Randy Clay becomes an unwilling participant in a game of hide-and-seek in a cemetery with a vindictive ghost, and if the ghost tags her, Randy will become the newest ghost on Fear Street
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.
Hide and Shriek is the first book in the Ghosts of Fear Street series, which despite the name "R.L. Stine" in letters bigger than the book's title on the cover (reminiscent of what they do with Tom Clancy, whose name still graces books he had nothing to do with, in enormous letters, to this day, even though he is long dead), was not written by R.L. Stine, but rather by author Emily James, who wrote the book in a very convincing imitation of Stine's writing style, even using his same crutch words and endlessly-recycled plot points from the Goosebumps series.
The story follows a girl named Randy Clay, who just moved to the town of Shadyside with her parents and incredibly annoying little sister Barbara (who they all call Baby, to her great annoyance). At her new school, Randy keeps hearing about this kid named Pete, and there are bulletins on the school bulletin board about making a cake for Pete's birthday. She wonders why this Pete kid gets such special attention, but everyone she asks about it is very tight-lipped. But she'll soon learn the terrible truth about Pete, and get a lot more than she bargained for!
Overall I liked this one, but it's nothing special. Hilariously, Emily James imitates Stine but in a way that's actually better than Stine writes. She isn't as repetitive as he is with his crutch words like "stammered" and "demanded", though she does still use them. And she writes events involving middle grade children that are a lot more convincing and realistic than what Stine writes. For example, she wrote a sleepover scene in this book where a group of girls were huddled around a TV in a basement watching movies and gossiping, and it came across as very relatable and familiar.
When Stine writes such scenes, I usually find them to be wooden or just not believable, given my own experiences in childhood. You can tell when he writes kids that he's what he is, a 79-year-old man who hasn't been a kid himself in a very long time, and is a bit out of touch with what it's like to be one. James, however, seems to portray that experience a lot more believably.
There were, however, some things in this story that I did find were pretty unrealistic, and weird. For example the main protagonist's seven-year-old sister Baby talking about how she wants to kiss and marry her new teacher at school. What seven-year-old on this planet is already thinking about marriage and about being sexually intimate with another person? Maybe that's a bit more plausible for the protagonist, who is twelve, but for a seven-year-old it's laughably unrealistic.
It's also a story that, in various different respects, is something Stine has already done a million times before (except now it's Emily James doing it, in imitation of Stine). The "There's a kid who is really a monster and who has been body-snatched, but you don't know which kid it is!" plot is something even I've seen at least twice already, and I've only read some 20 Goosebumps books across two different Goosebumps series. There are probably 200 or more Goosebumps books across a number of different series, and they're still being written as I write this review, so it's likely a plot he's done many more times than just what I've seen so far.
There's also the "A bunch of secondary characters spin really fast around the antagonist at the end of the book until everything becomes a blur and then poof! They're all gone" event right before the end of the book that I've seen in at least three other Goosebumps books so far. It's not completely terrible, but it's a lazy way to end a story, and the more I see it the more annoying it becomes.
Basically just another Goosebumps book, but in a differently-named series and written by someone else, Hide and Shriek, in its imitation of R.L. Stine's writing style, is a better version of Stine, but the end product is still repetitive, unoriginal, and ultimately forgettable. That being said, if you're looking for a decent Goosebumps-style read that's better-written than the average R.L. Stine product, this one is worth checking out.
Well I liked it to some degree. The ghost part was creepy. The baby/Barbara thing though left a bad taste in my mouth. I know I was projecting my own trans stuff onto it but still, at some point it's like just admit you aren't even trying and don't care too. It really irritated me. Otherwise I enjoyed it though but that was such a big and unnecessary part of the book...And it's not even long.
