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Ghosts of Fear Street #6
Eye of the Fortuneteller
Who's afraid of the ghosts of Fear Street? Not Kelsey Moore. She's lived on Fear Street all her life, and she's not afraid of anything.
Until she meets Madame Valda -- a strange old woman who says she can see into the future. She tells Kelsey that only fools are fearless. Kelsey just laughs.
But she isn't laughing when she climbs into bed -- and finds it full of disgusting sand crabs. Or when she goes for a swim -- and finds the ocean swarming with giant jellyfish! All of Kelsey's worst fears are coming to life!
Has Madame Valda doomed Kelsey to live in fear forever?
Until she meets Madame Valda -- a strange old woman who says she can see into the future. She tells Kelsey that only fools are fearless. Kelsey just laughs.
But she isn't laughing when she climbs into bed -- and finds it full of disgusting sand crabs. Or when she goes for a swim -- and finds the ocean swarming with giant jellyfish! All of Kelsey's worst fears are coming to life!
Has Madame Valda doomed Kelsey to live in fear forever?
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
608 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,734 books18.8k followersRobert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 10, 2020
It says on the book's home page that this was co written. Maybe the second name is the sketch artist instead of a co author. Nevertheless it doesn't feel like a Goosebumps classic.
Too many uselessly emphasized short dramatic sentences that are where they shouldn't be. At one point I was curious of how the story would be stretched, but beyond that I had little desire to read. There are icky bits, but not ghoulish bits. This could have been written by anyone.
Drew and Kelsey might have been inspired from real kids, but they aren't real even on paper. I really missed the banter and playfulness from the first third of the story. Not all Goosebumps story must be alike but this one offers nothing much. One star.
Too many uselessly emphasized short dramatic sentences that are where they shouldn't be. At one point I was curious of how the story would be stretched, but beyond that I had little desire to read. There are icky bits, but not ghoulish bits. This could have been written by anyone.
Drew and Kelsey might have been inspired from real kids, but they aren't real even on paper. I really missed the banter and playfulness from the first third of the story. Not all Goosebumps story must be alike but this one offers nothing much. One star.
December 5, 2023
One of the better GoFS books I've read so far.
February 1, 2013
A nice story with mystery elements and a good moral (The true curse is nothing supernatural. It is the fear that we succumb to.) Recommendable for kool kids.
November 23, 2024
This book was fun, spooky and had some gross scenes. It’s about a girl that gets curse by a Gypsy and must face her worse fears. It is one of the better ones in the Ghost of Fear Street series and was an enjoyable read.
December 21, 2010
My first LibraryThing review ever! Thanks, Adriane!
I remember in elementary school when we had weekly trips to the library, we'd always look at the shelf that held all of R.L. Stine's classics. The Goosebumps series --gosh, they caused a ruckus! We little first graders would all be standing in a lopsided line, waiting for the librarian to check our books out for us, and while the long wait, we'd glance by the "horror" bookshelf. I don't think they were much too popular, so they were located on a bottom shelf; however, at three-and-a-half feet standing, they were right at eye level for us. Perfect.
"You know what the scariest thing ever is?" one boy taunted me. "Reading one of these books. They will haunt you forever."
"So?" I said. The covers looked pretty scary, but being a book freak even then, I found it hard to believe that a book could actually scare you.
"In the dark," he continued. "These books are scary if you read them in the dark."
I was not impressed. First of all, everyone knew that you couldn't read a book in the dark unless it had glow-in-the-dark text. Second of all, the dark never really had adverse affects on me as a child, so to me, reading the book in the dark would have been the same as reading one on the sun.
Nevertheless, the fact that the horror novels could supposedly haunt me forever was not a very appealing idea. I never picked up one of the books, and never had thought about it, until I was given the opportunity to review Eye of the Fortuneteller by R.L. Stine. It isn't Goosebumps, but it comes pretty darn close...
Blurb: Who's afraid of the ghosts of Fear Street?
Not Kelsey Moore. She's lived on Fear Street all her life, and she's not afraid of anything.
