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Goodnight Kiss #1
Goodnight Kiss [FEAR STREET COLL/E # GOODNIG] [Mass Market Paperback]
A KISS TO DIE FOR... Matt, his girlfriend April, and best friend Todd look forward to a summer of sun and fun at the beach. But as dark shadows flutter over the sand, they soon find themselves plunged into a horrifying world of endless night. 'What's happening to April and Todd?' Matt wonders. 'Why are they so pale, so weak, so...changed?' The twin puncture wounds on their throats give Matt a clue. The menacing bats hovering over the beach offer another. April has been lured away by the kisses of another boy - strange, intoxicating kisses that leave her weak, hungering for more. The kisses of a vampire! Can Matt rescue April in time? Only he realizes that her next goodnight kiss may be her last.
Paperback
First published June 1, 1992
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About the author
R.L. Stine
1,679 books18.6k followersRobert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
July 31, 2021
Mom didn't censor me from Fear Street books as a kid, but she did ban this one due to its sultry cover. In consequence, I've been eager to read it for years. At long last the day has finally come! Take that, Ma.
The restful beach babe with dripping vampire bites is, of course, far more alluring than the PG content within. Still, it's a vampire novel, so of course sexuality plays a role. The premise involves two attractive teen "eternal ones" who are running low on "nectar" and need a refill. They decide to make it a competition and each picks out a victim for the other to seduce and drain. Enter a group of unsuspecting Shadyside teens on vacation and you have yet another horror encounter for youthful Ohioans.
The "seduction" scenes are remarkably chaste and Stine really goes out of his way to assure no one could possibly be scandalized. The vampires themselves are little more than jokesters with a dab of unhealthy competitiveness. Certainly not creatures to evoke horror in any way. While these aesthetic choices are unexpected, and possibly undesired, there is a fair amount of vampiric world building, including an eerie island locale where only bats and vampires live, that offers enticing possibilities.
In the Fear Street universe, "Super Chiller" indicates a longer novel than other books in the series. Sometimes that equates to a more complex narrative or more extreme murders, but this is one of those times where it just means longer. Clocking in at 40,174 words to be exact, that's about 10,000 more words than average. Sadly those extra words are not put to good use. Several scenes fail to establish character, advance the plot or come back around in any meaningful way.
Nevertheless, despite these flaws and my personal disappointment that this "banned book" is more family friendly than Count Chocula, I still gobbled up every page in a few breathless sittings. Fear Street, even in its most mediocre form, always has the ingredients needed for a compelling story. The recent Netflix movies do a great job of bringing to light much of the lore and world-building that exist in the novels but are rarely explored with great depth. Goodnight Kiss will probably not make my Top 10 list, but it was compelling enough that I'm already jumping into the sequel.
The restful beach babe with dripping vampire bites is, of course, far more alluring than the PG content within. Still, it's a vampire novel, so of course sexuality plays a role. The premise involves two attractive teen "eternal ones" who are running low on "nectar" and need a refill. They decide to make it a competition and each picks out a victim for the other to seduce and drain. Enter a group of unsuspecting Shadyside teens on vacation and you have yet another horror encounter for youthful Ohioans.
The "seduction" scenes are remarkably chaste and Stine really goes out of his way to assure no one could possibly be scandalized. The vampires themselves are little more than jokesters with a dab of unhealthy competitiveness. Certainly not creatures to evoke horror in any way. While these aesthetic choices are unexpected, and possibly undesired, there is a fair amount of vampiric world building, including an eerie island locale where only bats and vampires live, that offers enticing possibilities.
In the Fear Street universe, "Super Chiller" indicates a longer novel than other books in the series. Sometimes that equates to a more complex narrative or more extreme murders, but this is one of those times where it just means longer. Clocking in at 40,174 words to be exact, that's about 10,000 more words than average. Sadly those extra words are not put to good use. Several scenes fail to establish character, advance the plot or come back around in any meaningful way.
Nevertheless, despite these flaws and my personal disappointment that this "banned book" is more family friendly than Count Chocula, I still gobbled up every page in a few breathless sittings. Fear Street, even in its most mediocre form, always has the ingredients needed for a compelling story. The recent Netflix movies do a great job of bringing to light much of the lore and world-building that exist in the novels but are rarely explored with great depth. Goodnight Kiss will probably not make my Top 10 list, but it was compelling enough that I'm already jumping into the sequel.
