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A review by manwithanagenda
The Secret Bedroom by R.L. Stine
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fear Street # 14
We have a new girl at Shadyside High. Lea is about the eighth new student at Shadyside since the series began. It's taken about two years for the books thus far to be published (June, 1989-Sept, 1991), and about the same time seems to have passed in Shadyside. That's a fairly normal number for a town this size, especially as the books do let some time pass. Not normal is that at the start of 'The Secret Bedroom' Shadyside High has seen (including Shannon's brother who died before the series started) 2 students dead, 2 moved away because of tragedy and 7 more presumably imprisoned and/or hospitalized 'to get the help they need'. That number at least should raise an eyebrow among parents. I'm not including those who may be dying at Shadyside's other, 'poor' high school, Shadyside South - we know of at least one.
Lea Carson may have been thinking about these statistics when she trips in the lunch room and spills chili onto Marci Hendryx's white, cashmere sweater. A cute boy named Don Jacobs helps her pick up her tray and asks her out. When Lea happily tells her new friend Deena (from 'Wrong Number') about this silver lining, Deena informs her that Don and Marci have been steady for, like, ever. This is the first of many signs that Don is a terrible person.
Not to be outdone, Marci starts a vicious smear campaign against Lea that Don does nothing to prevent, he makes it worse by continuing to flirt with Lea when Marci is out of sight and being spineless whenever Marci swoops in. Naturally, Lea's animosity is almost entirely focused on Marci, because boys can't help themselves.
So we have this 'Mean Girls' dynamic, which is fun, but I haven't even touched the best part: the Secret Bedroom! Soon after spilling all of that chili, Lea thinks back on the day her parents closed on their house on Fear Street. Lea's parents love fixing up old houses. Their work is never done, because when the house is all spruced up one of them gets transferred and it's time to start all over again. There's a great scene with Lea, her parents, and the realtor Mrs. Thomas (who is Suki Thomas' mother! This book lost points for not giving us the girl herself) going through the house and showing off the large family room, the sunny bedrooms and the boarded up murder room in the attic....Lea shines as a sarcastic teen here.
Mrs. Thomas explains that most houses on Fear Street have these kind of stories, you understand. The Carsons are totally fine with the boarded-up room and move on.
As Marci's campaign to humiliate Lea increases, Lea begins to hear noises above her room that must be coming from the boarded up room in the attic. She even hears a voice calling out to her to open the door....
I would love to get into this more, but I don't want to give it away. It was interesting there was confirmation of time actually passing when Deena remarks to Lea that she had "had a bad experience" on Fear Street a year before. 'Wrong Number' came out in March of 1990 and 'Secret Bedroom' in September of 1991. It's legit! This is only the second Fear Street book to have a supernatural plot (out of 13 plus 1 Super Chiller), and it was bonkers and I loved it. More should have been written like this one.
Fear Street in Publication Order
Next #15: 'Silent Night', Super Chiller #2
Previous #13: 'Lights Out', Fear Street #12
We have a new girl at Shadyside High. Lea is about the eighth new student at Shadyside since the series began. It's taken about two years for the books thus far to be published (June, 1989-Sept, 1991), and about the same time seems to have passed in Shadyside. That's a fairly normal number for a town this size, especially as the books do let some time pass. Not normal is that at the start of 'The Secret Bedroom' Shadyside High has seen (including Shannon's brother who died before the series started) 2 students dead, 2 moved away because of tragedy and 7 more presumably imprisoned and/or hospitalized 'to get the help they need'. That number at least should raise an eyebrow among parents. I'm not including those who may be dying at Shadyside's other, 'poor' high school, Shadyside South - we know of at least one.
Lea Carson may have been thinking about these statistics when she trips in the lunch room and spills chili onto Marci Hendryx's white, cashmere sweater. A cute boy named Don Jacobs helps her pick up her tray and asks her out. When Lea happily tells her new friend Deena (from 'Wrong Number') about this silver lining, Deena informs her that Don and Marci have been steady for, like, ever. This is the first of many signs that Don is a terrible person.
Not to be outdone, Marci starts a vicious smear campaign against Lea that Don does nothing to prevent, he makes it worse by continuing to flirt with Lea when Marci is out of sight and being spineless whenever Marci swoops in. Naturally, Lea's animosity is almost entirely focused on Marci, because boys can't help themselves.
So we have this 'Mean Girls' dynamic, which is fun, but I haven't even touched the best part: the Secret Bedroom! Soon after spilling all of that chili, Lea thinks back on the day her parents closed on their house on Fear Street. Lea's parents love fixing up old houses. Their work is never done, because when the house is all spruced up one of them gets transferred and it's time to start all over again. There's a great scene with Lea, her parents, and the realtor Mrs. Thomas (who is Suki Thomas' mother! This book lost points for not giving us the girl herself) going through the house and showing off the large family room, the sunny bedrooms and the boarded up murder room in the attic....Lea shines as a sarcastic teen here.
Mrs. Thomas explains that most houses on Fear Street have these kind of stories, you understand. The Carsons are totally fine with the boarded-up room and move on.
As Marci's campaign to humiliate Lea increases, Lea begins to hear noises above her room that must be coming from the boarded up room in the attic. She even hears a voice calling out to her to open the door....
I would love to get into this more, but I don't want to give it away. It was interesting there was confirmation of time actually passing when Deena remarks to Lea that she had "had a bad experience" on Fear Street a year before. 'Wrong Number' came out in March of 1990 and 'Secret Bedroom' in September of 1991. It's legit! This is only the second Fear Street book to have a supernatural plot (out of 13 plus 1 Super Chiller), and it was bonkers and I loved it. More should have been written like this one.
Fear Street in Publication Order
Next #15: 'Silent Night', Super Chiller #2
Previous #13: 'Lights Out', Fear Street #12