Scan barcode
eloracookauthor's review against another edition
CRYING.
I read this when I was 13 and was obsessed with it. Now I'v finally found the title and author after all these years *cheers*
Love finding old faves. <3
I read this when I was 13 and was obsessed with it. Now I'v finally found the title and author after all these years *cheers*
Love finding old faves. <3
modernzorker's review against another edition
4.0
Melissa might be going crazy. Between the reports of the Fear Street Prowler making the news, and her own delving into a Stephen King book, she's jumping at shadows. Her mom's convinced she's been staying up too late. Her dad's sure it's just a bad dream, caused by a tree limb tapping at her window. Her boyfriend's at his wits' end trying to make sense of her story and why her imagination's gone wild all of a sudden. But Melissa's sure she didn't imagine the menacing figure in her room, looking down on her when she awoke but vanishing into the night once her dad heard her screaming. And she knows it wasn't her imagination that nearly shoved her out her own window, or unwrapped all her birthday gifts, or yanked the steering wheel on her new car thus sending her into oncoming traffic.
Unfortunately for Melissa, she's not going crazy. There really is a ghost hanging around her house on Fear Street, and he's mad as hell at Melissa. Paul can't remember the exact details, or when it happened, or even his last name, but he knows Melissa killed him and he's back to take revenge. Melissa's flabbergasted: she doesn't remember killing anybody, least of all the denim-clad, grease-haired bad boy haunting her bedroom.
Powerless to fight back against an incorporeal entity who comes and goes as he pleases, her only hope is to convince Paul that he's mistaken and help him figure out who really killed him and why. She has to hurry though--despite having all the time in the world, Paul's patience won't last forever.
* * * * *
This may very well be the most Christopher Pike book Bob Stine ever wrote.
I don't mean that as an insult either. Pike, for those unfamiliar, was probably the second-largest name in teen suspense/horror, with series like "Chain Letter" and "Final Friends" eaten up by the masses. While Stine tended to focus more on plots and mysteries for his characters to solve, Pike was more interested in probing the emotions resulting from the dilemmas his protagonists found themselves facing. Stine's books tend to move quickly because Stine focuses on pushing the narrative while his characters go along for the ride, while Pike's tend to go slower as Pike delves into his characters' reasons for their behavior. With that in mind, if this isn't the most Christopher Pike book Stine ever wrote, it's at the very least the most Christopher Pike book I've read by Stine thus far.
Don't get the wrong idea here, the first 50% of the book is classic Stine all the way, with Melissa struggling to convince her family, her best friend, and her boyfriend that she isn't crazy, and that there really is a ghost haunting her. Uh...spoiler alert, I guess...? In case the title and the cover art and the back cover blurb didn't give it away already. Yeah, there's a ghost.
But then a little more than halfway through the book (page 91 to be exact), Stine drops a bombshell of a plot twist nobody will see coming, and the results turn what was up to that point a fairly ordinary Fear Street book into something far better. What's more, despite this being a paranormal story, Stine doesn't use that as an excuse to feed the reader any garbage. He's played with not just the protagonist's expectations but the reader's as well, and the resultant "WTF?!" from both Melissa and me would have been enough to get us both kicked out of a library.
This, incidentally, is why I read at home.
If there's any downside to Haunted, it's that Stine unfortunately rushes to finish the story and tie up loose ends all within the last few pages. There was room for quite a bit more tension in the final encounter, not to mention a bit more in the way of closure between the two main characters. While the book clocks in at 164 pages, I'd love to see what Stine could have accomplished with more. "Fear Street Super Chillers" got around twenty additional pages to play with, and this is one instance where I'd argue for that upgrade.
Aside from that minor gripe, I can't find anything majorly wrong with Haunted. There are some nitpicks endemic to much of Stine's output during this time period, mainly with regards to 90's teenagers occasionally dressing in things from the 60's, and a plethora of "snappy" one-liners that aren't, but this is just part of the Fear Street charm. Stine also pushes some boundaries here, as Melissa's boyfriend Buddy gets a hand up her shirt during an impromptu make-out session, and later on in the story another group of characters make some exceedingly inappropriate innuendos regarding what they'd like to do to Melissa, which seems awfully daring for this particular line of books. There's nothing graphic or overt, but it felt like Stine was trying to see just how much the editor would let him get away with.
One other thing I'd like to point out: there's an object revealed very early in the story that I was convinced would have something to do with resolving the mystery around Paul and his demise. Stine directs just enough attention to it initially to get you interested, then brings it up later in the narrative every so often just to remind us it's still there, but the truth of the matter is that this object is a red herring, and one of the most cunningly-deployed red herrings I've seen so far in this series. I feel it's important to point stuff like this out, because while Stine has a well-deserved reputation for being a 'churner' with regards to an output so prolific as to push the bounds of sanity and possibility, it's stuff like this that shows he really understands his craft.
Four and a half (I want SO badly to award five, but I just can't) ghostly apparitions out of five.
* * * * *
Best Scene:
I absolutely cannot discuss this book's best scene without massively spoiling the biggest plot twist in the book. Seriously, this is some 'M. Night Shyamalan, didn't see that coming!' level shit, and shame on anybody who ruins it.
Page 91.
I'm saying nothing else.
