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Chain Letter #2
The Ancient Evil
After receiving a chain letter, a group of teens decides it must be a joke--after all, the perpetrator of the original chain letter is dead and buried. But when Fran refuses to perform her "deed", she is almost immediately killed, and the group realizes that the power behind the letters is still alive.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1992
21 people are currently reading
1147 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Pike
261 books5,469 followersChristopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
September 8, 2023
Darker (there’s a satanic cult and some actual kills in this one, guys!), pulpier, and just overall more fun and suspenseful than the first book. Plus, check out that cover. I mean come on.
September 5, 2014
I'll try to keep it brief; this is honestly such a bad book that I felt frustrated reading it. I had to rush through the pages to just get it done and over with.
The bad characterisation is still there and only gets worse. Kipp, Fran, Brenda and Joan now barely have much of a presence in the book because of course the focus is now mostly on Tony and Alison, but if you're going to keep a certain number in your cast don't just push them aside and just mention their involvement in the book for like, three sentences. Those two new characters? Introduced with little to no structure to hold them up; it's like they were just dumped on the story rather than presented to the audience.
I'm going to put a warning here for some spoiler content: I've disliked Tony since the first book, but in this sequel his jerkass personality really comes to light. Not only does he get mad at Alison for daring to be interested in a different college than his (long distance relationships can be hard, but seriously?), but once he sees some hot new girl and chats her up, it takes him A NIGHT to dump Alison for HNG just like he did with her and Joan in the previous book, and calls her a whore to her face because he saw her hug and kiss a guy on the cheek. His issues of having lustful thoughts over HNG and spending time with her behind Alison's back before he even saw her with this other dude clearly do not spell "cognitive dissonance" to him. Clearly, he is great boyfriend material who has no trouble in maintaining a stable relationship.
The plot, if even possible, is just as bad, or even worse, than the characterisation. I was actually excited to see that the threats spelled out in the new letters were actually very scary and violent -- finally, we were going to get some action here! But alas, my hopes were grinded to a fine dust when the result was just some slapdash explanations of "oh would you look at that? They didn't carry out the orders and just died, oops!" No exciting tension here, just characters getting killed off one by one in the span of a few paragraphs.
To top it all off, the book absolutely reeked of right wing Christian hysteria, or at least really came off sounding like it. I honestly wouldn't have pegged Mr Pike as a suscriber to those crazy late night televangelist shows had the book not cobbled together some hasty explanation of how some satanist cult was responsible for the events of the previous book and was some terrible gateway to drug use, animal abuse, and bizarre ritual sacrifices that I'm sure real life satanists don't perform -- much easier to use The Evil Satanist stereotype rather than take the time to craft a good villain and not retcon your old one, I guess.
The baddie really does sound as though she's come straight right out of those hysterical ramblings of there being "dark things afoot." Of course the HNG was the villain, because she was a tramp, a seductress who poisoned poor little Tony's mind to come to her side and encourage him to belittle Alison to her face (and, as said before, was just dumped into the plot with no exposition. Ergo, obvious baddie). Let's face it, the guy will never be blamed for being unfaithful in these kind of books, because being a bad boyfriend is somehow excusable but being a hot girl isn't --and those old religious men know alll about how a good figure somehow means having command over Evil Powers, no?
Furthering that absolutely terrible villain introduction is more tedious pages detailing how she uses sex to control him and convince him to go after Alison before she discovers the secret in the desert. By this point HNG is openly referred to as a witch and was somehow able to cause all of the other deaths in the book even though it's never explained how she came into contact with her other victims, because Evil Powers somehow work that way.
The whole Christian tropes thing really gets unbearable towards the climax once HNG is revealed to be the host of some Ancient Evil --such an obvious, uninspired stand in for the devil-- which, not surprisingly, takes the form of a black snake (Get it? Snakes? Women? Sexy women and snakes and sin? Yes you do). The Christ-like figure which had been visiting Alison in her dreams for like, two paragraphs, had advised her to use "love" to fight that evil and she takes it as a go-ahead to blow her own brains out. What do you know! Tony is distraught and declares that He Does Love her After All. No apologies for being a possessive jerkass or insulting her or being terrible at being a faithful boyfriend; all it took was his girlfriend to seriously injure herself before he somehow remembered that he was supposed to support his girlfriend and love her.
The story ends with the Christ figure stopping the snake, The Power of Love heals Alison, THE END. That's it. I didn't think a sequel to the last book would be so bad, but this really proved me wrong. Between the characterisation that somehow got worse, the continued bashing of the female characters, and the plot that become even poorer and more rushed than the last, the only thing I can say is that I would never wish the horror that is this book to be part of some poor unfortate soul's bookcase.
The bad characterisation is still there and only gets worse. Kipp, Fran, Brenda and Joan now barely have much of a presence in the book because of course the focus is now mostly on Tony and Alison, but if you're going to keep a certain number in your cast don't just push them aside and just mention their involvement in the book for like, three sentences. Those two new characters? Introduced with little to no structure to hold them up; it's like they were just dumped on the story rather than presented to the audience.
I'm going to put a warning here for some spoiler content: I've disliked Tony since the first book, but in this sequel his jerkass personality really comes to light. Not only does he get mad at Alison for daring to be interested in a different college than his (long distance relationships can be hard, but seriously?), but once he sees some hot new girl and chats her up, it takes him A NIGHT to dump Alison for HNG just like he did with her and Joan in the previous book, and calls her a whore to her face because he saw her hug and kiss a guy on the cheek. His issues of having lustful thoughts over HNG and spending time with her behind Alison's back before he even saw her with this other dude clearly do not spell "cognitive dissonance" to him. Clearly, he is great boyfriend material who has no trouble in maintaining a stable relationship.