June 18, 2024
Verliebt in einen Vampir ?
In dem Buch Blutiger Kuss: Die Liebe deines Lebens ist der Tod (Fear Street 20) von R. L. Stine, geht es um April, welche mit ihrem Freund Matt den Sommer in Sandy Hollow verbringen möchte. Eigentlich ist auch alles gut, bis seltsame Sachen passieren. April lernt Gabri kennen und Matts Freund Todd lernt Jessica kennen. Matt verbringt nämlich viel zu wenig Zeit mit April, also lernt sie Gabri kennen und die zwei Unternehmen einiges miteinander, wie Strandspaziergänge oder auf den Jahrmarkt zu gehen. Aber als Matt meint, Gabri sei ein Vampir zu April, tut sie dies als Blödsinn ab. Hat Matt vielleicht doch recht ?
Meine Meinung:
Ich fand die Geschichte spannend geschrieben und flüssig zu lesen. Diese kurzen Geschichte von Fear Street finde ich immer noch super für zwischendurch. Alle Geschichten sind davon immer spannend, diesmal wieder mit etwas übernatürlichem, was es nicht gibt, wie Vampire. Kann passend zur Jahreszeit Sommer gelesen werden, weil es in den Sommerferien am Strand spielt.
Fazit:
Ein spannende Geschichte für den Sommerurlaub am Strand.
In dem Buch Blutiger Kuss: Die Liebe deines Lebens ist der Tod (Fear Street 20) von R. L. Stine, geht es um April, welche mit ihrem Freund Matt den Sommer in Sandy Hollow verbringen möchte. Eigentlich ist auch alles gut, bis seltsame Sachen passieren. April lernt Gabri kennen und Matts Freund Todd lernt Jessica kennen. Matt verbringt nämlich viel zu wenig Zeit mit April, also lernt sie Gabri kennen und die zwei Unternehmen einiges miteinander, wie Strandspaziergänge oder auf den Jahrmarkt zu gehen. Aber als Matt meint, Gabri sei ein Vampir zu April, tut sie dies als Blödsinn ab. Hat Matt vielleicht doch recht ?
Meine Meinung:
Ich fand die Geschichte spannend geschrieben und flüssig zu lesen. Diese kurzen Geschichte von Fear Street finde ich immer noch super für zwischendurch. Alle Geschichten sind davon immer spannend, diesmal wieder mit etwas übernatürlichem, was es nicht gibt, wie Vampire. Kann passend zur Jahreszeit Sommer gelesen werden, weil es in den Sommerferien am Strand spielt.
Fazit:
Ein spannende Geschichte für den Sommerurlaub am Strand.
July 28, 2019
Goodnight Kiss follows a group of teenage friends spending summer at the beach where they become the target of some local vampires.
This was a fun read and perfect for summer! I find Stine's writing to be hit or miss but this was definitely a hit. It's got teen romance, humour, pizza...and vampires :)
This was a fun read and perfect for summer! I find Stine's writing to be hit or miss but this was definitely a hit. It's got teen romance, humour, pizza...and vampires :)
May 15, 2009
I LOVED Fear Street books when I was in elementary school. He's basically Stephen King for fifth graders. Anyway, this one was always my favorite. Vampires at the beach, romance, the summer, oooohhhh! As a ten year old, I found it sooo scary.
Looking at all of these R.L. Stine novels brings back happy memories. I just felt compelled to write one review of his stuff for nostalgia's sake.
Looking at all of these R.L. Stine novels brings back happy memories. I just felt compelled to write one review of his stuff for nostalgia's sake.
March 24, 2021
RL Stine doesn’t like horror. He doesn’t understand horror. He isn’t interested in horror. What he does like, understand and feel interest in is skinny white teenage girls in bikinis. 2/5 because there was a just-about coherent story, which is good going for him. Granted it was 100% cliches, but it would be too much to expect him to have an original idea.
July 1, 2020
More than a little ridiculous, but the end is awesome and the cheesy dialogue is too perfect. "Sweet Nectar!" This is like all the worst parts of a B horror movie.
May 5, 2024
This book is split into two parts. The first part was awesome - the second part, not so much, as it delves into more cliched territory with a rushed and fumbled final act followed by a predictable twist ending. Still an enjoyable read though and is surprisingly unique and creative for a vampire story.
