Christopher Pike's Tales of Terror

Christopher Pike's Tales of Terror

by Christopher Pike

Death of Despair: Mike wakes up alone one night in his condo. Then his past loves begin to visit him, each, they say, in their dreams. But what Mike does not know is that he has stumbled into a very evil nightmare from which there is no waking.

Revenge: Ted's girlfriend suddenly dumps him and he just doesn't think that is right. So he decides to kill her, in a very strange way.

The Fan from Hell: Marvin Summers, the bestselling author of teen fiction, returns to face Lassy, his No. 1 fan. Against his better judgment, Marvin allows himself to get intimately involved with this beautiful and mysterious girl. Only too late does he realize that some of his fans have studied his horror novels a little too closely.

Plus other strange tales from the world's darkest corners!

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Thriller, Teen, Time Travel

196 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Christopher 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.

Reviews

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection, especially for those of you, who, like me grew up reading Pike's books in his heyday. Bring on the nostalgia.

The first story, "Death of Despair," had an hard to like main protagonist, but a creepy premise. Mike wakes up after a party, and everyone feels just a little bit off. One by one his ex-girlfriends come to visit him, informing him that they are seeing him in their dreams, hinting that he has died. The twist on this one is really killer, and it was one of my favorites in the collection.

"The Fan From Hell" brought back Marvin Summers, the "Master of Murder," and he's always an entertaining main character. In this one a stalker fan seduce Martin and begins blackmailing him-can he outsmart her and regain control of his life? This was a fun one.

"The Last Dawn" was more apocalyptic, vaguely sci fi than horror, but the situation the children in the story find enduring, is subtly terrifying. It's bleak and tragic, but features (in my opinion) some of Pike's best writing.

"Timespell" is a science fiction story of advanced beings mixed with a contemporary teen drama. It is by far the most amusing story in the collection, and even though it's not horror, it was definitely one of my favorites.

"Revenge" is a story of an angry jilted boyfriend, and the revenge he plans to enact on his ex. Things don't go completely as planned though, and maybe that's best for both of them.

The last story, "Dark Walk," explores how your imagination can run away from you, making monsters out of the mundane. The final shocking twist does take the story into real horror territory, and rounds out the collection nicely.

[Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

One really good story (“Timespell”) that was clever and very funny in a way I didn’t expect from Pike. One bad story (“The Fan from Hell”) about what I guess a lot of male artist’s worst nightmare/fantasy is, that a woman falsely accuses him of rape in order to blackmail him into using his genius talent to ghostwrite a book for her. It’s pretty dumb! Some of the other stories have a bitterness to them that doesn’t sit right, and his personal intros are all super weird and will make you wish he had kept his personality secretive. “Timespell” is great, though, and “The Last Dawn” is pretty good!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death of Despair: Mike finds himself the subject of a cruel and elaborate - even potentially deadly prank one night, that he turns around on the three preparators.

The Fan from Hell: Author, Marvin gets an IM from a girl one night, claiming to be his #1 fan. It begins innocently enough, but ultimately this fan wants more than Marvin is willing to give. Much more. She begins blackmailing him, but he manages to flip the situation around on his "fan."

Last Dawn: Suddenly, one day, some unknown source blocks the sun's light completely. The world plummets into panic and chaos; it's pitch dark and beyond freezing cold. Within a month, 90% of the world's population is dead. Most disturbing are the unanswered questions: who or what had blocked the sun - and why. Jim and Dardee, brother and sister survivors get a mysterious visitor to their cabin one day, who brings the answers they've been searching for.

Timespell: Four teens from millennia in the future decide to project their consciousness way back into the past, into the minds of four teens from that era, for one day, just simply to observe. They know they must not alter the timeline in any way, lest they change the course of the world. However, that's easier said than done. Emotions are foreign for these futuristic teens, but when they find themselves caught up in the middle of a bunch of teenage angst and sexual tension, it proves much harder to remain as just observers. Hilarity ensues.
"This single night of sex has destroyed our future. There is nothing for us to return home to. Our glorious civilization of pure energy beings will never exist."
"It was worth it."

Revenge: After Chris finds out his girlfriend has met someone else and is cheating on him, he becomes obsessed with the notion - following them around, and eventually plans to kill her and frame the other man. What he comes up with is quite creative and unusual. However, his plan doesn't work as expected.

Dark Walk: Tim goes to the beach late at night for a swim, but can't stop imagining succumbing to a terrifying shark attack. Coming back home to his girlfriend to tell her about his frightening thoughts proves to be a big mistake, as he quickly finds out she really doesn't like to be scared.

