Blind Date by R. L. Stine

by R.L. Stine

After a series of crank telephone calls, Kerry thinks a blind date will change his luck, unware that his date is secretly bent on revenge

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Fiction, Thriller, Childrens, Mystery, Teen

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Robert 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...

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recuerdo que cuando leí este libro hace ya algunos años me impresionó lo grande que era, incluso fue tema de discusión entre mis amigas.
La trama es fluida y te va dando pistas poco a poco, hasta culminar en la esperada respuesta que aunque algo predecible, contiene esa dosis de actos inesperados entre lo que sabíamos que sucedería.
Suena un poco enredado, pero es la mejor forma que encontré de describirlo.
Bastante típica pero oye, es una historia de la calle del terror y no puedes decirle que no.

[Tyler Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was a fun time. It took me a bit to get into it (not sure if that was the book or me) but had a fun time trying to figure out what was really going on, and no, I didn't guess it.

[Jason Harlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first ever Point Horror book, and the book that pretty much is directly responsible for giving use the Goosebumps series. I started to give this a 2/5 but I'll give it three stars because I will say this one had me in the first half, not gonna lie. This started out so good, then started completely dragging, then got me excited again, and then decided to become completely stupid again. The main character guy is also a dweeb, and I will say, I shelved this for awhile because that was such a horrible similarity to the slightly more terrible Party Line by A. Bates. I was excited to read this one and ended up totally disappointed. Check this out if you're super into the Point Horror and Fear Street stuff, otherwise skip this.

[Zoé-Lee O'Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Blind Date! So cheesy! The plot itself is a good one in a sense, an accident that happens, Kerry, the main character doesn’t remember what happened that night and no one will tell him. Cue the opening scenes and he breaks the star quarterback’s leg – by accident! This starts the most bizarre episodes of his life.

Like I said the plot is good, it’s plausible but the characters are cring-gy! Kerry becomes obsessed with a voice on a phone. A random girl calls him up and asks him out on a date, his friend Margo, told Mandy to call him and ask him out. Just from her “sexy” and “foxy” voice, Kerry decided she must be fit, he quickly and somewhat desperately agrees to take her out on a date, who is this woman? One thing I found so laughable was when Kerry was driving to pick Mandy up on their date to the cinema, he was thinking this!

And of course, she probably wouldn’t want to “go all the way” until after the movie. But he could understand that. He liked a girl with some old-fashioned values.

Wait…what!!! Old fashioned values are putting out after the movie, so if she did it in the intermission she would be deemed as a “modern girl”, easy maybe?! I mean I did chuckle at this. How dated, and how wrong! Kerry had not even had his first kiss at this point! Seriously boy!

Whilst we have the mysterious date to ponder, strange things are happening to Kerry. Sent to the wrong address where he is shouted at by shocked parents, threatening and creepy phone calls, noises he can not explain. All seem to be linking back to an incident that happened a year ago that he cannot remember and he does not want to remember. I mean I want to know – how rude! What caused him to lose his memory? Why should he be afraid of his brother? So many unanswered questions, but he is so loved with a mysterious voice that he does not want to investigate any further and brushes everything off.

When we meet the voice, the girl, Mandy, she is instantly the stereotypical hot chick in a thriller and surprise surprise Kerry is obsessed. But things are not adding up at all and Kerry finally starts to question everything.

This was a quick and easy read and for the second in the Point Horror series, I just hope things do pick up. Back in the day, I would have probably loved this book, nowadays I rolled my eyes, I laughed and I wondered how anyone could survive a Blind Date! This is Stine’s first book in this genre and it does show, as mentioned, he has a fabulous plot idea, just the execution is like a bit of whiffy cheese. However, I was invested in the story and I needed to know what the final outcome was going to be and in true Stine style, there is a twist you do not see coming.

[Shadyside Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Super suspenseful, creepy, and well written. Definitely holds up well compared to R.L. Stine’s other YA Horror books.

[Mikala · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a STRUGGLE to get through. The writing is repetitive, very awkward, and often times deeply concerning that these kinds of thoughts were normalized at this time. I'm all for good cheesy fun; that's what makes the goosebumps books so great even after all these years! But this was just completely drawn out, boring, and lacking of any real suspense. Badly written.

◘ RL Stein's first teen thriller.

◘ There's a scene where the teen girl who is the love interest "adopted a little girl's laugh" which was described as a turn on to the main male character. That's sickening. And I don't want to hear anybody say that this was published in 1986. It wasn't OK in the 80s, and it's NOT OK now.

◘ Chapter 2 is SO CRINGE. who talks like this? "She said you are a great guy" ..."well, I am." PUKE.

◘ The amount of times he calls her voice "sexy" or "purring" or "a fox"...OR compares himself to Ralph Macchio.