3.25⭐
3.25⭐
November 1, 2013
I don't like vampires or reading the words "the nectar" 100x.
May 2, 2022
I love RL Stine and this didn’t disappoint me. It had me not wanting to stop. Can’t wait to finish the second one.
March 18, 2016
Posted originally on my blog:
The Writer's Inkwell
If there is a book that makes you want to bang your head against the wall, it would be this one. Typically I hold these books to the standard of rating that I would expect from my younger self. But I would like to believe, that the vampire fan I was, I would not have been impressed by Jessica and Gabri’s constant whining about needing “the nectar.”
It’s one thing if only Gabri said it, as Jessica speculated he was at least a century old. But even after teasing him for using the term, Jessica obsessively uses it throughout the book. How does that make sense? Not only that, why wouldn’t there be another term for it? It can’t possibly be a simple case in which the author didn’t want to use the word blood. Because he does mention blood, but when it comes to the vampires, it’s always referred to as “the nectar.”
As for the story itself, it was okay-ish. I liked the idea of two vampires trying to compete with one another. But once again, Jessica’s words and behaviors make no sense. She intentionally stops Gabri from feeding from April and then blames him of cheating when he interferes in her prospect another night. From there on, Jessica’s main goal is to get revenge by beating Gabri.
I suppose this book just lacks any real finesse. Which is odd, as R.L. Stine typically does a really decent job when there is a paranormal element to the story. Perhaps this was just too cheesy in light of all of the young adult vampire-inspired books I have read over the year. Or perhaps it’s truly not one of the better super chillers from this series. Either way, I’m not a fan of this book and while I think I read it as a child, it clearly didn’t leave much of an impression back then, because I didn’t remember any of the story line.
The Writer's Inkwell
If there is a book that makes you want to bang your head against the wall, it would be this one. Typically I hold these books to the standard of rating that I would expect from my younger self. But I would like to believe, that the vampire fan I was, I would not have been impressed by Jessica and Gabri’s constant whining about needing “the nectar.”
It’s one thing if only Gabri said it, as Jessica speculated he was at least a century old. But even after teasing him for using the term, Jessica obsessively uses it throughout the book. How does that make sense? Not only that, why wouldn’t there be another term for it? It can’t possibly be a simple case in which the author didn’t want to use the word blood. Because he does mention blood, but when it comes to the vampires, it’s always referred to as “the nectar.”
As for the story itself, it was okay-ish. I liked the idea of two vampires trying to compete with one another. But once again, Jessica’s words and behaviors make no sense. She intentionally stops Gabri from feeding from April and then blames him of cheating when he interferes in her prospect another night. From there on, Jessica’s main goal is to get revenge by beating Gabri.
I suppose this book just lacks any real finesse. Which is odd, as R.L. Stine typically does a really decent job when there is a paranormal element to the story. Perhaps this was just too cheesy in light of all of the young adult vampire-inspired books I have read over the year. Or perhaps it’s truly not one of the better super chillers from this series. Either way, I’m not a fan of this book and while I think I read it as a child, it clearly didn’t leave much of an impression back then, because I didn’t remember any of the story line.
September 13, 2024
I definitely rated this higher because of my memories attached to this specific book. It was one of my favorites when I was young and holds a special place in my heart
August 19, 2022
Two bickering vampires (who spend half the book as bats) decide to wage a bet on who can turn a human first for the summer. Like a weird horror rom-com. Super fun with a beach/carnival setting.
October 15, 2020
Let me start with the things I didn’t like about the story first. One thing I didn’t like was when the vampires repeatedly called blood “nectar” when they were super thirsty and needed to bite someone. There were things I liked about the story that I found very interesting though too. There were parts of the story of Jessica making fun of Gabri’s and how he was too big of a chicken to find a girlfriend and how he was to lame. With all that happening he was taking offense to the jokes and was getting upset from all of it and was defending himself in the end. This made me have a giggle and I enjoyed reading all about it. On the other hand though Jessica started calling blood “nectar” too so I kinda lost interest in her for the remainder of the story. I like how Gabri was his plane old self in the whole story. He never changed the way he acted to fit in with anyone or any sort of way. I love that he didn’t care how people thought of him and was okay with that. I also liked the whole subplot of Matt having to wait for a whole day to get a roll of pictures developed from all the chaos that has been happening lately. The fact that it took him an awful nightmare to wake up and realize what was going on; he finally put the puzzle pieces together and had a great idea and had to spread the word toApril fast!