------------------
I really liked this collection; I liked every story, but The Fan from Hell and Timespell were my two favorites. I really like the authors sense of humor and unique ideas. 💀💀💀💀/💀

[Erica Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it again and I think Pike enjoyed offing these female characters a little too much. So many of the male characters in these stories come off as bitter and entitled, using and killing women either out of spite or revenge. It’s weird.

Darker and more depraved, yes, and more mature too.

———-


Darker than his usual kinds of stories. These characters seem more depraved than usual, but still fascinating. Really enjoyed ‘Timespell’—laughed out loud a few times. Such an original story! Also appreciated the prefaces. It was interesting to learn Pike’s inspirations for each story. Solid collection, good mix of horror and sci-fi.

[Justice · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of his notes before Revenge, he says "This story has no redeeming social value. Usually I prefer them that way." We know, Pike.

Death of Despair - 3.5

Apparently he was writing a script for remember me?? I would watch that in a heartbeat.

Despite Pike's protests, I do see the similarities with Remember Me, but with an unlikable male lead.

OH SHIT

Okay this took a turn I was NOT expecting. Also, it's VERY graphic

The Fan from Hell - 4 stars

I like his notes before the story - I'm fascinated and repulsed by the amount of entitlement certain people have over authors - and my gut instinct has always been that it's gotten worse with the internet. Pike's experience, in how surprised he was when he first encountered it online, seems to confirm that.

I'M PRETTY SURE THIS ISN'T A TEEN BOOK MY GOODNESS
I guarantee this story had zero oversight.

"You should have screwed Stephen King."
"Nah. His latter books ramble too much for my taste."

"Deals are for agents and lawyers. I'm an artist."

Last Dawn - 3 stars

He rly does have favorite book children, based on his note rambling about Last Vampire and Remember Me. Also, it sounds like he wrote these stories FOR this book? But maybe wrote them over a period of time? Idk.

The science in this is highly suspect.

WHY ARE THE GIRLS IN THE STORY WHO DATE THE BROTHER JEALOUS OF HIS SISTER PIKE. WHY PIKE. TELL ME WHY PIKE. nvm i don't wanna know.

Okay okay this is just a short version of the type of story like The Starlight Crystal.

Timespell - 3.5 stars

Pike: hahaha why do people think i think im like Marvin Summer, my uber-successful, uber-attractive YA writer?
Also Pike: LIKE MARVIN SUMMER I WAS SEEN AS...

WHY IS HE OPENLY INVITING HIS HS CRUSH TO CALL HIM SIR PLS

You know, the more I learn about his personality the more I dislike Pike he sure is lucky he was popular before Twitter was a thing he would have gotten canceled so quickly

Also the back cover copy says "6 teens" there were 4. And it refers to additional stories but already listed all the stories. Some underpaid intern was NOT fully informed that's for sure.

Hehehe this story was funny tho.

Revenge - 3.5

Okay Pike is a horrible person and I would hate him irl

Everything I've learned about scuba diving I've learned from a Pike book. I'm realizing i like his diving books a lot because they're TERRIFYING i feel like I'm drowning as i read them.

Hehehehe this really does have no redeeming social value.

Dark Walk - 3

Hahaha this is funny. Kinda random, but enjoyable for an under-15-minute read.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded up to 3 stars.

I added this to my favorite shelf because I do like some of the stories so that counts...

When I read Pike's short story "Collect Call" parts 1 & 2 from Thirteen, I ended up liking the first part and not caring for the second. It was the same thing for some of the stories in this collection: I liked some but didn't care for others.

Each story has a little introduction by Pike as to the inspiration of each tale and some are around the times he was working on novels he did publish or borrowed inspiration. That part was exciting...it is nice to know how writers tick.

There are six stories in this collection and they mire slightly in horror because some people are terrified of different things...things that could literally scare them to death but most are thrillers and sci-fi.

Pike is great at writing but even the short story format seems to have him rambling on sometimes so it is still easy to trail off but some people might like that better than a whole 200 page story...

I can't say too much or else I would be a huge hypocrite...

Death of Despair is 35 pages long and is a more cruel version of Remember Me. Mike wakes up in his condo and the three girls he has been involved with show up. They tell him that they are visiting him in their dreams and drop a bomb on him: he's dead. The twist is easy to see a mile away and how it ends is a wham to the senses. 3/5

The Fan From Hell is 46 pages and is a sequel to "Master of Murder" about author Marvin Summers aka Mack Slate. The pen name is no longer a secret and Marvin ends up talking to a girl he knows as "Lassy" on-line. His girlfriend Shelly is away at college and Marvin can't help but want to meet Lassy in person because he hasn't exactly been faithful. She wants advice on writing a story and Marvin gets in way over his head.