Until she meets Madame Valda --a strange old woman who says she can see into the future. She tells Kelsey that only fools are fearless. Kelsey just laughs.
But she isn't laughing when she climbs into bed -- and finds it full of disgusting sand crabs. Or when she goes for a swim --and finds the ocean swarming with giant jellyfish! All of Kelsey's worst fears are coming to life!
Has Madame Valda doomed Kelsey to live in fear forever?
The only plausible way this book can be considered a horror novel takes me back to first grade, when even all the boys were afraid to read R.L. Stine. The only plausible way this book would eternally terrify a person, is if they were six years old.
The plot is simple:
1. Kelsey and her cousin, Drew encounter a creepy gypsy.
2. Kelsey and her cousin, Drew anger the creepy gypsy.
3. Kelsey and her cousin, Drew are cursed by the creepy gypsy; they get lost and chased by a rabid dog.
4. Kelsey has hallucinations about the only things in the world she is afraid of: sand crabs.
5. Kelsey has hallucinations about the only OTHER things in the world she is afraid of: horseflies and jellyfish.
That's really the "scary" element of the story; but for someone like me who cannot imagine a sand crab being scary, it was hard to associate.
Being a children's novel, it did end happily (Kelsey's curse is lifted by some gypsies who aren't quite as evil as the first one she encountered), but I totally saw it coming. Children's stories never end tragically, but that factor probably also made the story less horrific too.
Eye of the Fortuneteller was a quick, I-should-be-doing-something-productive-but-instead-I-am-entertaining-myself read. I read it in about twenty minutes, as the there are only 105 pages and the font size is about 16.
I enjoyed taking a break from the really dramatic genre that makes you think too much (we're studying Dickens in class right now...ugh), but having already graduated from elementary school, this book wasn't really for me.
Radical Rating: 6 hearts- Would recommend to people. ♥♥♥♥♥♥
I remember in elementary school when we had weekly trips to the library, we'd always look at the shelf that held all of R.L. Stine's classics. The Goosebumps series --gosh, they caused a ruckus! We little first graders would all be standing in a lopsided line, waiting for the librarian to check our books out for us, and while the long wait, we'd glance by the "horror" bookshelf. I don't think they were much too popular, so they were located on a bottom shelf; however, at three-and-a-half feet standing, they were right at eye level for us. Perfect.
"You know what the scariest thing ever is?" one boy taunted me. "Reading one of these books. They will haunt you forever."
"So?" I said. The covers looked pretty scary, but being a book freak even then, I found it hard to believe that a book could actually scare you.
"In the dark," he continued. "These books are scary if you read them in the dark."
I was not impressed. First of all, everyone knew that you couldn't read a book in the dark unless it had glow-in-the-dark text. Second of all, the dark never really had adverse affects on me as a child, so to me, reading the book in the dark would have been the same as reading one on the sun.
Nevertheless, the fact that the horror novels could supposedly haunt me forever was not a very appealing idea. I never picked up one of the books, and never had thought about it, until I was given the opportunity to review Eye of the Fortuneteller by R.L. Stine. It isn't Goosebumps, but it comes pretty darn close...
Blurb: Who's afraid of the ghosts of Fear Street?
Not Kelsey Moore. She's lived on Fear Street all her life, and she's not afraid of anything.
Until she meets Madame Valda --a strange old woman who says she can see into the future. She tells Kelsey that only fools are fearless. Kelsey just laughs.
But she isn't laughing when she climbs into bed -- and finds it full of disgusting sand crabs. Or when she goes for a swim --and finds the ocean swarming with giant jellyfish! All of Kelsey's worst fears are coming to life!
Has Madame Valda doomed Kelsey to live in fear forever?
The only plausible way this book can be considered a horror novel takes me back to first grade, when even all the boys were afraid to read R.L. Stine. The only plausible way this book would eternally terrify a person, is if they were six years old.