The plot, if even possible, is just as bad, or even worse, than the characterisation. I was actually excited to see that the threats spelled out in the new letters were actually very scary and violent -- finally, we were going to get some action here! But alas, my hopes were grinded to a fine dust when the result was just some slapdash explanations of "oh would you look at that? They didn't carry out the orders and just died, oops!" No exciting tension here, just characters getting killed off one by one in the span of a few paragraphs.
To top it all off, the book absolutely reeked of right wing Christian hysteria, or at least really came off sounding like it. I honestly wouldn't have pegged Mr Pike as a suscriber to those crazy late night televangelist shows had the book not cobbled together some hasty explanation of how some satanist cult was responsible for the events of the previous book and was some terrible gateway to drug use, animal abuse, and bizarre ritual sacrifices that I'm sure real life satanists don't perform -- much easier to use The Evil Satanist stereotype rather than take the time to craft a good villain and not retcon your old one, I guess.
The baddie really does sound as though she's come straight right out of those hysterical ramblings of there being "dark things afoot." Of course the HNG was the villain, because she was a tramp, a seductress who poisoned poor little Tony's mind to come to her side and encourage him to belittle Alison to her face (and, as said before, was just dumped into the plot with no exposition. Ergo, obvious baddie). Let's face it, the guy will never be blamed for being unfaithful in these kind of books, because being a bad boyfriend is somehow excusable but being a hot girl isn't --and those old religious men know alll about how a good figure somehow means having command over Evil Powers, no?
Furthering that absolutely terrible villain introduction is more tedious pages detailing how she uses sex to control him and convince him to go after Alison before she discovers the secret in the desert. By this point HNG is openly referred to as a witch and was somehow able to cause all of the other deaths in the book even though it's never explained how she came into contact with her other victims, because Evil Powers somehow work that way.
The whole Christian tropes thing really gets unbearable towards the climax once HNG is revealed to be the host of some Ancient Evil --such an obvious, uninspired stand in for the devil-- which, not surprisingly, takes the form of a black snake (Get it? Snakes? Women? Sexy women and snakes and sin? Yes you do). The Christ-like figure which had been visiting Alison in her dreams for like, two paragraphs, had advised her to use "love" to fight that evil and she takes it as a go-ahead to blow her own brains out. What do you know! Tony is distraught and declares that He Does Love her After All. No apologies for being a possessive jerkass or insulting her or being terrible at being a faithful boyfriend; all it took was his girlfriend to seriously injure herself before he somehow remembered that he was supposed to support his girlfriend and love her.
The story ends with the Christ figure stopping the snake, The Power of Love heals Alison, THE END. That's it. I didn't think a sequel to the last book would be so bad, but this really proved me wrong. Between the characterisation that somehow got worse, the continued bashing of the female characters, and the plot that become even poorer and more rushed than the last, the only thing I can say is that I would never wish the horror that is this book to be part of some poor unfortate soul's bookcase.
May 29, 2025
3.5 stars
January 4, 2015
Well, I was disappointed. I was wondering how Chain Letter could of had a sequel, and now I really wish I didn't...
The Ancient Evil takes place a few months after Chain Letter leaves off. Neil's dead and now there are only six of them. One day Fran (once again) get's an envelope in the mail. And oh no, the games have started all over again. But this time they're forced to do incredibly awful things or they die a horrible death.
I was sort of interested after seeing the first task. Oh good! Something that will actually be interesting and hard to do. But basically they all . What really bothered me was that either Joan's task was super simple compared to the rest or it wasn't interesting enough to write about.
Then Satanism and rituals were thrown into this big fiasco. Because the Hot-But-Evil chick, the Angel-Type boy who reminded everyone of Neil and the impaired and unaccepted yet incredibly intelligent man wasn't enough. I did't actually mind Eric. I thought that it was actually cool that we would learn about the man who was ran over in the first book. But everyone who Alison and Eric talked to were so casual and alright that even after a whole year they're fine with talking about the death of a loved one. And when Alison and Eric . Alison was so blunt about it, too. Wouldn't they be 1) shocked that the dead family members were being questioned that far after their deaths and 2) upset!?
Alison's un-dying love for Tony was awful. And Tony being incredibly angry that Alison was moving to the University of her choice with the best schooling was just as awful. And all of the characters from the first book (other than Tony, Alison, and NEIL) were basically forgotten and had very little part in the sequel. I also find, while the first book written almost childish, The Ancient Evil was not very similar in writing style (other than driving me insane).
I really disliked The Ancient Evil and I feel like it was an unnecessary sequel.
The Ancient Evil takes place a few months after Chain Letter leaves off. Neil's dead and now there are only six of them. One day Fran (once again) get's an envelope in the mail. And oh no, the games have started all over again. But this time they're forced to do incredibly awful things or they die a horrible death.
I was sort of interested after seeing the first task. Oh good! Something that will actually be interesting and hard to do. But basically they all . What really bothered me was that either Joan's task was super simple compared to the rest or it wasn't interesting enough to write about.
Then Satanism and rituals were thrown into this big fiasco. Because the Hot-But-Evil chick, the Angel-Type boy who reminded everyone of Neil and the impaired and unaccepted yet incredibly intelligent man wasn't enough. I did't actually mind Eric. I thought that it was actually cool that we would learn about the man who was ran over in the first book. But everyone who Alison and Eric talked to were so casual and alright that even after a whole year they're fine with talking about the death of a loved one. And when Alison and Eric . Alison was so blunt about it, too. Wouldn't they be 1) shocked that the dead family members were being questioned that far after their deaths and 2) upset!?