In the end, days after Matt saves April from Gabri, but then it turns out he was too late. In the final twist, April reveals to me in the story that she has been turned into an Eternal one and plans to drink his nectar. Or maybe April just wanted to get back a Matt for being a horrible boyfriend earlier in the book? I think this only because he was treating her like trash and was not keeping her happy like a boyfriend should. Since reading so much with vampires, I would’ve loved to have known more about them and how it is that they came to become Eternal Ones. As was mentioned earlier, this had a good, if sometimes confusing, plot. The vampires had very off-balance moods, almost to the point of being funny, and thirsty, ready to attack and bite someone’s neck off just for their blood. These vampires are relatively friendly; they’re not meant to be totally romantic and definitely do have moments when they’re actually kind of scary and would give me goosebumps somehow.
In the end, days after Matt saves April from Gabri, but then it turns out he was too late. In the final twist, April reveals to me in the story that she has been turned into an Eternal one and plans to drink his nectar. Or maybe April just wanted to get back a Matt for being a horrible boyfriend earlier in the book? I think this only because he was treating her like trash and was not keeping her happy like a boyfriend should. Since reading so much with vampires, I would’ve loved to have known more about them and how it is that they came to become Eternal Ones. As was mentioned earlier, this had a good, if sometimes confusing, plot. The vampires had very off-balance moods, almost to the point of being funny, and thirsty, ready to attack and bite someone’s neck off just for their blood. These vampires are relatively friendly; they’re not meant to be totally romantic and definitely do have moments when they’re actually kind of scary and would give me goosebumps somehow.
June 28, 2024
Giving this a high 3.
We’re definitely not in Shadyside anymore.
Super fun and goofy. Was not expecting so many BATS and vampires having dramatic arguments in BAT FORM. But if I hear another one of them talk about “the nectar,” I’m going to throw up.
The plot: two ~eternal ones (aka vamps) make a bet about who can seduce a human and turn them into a vampire first. This needs to be made into a teen movie because it’s got all the makings of a perfect teen romcom.
Things I loved—
- summery beachy island setting complete with carnival attractions
- A tense hall of mirrors scene with a VAMPIRE
- A few decent squeamish horror moments
- All the bats and vampire talk
We’re definitely not in Shadyside anymore.
Super fun and goofy. Was not expecting so many BATS and vampires having dramatic arguments in BAT FORM. But if I hear another one of them talk about “the nectar,” I’m going to throw up.
The plot: two ~eternal ones (aka vamps) make a bet about who can seduce a human and turn them into a vampire first. This needs to be made into a teen movie because it’s got all the makings of a perfect teen romcom.
Things I loved—
- summery beachy island setting complete with carnival attractions
- A tense hall of mirrors scene with a VAMPIRE
- A few decent squeamish horror moments
- All the bats and vampire talk
May 23, 2021
Stine does The Lost Boys...badly. It’s like he needed to reach a certain page count so he added dream sequences. Not a lot happens. The cover is very 90s and way better than the book.
Take a drink everytime someone says nectar.
Take a drink everytime someone says nectar.
December 3, 2025
Reading this for the first time, years after it was published. I enjoyed the change in the story. Vampires but with a twist, a bet between them. Who cab they turn first?
I throughly enjoyed that. The characters also weren't annoying which is good as well.
I throughly enjoyed that. The characters also weren't annoying which is good as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2020
One of my favorite Fear Street books.
December 1, 2020
I may be wrong, but it seems that this is Jovial Bob's' first foray into bloodsuckers. This would easily be best of its class at time of release.
Read
April 17, 2024Super snoozer.
September 8, 2017
Gabriel (Gabri) and Jessica are bored and desperately in need of "nectar," so they make a bet. The first one to bite their victim three times and make them an Eternal One wins. Jessica suggests they choose each other's victims. Gabri chooses Todd for Jessica. He's a shy guy, one Gabri assumes won't be easy to claim. Jessica chooses April for Gabri, the girlfriend of Matt, a guy who only wants to go see horror movies and be immature. Gabri will have to split up April and Matt in order to claim her, but he doesn't see this as a problem.