The plot is simple:
1. Kelsey and her cousin, Drew encounter a creepy gypsy.
2. Kelsey and her cousin, Drew anger the creepy gypsy.
3. Kelsey and her cousin, Drew are cursed by the creepy gypsy; they get lost and chased by a rabid dog.
4. Kelsey has hallucinations about the only things in the world she is afraid of: sand crabs.
5. Kelsey has hallucinations about the only OTHER things in the world she is afraid of: horseflies and jellyfish.
That's really the "scary" element of the story; but for someone like me who cannot imagine a sand crab being scary, it was hard to associate.
Being a children's novel, it did end happily (Kelsey's curse is lifted by some gypsies who aren't quite as evil as the first one she encountered), but I totally saw it coming. Children's stories never end tragically, but that factor probably also made the story less horrific too.
Eye of the Fortuneteller was a quick, I-should-be-doing-something-productive-but-instead-I-am-entertaining-myself read. I read it in about twenty minutes, as the there are only 105 pages and the font size is about 16.
I enjoyed taking a break from the really dramatic genre that makes you think too much (we're studying Dickens in class right now...ugh), but having already graduated from elementary school, this book wasn't really for me.
Radical Rating: 6 hearts- Would recommend to people. ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Read
January 18, 2026Eye of the Fortune Teller (The Ghost of Fear Street)
Kelsey and Drew are at a carnival when they notice a strange old shack that has “The Amazing Zandra” over the door. But she’s “Out to Lunch”. The door is open so they peek around inside and see a skeleton and dead, stuffed, animals. Zandra appears and encourages them to stay. She’s old and her one blue eye and one black eye stand out. She says there’s much to tell them and surprisingly calls them by their names.
Drew wants them to leave, but Kelsey takes up the invitation. She tells them to call her Madame Valda. She takes out a deck of cards, starts to sing, and then just stares at Kelsey. When she speaks she addresses Drew and tells him he’s a follower and that this will get him into trouble. Especially when letting Kelsey make all the decisions. She uses his last name. Kelsey wonders how she knew it but the realizes there names are on their beach passes. She points out to Madame Valada that she thinks she’s a fake, which angers her.
She tells Kelsey to apologize or else. Drew urges her to just apologize. Kelsey refuses and says she doesn’t fear her. The fortune teller calls her a fool and slaps down The Fool tarot card and curses her for the rest of her life. Then she kicks them out. Before leaving, she shouts that they will believe and they will know fear. They hear her voice echoing around them as they run.
She chases and catches them. She repeats that they will be afraid. Then takes The Fool card and tosses it in the air. She and Drew start to run. When they turn around the fortune teller is gone. On the way home, they get lost. Everywhere they go there’s nothing but shacks and empty store fronts. Then they get chased by a huge beast of a dog with yellow eyes. When they think their safe, the alley turns out to be a dead end. They wait for the dog to attack, but when they look down the alley, its gone. Eventually they find their just a block away from home. Kelsey remembers the fortune tellers warning. When she turns to look at the alley, it’s now gone. When they get home, something white falls from the sky and lands at Kelsy’s feet. It’s The Fool’s card.
That night, Kelsey rips up the card and tells herself tomorrow will be a better day. When she’s in bed, she starts to feel a tingling sensation all over her body. She realizes its sand crabs and tries to scream. Nothing comes out. She goes to the mirror to look, but when she does she sees nothing. They aren’t in her hair. They aren’t in the bed. The next morning, on the floor she sees a single sand crab. Then something more horrifying. She checks under the bed to see if there are more crabs but instead she sees The Fool card in one piece.
As Drew watches the next day, Kelsey tears the card to pieces again and scatters the pieces as the waves roll in. They start to catch the waves. Kelly feels something wet and squirmy on her back and tries to brush it off. It feels like a jelly fish. Kelsey cries out for Drew but she doesn’t see him. She tries to swim for shore. One jelly fish now feels like two. Then her whole body starts to sting. It starts to feel like she’s even swimming in jelly fish. Once she gets to shore, she starts to yell to help her get the jelly fish off. Drew tells her there are no jelly fish on her.