I am re-reading some of R.L. Stines books with some friends. I never read any of the Ghosts of Fear Street books as a young adult. I think they came out a lot later. So with the books we pick, I don't read anything about them. The plot behind this one is easy to guess- hide and seek but with a twist! Hide and seek with a dead kid. There is a slumber party where we get the urban legend of Pete, the dead kid and why all the kids in Shadyside play. I really, really loved that scene. I loved reading about the terrors of Fear Street living on and being spread like this. There's another scene at the Fear Street cemetery I really loved. All the middle school kids (around 12yrs old) are there. They have a cake for Pete and sing happy birthday to him before beginning the game (the game always takes place on his birthday). I love this. It's safe to assume Pete was a real kid and thanks to this scary urban legend, he isn't forgotten. There is no destruction of the cemetery or anything like that. If I had read this when I was 12, I would've loved it and been scared to death.
Well this was a pleasant surprise. Didn't think I'd enjoy a middle school book as much as this but I loved the main character's paranoia (not unlike my own as a preteen. I was pretty sure Anna from choir was a werewolf due to her eyebrows meeting in the middle!!!) And the action moved along quickly and kept me interested.
4 stars.
I do wish the FW parents would call the younger sister by HER preferred name though and not just 'Baby', it might prevent some of those tantrums and a later psychotic mental break resulting in a matricide/patricide murder spree.
Y'all, I'ma just say that I don't know how my elementary school mind filled out whatever spoopyness this book needed because I remember this being the coolest and most exciting ghost story. I also remember cute boys for some reason (??? I think I had Casper the movie on my mind).
Needless to say, Adult!Me thinks this is a cool little ghost story, but not whatever my 8 year old self hyped it up to be lmao
I swear I read this as a kid. I have a faint memory of the cover and little bits and pieces of the story but not the overall story.
So I quite enjoyed this. I can see it being scaryish for kids. I reckon I definitely would have felt that creepy feeling at times. The story was interesting too.
A new girl moves into this tight knit community and finds out that there is this boy who many years ago, died.
But apparently he's not happy and each year all the kids have to play Hide and Seek and Pete, (who is the boy who is dead) will choose one person to be the next person he takes over the body of. But he only does that at night time and during the day, the kid he has chosen, is his normal self. So....you don't know whos body and mind, Pete lives in. Not until all is revealed at the end.
So yeah it was great to read and a lot of fun. Even as an adult it was enjoyable.
I really have missed this old books I read for the first time back in the 90s. Nightmare Hall series by Diane Hoh. Goosebumps and The Ghosts of Fear Street by R. L. Stine. Anything basically by Paul Jennings (Can you say, The Cabbage Patch Fib and The Gizmo?!). Also ANYTHING that was Point Horror. I'm trying to find as many as I can as Audiobooks on YouTube🤞.
Listen, I think literature for children is really important. And I still enjoy reading it.
This is something I would not have been "allowed" to read as a child. Not that my parents would have noticed, but that conscience of mine was really strict. So I tend to really, really enjoy supernatural stories with kids / teens because it's something I was always drawn to at that age, but forbid myself from looking into. One of my oldest friends mailed me this book from her personal collection she has had since these books came out and I had a total BLAST reading it. I wish I could write stuff like this. I should try. ICONIC cover.
However - the Barbara / Baby bit was NO. It made me think of people dismissing trans folks, which breaks my heart. It wasn't actually about that, but that's where my mind went. If someone tells me to call them Barbara, dammit, I will call them Barbara.
Hmm thú vị đấy chứ, mặc dù hơi trẻ con xíu. Mình thấy phục mấy bác viết truyện kì bí chết đi được, kiểu trí tưởng tượng không có biên giới luôn ấy.
Đọc xong một tập thì đã có thể định hình ra phong cách của R. L. Stine rồi. Khá chắc là mình sẽ không thích bộ này bằng bộ Chuyện bí ẩn thường ngày của Paul Jenning. Bộ của bác Jenning đáng yêu vô cùng ấy, Stine thì hơi thiên về hướng kinh dị một chút (nhưng ý mình không phải là nó không hay, chỉ là mình trót yêu Chuyện bí ẩn thường ngày quá rồi).
À mà với cả đoạn kết của tập Trò chơi trốn tìm hơi bị rối tí. Rốt cuộc chả hiểu số phận của David ra sao và bằng cách nào mà Lucas được cứu.