Alison's un-dying love for Tony was awful. And Tony being incredibly angry that Alison was moving to the University of her choice with the best schooling was just as awful. And all of the characters from the first book (other than Tony, Alison, and NEIL) were basically forgotten and had very little part in the sequel. I also find, while the first book written almost childish, The Ancient Evil was not very similar in writing style (other than driving me insane).
I really disliked The Ancient Evil and I feel like it was an unnecessary sequel.
October 1, 2008
Wish he would have ended Chain Letter at the first one!
February 3, 2023
Standard horror. Shame, since the end of the first was a heart breaking look at the ignored and consequence of drunk driving. This one ditches that story for one of witches and sorcery. Read the first and skip this one. Three stars given because it isn’t bad- it just wrecks what came before.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2009
"If you do not perform the small service listed in the paper or if break the chain of this communication, you will be horribly killed."
Even though the Caretaker has died in the previous book, the remaining six high school graduates--except for Alison Parker--start receiving the same kind of chain letter from someone who claims to be the Caretaker. Again, most everyone thinks it's someone playing a sick joke.
But when two of them are brutally killed because they refused to follow the Caretaker's orders, the remaining friends are in a hurry to unmask the identity of the killer before s/he has a chance to kill again. The identity of the Caretaker is relatively easy to guess because of some of the clues and added characters.
"Chain Letter 2: Ancient Evil" is more of a supernatural horror book than "Chain Letter," involving Satanism, which the other book had none of. It actually reminds me of Pike's "The Grave" and echoes of Pike's "The Wicked Heart." The Caretaker's instructions in this book are a lot more violent, too--like drown your puppy, burn your sister's arm, and cut off your finger. Because of these things, the sequel is a little better than the first, in my opinion. Plus this book answers some of the questions about the man in the desert they accidentally killed and the reason behind the voice in Neil's head.
This book has all the right elements for the making of an suspense filled roller coaster of a book. It makes a must-read for anybody who wants the no-holds bar feeling when reading a horror book.
Book Details:
Title Chain Letter 2: Ancient Evil
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie
Even though the Caretaker has died in the previous book, the remaining six high school graduates--except for Alison Parker--start receiving the same kind of chain letter from someone who claims to be the Caretaker. Again, most everyone thinks it's someone playing a sick joke.
But when two of them are brutally killed because they refused to follow the Caretaker's orders, the remaining friends are in a hurry to unmask the identity of the killer before s/he has a chance to kill again. The identity of the Caretaker is relatively easy to guess because of some of the clues and added characters.
"Chain Letter 2: Ancient Evil" is more of a supernatural horror book than "Chain Letter," involving Satanism, which the other book had none of. It actually reminds me of Pike's "The Grave" and echoes of Pike's "The Wicked Heart." The Caretaker's instructions in this book are a lot more violent, too--like drown your puppy, burn your sister's arm, and cut off your finger. Because of these things, the sequel is a little better than the first, in my opinion. Plus this book answers some of the questions about the man in the desert they accidentally killed and the reason behind the voice in Neil's head.
This book has all the right elements for the making of an suspense filled roller coaster of a book. It makes a must-read for anybody who wants the no-holds bar feeling when reading a horror book.
Book Details:
Title Chain Letter 2: Ancient Evil
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie
April 13, 2019
I HATE to give any book by Mr. Pike a 1. But this, part two of "The chain letter" was not good.
Why do so many writers see fit to write sequels for great books that do not need them? This is the prime example of just that. I read the Chain Letter so long ago but it was genuinely creepy, extremely well written and that should have been it.
This book..the sequel..dives into the realm of the supernatural and really differs greatly from the first book, to the point where you would not know the two books had anything in common except for the names of the characters.
I was so disappointed. I like to think of Chain letter as a stand alone book because this one brought me down so much.
Why do so many writers see fit to write sequels for great books that do not need them? This is the prime example of just that. I read the Chain Letter so long ago but it was genuinely creepy, extremely well written and that should have been it.
This book..the sequel..dives into the realm of the supernatural and really differs greatly from the first book, to the point where you would not know the two books had anything in common except for the names of the characters.
I was so disappointed. I like to think of Chain letter as a stand alone book because this one brought me down so much.
June 10, 2014
Okay let's get this out of the way. The second book was... not very good (that's me being nice)Where in the hell a satanic ritual came in to play, I'll never know. The characters had lost all their personality in this book,things were unrealistic; for example how Eric was so quick to believe anything Allison said and how Brenda so easily cut her finger off. The dreams were stupid and the fact that the books were decent until somehow, satanic rituals actually work!!!! just a big no onn this book from me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2013
ahhh... much much more obvious than the original. hated the misogynist comments from tony/not cool tony!
the supernatural element actually made it less scary and original and even though they imply that the supernatural was at play in book one, it's just to make this plot work and book one's story works w/o book two revelations.
i did love joan's part in book 2. she stayed badass and uncontrollable until the end.
the supernatural element actually made it less scary and original and even though they imply that the supernatural was at play in book one, it's just to make this plot work and book one's story works w/o book two revelations.
i did love joan's part in book 2. she stayed badass and uncontrollable until the end.
April 21, 2024
The ending about all the Satanism got me real hard... I had to put the book down for a moment to process everything... fuck Sasha I hated her the moment she was introduced and Tony is the dumbest shit alive. HOW could he not see that literally EVERYTHING was wrong with that doja cat rip-off😭😭
Amaazzingg read it was definitely doing a good job as a thriller!!
Amaazzingg read it was definitely doing a good job as a thriller!!
July 6, 2023
Well that got weird, but it's too be expected. Definitely one of the weakest ones by him (any Pike book called "The Ancient Evil" is sure to be the worst side of Pike). At least I get to buy the Paperback now! (I've been reading them on my phone at the gym and stuff and then I'll buy the actual book because that's 75% of what I like about them, anyway)
September 16, 2023
I think Pike ought to have let demons remain in Hell. They seem so awkward, so uncomfortable, so out of place among the pages of his novels.