Something hits her ankle. It’s not a jelly fish. It’s the card and its in one piece. Drew suggests she apologize to the old woman but when they go to her shack, there’s an attractive woman there that says her name is Madame Zandra (with normal brown eyes). She says there wasn’t and was another gypsy there. She doesn’t believe they saw another gypsy but she does believe the curse. She says she can remove it for 10.00. Ah don’t you just LOVE these days? Today it would probably be over 100.00.
Zandra goes into a trance, comes out if, takes the card and puts a red X on the face of it, and then locks it in a metal box. She says this card won’t give her (Kelsey) problems any more. She then gives her an amulet and tells her to wear it for three days. At sun down on the third day the curse will be broken. There are no problems this day. On the first day, she and Drew stay inside. On the second day, she wins the game Drew wanted at the arcade. They also win a ton of stuffed animals.
On the third day Kelsey is confident enough to go to the beach. She and Drew are making a sand castle when she’s attacked and bitten to death by a horse fly -that turns into a swarm of horseflies-. Kelsey heads to the water to get them off, but Drew stops her. There aren’t any horse flies on her. The amulet didn’t work after all. They then notice the Fool card sitting on top of the castle with the red X drawn through it.
They go back to Zandra. Her real hair isn’t long and brown. It’s short and blond. Kelsey and Drew accuse her of being a fake and show her the card. She accuses them of playing a game. When she opens the chest, instead of the box being empty there’s a picture of Kelly with a red X marked over her face. Zandra is freaked out and says they should go to the gypsy who put the curse on them. Then she’s even more freaked out to find out it’s Madama Valda. She tells them Madame Valda is the most powerful and evil gypsy that ever lived. But she’s been dead for more than 100 years.
Some of the other gypsy’s tho believe that she can still appear. Zandra admits she doesn’t know what to do but her uncle might. So, she introduces them to Gregor. He tells them that she was so evil the other gypsies decided to kill her. So a boy and girl were sent to trick her and her wine was poisoned. They took her body and tossed it into the sea. But she didn’t stay there. She’s been spotted multiple places for years. He says he can remove the curse but it will be terrifying.
She can’t afford not to do it so she agrees to whatever it is. He tells her they start at midnight. Gather up her fears and then bring him a map with her street circled. Then she’s to bring him a sand crab, a horsefly, and a jelly fish. He can help but she’s the one that has to catch them. When she has everything come to the gypsy camp under the boardwalk at midnight. And the cost will be 20.00.
Everything is easy to come by except for the jellyfish. When Kelsey tries to find one she ends up going to far from shore and gets tossed around by the currents. Drew pulls her to safety and she finds the jellyfish. After the gypsies get through chanting and singing, Gregor tells Kelsey the only way to get rid of the curse is to (literally) “swallow her fears”. That’s right? She has to EAT them! She’s brave and does -tho some are a challenge and make her gag-. Then she’s told to complete the curse she’ll need to burn something of Madame Valda’s.
Kelsey tries to throw the Fool card into the fire but the flames start to rise higher and higher. Then the fire explodes in her face and she hears Madame Valda’s evil laughter. Then she appears. Gregor doesn’t know what to do. Valda says its because he’s a fake. In fact, she says they’re all fake. And sure enough they all dip. Kelsey is able to get the card into the fire, but Madame Valda uses hot air to make the car blow out of the flames and away.
Kelsey chases the card and is just about to grab it but Valda blows it out her grasp. She does catch it and then throws it at Vada’s burning body. Madame Valda goes up in a puff of smoke and then disappears. Later, they’re at a carnival. (Before they were at the boardwalk). They want to go in the haunted house again, but the line is too long. The see a mechanical fortune teller in a glass box. A little girl goes up to the machine and discovers -and says- it doesn’t work. Kelsey says “See there’s nothing to be scared of”. They start to walk away. A voice says “Nothing to be afraid of? FOOL! FOO! FOOL!”
Rating: 5 This was a quick read. I thought it was interesting that the “cure” was to literally “swallow your own fears”. Tho *really* don’t think getting rid of one dangerous thing that could kill you by substituting it with doing another equally bad thing that could KILL YOU, might not be “the solution” you want. It could have pushed the plot a tiny bit more with the “scary” elements. I just didn’t see sand crabs, or horse flies, or jelly fish as all that terrifying. The horse flies more of an annoyance, The sand crabs and the jelly fish don’t even rate on a small scale. So, this one I had 2 words for TRY HARDER!