As Gabri and Jessica start charming their victims, they also try to sabotage one another at the time of biting. Jessica is coming out ahead, with only one more bite needed to claim Todd. She has him alone on the beach. But right as she goes to bite his neck, Gabri appears in bat form and startles her. She bites too deeply into Todd's neck, killing him and losing the bet. Matt is the one who finds Todd the next day, which leads to recurring nightmares. He starts to believe that Gabri is a vampire. Of course, he's missed all the signs so far. Gabri and Jessica won't eat at the pizza parlor. They recoil at the smell of garlic. They are nowhere to be found during the day. And Gabri's reflection doesn't appear in the House of Mirrors he is forced to enter with April. All the cliches are here, folks.
Jessica isn't ready to cut her losses. She wakes Gabri from his coffin one day to tell him that Matt will now be her victim, and that Gabri has made it easy by separating him from April. Matt is growing frantic to talk to April, especially when she becomes tired all day and won't come out to see him. When they finally meet up, he notices the pinpricks on her neck. He tries to warn her of danger, but April isn't having it. She gets angry with him. Matt decides he will need proof. So he ignores the siren call of Jessica and borrows his Dad's camera to photograph April and Gabri together. When they are finally developed, he has the proof that Gabri doesn't show up in photos.
Matt runs off to find April but is waylaid by Jessica instead. Her perfume is intoxicating to him. But out of the corner of his eye he notices Gabri and April in a rowboat heading for the bat island. He has to save April! He brushes off Jessica and climbs in a boat to follow them. When he gets there he enters an abandoned house. He finds April collapsed weakly in a chair. But then Gabri comes in to attack him. Matt is able to shove the oar right through him. Even though it's not made of silver, this somehow causes him to decay on the spot. He tries to rally April but then Jessica comes in. April finds strength and they get in a fight, with Matt watching helplessly on. He remembers the lighter in his pocket and uses it to set Jessica on fire. She immediately disintegrates too. April and Matt make it off the island.
A few days later they both talk about feeling so much better. Matt finds the silver cross necklace in the sand that April had received as a birthday present from her father. He picks it up to give it to her, but she tells him to leave it. And just as reality is sinking in, April bares her fangs and said no way was she going to let Jessica have all the nectar! Clever.
Victims: Todd, unless Gabri and Jessica count, but I don't think they do.
Rating: Three out of five bats!
Unanswered questions: Did Matt's Dad ever get his camera back? Because he told him it was expensive and that he needed to be careful with it.
As Gabri and Jessica start charming their victims, they also try to sabotage one another at the time of biting. Jessica is coming out ahead, with only one more bite needed to claim Todd. She has him alone on the beach. But right as she goes to bite his neck, Gabri appears in bat form and startles her. She bites too deeply into Todd's neck, killing him and losing the bet. Matt is the one who finds Todd the next day, which leads to recurring nightmares. He starts to believe that Gabri is a vampire. Of course, he's missed all the signs so far. Gabri and Jessica won't eat at the pizza parlor. They recoil at the smell of garlic. They are nowhere to be found during the day. And Gabri's reflection doesn't appear in the House of Mirrors he is forced to enter with April. All the cliches are here, folks.
Jessica isn't ready to cut her losses. She wakes Gabri from his coffin one day to tell him that Matt will now be her victim, and that Gabri has made it easy by separating him from April. Matt is growing frantic to talk to April, especially when she becomes tired all day and won't come out to see him. When they finally meet up, he notices the pinpricks on her neck. He tries to warn her of danger, but April isn't having it. She gets angry with him. Matt decides he will need proof. So he ignores the siren call of Jessica and borrows his Dad's camera to photograph April and Gabri together. When they are finally developed, he has the proof that Gabri doesn't show up in photos.
Matt runs off to find April but is waylaid by Jessica instead. Her perfume is intoxicating to him. But out of the corner of his eye he notices Gabri and April in a rowboat heading for the bat island. He has to save April! He brushes off Jessica and climbs in a boat to follow them. When he gets there he enters an abandoned house. He finds April collapsed weakly in a chair. But then Gabri comes in to attack him. Matt is able to shove the oar right through him. Even though it's not made of silver, this somehow causes him to decay on the spot. He tries to rally April but then Jessica comes in. April finds strength and they get in a fight, with Matt watching helplessly on. He remembers the lighter in his pocket and uses it to set Jessica on fire. She immediately disintegrates too. April and Matt make it off the island.
A few days later they both talk about feeling so much better. Matt finds the silver cross necklace in the sand that April had received as a birthday present from her father. He picks it up to give it to her, but she tells him to leave it. And just as reality is sinking in, April bares her fangs and said no way was she going to let Jessica have all the nectar! Clever.