October 12, 2023
4.5 stars
real talk i read this at age 7 and all i remembered was the decapitation and the kid being burned alive
real talk i read this at age 7 and all i remembered was the decapitation and the kid being burned alive
March 24, 2025
Plutôt enthousiaste de lire enfin le tome deux de La chaine de la mort, surtout après un premier tome réussi, j’ai pourtant assez vite déchanté malheureusement. Comme le disent plusieurs critiques sur Goodreads, Christopher Pike aurait dû se contenter d’un seul volume pour son histoire.
C’est dommage parce que dans le fond, les choix de l’auteur pour cette suite n’étaient pas trop mal. Il se rapproche de son genre habituel horreur/fantastique avec des idées intéressantes. Le hic, c’est que tout va trop vite et surtout, il rend ses personnages insupportables. Et cela commence dès le premier chapitre. Pas une mise en bouche très agréable.
Globalement, ce tome deux de La chaine de la mort pourrait se résumer à un mot : hystérie. Des héros qui se crient dessus, qui ne savent rien gérer, qui prennent les mauvaises décisions, qui se comportent comme des ados prépubères… Les stéréotypes vont aussi bon train. On en vient à un point où l’on ne se soucie plus vraiment de ce qui peut leur arriver, ce qui vu ce qu’ils subissent est quand même un tour de force. Pour ma part, c’est surtout la curiosité de savoir ce qu’il en était vraiment qui m’a permis de finir le roman.
Il n’y a pas que du mauvais non plus. Eric, l’un des nouveaux personnages, permet de maintenir l’intrigue, il la porte même à bout de bras. L’enquête est d’ailleurs plutôt réussie avec sa phase d’investigation et quelques rebondissements. Il est par contre très facile de découvrir le(s) coupable(s) et cela dès leurs apparitions. Le côté fantastique sort aussi son épingle du jeu. Je ne vais entrer dans les détails, mais c’était une bonne idée, et surtout cela fait sens vis-à-vis de certains éléments du premier tome. Nous avons aussi droit à plusieurs passages riches en émotions qui sont plutôt sympathiques.
Le côté horreur est par contre poussé un petit peu trop loin à mon goût. Pour le coup, je ne mettrais pas le livre entre toutes les mains parce que certains événements pourraient heurter les plus jeunes, qui sont pourtant la cible du roman.
Si l’intrigue est intéressante, les personnages mis à part Eric et Kipp n’ont rien d’attachant du tout. On perd l’intérêt de savoir comment ils vont s’en sortir (ou pas) et pour le genre, je trouve cela dommage. Sans empathie face aux victimes, le tout manque de saveur. Heureusement l’enquête sauve le tout.
C’est dommage parce que dans le fond, les choix de l’auteur pour cette suite n’étaient pas trop mal. Il se rapproche de son genre habituel horreur/fantastique avec des idées intéressantes. Le hic, c’est que tout va trop vite et surtout, il rend ses personnages insupportables. Et cela commence dès le premier chapitre. Pas une mise en bouche très agréable.
Globalement, ce tome deux de La chaine de la mort pourrait se résumer à un mot : hystérie. Des héros qui se crient dessus, qui ne savent rien gérer, qui prennent les mauvaises décisions, qui se comportent comme des ados prépubères… Les stéréotypes vont aussi bon train. On en vient à un point où l’on ne se soucie plus vraiment de ce qui peut leur arriver, ce qui vu ce qu’ils subissent est quand même un tour de force. Pour ma part, c’est surtout la curiosité de savoir ce qu’il en était vraiment qui m’a permis de finir le roman.
Il n’y a pas que du mauvais non plus. Eric, l’un des nouveaux personnages, permet de maintenir l’intrigue, il la porte même à bout de bras. L’enquête est d’ailleurs plutôt réussie avec sa phase d’investigation et quelques rebondissements. Il est par contre très facile de découvrir le(s) coupable(s) et cela dès leurs apparitions. Le côté fantastique sort aussi son épingle du jeu. Je ne vais entrer dans les détails, mais c’était une bonne idée, et surtout cela fait sens vis-à-vis de certains éléments du premier tome. Nous avons aussi droit à plusieurs passages riches en émotions qui sont plutôt sympathiques.
Le côté horreur est par contre poussé un petit peu trop loin à mon goût. Pour le coup, je ne mettrais pas le livre entre toutes les mains parce que certains événements pourraient heurter les plus jeunes, qui sont pourtant la cible du roman.
Si l’intrigue est intéressante, les personnages mis à part Eric et Kipp n’ont rien d’attachant du tout. On perd l’intérêt de savoir comment ils vont s’en sortir (ou pas) et pour le genre, je trouve cela dommage. Sans empathie face aux victimes, le tout manque de saveur. Heureusement l’enquête sauve le tout.
February 23, 2024
As I attempt to add reviews to books I read ages ago, I can only speak to what I remember. And I remember thinking Chain Letter didn’t need a sequel.
October 18, 2015
This is the second book in the Chain Letter books by Christopher Pike. It follows after the first one after they found out who they thought the Caretaker was. This book continues as the last one started. They thought that the chain letters would stop coming after they tried to stop it, but they were wrong. They still hadnt found who the Caretaker was. They continue their quest to find the source of the letters and they finally do at the end in an unfortunate turn.
I didn't like this book as much as the first one, it felt like the end was rushed to be finished as if Pike didn't know how to end it, it was clearly seen ending like that. I liked the rest of the book until I found out the Caretaker was actually one of the boys in the group's girlfriend. The plot was good but it could have ended better.