Kelsey and Drew are at a carnival when they notice a strange old shack that has “The Amazing Zandra” over the door. But she’s “Out to Lunch”. The door is open so they peek around inside and see a skeleton and dead, stuffed, animals. Zandra appears and encourages them to stay. She’s old and her one blue eye and one black eye stand out. She says there’s much to tell them and surprisingly calls them by their names.
Drew wants them to leave, but Kelsey takes up the invitation. She tells them to call her Madame Valda. She takes out a deck of cards, starts to sing, and then just stares at Kelsey. When she speaks she addresses Drew and tells him he’s a follower and that this will get him into trouble. Especially when letting Kelsey make all the decisions. She uses his last name. Kelsey wonders how she knew it but the realizes there names are on their beach passes. She points out to Madame Valada that she thinks she’s a fake, which angers her.
She tells Kelsey to apologize or else. Drew urges her to just apologize. Kelsey refuses and says she doesn’t fear her. The fortune teller calls her a fool and slaps down The Fool tarot card and curses her for the rest of her life. Then she kicks them out. Before leaving, she shouts that they will believe and they will know fear. They hear her voice echoing around them as they run.
She chases and catches them. She repeats that they will be afraid. Then takes The Fool card and tosses it in the air. She and Drew start to run. When they turn around the fortune teller is gone. On the way home, they get lost. Everywhere they go there’s nothing but shacks and empty store fronts. Then they get chased by a huge beast of a dog with yellow eyes. When they think their safe, the alley turns out to be a dead end. They wait for the dog to attack, but when they look down the alley, its gone. Eventually they find their just a block away from home. Kelsey remembers the fortune tellers warning. When she turns to look at the alley, it’s now gone. When they get home, something white falls from the sky and lands at Kelsy’s feet. It’s The Fool’s card.
That night, Kelsey rips up the card and tells herself tomorrow will be a better day. When she’s in bed, she starts to feel a tingling sensation all over her body. She realizes its sand crabs and tries to scream. Nothing comes out. She goes to the mirror to look, but when she does she sees nothing. They aren’t in her hair. They aren’t in the bed. The next morning, on the floor she sees a single sand crab. Then something more horrifying. She checks under the bed to see if there are more crabs but instead she sees The Fool card in one piece.
As Drew watches the next day, Kelsey tears the card to pieces again and scatters the pieces as the waves roll in. They start to catch the waves. Kelly feels something wet and squirmy on her back and tries to brush it off. It feels like a jelly fish. Kelsey cries out for Drew but she doesn’t see him. She tries to swim for shore. One jelly fish now feels like two. Then her whole body starts to sting. It starts to feel like she’s even swimming in jelly fish. Once she gets to shore, she starts to yell to help her get the jelly fish off. Drew tells her there are no jelly fish on her.
Something hits her ankle. It’s not a jelly fish. It’s the card and its in one piece. Drew suggests she apologize to the old woman but when they go to her shack, there’s an attractive woman there that says her name is Madame Zandra (with normal brown eyes). She says there wasn’t and was another gypsy there. She doesn’t believe they saw another gypsy but she does believe the curse. She says she can remove it for 10.00. Ah don’t you just LOVE these days? Today it would probably be over 100.00.
Zandra goes into a trance, comes out if, takes the card and puts a red X on the face of it, and then locks it in a metal box. She says this card won’t give her (Kelsey) problems any more. She then gives her an amulet and tells her to wear it for three days. At sun down on the third day the curse will be broken. There are no problems this day. On the first day, she and Drew stay inside. On the second day, she wins the game Drew wanted at the arcade. They also win a ton of stuffed animals.
On the third day Kelsey is confident enough to go to the beach. She and Drew are making a sand castle when she’s attacked and bitten to death by a horse fly -that turns into a swarm of horseflies-. Kelsey heads to the water to get them off, but Drew stops her. There aren’t any horse flies on her. The amulet didn’t work after all. They then notice the Fool card sitting on top of the castle with the red X drawn through it.