This was a ton of fun to read. I really enjoyed the idea and once they were in the middle of playing hide and seek, it was such a page turner! I was on the edge of my seat! I would definitely recommend this to others.
I’m re-reading my favourite childhood series and I still love Hide and Shriek like the first time reading this book. The plot and the twist were amazing.
Rereading old Goosebumps and R.L. Stine books. Like I said, they hold a special place in my heart so I won’t say anything bad about these books. Obviously I’m not the target audience and this isn’t my reading level, but these books are classic and timeless, definitely worth a reread.
This book follows Fear Street, where each year the town kids play a game of hide and seek, where you don’t want to be tagged. Simple right? Be quick, hide good, you win. Expect in fear street, the person chasing after you is a ghost, and if he tags you you aren’t just it. The ghost takes over your body for a whole year until the next game! So when new girl Randy is determined not to become it, she will have navigate a new school, new friends, and a very spooky scary game! Can she win, or will be next?
It’s short, it’s spooky, it’s fun. Even if it isn’t aimed at you anymore, they make for a great reread. Definitely worth a little trip down memory lane (or fear street ;) ).
I actually enjoyed this book I thought it was dark and creepy and had a good plot with eerie atmosphere and good characters despite the parts that aren’t directly linked to the overall story (like interacting family members) are pretty repetitive and boring. The last chapters of the story were tense and intriguing, and the ending was satisfying ************************************************************************* Verdict (7.1/10)
This wasn’t bad. I’m starting to read R.L. Stine books with a book club. This definitely had a good plot twist. Was sure I had it all figured out but I didn’t. It had me sucked in. It was definitely a very good twist of the hide and seek game that would have had me scared if I had played this version as a child. Fun book!!!?
So this was a book i picked up to avoid burn out, and it worked id say. Sure the story might be a little to basic, but its a cool idea nonetheless and theres some pretty good description of setting and the time of year especially in the graveyard. My biggest complaint is that the characters are a bit bland, but this is a very fun read, 7.5/10.
"R.L. Stine is indeed a good way to start reading horror at a young age. This story is not too scary, but also not too ..."
and Chat AI gave me this -
R.L. Stine is indeed a good way to start reading horror at a young age. This story is not too scary, but also not too tame, giving kids a taste of horror without overwhelming them. To expand this into a fuller review paragraph, you could write something like: "Stine manages to strike a delicate balance between suspense and accessibility. The plot keeps readers on edge with eerie settings and mysterious twists, yet it never crosses into territory that would be too disturbing for younger audiences. Instead, it introduces them to the thrills of horror in a safe, entertaining way, making it an ideal entry point for budding fans of the genre."
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Some people are so stupid. They don't look at the facts.
I haven’t read this book since I was very young — I’m doing a journaling session right now and I thought of it, though, and remember the plot decently well and how much I enjoyed it. Five stars because obviously it’s stuck with me!
Hide and Shriek It’s Randy’s first day at Shadyside Middle School. Randy, her mom, dad, and little sister just moved to Shadyside to Maine to Fear Street. As even further proof that the street sounds strange, the clerk at the post office tells Randy that because she’s 12 she might be “the one” and that she’ll find out what that means on June 10th.
Randy has fooled around with her clothes so long that she gets to school late and finds herself locked out. Randy starts to panick but then gets it open (its jammed). In the hallway, Randy notices a calendar with June 10th circled. Then scrawled on the top 18 more days until Pete’s birthday. Randy thinks this Pete must be pretty popular if his birthday is such a big deal. When she turns around she bumps into a green guy oozing blood from his head and hands. He’s pleading for help.
The boy continues to moan and groan and it catches the attention of a teacher (Ms. Munson) He apologizes and rushes off. She directs Randy to the principal’s office. Randy then finds out from a girl in a hoop skirt and a bonnet that they’re just rehearsing for a play. Luke is playing someone who gets killed. The girl seems astonished that Randy is new and says she’s Sara Lewis before rushing off. Randy (Miranda) has her first class with a teacher named Ms. Hartman. Everyone is whispering about her and Randy wonders why. Ms. Hartman then starts to talk about how to study and prepare for the final exam coming up.