In its time, the story would be no big deal but elements would not be welcome in today's climate and it goes just about the way you would expect. Pike name drops Stephen King in the tale and Misery in the intro so that spoils it a little bit as well but I couldn't put the book down while reading it. 4/5

Last Dawn is 30 pages long. It is the end of the millenium and here it is the end of the world with the sun becoming completely blacked out to bring about the next Ice Age. We focus on two survivors of a teenage boy named Jim and his younger sister, Dardee, as they struggle to well...survive.

Don't expect a happy ending. 2/5

Timespell is 46 pages long and is completely sci-fi. Teens from 20,000,000 years in the future decide to project their minds into four random teenagers from our time the way we would play a Nintendo Switch: just for fun.

They are highly advanced and go by numbers 11, 33, 66 and 99 but they know very little about anything so just try to picture Sheldon from TBBT or Temperance Brennan from Bones. For 24 hours, they are only supposed to observe but not influence their hosts in any way to avoid changing the future but that doesn't work out well because high school teenagers are all about the drama...and the sex.

I actually found it more highly entertaining than scary in any way but Pike finds a way to shoehorn a little Butterfly Effect Theory for the fear of the "unknown future" which I guess can be terrifying.

Probably my favorite because it has characters that are just a little less mean-spirited. 5/5.

Revenge is 23 pages long. Pike got inspiration for this during the time of Road To Nowhere and it shows his same love of scuba diving as shown in Bury Me Deep.

Main character Chris is dating a girl named Teresa and just before prom, she dumps him for another guy named Clyde. He is mostly angry because she kept telling him she wanted to wait to have sex but Teresa has no problem sleeping with Clyde when Chris decides to stalk her and doesn't see them but can hear them...

Chris has the perfect way to get his revenge. A tale with a very messed up ending. 3/5

Dark Walk is 16 pages. Tim is staying with his girlfriend Rachel at her grandfather's house on the beach for the weekend. He decides to go on a walk late at night before going to bed and tells Rachel that he might go swimming in the ocean...she isn't amused.

We all start imagining things and Tim just has to tell Rachel the story when he gets back since it was so terrifying but Rachel...doesn't like to be scared.

The only thing that saves this really short story is the ending. 2/5.

Been looking for this book for a while and since it popped up pretty decently priced I bought Tales of Terror to add it to my collection. Pleasantly surprised enough to hope that Tales of Terror #2 pops up eventually out of sheer curiosity...

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read much Christopher Pike as a preteen, even though he was the biggest name in YA horror next to R.L. Stine, but this is one of the few I did read, and the stories had a pretty big impact on me. Revisiting it as an adult, I have to say it's better written than Stine's work, and certainly scarier, but I don't know if it's always scary in the way Pike intends it to be.

There are three stories about men getting screwed over by women (false accusations against the men play into two of those three) and committing violence against said women in retribution. One of those three, "Revenge", I actually found pretty compelling, because I believe the male protagonist's entitlement and sexual possessiveness of his ex-girlfriend is intended to be frightening, like the ironic ending of Taxi Driver. With the other two such stories ("Death of Despair" and "The Fan From Hell"), I think we are meant to view the male characters as (anti-)heroes, and that's really a problem.

"Death of Despair" is still kind of neat for its eerie atmosphere--it captures that feeling of waking up and not immediately knowing where you are. I wish, however, that the motivations of the three female characters (girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, and platonic friend) trying to enact vengeance against protagonist Mike weren't so incoherent. Their spiteful irrationality is extremely stereotypical, and the moral of the story seems to be, "Women are crazy and emotional and will use their feminine wiles to defeat you, unless you employ your masculine rationality to overcome (and murder) them."

"The Fan from Hell", though, that's a whole other ballpark. In my first draft of this review, I wrote eight paragraphs excoriating this ugly piece of fiction, but it's probably best for me to forego that and simply say, Fuck this story. It involves an underage girl falsely accusing a bestselling YA author of rape to get him to write a book that she can put her name on, because she wants to become rich and famous. (Maybe the only good part of the story is her darkly comic lamentation that she's running out of time to accomplish anything important with her life, being nearly eighteen and all.) At one point she says that the police are so "politically correct" these days (bear in mind this is 1997) that they'll believe any woman's story of sexual assault, no matter how flimsy, without questioning it. Yeah. Again, fuck this story.