◘ THE DIALOUGE IS PAINFUL.

◘ Every time the female mc and male mc speak I just rolllll my eyes (I can't with this dialogue).

◘ Listening to these teenage boys talk about girls makes me feel sick. I never want to be in the room with heterosexual boys talking about girls unfiltered.

◘ The middle of this starts seriously dragggging.

◘ Wowwww okay so this is actually happening 😅⚒️

◘ What a stupid ending. 😒

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all these point horror books. Still have this one along with a few others I have kept through the years.

Classic RLS with tons of twists and red herrings. The plot was fun. When I re-read it it made me thing of Riley Sagers Final Girls. Overall , was a fun quick read.

4 stars for nostalgia

Re-Read 3/29/24. I stand by my above statements. Overall, 4 Stars. I def think Riley Sager took something from this with Mandy/Nancy and Donald and that whole plot line. Kept me guessing for a little until I remembered the story again. Who is Mandy? Who is chasing and threatening Kerry? WHat happened 1 year ago that he cant remember? Why is his brother in a mental hospital? Good stuff.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 13-14 year old me probably would have enjoyed this. Old me thinks 13-14 year old me is silly. I mean, for what it is and the time it was written in, it was fine. However, having read more recent YA books, Blind Date is very….abbreviated. It was fine though. Predictable, but fine!!

[Julie Ruble · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recently read this again after telling my students I was addicted to YA horror novels when I was little. It had some surprisingly mature content (e.g. sexual innuendo) and I was glad I didn't just stick it on my classroom shelf! Yikes.

It was all right. Essentially just like I remembered it. Lots of brief, choppy sentences that I suppose were there to build some suspense. It was a bit annoying to discover that many of events in this, RL Stine's first YA book, were repeated in other books afterward (e.g. losing one's memory after a traumatic experience, head-on car collisions after driving recklessly due to being upset, etc.)

[Sébastien Gariepy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un petit plaisir coupable, un comeback de mon adolescence, nostalgie réconfortante... C'est pas de la grande littérature, mais t'sais, c'est pour le fun les livres Frissons. C'est un peu comme regarder un film d'horreur cheesy des 80s/90s ou un épisode de Fais-moi peur! Je vais en relire d'autres.

[Isabelle Rancourt · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai décidé de relire mes ptits chouchou classique tranquillement pas vite...
Je me souvenais plus du tout de l'histoire..
Ça se laisse lire tout seul.. ptite lecture d'ado, ça fait du bien
Contente de l'avoir relus...

[Latasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

this fun little nugget of nostalgia had a couple of surprises. i didn't guess either one of them. This doesn't take place on Fear Street but i think he totally put it in the book. You'll know it when you read it. Sure sounded like Fear Street to me!

[TheCultureVulture]

Glad I could catch up with this. Stine's first venture into horror (his About The Author boasts "over 40 books of humor and adventure for young people") pre-dating Goosebumps and Fear Street. Also this is the very first Point Horror book, honestly historic to the genre.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an alright read. I was able to figure out pretty early on how the story would end, but there were still a couple twists and turns that were surprising and fun. I would recommend this to others.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I enjoyed this reread. It was fun going down nostalgia lane. I'm glad this one was more of a hit, rather than a miss.

[Susy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Fun YA horror/thriller, short, easy and cheesy lol

Characters 7
Atmosphere 8
Writing Style 6
Setup 7
Plot 7
Intrigue 7
Logic 6
Enjoyment 7

[Annalisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story and exciting to read! I really liked Josh and Kerry's friendship and the family dynamics. Lots of twists.

[Weathervane · Rating 3 out of 5]

There isn't a terrible lot to say about this one. The plot is coherent though not twisty or inventive; the characters perform their particular roles well, and the only major gripes I have about the story are that the main conflicts could've been avoided had the people involved actually communicated -- a classic trope, I know, so I'm willing to allow a little leeway. A plotline in the first half of the book strikes me as superfluous, the football jock bullies. I thought perhaps this would tie in somehow with the end, but ultimately it merely provided a couple red herrings for Stine to use.

I loved the portrayal of Mandy. The talk about her at the beginning was pretty corny -- "boy, was she a fox!" -- and that Kerry wasn't more suspicious about her or her intentions was just goofy, but her character was well-written as sensual and mysterious. I like that the ending allows her a portion of pity; I think she was too likable to be portrayed as a straight villain.

The deer head with insects inside was a nice touch.

The prose was readable and pleasing. Stine's Point books tend to be a cut above Fear Street, with less reliance on sentence fragments and quick chapters. The more of them I read the more I'm convinced these may be the best of his oeuvre.

One point I thought could've been further explored: was Mandy right when she said Kerry's dad was able to get him out of trouble because he was a cop? I also thought the denouement could've been a bit longer to wrap things up more neatly, tie a nice emotional bow on the whole package.