They go back to Zandra. Her real hair isn’t long and brown. It’s short and blond. Kelsey and Drew accuse her of being a fake and show her the card. She accuses them of playing a game. When she opens the chest, instead of the box being empty there’s a picture of Kelly with a red X marked over her face. Zandra is freaked out and says they should go to the gypsy who put the curse on them. Then she’s even more freaked out to find out it’s Madama Valda. She tells them Madame Valda is the most powerful and evil gypsy that ever lived. But she’s been dead for more than 100 years.
Some of the other gypsy’s tho believe that she can still appear. Zandra admits she doesn’t know what to do but her uncle might. So, she introduces them to Gregor. He tells them that she was so evil the other gypsies decided to kill her. So a boy and girl were sent to trick her and her wine was poisoned. They took her body and tossed it into the sea. But she didn’t stay there. She’s been spotted multiple places for years. He says he can remove the curse but it will be terrifying.
She can’t afford not to do it so she agrees to whatever it is. He tells her they start at midnight. Gather up her fears and then bring him a map with her street circled. Then she’s to bring him a sand crab, a horsefly, and a jelly fish. He can help but she’s the one that has to catch them. When she has everything come to the gypsy camp under the boardwalk at midnight. And the cost will be 20.00.
Everything is easy to come by except for the jellyfish. When Kelsey tries to find one she ends up going to far from shore and gets tossed around by the currents. Drew pulls her to safety and she finds the jellyfish. After the gypsies get through chanting and singing, Gregor tells Kelsey the only way to get rid of the curse is to (literally) “swallow her fears”. That’s right? She has to EAT them! She’s brave and does -tho some are a challenge and make her gag-. Then she’s told to complete the curse she’ll need to burn something of Madame Valda’s.
Kelsey tries to throw the Fool card into the fire but the flames start to rise higher and higher. Then the fire explodes in her face and she hears Madame Valda’s evil laughter. Then she appears. Gregor doesn’t know what to do. Valda says its because he’s a fake. In fact, she says they’re all fake. And sure enough they all dip. Kelsey is able to get the card into the fire, but Madame Valda uses hot air to make the car blow out of the flames and away.
Kelsey chases the card and is just about to grab it but Valda blows it out her grasp. She does catch it and then throws it at Vada’s burning body. Madame Valda goes up in a puff of smoke and then disappears. Later, they’re at a carnival. (Before they were at the boardwalk). They want to go in the haunted house again, but the line is too long. The see a mechanical fortune teller in a glass box. A little girl goes up to the machine and discovers -and says- it doesn’t work. Kelsey says “See there’s nothing to be scared of”. They start to walk away. A voice says “Nothing to be afraid of? FOOL! FOO! FOOL!”
Rating: 5 This was a quick read. I thought it was interesting that the “cure” was to literally “swallow your own fears”. Tho *really* don’t think getting rid of one dangerous thing that could kill you by substituting it with doing another equally bad thing that could KILL YOU, might not be “the solution” you want. It could have pushed the plot a tiny bit more with the “scary” elements. I just didn’t see sand crabs, or horse flies, or jelly fish as all that terrifying. The horse flies more of an annoyance, The sand crabs and the jelly fish don’t even rate on a small scale. So, this one I had 2 words for TRY HARDER!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2013
One of the best books ever! Great to make kids enjoy reading!
I remember telling this story to my mom and brother and they were fascinated (probably Because of how much I'd loved the book)
I remember telling this story to my mom and brother and they were fascinated (probably Because of how much I'd loved the book)
March 4, 2016
LOVED this book! Great characters and it really kept you interested.
May 7, 2016
Personal: It was a quick and fluff 'scary' read.
Read again?: No.
Read again?: No.
April 6, 2017
I'm skimming through random R L Stine books, mostly for the plot elements.
I've always been more of an Animorphs kid.
I've always been more of an Animorphs kid.