At recess, Randy meets Megan and David who tell her about a co-ed softball team they’re trying to start. She also sees two girls pointing at her (Laura and Maggie). The same ones who snubbed her in class when she spoke. She checks herself out in the bathroom to confirm that nothing’s wrong then returns for a softball game. The next day, Sarah says she’s going to volunteer to bake Pete’s cake. Randy asks who Pete is but all Sarah says is “Oh you don’t know” and before she can say more Laura is uncomfortably close to Randy and hisses in her ear that she’d better be careful.
A few days later, things settle down and start to feel normal. That is until Randy passes Laura’s table and hears her say “Just wait until the 10th.” Randy meets Lucas who apologizes for scaring her and explains that when he’s in costume it “takes over his personality”. He invites her to see the play which is a Sherlocke Holmes mystery. It turns out he lives on Fear Street and tells her don’t believe the hype. A lot of people says the cemetery is haunted. He has a friend that said he was riding his bike and a tall woman appeared before him. Only he couldn’t stop and rode ride through her.
Lucus tho says he’s never seen any ghost. On the way home, Randy takes a short cut through the woods and winds up passing through a cemetery where she says a stone statue of a old man laughing like a maniac. It looks like its staring right at her. Then she hears someone laughing and footsteps. When she turns around no one’s there. Randy gets out of there, makes it home, and decides it was her imagination or the sound of her own footsteps. In gym, Sara invites Randy to a sleepover Saturday night. Laura passes by and tells her she’d better get in shape or find somewhere to hide. When Randy ask Sara why Laura is so weird, she just says it’s a lot to explain and she’ll find out at the sleepover.
Randy asks if she’s in trouble and Sara says no more so than anyone else. The other girls at the slumber party are Megan, Anita, Karla, and her win sister, Kris. Pete comes up after they watch Dracula and agree that he’s scarier. They finally reveal that Pete was a boy that died on his 12th birthday in Fear Street Woods. Noone knows how he died. They just found his body all shrived up. He was given a funeral and buried but a year later he showed up and joined in some kids playing hide and seek. Every year he appears and appears and picks a kid to be under his control. When kids stopped coming to the woods he got angry and started to punish the kids instead. Now, every year on the tenth of June, they all celebrate Pete's birthday. They go into the Fear Street Woods and play hide-and-seek. Pete is IT. The first-person Pete tags is the loser. Pete takes over his body for the rest of the year. That kid has to watch while Pete does whatever he wants every single night. You see Pete doesn’t want to be a ghost. He wants to be a human and to do that he needs a fresh body. Megan tells Randy she’s in more danger than anyone because…. Pete likes new bodies. They try to then make it sound like “it’s just a story-game” and tell Randy she should play. Randy wonders if any of it is true or just made up and decides to investigate. At school, she notices some of the kids do look a little tired. She notices Lucas has rings around his eyes when he offers to eat with her because she’s new and thinks of what they told her at the slumber party (Pete likes new kids). Then he invites her to the hide-and-seek game.
But why would it matter? Unless… Lucus is Pete. Randy turns down the invite and says she has to help David and Sara with school work. Lucus and David don’t think much of one another. Lucas doesn’t make it a secret he thinks David’s a jerk. And David think Lucus is the worse part of the play. He practically *tells* her than she’ll eat with him tomorrow. Randy, Sara, and David decide to spy on Lucus. They follow him into the woods but lose him. Then they hear children and a boys voice counting. They’re playing hide and seek. So, David, Sara, and Randy take off running.
They all have a good laugh over it and decide that Pete probably doesn’t even exist anyway. Randy (the next day) sees Lucas waiting for her (again) by her locker but she walks off before he sees her and skips lunch. In gym its announced they’ll be square dancing. Noone is really into it but their teachers tell them they have to pick partners. Laura picks David. Then Randy is picked by… Lucas. When the thought of touching him hits her (because he’s dead), she tells the teacher she’s sick and the teacher excuses her to go to the nurse’s office.