I didn't like this book as much as the first one, it felt like the end was rushed to be finished as if Pike didn't know how to end it, it was clearly seen ending like that. I liked the rest of the book until I found out the Caretaker was actually one of the boys in the group's girlfriend. The plot was good but it could have ended better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2017
I can see why some people would pan this book. It introduces a supernatural aspect that the first book lacks. The idea that an ancient force of evil is behind the chain letters was a little far-fetched to me at first, but as I kept reading I could see the psychological component to the story. The idea of guilt and jealousy and remorse aka "the box". Some things aren't fully explained, but I realized it wasn't much of a big deal once the moral came into full view. The story is nicely executed and crafted. I love a book that can manage to bring an emotion out of me, and this one did not fail in the end.
October 5, 2019
Once again , marveling at how much writers got away with in YA and us kids got away with reading back in the 80s/early 90s!
Christopher Pike meets 80s slasher movie (lots of killing and sex).
The sequel is a huge step up from the first one in terms of physical horror.
This, and Trick or Treat (Richie Tankersley Cusick--I need to suck it up and buy an overpriced used copy--I ruined mine from rereadings) remain my faves from this era.
Christopher Pike meets 80s slasher movie (lots of killing and sex).
The sequel is a huge step up from the first one in terms of physical horror.
This, and Trick or Treat (Richie Tankersley Cusick--I need to suck it up and buy an overpriced used copy--I ruined mine from rereadings) remain my faves from this era.
January 17, 2008
Ugh. This is not a good sequel -- maybe because all of the characters are terrible? -- but FINALLY I remembered which book it is that has the purple massage oil that's...well...I don't want to spoil it for you, but I tell you what: THAT AIN'T REALLY MASSAGE OIL.
Predictable, predictable, predictable. But now, with Satanists! Awesome!
Predictable, predictable, predictable. But now, with Satanists! Awesome!
March 25, 2021
The second book is so much better than the first. There is not as much lead-up and explaining. The second book jumps right into where the first book left off and takes it even further than I imagined.
July 5, 2015
got all paranormal/demonic all of a sudden? k
February 8, 2018
This book was better than the first. It was also shorter and the element of the story changed. I suppose that the first book foreshadowed the turn of events a little bit but I feel as though the direction the book took was a little off topic. I think the book was written like a bullet list of events. Like oh this happened, this happened, this happened without any real story telling. Nothing happened in the moment and the characters that was focused on never were the ones having to do anything at the time. You never actually get to see the characters under stress of considering what they should do. It’s written from another character who’s there watching them and most of the time they aren’t even doing that.
SPOILERS:
For example: when Brenda cuts off her finger, you don’t get to read as her when doing it. You don’t even get to be a observer. You simply wait till Alison walks into the house and notices it. And she notices it rather illogically. Now I can tell you if my friend is left or right handed. But if he were to grab something with his left hand I don’t think I would have picked up on it. It was just like the author knew it had to be done and tried to find the quickest and easiest way to reveal it and then move on the next one. Most of the time the “big events” of the book came through phone calls. Like one calls the other and is like “kips dead” and the character feels sad. But there’s no story telling. Nothing interested. The character doesn’t even act sad. The author just states it basically. Like oh no another one of my friends died. These books weren’t horrible, I just think that not enough effort or thought was put into them.
The first book starts off as Neil as the caretaker for the reason that he feels guilty for what they did and felt like it was his punishment that he got cancer and he wanted the group to confess their sins. It made sense. And I suppose at the very end they hinted that something supernatural might be going on. But to me it sounded mostly like he was sick mentally and another person was manipulating and helping him do this to his friends. Then in the second book, all of a sudden Tony is having premonitions about his friends dying. And it happens exactly that way. And that Neil is actually alive now. And Jane or whatever has been dead for a while and Tony’s having sex with her. Which is kinda horrible to think about. Not only that, the man was killed because he got involved in a cult. Like, I don’t think it was a bad idea. But it came out of nowhere. They’re were no clues hinting at anything like it. Nothing. Just them being like he might have been dead before we hit him. Maybe. Then they go to the wife’s house and she just tells him. Like ??? Out of the blue.
Overall the ideas weren’t bad, just poorly executed. It seemed that the author didn’t know how to write action scenes, nor transition to one event and the next. He also didn’t know how to build up to events. Honestly, I think the author just didn’t know how to write a story. I have not read any of his other books so maybe he just had trouble with this one but I wouldn’t ever pick up another book of his.
SPOILERS:
For example: when Brenda cuts off her finger, you don’t get to read as her when doing it. You don’t even get to be a observer. You simply wait till Alison walks into the house and notices it. And she notices it rather illogically. Now I can tell you if my friend is left or right handed. But if he were to grab something with his left hand I don’t think I would have picked up on it. It was just like the author knew it had to be done and tried to find the quickest and easiest way to reveal it and then move on the next one. Most of the time the “big events” of the book came through phone calls. Like one calls the other and is like “kips dead” and the character feels sad. But there’s no story telling. Nothing interested. The character doesn’t even act sad. The author just states it basically. Like oh no another one of my friends died. These books weren’t horrible, I just think that not enough effort or thought was put into them.
The first book starts off as Neil as the caretaker for the reason that he feels guilty for what they did and felt like it was his punishment that he got cancer and he wanted the group to confess their sins. It made sense. And I suppose at the very end they hinted that something supernatural might be going on. But to me it sounded mostly like he was sick mentally and another person was manipulating and helping him do this to his friends. Then in the second book, all of a sudden Tony is having premonitions about his friends dying. And it happens exactly that way. And that Neil is actually alive now. And Jane or whatever has been dead for a while and Tony’s having sex with her. Which is kinda horrible to think about. Not only that, the man was killed because he got involved in a cult. Like, I don’t think it was a bad idea. But it came out of nowhere. They’re were no clues hinting at anything like it. Nothing. Just them being like he might have been dead before we hit him. Maybe. Then they go to the wife’s house and she just tells him. Like ??? Out of the blue.