Victims: Todd, unless Gabri and Jessica count, but I don't think they do.
Rating: Three out of five bats!
Unanswered questions: Did Matt's Dad ever get his camera back? Because he told him it was expensive and that he needed to be careful with it.
June 5, 2023
Still keeping my five star rating because it is still one of my favorite Fear Street books after all these years. I think it was probably one of my first forays into reading about vampires too...
How could you ignore this cover walking through the B. Dalton in the 1990s anyway? Neon orange on orange and a very scantily, bikini clad young woman on the cover? Take out the bat and it would still be a little too hot to handle!
Hidden from your parents indeed!
It's summer and the crowds are coming back into the beach town of Sandy Hollow. Teens taking a break from the horrors on Fear Street in Shadyside have no idea what they are in for but neither do the year-round residents...
Jessica thinks it could be the great start to the summer even though she is set up on a blind date with townie Gabriel "Gabri" Martins. Still he is darkly handsome and charming but she has a surprise waiting for her when they end up alone on the beach away from the crowds.
He's a vampire but...so is Jessica. What seemed to be cat and mouse, hunter and prey, turns into the two of them bickering with each other...obviously cranky from hunger.
Jessica warns Gabri to put his hunger in check before he scares off all the new blood coming in for the summer and they end up turning it into a game of sorts. Who can seduce and turn a victim into a vampire first? Which one can get those three little sips faster?
The stakes are also that Jessica picks Gabri's victim while he picks hers.
April Blair and her family are vacationing in Sandy Hollow among others including April's boyfriend, Matt Daniels, and his best friend, Todd.
April is blonde and cute, Matt is into video games and horror movies and broadly built while Todd is thin and shy with curly, red hair. The trio hang out, not minding Todd as a third wheel to the couple, but April's mother feels that Matt is too immature for her daughter despite being polite.
They are all only sixteen so yeah of course, Matt is immature but we see he does kind of take April for granted. Watching horror movies isn't bad but I could see her getting bored with hanging out in an arcade when there is a beautiful beach nearby.
The one night they happen to go to the beach and sit around a bonfire proves to be a mistake because high above, hidden in darkness, the bat forms of Jessica and Gabri hover to choose the unlucky teenage girl and boy they will pursue.
Gabri picks out poor Todd for Jessica and she sets him up with the challenge of getting April away from Matt.
Both vampires are over-confident that they will win before their rival and so we know that neither one will play fair. Todd, April and Matt are soon pulled into Jessica and Gabri's game and it's only a matter of time before the sun sets to plunge them into a world of eternal darkness...permanently.
The plot is just delicious and takes a turn into our second act to up the drama and when we get to the climax of the final act, you can sense the twist coming but it doesn't make the story any less enjoyable.
Also, there is a Goodnight Kiss 2 so you know that Fear Street fans must have wanted the vampire action brought back.
Snarky vampires, cliches galore and almost a Post Lost Boys/ Pre Cruel Intentions vibe going on...what more could you want for your summer reading?
If you have yet to read Goodnight Kiss, I highly recommend it.
How could you ignore this cover walking through the B. Dalton in the 1990s anyway? Neon orange on orange and a very scantily, bikini clad young woman on the cover? Take out the bat and it would still be a little too hot to handle!
Hidden from your parents indeed!
It's summer and the crowds are coming back into the beach town of Sandy Hollow. Teens taking a break from the horrors on Fear Street in Shadyside have no idea what they are in for but neither do the year-round residents...
Jessica thinks it could be the great start to the summer even though she is set up on a blind date with townie Gabriel "Gabri" Martins. Still he is darkly handsome and charming but she has a surprise waiting for her when they end up alone on the beach away from the crowds.
He's a vampire but...so is Jessica. What seemed to be cat and mouse, hunter and prey, turns into the two of them bickering with each other...obviously cranky from hunger.
Jessica warns Gabri to put his hunger in check before he scares off all the new blood coming in for the summer and they end up turning it into a game of sorts. Who can seduce and turn a victim into a vampire first? Which one can get those three little sips faster?
The stakes are also that Jessica picks Gabri's victim while he picks hers.
April Blair and her family are vacationing in Sandy Hollow among others including April's boyfriend, Matt Daniels, and his best friend, Todd.