Randy’s friends tell her square dancing wasn’t so bad. Nothing happened with the partner Lucas ended up dancing with. They tell her she has to get over the stuff about Pete. But what about the stories of the other kids? On the way home, it gets dark and Randy has to pass through the cemetery. She sees a flash of white and then Lucas digging in the ground and pulling up a purple worm. He then puts it in his mouth and swallows it. That night in bed, Randy hears voices again and then sees a boy dart out of the shadows. He came from the woods and disappears down the street.
Randy has to sit for her little sister Baby one night. All throughout the book she’s been asking everyone to call her Barbara but for some reason they refuse to do this and keep calling her Baby. She finally has enough and starts to scream her head off. Then she starts to scream in terror. When Randy looks out the window she starts to scream too. Pete is staring into the window. Then he disappears and there’s a rattle at the door. But it turns out it’s Mom and Dad. Randy tells them about Lucus but stops them from calling the police. They say next time this happens tell them.
The 10th of June arrives. Randy sees Lucas coming toward her as everyone gathers on Fear Street but she loses herself in the crowd. Mr. Sirk (the gym teacher) gives the intro to the game and the instructions. You have to run into the woods, hide, and stay there for at least half an hour. There’s a tree and if they can touch it (home base) on the way out they’re safe. Sara brings out the cake, the sing Happy Birthday, and then the game starts. Randy is in the woods and hears someone chasing her but when she turns around there’s no one. Randy decides to climb a tree but then it starts to shake. At first, she tells herself it’s just the wind but then she feels a presence and there’s a boy beside her. It’s David.
He says Pete won’t get her as long as she’s with her. Then Randy smells something rotten. The odor grows worse and worse. The smell is coming from David. David says he doesn’t smell anything. Then she sees a stain on his shirt and the stain keeps growing. She asks if he’s spilled something. He says in a way. Then his voice starts to change. He says Pete isn’t so bad. He doesn’t know why everyone tries to get away from him and demands to know why everyone’s so afraid. He gives the bodies back. Now his teeth are black and his breath reeks. Blood drips on Randy’s hand. He tells her not to worry it won’t hurt and she’ll never be lonely as a tooth falls out. Randy jumps out the tree and races for home base. Then she trips. Pete is about to tag her but then Lucas appears and teases him about choosing a girls to possess. Lucas beckons to chase him instead. Randy makes it to home base. Noone believes when Randy tells them David is Pete.
They’ve seen Lucas and he seemed okay (Sara, Kris, and Karla). They didn’t see him but just assume he touched home base. At school the next day, Sara tells Randy that dad “had to go to the hospital” (at least that’s what everyone’s saying when he doesn’t show up). Randy apologizes and confesses she thought he was Pete. He explains it all away with ease. That night he was out digging for worms for fish bait. He was passing Randy’s house at heard screams. He ran when her parents came ome. While he’s laughing his voice turns raspy and his face gets distorted. He starts to smell rotten. He says she got away from him. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Then he grabs her.
Randy makes a run for it but she has to go through the cemetery. While she’s running, a hand comes up from the grave and grabs her ankle. Thankfully it’s just vine. She runs right into a ghost girl that tells her home base is the other way but then so is Pete. She then hears the children’s voices. They surround Randy and tell her she’s IT. Pete is now leaning by a tree and they tell him he thinks he’s too good to play with them. He only wants humans. They get him to come out of Lucas’s body and pull him back into the grave marked “Peter Jones”. Lucas and Randy walks away and decide their never playing hide and seek again.
My Thoughts I decided to start this series because I saw that I had one of these books on my tablet #6 and I wondered should I start there or in order. For the last series, I just read them in no certain order. I read them in order of how much the title interested me. And there *are* some really good ones (titles) for this series. And even tho I think these are standalones, I started with the first one.