I really liked the two sci-fi stories. "Last Dawn" is about the world freezing after the sun is blotted out, and plays like a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. "Timespell" is a hilarious and strangely poignant farce about beings of pure energy from the future zapping themselves into the bodies of four contemporary high school students to better understand "unevolved mankind" and their emotions. "Dark Walk", about a boy regaling his girlfriend with a tale of a walk to the beach at night and how much the darkness frightened him, is actually pretty reminiscent of something Stine would write, and I think that's because its out-of-nowhere twist ending is so indebted to E.C. Comics, which Stine always cites as the biggest influence on his horror fiction.

So in conclusion, fuck "The Fan from Hell".

[ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tales of Terror: Or, Some Pretty Weird Sh*t

Instead of his usual pulpy, fun novels, Christopher Pike released a book with a variety of shorter, more bizarre tales. I prefer his longer novels as I believe they give his stories more nuance and reality, but here are some quick thoughts on each tale in this book.

Death of Despair: This was a really f*cked up story and was disturbing on many levels. I don't want to remember this.

The Fan From Hell: Truly terrifying and feels like it could happen in real life? Authors beware!

Last Dawn: Apocalyptic and bleak and convoluted and not that interesting...

Timespell: This was a lot to process and was super out there, but also I think I liked it? Super beings controlling humans feels slightly off though... hmmm.

Revenge: Dark, awful, and did not leave me with a good feeling. Man plots girflriends death, ok...

Dark Walk: Short, simple, and kind of pointless. But funny in a way.

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was a lot of teen boy murderers and unfollowable SciFi logic. Oh and scuba diving. The guy really has a thing about scuba.
I wouldn't really call them tales of terror. Maybe the first one. That one was startling.
Christopher pike added little explanations and tidbits as a preamble to each story which I usually love when authors do that (Neil Gaiman is fantastic at it) but most of what Pike said just made me think that I would really hate the guy if I met him in real life. He came off as pompous and chauvenistic and not in the slightly forgivable fun "a product of its time" way he does in his fiction. Bummer.
I did like one line he said, "This story has no redeeming social value. Usually I prefer them that way." At least the guy is self aware.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pike's writing is just so natural ... his thrillers are all simply brilliant stories told by a consummate storyteller.

This particular collection of short stories is entertaining for a quick read; I especially liked "The Fan From Hell".

[FIND ME ON STORYGRAPH · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was my third favorite book in middle school. the misogynistic story where the woman lies about being raped helped form a lot of the awful beliefs I held back then until I learned better.

[Lannie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only story I read in this was Revenge, which is a fairly run-of-the-mill incel wet dream. Young man is upset that his girlfriend won't put out. She leaves him for a Chad. The Chad pops her cherry. He decides to stalk and kill her. Poetry.

I might raise the collection's rating if I ever get around to reading the others. Maybe they'll surprise me. But the story I read for my book club is somewhere between unimpressive and, I dunno, disgusting? Not gross-out disgusting, just pathetic male disgusting. And look, that's fine.

About 2 stars fine.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This should’ve been titled: Tales of Horny Teens

Short stories are not my favourite but these were pretty good. I especially enjoyed the long introductions beforehand which give substantial insight into the author. Fun, fast read.

[Aneesch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful

[C. Landman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of terror tales.

[Naz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more terror in these tales

[Roberta R. (Offbeat YA) · Rating 2 out of 5]

RTC

[Judy Tarver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short horror stories. Each one of them was different and unique.

[Rayn Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the many stories they had but also one of them that he made into a different book 💕