April is blonde and cute, Matt is into video games and horror movies and broadly built while Todd is thin and shy with curly, red hair. The trio hang out, not minding Todd as a third wheel to the couple, but April's mother feels that Matt is too immature for her daughter despite being polite.
They are all only sixteen so yeah of course, Matt is immature but we see he does kind of take April for granted. Watching horror movies isn't bad but I could see her getting bored with hanging out in an arcade when there is a beautiful beach nearby.
The one night they happen to go to the beach and sit around a bonfire proves to be a mistake because high above, hidden in darkness, the bat forms of Jessica and Gabri hover to choose the unlucky teenage girl and boy they will pursue.
Gabri picks out poor Todd for Jessica and she sets him up with the challenge of getting April away from Matt.
Both vampires are over-confident that they will win before their rival and so we know that neither one will play fair. Todd, April and Matt are soon pulled into Jessica and Gabri's game and it's only a matter of time before the sun sets to plunge them into a world of eternal darkness...permanently.
The plot is just delicious and takes a turn into our second act to up the drama and when we get to the climax of the final act, you can sense the twist coming but it doesn't make the story any less enjoyable.
Also, there is a Goodnight Kiss 2 so you know that Fear Street fans must have wanted the vampire action brought back.
Snarky vampires, cliches galore and almost a Post Lost Boys/ Pre Cruel Intentions vibe going on...what more could you want for your summer reading?
If you have yet to read Goodnight Kiss, I highly recommend it.
June 18, 2018
Re-read. This book is so special to me. The first time I read it was in the seventh grade when I read almost all of the Fear Street books. But this one...this was my very first ever vampire book! I had never had much exposure to vamps before this book, and after reading it, I was addicted. This was around the time Twilight was first published so I inevitably made my way to that book and then stumbled over many, many others.
Re-reading it I found it was still a fun book but far from original. Stine chose to stick to the old school stereotypes for vampires including turning into a bat, aversion to crosses and garlic, and even sleeping in their native soil. They refer to blood as "the nectar" however and that was something to adjust too. The story takes place over summer vacation when Gabri and Jessica make a bet over who can turn one of the vacationers into a vamp first. It was a fun race against time as Matt (based off of Stine's son in an attempt to get him to read his dad's books...) tries to save his girlfriend April from becoming one of the undead. It does have a fun twist at the very end that is typical Stine.
Re-reading it I found it was still a fun book but far from original. Stine chose to stick to the old school stereotypes for vampires including turning into a bat, aversion to crosses and garlic, and even sleeping in their native soil. They refer to blood as "the nectar" however and that was something to adjust too. The story takes place over summer vacation when Gabri and Jessica make a bet over who can turn one of the vacationers into a vamp first. It was a fun race against time as Matt (based off of Stine's son in an attempt to get him to read his dad's books...) tries to save his girlfriend April from becoming one of the undead. It does have a fun twist at the very end that is typical Stine.
November 27, 2024
I recall enjoying both of the Goodnight Kiss books as a kid, but I can’t say that they hold up more than twenty years later. The most frustrating part was how it seemed to stuff in every known vampire trope, right down to the Gabri being afraid of the garlic April was putting on her pizza. That, and it was impossible to look past the fact that the vampires referred to “blood” as “nectar.” It made me think they should turn into hummingbirds instead of the traditional vampire bat. It all but killed any potential the book had for actually being scary. There were some elements I liked. The characters were well-defined, and I liked the plot of two vampires making a bet to see who could turn a teenager into an Eternal One first. I also liked how the cover made me feel like I was reading a trashy romance novel on the subway. In the end, the good parts were ultimately not enough to stop the sweet, sweet nectar from leaving a mediocre taste in my mouth.
Score: 2.5
Full review on my blog:
https://www.danstalter.com/fear-stree...
Score: 2.5
Full review on my blog:
https://www.danstalter.com/fear-stree...