October 2, 2025
Being what I believe is the only Ghosts of Fear Street book set outside of Shadyside (until the last chapter, that is), this book—written by the A. and G. Cascone sisters—had some great stuff to be offered. There’s a lot of scares, all of which are actually decent, and alongside the scares are more disturbing scenes. Don’t even get me started with the eating scene. YUCK. The character duo-dynamic her is actually good; siblings, or rather cousins here, getting along well always make these reads better, and it worked wonders for the story. The beach theming is welcome, the plot is engaging and actually very interesting (though nothing too deep) and there’s a solid, tight climax here. Ending is goated as well, finally taking us to Shadyside, yet not to Fear Street lol. The book is arguably great, but I have some mild complaints as well: it’s a bit meandering in the first three-fifths I’d say, not really having much a plot. It’s not directionless, as it’s clear where we’re going, but getting there could’ve been better. The villain is underused and not fleshed out enough for her to be wholly memorable for me. There’s a bit of filler, the climax could’ve been a bit longer (it still like it even if tight af), and the book lacks that epic to place itself on any mountain top for this series’ peaks… or in other words, it’s a basic bitch. Overall, 8/10. Really solid read, and very tight as well even with the bit of filler (useless drowning scene, dragged on scenes) amongst other small issues. They indeed said the title in the book.
February 3, 2025
I'm a sucker for anything fortuneteller/carnival themed so I was always going to have a good time with this. We get thrust straight into the action and to be fair it keeps going throughout. One niggle I had was all our protagonists fears/encounters were all animal/insect based and they felt a bit samesy but I will say it does lead to a great scene later on. I did also feel that Madame Valda was defeated a bit easily but all in all this was a fun read and one of the better entries in the series (3.5 rounded up).
August 6, 2019
This was like a total 4 stars goosebumps book for me !!!! It was really good !!! Not the best and I think that there could be a lot of hinges that could happen that would make the book great !! But u know it was good the way it it !! I really didn’t understand why the ending happened like that coz that was just crazy !! But throughout he book was a great read !! U should go read It !!
August 15, 2017
What the hell was that? Granted, they can't all be winners, but the increasingly nonsensical plot to this one seemed to run in circles and go nowhere. There wasn't even an eye... did he hand the title off to a ghostwriter and say "just go with it?"
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October 15, 2020Kind of like an elementary school take on Drag Me to Hell, with the cure of the Gypsy curse echoing a bad episode of Fear Factor ("YOU HAVE TO EAT A JELLYFISH!!"). Pretty middle-of-the-road Stine.
November 29, 2017
It was well writen,but i didn't really enjoyed it.
June 28, 2020
A ver, este libro expande a mi parecer un poco mas todo el mundo de fear street y wow, quede maravillado. me gusto mucho el libro, la verdad esta a la altura de los anteriores.
July 23, 2020
You can't convince me that the woman on the cover isn't Teresa Giudice, lol. But this book was pretty creepy. A quick, short read.
May 14, 2021
Cute and fun.
August 3, 2023
I'm 63 years old and I just s Mr. Stine's books. This one was no exception. The books are always a quick read for an adult and I love his book plots.
September 18, 2023
2.5⭐️
😬 YIKES
😬 YIKES
September 21, 2023
Finished this book in a couple hours on a road trip. It’s pretty decent. And for some reason the book mostly takes place on a beach lol. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 STARS
August 3, 2016
One of my favorites. I used to bring this book with me to school so I could read it on the ride home. Kelsey's bull-headedness lands her in trouble with Madame Valda. She has a curse put on her and consults gypsies to have it removed. She nearly loses her life acquiring insects and a jellyfish, which she eats, only to discover that she was still doomed. What a fun read this was.
December 10, 2019
Ir doesn't make much sense but the wild antics made it a fun enough read. The concept is enough to carry it but it could have taken more advtange of the premise. Also, way too many uses of the G slur.
August 15, 2011
I absolutly loved it!
July 30, 2019
funny
and kinda scary if you are a kid
gotta love stine: when he is good, he is awesome, when he is bad, he is the worst
and kinda scary if you are a kid
gotta love stine: when he is good, he is awesome, when he is bad, he is the worst
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