Overall the ideas weren’t bad, just poorly executed. It seemed that the author didn’t know how to write action scenes, nor transition to one event and the next. He also didn’t know how to build up to events. Honestly, I think the author just didn’t know how to write a story. I have not read any of his other books so maybe he just had trouble with this one but I wouldn’t ever pick up another book of his.
February 11, 2022
The worst book I have ever read?? I really should start reading book jackets.
The first book wasn’t as bad. It was stupid and dumb, cheesy language/ stereotypes but the second book went off the rails.
A group of teenagers accidentally kill someone so they cover it up. Then they start receiving threatening chain letters requiring them to do stuff *or else*. In the first book it is tasks like: tell all the teachers to go to hell, ruin the school play, go streaking, start a rumour your gay…. In the second book the threatening letters resume. This time the tasks are drown your puppy, cut off your index finger, shoot a friend in the face…………. etc.
It’s all so needless and violent and barbaric.
Nobody but the group knows what happened that day. They try to figure out who the blackmailer is. Eventually you find out it’s one of the friend group. He’s punishing them all for not coming forward, even though he didn’t either, and mad at the others bc he definitely would have been friends with this random stranger if they hadn’t run him down…..
The friend blackmailer is forgiven bc he has cancer so he isn’t accountable for his insane actions. He dies peacefully on a mountaintop.
Or does he…………….
Many of the characters die, twice over, in either book. They died graphically!! Oh no, jk they didn’t. Maybe it was so they could die again later on.
In the second book, the chain letters start again. But how?! Oh yes, of course satanic rituals.
The friend group is terrorized again. Now they could care less about keeping their secret in between the group bc they willy nilly tell two random people their situation moments after meeting..
One couple has a fight, and the male calls his girlfriend a whore, multiple times, and SPITS on her. When he actually slept with someone else and the girlfriend did nothing of the sort..
After one of the people are killed, this is the dialogue at the hospital. “Are you sure she’s dead? I mean, couldn’t she somehow be revived if you tried real hard?” The doctor replies, “She’s as dead as they come.”
Another friend is again viciously killed. This time it’s a routine vehicle accident.. except for the fact she is decapitated for whatever reason.
They find out the identity of the person they killed. Although they didn’t kill him.. bc he was already murdered! The wife talks about how her husband got involved in a satanic cult, blew all their money, did cocaine and tortured and mutilated animals for fun. But where she drew the line was adultery! Ain’t no one going to cheat on her..
One character is shot point blank in the chest. The other character is so sad. Funny how before in the book, this couple’s biggest problem was going to university in separate states. How will he survive without her?? But she has no wounds……. she’s totally fine. It’s a miracle!! (Literally the words used in the book and how it ends).
I wish this book was a DNF.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
The first book wasn’t as bad. It was stupid and dumb, cheesy language/ stereotypes but the second book went off the rails.
A group of teenagers accidentally kill someone so they cover it up. Then they start receiving threatening chain letters requiring them to do stuff *or else*. In the first book it is tasks like: tell all the teachers to go to hell, ruin the school play, go streaking, start a rumour your gay…. In the second book the threatening letters resume. This time the tasks are drown your puppy, cut off your index finger, shoot a friend in the face…………. etc.
It’s all so needless and violent and barbaric.
Nobody but the group knows what happened that day. They try to figure out who the blackmailer is. Eventually you find out it’s one of the friend group. He’s punishing them all for not coming forward, even though he didn’t either, and mad at the others bc he definitely would have been friends with this random stranger if they hadn’t run him down…..
The friend blackmailer is forgiven bc he has cancer so he isn’t accountable for his insane actions. He dies peacefully on a mountaintop.
Or does he…………….
Many of the characters die, twice over, in either book. They died graphically!! Oh no, jk they didn’t. Maybe it was so they could die again later on.
In the second book, the chain letters start again. But how?! Oh yes, of course satanic rituals.
The friend group is terrorized again. Now they could care less about keeping their secret in between the group bc they willy nilly tell two random people their situation moments after meeting..
One couple has a fight, and the male calls his girlfriend a whore, multiple times, and SPITS on her. When he actually slept with someone else and the girlfriend did nothing of the sort..
After one of the people are killed, this is the dialogue at the hospital. “Are you sure she’s dead? I mean, couldn’t she somehow be revived if you tried real hard?” The doctor replies, “She’s as dead as they come.”
Another friend is again viciously killed. This time it’s a routine vehicle accident.. except for the fact she is decapitated for whatever reason.
They find out the identity of the person they killed. Although they didn’t kill him.. bc he was already murdered! The wife talks about how her husband got involved in a satanic cult, blew all their money, did cocaine and tortured and mutilated animals for fun. But where she drew the line was adultery! Ain’t no one going to cheat on her..
One character is shot point blank in the chest. The other character is so sad. Funny how before in the book, this couple’s biggest problem was going to university in separate states. How will he survive without her?? But she has no wounds……. she’s totally fine. It’s a miracle!! (Literally the words used in the book and how it ends).
I wish this book was a DNF.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
April 17, 2024
Ready for something you don't hear very often?
This sequel is better than the first novel.
How much better? Well...not by much. But it's enough for me to give it another star over the original "Chain Letter". There are a few reasons why it deserves a higher score.
1. Some of the characters, while the same people as in the first novel, have more interesting personalities and they're easier to tell apart than they were in the first one.
