer," broke me.
The lengths the writers go for the details of character development and analyzing how they got where they are is incredible. I can't stop marveling at that as I continued reading this series. I had to stop cleaning and just rage at what happened to Peter at the end of that first story to my sister because of how upset I was. So sad and undeserving for the character.
"Dance With Me" was actually went from suspenseful to heartwarming and uplifting, ending on a high note. Really liked the message and moral in that one.
And "Coming Home" was just classic tragedy ghost story ending with an uplifting, but incredibly sad final paragraph. Child murder/perversion makes me so freaking triggered! I was having fury flashbacks to the FNAF Charlie trilogy whenever they mentioned sick f*** William Afton. There is NO redemption for that demented son of a b****.
I think I need to take a break from this series because I feel like I'm starting to get Fazbear burnout.
The lengths the writers go for the details of character development and analyzing how they got where they are is incredible. I can't stop marveling at that as I continued reading this series. I had to stop cleaning and just rage at what happened to Peter at the end of that first story to my sister because of how upset I was. So sad and undeserving for the character.
"Dance With Me" was actually went from suspenseful to heartwarming and uplifting, ending on a high note. Really liked the message and moral in that one.
And "Coming Home" was just classic tragedy ghost story ending with an uplifting, but incredibly sad final paragraph. Child murder/perversion makes me so freaking triggered! I was having fury flashbacks to the FNAF Charlie trilogy whenever they mentioned sick f*** William Afton. There is NO redemption for that demented son of a b****.
I think I need to take a break from this series because I feel like I'm starting to get Fazbear burnout.
popthebutterfly's review
5.0
Disclaimer: I bought this book! Support your authors! All opinions are my own.
Book: Step Closer
Author: Scott Cawthon, Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper, Kelly Parra
Book Series: Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights Book 4
Rating: 5/5
Recommended For...: horror fans, FNAF fans
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Genre: Horror
Recommended Age: 14+ (gore, death, child death, child abduction, violence)
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Pages: 224
Synopsis: Isolation can open up a void. Pete lashes out at his younger brother in the wake of his parents' divorce, falling prey to a gruesome curse. Kasey struggles with the lengths she'll go to survive on the streets after stealing a pair of unusual novelty glasses. Samantha and her sister, Susie, struggle to exist side by side, desperate to connect after a horrific tragedy. But in the grim world of Five Nights at Freddy's, empty feelings often attract hungry monsters...
In this fourth volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length stories from different corners of his series' canon, featuring cover art from fan-favorite artist LadyFiszi.
Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.
Review: I am in love with these books! I love the premise and the stories. They’re well crafted and written. The stories are also very spooky and I’ve been having so many nightmares. Definitely recommend for the spooky season. The main takeaway of this book is that the world is expansive and they follow you outside of their normal lengths. This also plays into what powers some of the animatronics have.
The only issue I had with this book is that the last story did drag on but was the most interesting that I have read. The last story went into the kidnapping and murders, but are the characters the same in the graveyard?
Verdict: I need more
Book: Step Closer
Author: Scott Cawthon, Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper, Kelly Parra
Book Series: Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights Book 4
Rating: 5/5
Recommended For...: horror fans, FNAF fans
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Genre: Horror
Recommended Age: 14+ (gore, death, child death, child abduction, violence)
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Pages: 224
Synopsis: Isolation can open up a void. Pete lashes out at his younger brother in the wake of his parents' divorce, falling prey to a gruesome curse. Kasey struggles with the lengths she'll go to survive on the streets after stealing a pair of unusual novelty glasses. Samantha and her sister, Susie, struggle to exist side by side, desperate to connect after a horrific tragedy. But in the grim world of Five Nights at Freddy's, empty feelings often attract hungry monsters...
In this fourth volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length stories from different corners of his series' canon, featuring cover art from fan-favorite artist LadyFiszi.
Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.
Review: I am in love with these books! I love the premise and the stories. They’re well crafted and written. The stories are also very spooky and I’ve been having so many nightmares. Definitely recommend for the spooky season. The main takeaway of this book is that the world is expansive and they follow you outside of their normal lengths. This also plays into what powers some of the animatronics have.
The only issue I had with this book is that the last story did drag on but was the most interesting that I have read. The last story went into the kidnapping and murders, but are the characters the same in the graveyard?
Verdict: I need more