Unfortunately for Melissa, she's not going crazy. There really is a ghost hanging around her house on Fear Street, and he's mad as hell at Melissa. Paul can't remember the exact details, or when it happened, or even his last name, but he knows Melissa killed him and he's back to take revenge. Melissa's flabbergasted: she doesn't remember killing anybody, least of all the denim-clad, grease-haired bad boy haunting her bedroom.
Powerless to fight back against an incorporeal entity who comes and goes as he pleases, her only hope is to convince Paul that he's mistaken and help him figure out who really killed him and why. She has to hurry though--despite having all the time in the world, Paul's patience won't last forever.
* * * * *
This may very well be the most Christopher Pike book Bob Stine ever wrote.
I don't mean that as an insult either. Pike, for those unfamiliar, was probably the second-largest name in teen suspense/horror, with series like "Chain Letter" and "Final Friends" eaten up by the masses. While Stine tended to focus more on plots and mysteries for his characters to solve, Pike was more interested in probing the emotions resulting from the dilemmas his protagonists found themselves facing. Stine's books tend to move quickly because Stine focuses on pushing the narrative while his characters go along for the ride, while Pike's tend to go slower as Pike delves into his characters' reasons for their behavior. With that in mind, if this isn't the most Christopher Pike book Stine ever wrote, it's at the very least the most Christopher Pike book I've read by Stine thus far.
Don't get the wrong idea here, the first 50% of the book is classic Stine all the way, with Melissa struggling to convince her family, her best friend, and her boyfriend that she isn't crazy, and that there really is a ghost haunting her. Uh...spoiler alert, I guess...? In case the title and the cover art and the back cover blurb didn't give it away already. Yeah, there's a ghost.
But then a little more than halfway through the book (page 91 to be exact), Stine drops a bombshell of a plot twist nobody will see coming, and the results turn what was up to that point a fairly ordinary Fear Street book into something far better. What's more, despite this being a paranormal story, Stine doesn't use that as an excuse to feed the reader any garbage. He's played with not just the protagonist's expectations but the reader's as well, and the resultant "WTF?!" from both Melissa and me would have been enough to get us both kicked out of a library.
This, incidentally, is why I read at home.
If there's any downside to Haunted, it's that Stine unfortunately rushes to finish the story and tie up loose ends all within the last few pages. There was room for quite a bit more tension in the final encounter, not to mention a bit more in the way of closure between the two main characters. While the book clocks in at 164 pages, I'd love to see what Stine could have accomplished with more. "Fear Street Super Chillers" got around twenty additional pages to play with, and this is one instance where I'd argue for that upgrade.
Aside from that minor gripe, I can't find anything majorly wrong with Haunted. There are some nitpicks endemic to much of Stine's output during this time period, mainly with regards to 90's teenagers occasionally dressing in things from the 60's, and a plethora of "snappy" one-liners that aren't, but this is just part of the Fear Street charm. Stine also pushes some boundaries here, as Melissa's boyfriend Buddy gets a hand up her shirt during an impromptu make-out session, and later on in the story another group of characters make some exceedingly inappropriate innuendos regarding what they'd like to do to Melissa, which seems awfully daring for this particular line of books. There's nothing graphic or overt, but it felt like Stine was trying to see just how much the editor would let him get away with.
One other thing I'd like to point out: there's an object revealed very early in the story that I was convinced would have something to do with resolving the mystery around Paul and his demise. Stine directs just enough attention to it initially to get you interested, then brings it up later in the narrative every so often just to remind us it's still there, but the truth of the matter is that this object is a red herring, and one of the most cunningly-deployed red herrings I've seen so far in this series. I feel it's important to point stuff like this out, because while Stine has a well-deserved reputation for being a 'churner' with regards to an output so prolific as to push the bounds of sanity and possibility, it's stuff like this that shows he really understands his craft.
Four and a half (I want SO badly to award five, but I just can't) ghostly apparitions out of five.
* * * * *
Best Scene:
I absolutely cannot discuss this book's best scene without massively spoiling the biggest plot twist in the book. Seriously, this is some 'M. Night Shyamalan, didn't see that coming!' level shit, and shame on anybody who ruins it.
Page 91.
I'm saying nothing else.
laurbits's review against another edition
3.0
Haha I remember reading this book and loving the crazy twist in it.
tablife's review against another edition
4.0
Melissa encounters a ghost from the future in her bedroom and embarks on a quest to see if she can save his life.
reubenshupp's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Sad Romantic Tale
Melissa is being haunted by Paul, a ghost. He tries to hurt her. Not once. But twice. It turns out, she is the only one who can see him. The ghost tells Melissa that she is the one who killed him. She does not believe it. Melissa sets out to prove Paul wrong. What does she have to lose? Paul is planning to kill her. This was a sad romantic tale. I highly recommend this book to readers who love ghosts and teen romance.
Melissa is being haunted by Paul, a ghost. He tries to hurt her. Not once. But twice. It turns out, she is the only one who can see him. The ghost tells Melissa that she is the one who killed him. She does not believe it. Melissa sets out to prove Paul wrong. What does she have to lose? Paul is planning to kill her. This was a sad romantic tale. I highly recommend this book to readers who love ghosts and teen romance.
fantasmariana's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Woah, esto se puso oscuro. Necesito pensar qué quiero decir sobre esta historia tipo ghost la sombra del amor + pandilleros malandros.
Woah, esto se puso oscuro. Necesito pensar qué quiero decir sobre esta historia tipo ghost la sombra del amor + pandilleros malandros.
remigves's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
chemwizard22's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
izzysbookshelf18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0