[Rina Hidayati · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many of longtime fans’ Christoper Pike will think that this story originated with Remember Me ( The story before), and it’s possible the Author was influenced by it because the Author had only recently reread the book when He decided to write “Death of despair.” In either case He think the origin of Death of despair was simply a recurring image of Mike waking up alone and having no idea what was happening. He often wake up like that himself, But He do not know young women as dreamy as Penny, Linda, and Sandy. Death of Despair is an inspiring horror novel that loyalty must to be had by every heart of people. A plot in a dream that look real happen. And that is filled with despair in main character feeling made this novel appear good them, and I felt insight into life.
Mike cutter, main character, He is 18 years old, and student that lived alone in His parents’ condo in the City of Angels , west of Los Angels. He felt horrible and unconsiousness about her death. He always tries to looking for proofs of his death, and He did not believe that he still young and impossible if he died. Penny Watchworth, th star attraction of an early infatuation of his. He met Penny when he was 16, two years ago, at neighboring school after a basket ball game in which he had scored 30 points and singlehandedly destroyed Penny’s almamater. Sandy Fitsmeyer wore a long white dress with in white ribbon in her auburn hair, She was agood friend from school. Recently, good had begun to border on great, or else very bed, dependingon one’s moral perspective. and the last character is Linda that do not have loyalty with Mike who is her boyfriend that really loyal but Mike must Receive his death with the crazy idea for killing of Mike Cutter.
The plot of Death of despair is really unexpected. The story starts from Mike woke up and horrible in his parents’ condo in the city of Angels, west Los Angels in evil nightmare, The last thing he remembered was being at Linda’s Birthday Party that He had invited a quarter of school because He loves Linda so much had not merely ordered pizza for everyone. They had use the food for slam-dunk contest and the tops of their skulls hoops, which had been at his place, or rather, at his parents’ condo on 19th floors which was immaculately clean which was impossible. That was a soft knock condo door, and before he answer He walked to open it. Penny Watchworth, He met Penny 2 years ago, Penny came for explaining about his death and say goodbye for him and So did Sandy. This Event made Mike believe with his death but Mike still have doubtfull about his death, Sandy was able to make him believe it. And finally, Mike just wanted to say goodbye to Linda because he thought that Linda didn’t know about his death. I really dispointed with Linda, because she is cruel girl in every statement that other friend of Mike had explained about his death. In the last even, Mike still hoped that Linda still loves him who is brain of this killing.
In my opinion, this Novel I recommend for teenagers who is 17 years old above or adult people. This novel there was sex element throughout little. Plot of six tales are almost same but have unique sense every story . The most intriguiting of this novel mostly are unexpected event. Finally, You must read this novel. Then you’ll find it the twist of this novel.

[PurplyCookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Death of Despair" >> A guy wakes up and is told he's dead and must move on...but is it really happening? a terrifying nightmare which is all too real, in more ways than one.

"The Fan From Hell" >> An amazing short story that was a semi-sequel to Pike's "Master of Murder". Pike leads the reader in many twists and turns. Even though Pike insists Marvin isn't suppose to be based on him, I still think a portion of Marvin has Pike's brilliance and personality.

"The Last Dawn" >> What happens when the sun is enveloped in darkness and the people of Earth begin to die out?

"Timespell" >> A wildly futuristic story that speaks about the implications of present actions and how they affect the future in the long run. One of the funniest stories of Pike that I have ever read.

"Revenge" >> Ted's girlfriend dumps him, so he decides to kill her in a very strange way. Love after all, is separated by just a thin line from hate.

"Dark Walk" >> It was just a pleasant walk in the middle of the night around the old neighborhood--but death follows closer than one's own shadow. An unexpected twist at the end.


Each story is accompanied by a foreword by the author. He also answers a question he's asked five hundred times a day in his fan mail: Where do you get your ideas from? This is a fantastic collection and what can I say, if you're a Pike fan, you just have to have this in your collection.


Book Details:

Title Tales of Terror (Book 1)
Author Christopher Pike
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Rozeq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have become fond of Christopher Pike's books. They are books that refuse to be let go of, and since they are small, you won't get overwhelmed, as I do at times. Every page is a different mystery, different outcome, but it is still possible to keep track of all characters.

At first, I did not think this book would have individualized stories until I realized the plot was sped up. You must be a little mature when reading this book at times though. There are six tales in all. Many of the tales have to do with romance and killing, whereas one story caught my eye. For some reason I had trouble reading it because it was boring. It had to do with the world ending which I did not like the sudden change of theme. Overall, this book is a good book.

[Cassi · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I have slowly been letting go of all my YA books as people have been asking for them, but trying to give them one last read first. Anyway, this one brought me back, good ol' Christopher Pike with cheesy high school stereotype characters, some morbid but creative premise, and all the character hormones raging enough to make a big mess. I'm not so sure I should have been reading these when I was 8-10... eeks.

[Jacob Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story anthologies are hard to rate. None of these stories were terrifying, but they were atmospheric, punchy, quick and mostly fun reads. I enjoy the 1980s/90s LA backdrop of most of the tales. More than anything, I loved Christopher Pike’s intros to each story. I’ll keep this on hand and read it again down the road on a lazy, rainy day.

[Nate Klayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't gotten too far in this book i have only read maybe one story,but I am starting to get intrigued. The way this author writes 'Christopher Pike,' gives me chills. In a good way, it would be crazy if these things happen. i will really want to start reading these book some more.

[Adebayo Adebomi]

filled with suspense and intrigue. you never know whatsgoing to happen next. A very sho cking novel. Very intresting.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors. Some stuff is brilliant, some is just bizarre.

[Sasha Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

would have been 5stars, but the last story sucked! so I figured 4 great stories out of 5 makes 4stars : D

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4th star is for the insight of his introductions. He calls himself a genius and says he never dated in high school. Wow.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was creepy and fun.