The in Crowd

Terror Academy #10

by Nicholas Pine

With Central Academy suddenly overrun with new students, someone decides to expel the newcomers--permanently--and it is up to Sandy to find the culprit before it is too late.

Genres: Young Adult, Horror

184 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Matthew MacIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another mediocre Terror Academy book. At the start of the book we start with protagonist Sandy who is a senior and editor of the school paper. She’s excited about the first issue that is due in five weeks, and she’s excited about her article about the new operation outreach program, which is basically where the school is bringing in underprivileged kids to go to Central Academy. sandi is dating Bobby, but in like the first chapter, she is interviewing one of the new kids, Mike, and has an instant attraction to him. All of these books are so similar. Of course on the first day, one of the Central Academy kids gets into a fight with one of the new operation outreach kids. This book is so slow and nothing really happens just a few of the jocks mainly Chip keep complaining about the new kids it isn’t until two thirds of the way through that someone actually dies and I will admit it’s a pretty cool and gruesome death. But all we see of the murderer is that they are wearing a white cloak. Sandy’s love for Mike grows so much that she breaks up with Bobby ,who takes the whole this super well. The whole climax is really rushed and painfully obvious who the bad guys are. And they call themselves the brotherhood kinda lame. I want full on gore and deaths not one good death then a quick ending where of course the bad guys die. And of course Sandy and Mike live happily ever after and plan to go to college together because they are so in love. Just gross. Also negative points for the unnecessary and overly graphic pet death.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was pretty awful. I must have skipped this one a lot as a kid, too, since absolutely none of it was familiar.

At least I can scratch another re-read off my never-ending “nostalgia list”!

[Bryan Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Farmer Twins read these YA horror novels in the 90s, and now I'm revisiting them in honor of Aaron.

The In Crowd

Oh, Sandy. You want to be Lois Lane, but walked into a messy situation that I truly didn't understand, but...sure! Someone gets their head cut off, and she finds it. What a mess.

[Amanda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was silly, fun, & quick- I had a great time with it. I did guess the bad guys before the reveal but I was ok with that. The way one guy was murdered was absolutely epic for a YA book. Something that I didn’t enjoy was the MC’s repetitive thoughts about having a boyfriend but oh no, she likes some other guy.

[Lizzie the Book Hoarder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but nothing special.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as terrible as his usual, which is high praise.

I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this because I used to love these books as a teen, and a friend of mine had a couple I never read.
I found it a bit syrupy and with lots of stereotypes ("I'm not into my looks because I'm smarter than that", "cheerleaders = brainless"). Not as much fun as it used to be. It makes me want to reread some of mine to compare.