2. The chain letter requests are darker and more macabre.
3. You learn more about the person that the group had killed in the first novel.
4. The ending isn't a cop out that makes you groan in annoyance.
I read this novel years ago, just like I had read the first one. The difference here is that I couldn't remember anything about it. I remembered who the Caretaker was in the first novel, so some of the mystery was taken away from me. For this one, it felt like I was reading it for the first time. Unfortunately, the identity of the Caretaker in this novel is obvious enough to slap you across the face from a mile away. Part of me wonders if Christopher Pike even bothered to hide what he was trying to do with this novel. While I really disliked this aspect, I did like the addition of Eric and Sasha as characters and that Tony and Ali had more added to their characters. While the other people in the chain letter line were one dimensional and acted like cardboard cutouts, at least these two characters from the original were more interesting to follow.
The things the Caretaker told the group to do in this story were MUCH better, more graphic, and overall more enthralling to read about. I enjoyed seeing what characters would do when given their letter, which characters would do what was requested of them, and which characters wouldn't and would suffer for it. That was much more interesting than just telling a teacher they stunk or messing up your lines as the lead in the school play, which were things that needed to be done in the original.
I really liked learning more about the person who had died in the first novel. I liked learning his name and things about his background. Along those same lines, I liked how it connected to the ending of this story. True, the climax was weird and messy, so I can't totally praise it for that. If I had to pick which ending was better, though, I would pick this one despite how odd it was. At least there weren't characters cracking jokes while in danger or teenagers managing to get stitches without their parents' knowledge in this one!
So, was it a good story? Eh...yes and no. It was much better than the original "Chain Letter", but if you'd want to read this one, you would have to read the first one to enjoy this one. Honestly, this is a duology that is simple and just okay. It can be picked up or skipped and nothing would change except the number of books you read for the year.
This sequel is better than the first novel.
How much better? Well...not by much. But it's enough for me to give it another star over the original "Chain Letter". There are a few reasons why it deserves a higher score.
1. Some of the characters, while the same people as in the first novel, have more interesting personalities and they're easier to tell apart than they were in the first one.
2. The chain letter requests are darker and more macabre.
3. You learn more about the person that the group had killed in the first novel.
4. The ending isn't a cop out that makes you groan in annoyance.
I read this novel years ago, just like I had read the first one. The difference here is that I couldn't remember anything about it. I remembered who the Caretaker was in the first novel, so some of the mystery was taken away from me. For this one, it felt like I was reading it for the first time. Unfortunately, the identity of the Caretaker in this novel is obvious enough to slap you across the face from a mile away. Part of me wonders if Christopher Pike even bothered to hide what he was trying to do with this novel. While I really disliked this aspect, I did like the addition of Eric and Sasha as characters and that Tony and Ali had more added to their characters. While the other people in the chain letter line were one dimensional and acted like cardboard cutouts, at least these two characters from the original were more interesting to follow.
The things the Caretaker told the group to do in this story were MUCH better, more graphic, and overall more enthralling to read about. I enjoyed seeing what characters would do when given their letter, which characters would do what was requested of them, and which characters wouldn't and would suffer for it. That was much more interesting than just telling a teacher they stunk or messing up your lines as the lead in the school play, which were things that needed to be done in the original.
I really liked learning more about the person who had died in the first novel. I liked learning his name and things about his background. Along those same lines, I liked how it connected to the ending of this story. True, the climax was weird and messy, so I can't totally praise it for that. If I had to pick which ending was better, though, I would pick this one despite how odd it was. At least there weren't characters cracking jokes while in danger or teenagers managing to get stitches without their parents' knowledge in this one!
So, was it a good story? Eh...yes and no. It was much better than the original "Chain Letter", but if you'd want to read this one, you would have to read the first one to enjoy this one. Honestly, this is a duology that is simple and just okay. It can be picked up or skipped and nothing would change except the number of books you read for the year.
January 23, 2022
I decided since I read the first Chain Letter to follow it up with the next one. I've seen many reviews about people not liking this one and loving the first one.
While I did like Chain Letter and still do appreciate the way the plot went and stand by my review of it...I got into this one quite quickly and would have finished even sooner if not for being a very tired and busy mother chasing an almost terrible two year old around my home but I digress.
This one came out when Pike was in his big boom with his name being more focused on the covers and their very eye-catching Day-Glo hues and I think he was able to get more creative. Even R.L. Stine mentioned that when he first started writing his books they wouldn't actually let him out right murder teenagers so and we all know how that turned out...
So it's not really an out right spoiler for the blurb on the back tells us that a character from the first book dies when she doesn't carry out the deed in the chain letters. The book soon tells us that the plot is going to be driven by something other-worldly and supernatural (hello...it's in the title) and it delivers.
There are elements you definitely won't find in the Fear Street books with references of drugs and sex and some very strong language and brutal kills. The group of characters from the first book start to dwindle down and we get some new characters but to explain their full purpose would be a big spoiler but their inclusion did baffle me at first until the plot started to get juicy.
This is what I remember Christopher Pike books being described as and the few I read a long time ago resembling. There are still human elements in the characters even if the new supernatural twist is added and I think people who have read this think Pike took that away in this sequel. I personally don't think it's any different than horror movies coming out today as these "requels" it's just adding more to the story but not completely changing canon.
The ending of the first Chain Letter was good and ended happily...Chain Letter 2 just went a step further and I enjoyed it. It's ending is solid and leaves no room for a Chain Letter 3 and in my opinion, not because it's bad.
I recommend it to anyone who has not read it and is interested.
While I did like Chain Letter and still do appreciate the way the plot went and stand by my review of it...I got into this one quite quickly and would have finished even sooner if not for being a very tired and busy mother chasing an almost terrible two year old around my home but I digress.