Fun read. Probably more like three-and-a-half stars.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik was blij verrast dit boek in een minibieb te vinden! Ik heb deze serie echt kapot gelezen toen ik 13-15 was. Heerlijk spannend, een tikje apart (wat misschien ook wel door de vertaling komt), met een goed einde. In dit boek is er een ongeluk op het veld waardoor mensen echt overdreven reageerden (kom op zeg, hij zegt eerlijk dat het een ongeluk was....), Keller ontmoet een leuke meid (na wat probleempjes want dit is de tijd voor mobieltjes), en langzaam komen herinneringen van het vorige jaar terug (en dat was best spannend omdat hij echt niets meer wist, ik had graag gewild dat iemand gewoon had gepraat met hem). En er gebeuren allerlei spannende en enge dingen. Ik had al snel een vermoeden over Mandy en vond het einde echt top. Al had ik misschien nog net ietsje meer willen zien over Donald en Kerry en het ongeluk van vorig jaar.

[Evan Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first i really thought that this book would have just been just "some book" and that it would just be like any other book. But it was a really good book, it has a weird "plot"i has a really unusual story line its not like a all the other horror books or movies i've seen its not a monster or an ghost or any other kind of paranormal creature but in this book its a girl that is the monster.
The book made me feel strange, in way i was sometimes scare, and at times i was a bit nervous because he book is so well written that it makes me feel this way for example when the main character finds out that the girl isnt so hot or nice i felt not surprised because i read the "summary" of it but when i first read the book it told me about how batd the main character's life is and at that point i felt bad.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a very well crafted book. It is about a boy that gets a date with a girls sister that his brother caused the death of. His brother then went in to a mental hospital along with this girls sister. The guys brother tould this dead girls sister everything about him and she got out of the hospital and found this guys brother. (sorry if that is really confusing.)

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot about this series! Point Horror books were SO GREAT

[Candace Malinke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teenage boys are horny and dumb. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Years ago I brought all my childhood RL Stine books back from a visit home for Christmas and read my way through every silly one of them. Except this one! Not sure how it got missed, but I decided to work it into the rotation. And, you know, it was really not that great, even by Stine's standards.

Our hero, Kerry, is a 16 year old boy who lives in the shadow of his football star older brother, Donald. The only problem is, his brother is... gone... and Kerry can't remember anything from the past year except something about a car accident and no one in his family or his town will tell him what happened. One day after getting home from a *really* bad day at school where Kerry accidentally breaks the leg of the star quarterback during football practice, he gets a late night call from a mysterious woman with a sexy voice who introduces herself as Mandy, his blind date. He is excited that something good is happening in his life, even though Mandy is a little odd. But then he starts getting threatening prank calls, his car is violently vandalized, and everything very quickly starts spinning out of control. And then Donald calls....

Kerry is possibly the goofiest character Stine has ever written. He is very excited about the idea of having sex with Mandy, to the point where even after he has seen about a gazillion red flags he still decides to go along with what she says, on the off chance that he might get lucky. He has a one note "hilarious" best friend named Josh, a monosyllabic little brother who is introduced to us drinking beer (he's 14!) and eating junk food in front of the TV, an emotionally distant and overworked cop for a father (who does not seem to care about the beer?), and a mother who just recently left and who he doesn't seem to miss or think about in any way.

There are a couple of good scenes, the best of which is when Kerry goes to pick up Mandy for their first date and gets the house wrong (or does he!) and ends up at an abandoned looking house where the door is eventually answered by a haggard looking couple who he doesn't know, but who definitely know him, and who start yelling and crying at him for some unknown reason. For the most part, though, the writing is choppy and the few suspenseful set pieces are quickly undermined by the cornball dialogue.

The twists are not that twisty, and are pretty easy to see coming, but may fool you if you are 11 or 12, which was about my age when I first read this. And I must have liked it well enough then since I kept it for 30+ years. Still, I don't think this is one I'd recommend even to the 12 year olds in my life.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. You could probably go partway through the book and figure out whodunnit, especially with the "It wasn't a date. It was a nightmare." thing on the cover of the book. A very quick resolution for how drawn out everything else was. Stupidly quick.

[Adara]

looks like a great book to read

[Alida McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just a fun read.

[Kourtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have always loved R L Stines books but this was not good. It was so boring and the ending was a huge let down! Maybe I'll stick with Goosebumps.

[Luu Méndez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es superrrr rápido de leer, una historia corta, mientras más lees más pistas vas teniendo. Siento que fue obvio desde el inicio pero es una lectura cool, te distraes de lo que vienes leyendo antes.

[Kent · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good. Very predictable. Easy read. Kids are dumb.