What I thought was interesting about this one was the concept of a hide and seek game turned sinister. Hide and seek, I usually don’t associate with middle school. More like grade school. Maybe even younger. I hadn’t even seen anyone play it a looong time. Until one day I heard the children in the house across the street. I looked out the window and one was counting. So they started off right. But then the other ones would hide and the one counting would find that one. Then they kept hiding in the SAME PLACE (behind a car). And of course, the one counting would find them every time. Now granted this was outside (in the open) and the car park (at their house) isn’t that bad, I watched them in disbelief thinking, that is *NOT* how you do that. I was thinking do kids really not know how to play hide and seek anymore.
So, I did like giving the game a darker edge with the addition of Pete. Pete was CREEPY! Now, not the “Pete” we got through David and Lucus. He was just *slightly* creepy. Although Pete (David) sitting in a tree with black teeth and blood coming out of him is a “colorful” image. It’s what Pete can make you do that’s disturbing. He can make your face rot, turn green, and make your teeth black. I shrudder just thinking of that. He can leave a putrid smell in your nose so you don’t wanna eat again. I’ve been there this with an illness (not wanting to eat) and I NEVER want to go through that again. It leaves you WEAK, NASUEATED, just slumped over all the time. Then the gagging constantly,
He can make you kill animals and eat them. Ok, so I know a lot of the meat we ate does come from killed animals but somehow I imagine Pete just kills them and eats them RAW straight from the kill. Then there’s just the thought of being possessed by an evil being that just is EXTREMELY DISTURBING! So, I give this one a C.
Rating: 6
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
It was highly aggravating that nobody listened to Barabra about her desire to be called by her birth name and not a nickname. Parents, do better. Siblings, do better. Nicknames can be sweet, cute, endearing...etc, but not if the person dislikes the name.
since I've read this book when i was young...not really a kid...but i bet kids will love it too..(actually it was the first book I've ever finished!)
this book contains the element of super natural...like ghost! a boy named Pete who have been dead many years ago on the tenth of June likes to play hide and seek...and in the day of his death all twelve-year-olds of Shadyside play a game of hide-and-seek with him...every year he wants a new body...and whoever he tags on the game have to gave him one...and take note! Pete wants new kids...which make it bad for randy clay who just transfered to Shadyside middle school...
this book had an unexpected twist at the end of the story...remember be careful who you trust..."ready or not here i come"
I haven't read this book in maybe 25 years? But I remember being so creeped out by it! A game of hide and seek where a ghost is It and takes your body over if he tags you?! That's a pretty awesome plot for a kid's horror story! I'm in my 30s now but this was a really fun and easy read. I was glad to revisit Pete's birthday party.
This is one of the Fear Street books that I've read over and over again as a child. Now my sister owns all of them and it took me less than an hour in total to complete it, they're still kinda creepy
Hermoso recuerdo de los primeros libros de terror de mi niñez. 100% recomendable para aquellos chicos que empiezan la lectura y se sumergen al mundo del terror.
Randy rennt, so schnell sie kann. Denn Pete ist hinter ihr her. Pete, der Geisterjunge, mit dem alle Kinder aus Shadyside einmal im Jahr Verstecken spielen müssen. Wenn er sie fängt, hat er ein Jahr lang die Kontrolle über ihren Körper. Aber Randy will auf keinen Fall schleimige Würmer essen. Und schon gar nicht auf dem Friedhof wohnen ...
Cover:
Das Cover dieses Buches gefällt mir sehr gut. Wir sehen, in typischer Aufmachung der Romane rund um die Fear Street die Silhouette von Beinen, welche wegzurennen scheinen sowie ein undefinierbares Wesen, welches hinter den Beinen hinterherrennt sowie den Umriss eines Friedhofs. Das verspricht gruselige Geschichten und wieder einen feinen Lesegenuss aus der Welt von R.L. Stine, so wie man es gewohnt ist.