This one came out when Pike was in his big boom with his name being more focused on the covers and their very eye-catching Day-Glo hues and I think he was able to get more creative. Even R.L. Stine mentioned that when he first started writing his books they wouldn't actually let him out right murder teenagers so and we all know how that turned out...
So it's not really an out right spoiler for the blurb on the back tells us that a character from the first book dies when she doesn't carry out the deed in the chain letters. The book soon tells us that the plot is going to be driven by something other-worldly and supernatural (hello...it's in the title) and it delivers.
There are elements you definitely won't find in the Fear Street books with references of drugs and sex and some very strong language and brutal kills. The group of characters from the first book start to dwindle down and we get some new characters but to explain their full purpose would be a big spoiler but their inclusion did baffle me at first until the plot started to get juicy.
This is what I remember Christopher Pike books being described as and the few I read a long time ago resembling. There are still human elements in the characters even if the new supernatural twist is added and I think people who have read this think Pike took that away in this sequel. I personally don't think it's any different than horror movies coming out today as these "requels" it's just adding more to the story but not completely changing canon.
The ending of the first Chain Letter was good and ended happily...Chain Letter 2 just went a step further and I enjoyed it. It's ending is solid and leaves no room for a Chain Letter 3 and in my opinion, not because it's bad.
I recommend it to anyone who has not read it and is interested.
February 4, 2022
In ‘Ancient Evil’, life turns upside down for Tony, Kipp, Alison, Brenda, Joan and Fran when a new chain letter arrives. This time around, the Caretaker’s demands are brutal but defying them could be deadly.
From the get-go, it was clear that the stakes were much higher and decision-making would be more challenging. Plus, no one could figure out why the chain letters did not include Alison’s name.
There was an avalanche of blood, pain and tears amidst disintegrating relationships, unsettling changes, disturbing visions and peculiar sightings. However, it could not hold a handle to the first book due to the following:
- The heavy focus on Alison and Tony got old quickly, what with all their relationship drama. Non-issues and small matters were blown out of proportion.
- Kipp, Brenda, Joan and Fran were largely cast aside in favour of the above.
- The run-of-the-mill villain was devoid of personality.
- Making the whole Caretaker business a
- Death scenes were not written. Deaths were merely mentioned.
- Neil’s
Overall, ‘Ancient Evil’ was an okay but unnecessary sequel which merely introduced generic characters, ruined / disregarded familiar characters and overemphasized the good versus evil battle.
From the get-go, it was clear that the stakes were much higher and decision-making would be more challenging. Plus, no one could figure out why the chain letters did not include Alison’s name.
There was an avalanche of blood, pain and tears amidst disintegrating relationships, unsettling changes, disturbing visions and peculiar sightings. However, it could not hold a handle to the first book due to the following:
- The heavy focus on Alison and Tony got old quickly, what with all their relationship drama. Non-issues and small matters were blown out of proportion.
- Kipp, Brenda, Joan and Fran were largely cast aside in favour of the above.
- The run-of-the-mill villain was devoid of personality.
- Making the whole Caretaker business a
- Death scenes were not written. Deaths were merely mentioned.
- Neil’s
Overall, ‘Ancient Evil’ was an okay but unnecessary sequel which merely introduced generic characters, ruined / disregarded familiar characters and overemphasized the good versus evil battle.
March 19, 2021
Full review at: https://www.jackreacts.com.au/post/ch...
Snippet: I think Pike's done really well connecting both books without having to retcon anything, which is a huge credit to his writing abilities. If you think about it, although a supernatural element was quickly dismissed by the group in Chain Letter it makes a lot more sense for Neil to have had help throughout his turn as Caretaker since he was so weak, and he even alluded to being influenced in the final showdown. There's even a decent amount of throwbacks to the first book's events that help tie it all together as one complete story rather than two separate ideas.
My biggest issue was the strong focus on Tony and Alison's melodramatic relationship, which I found to be huge drainer that didn't feel consistent with their characters in the first book. Tony's behaviour can be explained by Sasha's influence, but to be honest I wasn't really feeling him because of how much he was whingeing about his situation with Alison anyway. Alison wasn't as bad, but I definitely liked her better in the first book too. I wish we'd spent more time with the other members of the group, especially Joan who had the smallest role in both books but still managed to be a standout character to me.
Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)
Snippet: I think Pike's done really well connecting both books without having to retcon anything, which is a huge credit to his writing abilities. If you think about it, although a supernatural element was quickly dismissed by the group in Chain Letter it makes a lot more sense for Neil to have had help throughout his turn as Caretaker since he was so weak, and he even alluded to being influenced in the final showdown. There's even a decent amount of throwbacks to the first book's events that help tie it all together as one complete story rather than two separate ideas.
My biggest issue was the strong focus on Tony and Alison's melodramatic relationship, which I found to be huge drainer that didn't feel consistent with their characters in the first book. Tony's behaviour can be explained by Sasha's influence, but to be honest I wasn't really feeling him because of how much he was whingeing about his situation with Alison anyway. Alison wasn't as bad, but I definitely liked her better in the first book too. I wish we'd spent more time with the other members of the group, especially Joan who had the smallest role in both books but still managed to be a standout character to me.
Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)
February 21, 2022
This book is so different from the first one! In the first one, it was all human badness. Based on the cover copy and the title, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that this one is all about supernatural badness. And it comes out of nowhere. There's a lot of deus ex machina going on in this book.
I spent the first several chapters thinking about how much I disliked both Allison and Toni. They did get better, and there was some explanation for their behavior, but the ending was a mess.
Still, the book is well-paced and kept me reading, even if I didn't love it.
I spent the first several chapters thinking about how much I disliked both Allison and Toni. They did get better, and there was some explanation for their behavior, but the ending was a mess.
Still, the book is well-paced and kept me reading, even if I didn't love it.
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