Eigener Eindruck: Randy ist neu in Shadyside, der Stadt, in der sich ihre neue Straße befindet – die Fear Street. Viele Geschichten gibt es zu ihrem neuen Wohnort und viele davon sind unglaublich und gruselig. Als Randy in ihrer neuen Schule ankommt, glaubt sie an einen schlechten Scherz, denn Schüler als auch Lehrer bereiten eine Geburtstagsfeier für einen scheinbar toten Jungen vor und je mehr Randy rund um diese Geschichte forscht, umso unglaublicher scheint das alles. Doch schon bald muss Randy feststellen, dass die Geschichte wohl wahr ist, denn sie selbst bemerkt in ihrem Umfeld eigenartige Dinge. Gibt es wirklich diesen Geisterjungen mit dem alle Jugendlichen einmal im Jahr Geburtstag feiern und Fangen spielen? Und nimmt dieser Geist wirklich Besitz vom Körper des Verlierers? Randy ist sich sicher, dass die Geschichte stimmt und muss bald um ihr Leben und ihren Verstand fürchten…
In typischer Gruselmanier kommt dieser Roman aus der Welt des Autors R.L. Stine daher. Mit der Reihe der „Schattenwelt“ schafft der Autor eine Schnittstelle zwischen den „Gänsehaut“-Romanen und denen der „FearStreet“-Romane, bei denen es sich hauptsächlich um Jugendthriller handelt. Vor allem Kinder der 90er und 2000er werden die Bücher noch kennen und haben vielleicht auch die Filme beziehungsweise Serie zu den Büchern von Stine gesehen. In diesem Buch treffen wir auf die zwölfjährige Randy, die neu in die Stadt gezogen ist und die Gruselgeschichten rund um die Fear Street noch nicht kennt, jedoch schon bald fürchten lernt. Gemeinsam mit Randy erlebt der Leser, dass das Grauen rund um den Fluch durchaus real sein kann und dass man nicht allen Kindern in Shadyside vertrauen kann. Für Randy beginnt eine regelrechte Horrorzeit, die sie von einem zum nächsten Kapitel regelrecht hetzen. Dabei bleibt vor allem Autor Stine seinem Stil treu, bei dem man immer zum Ende eines Kapitels einen richtigen Schockmoment hat, den er dann im nächsten Kapitel erst einmal wieder auflöst, bis der Protagonist wortwörtlich in der Falle sitzt. Raffiniert gemacht, ohne Frage. Und für Freunde der Reihe ein Hochgenuss.
Fazit:
Kurzweilig und definitiv etwas für Freunde des Jugendbuchautors R.L. Stine. Er bleibt seinem Schema treu.
Randy is the new girl in town, her family recently having moved to Fear Street, the odd named street on which the local cemetery is located. The kids at her new school seem strange, and there's some big to-do with the upcoming birthday for some boy named Pete. When she finally makes some friends, Randy learns that Pete had died on his birthday many years ago, and now, every year on the anniversary, the new middle schoolers all play hide-and-seek in the cemetery on the anniversary. But it's not just any game, as anyone who gets tagged by Pete has their body taken over by him for a whole year. And Pete really likes the new kids. The first Fear Street book, ghostwritten by others though attributed to Stine, this one was written in his style but did have some distinct differences. While in later series Stine upped the horror, this one was a bit more graphic (as far as these kind of books go) and had a bit less silliness.
I never really got into Goosebumps books when I was a kid. I was pretty much afraid of everything so it was probably for the best. Now that I'm an adult and slightly less fearful, I give these books a quick read when I stumble across them to see what I missed out on.
Overall, I thought this was a good book. Really good story with a unique premise. There is definitely some great suspense building. As an adult, I found much of the plot fairly predictable, but I think children would enjoy it. While I liked how things wrapped up at the end, I found this book as a whole more sad than scary. The bullying was kind of hard to read.
Well-written, good story, but not necessarily all that scary despite the whole hide-and-seek-ghost plotline.
This book has held my psyche in a chokehold since I read it in middle school. Traumatized me like you wouldn't believe - my brother was listening to a Jonas Brothers song while I was reading it and it scared me so badly I couldn't even listen to that song anymore. Long story short, I decided to come back to it since I'm 27 years old and should not let a children's horror book scare me so much. Turns out, it is still a creepy book that would make any 10 year old extremely unsettled, but I think I can finally move on with my life. Find me blasting "Hold On" by the Jonas Brothers without crying!!!!!