December 6, 2022
Goodnight kiss was an amazing book to read over the summer. So far thought out this summer I have not read a book that I really like and goodnight kiss changed that. Goodnight kiss is a super chiller which means more scares and more depth to the characters. All of the characters were enjoyable like most fear street books. Based on the cover I was a bit worried going into it and you can tell why, but the book never let’s the romance aspect overshadow the fear and the chills. Goodnight kiss also made me like the seniors series more because it explained something’s about vampires that I didn’t know. Overall I would give this book a 5 star rating not my favorite fear street but definitely in the top 5
August 5, 2019
This was a very mixed book for me.It started off strong ,but the middle of the book was so boring and i found the vampire tropes super cheesy : not wanting garlic on his bread,not being seen in the mirror or in pictures and being scared of a cross.The vampires weremt scary and it focused itself more on romance then horror which was a bit dissapointing ,but despite all of that it was still a decent read that I would still recommend especially for a summer read
March 25, 2025
Vampire books are just not my thing. Which is weird because Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my all time favorite show. Idk this book is just average and pretty predictable. Two vampires make a bet they can turn a teen into a vampire first. It was just so drawn out and not very interesting. And yay there is a sequel.
December 12, 2010
The dialog was just terrible, and I can't believe any male would call himself 'Gabri'. -.-;
April 10, 2024
Pretty classic vampire story, but it was a really nice October read!
October 10, 2025
Bloody Summer Vacations!
This a prose novel which is part of the “Fear Street Super Chiller” book series.
WHO IS THAT POKEM…I MEAN… VAMPIRE?
I mentiioned in a previous review of another Fear Street book that it was unusual to have more than one narrator, here is kinda the same but not exactly, since in one side you a character April, that she’s clearly the protagonist, but there are chapters told from the point of view of the antagonists (which is highly unusual in R.L. Stine’s books), that it’s a pair of vampires, one male, one female, having a “dispute” for a bet…
Jessica & Gabri are two vampires but they’re not lovers or anything, even they try to feed from each other in a blind date, when they realize that they both are “Eternal Ones”, Gabri is quite hungry and he’s constantly mentioning that he needs “the nectar” (obviously referring to blood), however he proposes a bet to Jessica that both needs to try to convert a human (honestly I haven’t clear what they’d obtain if they win :P ).
I think that R.L. Stine was quite visionary creating this couple of vampires since they are pretty much like Jessie & James from Team Rocket from the Pokemon franchise, but you have to ponder about that the Team Rocket’s favorite couple was introduced in 1998 (both anime and video game), and this book at hand was published in 1992.
The similarities in personalities are astonishing, even taking in account that even Jessie is a short for Jessica, therefore all this is striking.
And honestly, I don’t if it’s because I am huge fan of Team Rocket or what, but I’d prefer to have Jessica and Gabri as protagonists than antagonists, they’re funnier and more entertaining than April and his boring bunch of cliché friends, Matt and Todd.
Other unusual thing in this book is that events aren’t in…
…FEAR STREET!!!…
…which is a real bummer, I mean, there isn’t even some brief scene happening there, everything is Sandy Hollow, but it’s mentioned that April and Matt are from Shadyside (so I guess that at least one of them must live in Fear Street).
And I have to mention that there is a lot of humor (I'm not complaining since the humor comes from the scenes of Jessica and Gabri) but it's kinda unusual having so much humor in a Fear Street book, but taking in account that there are several examples of using humor with vampire stories like the original Fright Night, the original film of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Vampire's Kiss, and even we can add the recent Renfield, so I guess that was what R.L. Stine wants to try in this particular entry.
THE NECTAR!... THE NECTAR!!
Soooo…
…Jessica and Gabri from Team Eternal placed the bet and they choose a prey for each other, Gabri chooses Todd (who is a big mistake for Gabri (but since he’s not the smartest guy in the neighborhood (just like James from Team Rocket) I guess it’s not such surprising) since this Todd is a shy guy who is clearly that when he’d meet Jessica, it’d a easy task to seduce him. Meanwhile, Jessica picks April, but since she is already having a boyfriend (Matt), Gabri complains that it’s not fair (so much for the usual overconfidence in sexual appealing of your usual male vampire).
I won’t get into further details or I will spoil the fun of reading this book (but I can tell you that it was one of the less good that I ever read from the pen of R.L. Stine). It wasn’t terrible at all, maybe as I already mentioned, I liked better the antagonists than the protagonists and her friends.
The body count is just one (but there is a cool twist in the final scene that it adds another one to the count).
There is a sequel that I’d be hesitant to read but since I am trying to cover all the remaining entries of Fear Street Super Chiller, I will read the sequel right away to see if that one is little better.
This a prose novel which is part of the “Fear Street Super Chiller” book series.
WHO IS THAT POKEM…I MEAN… VAMPIRE?
I mentiioned in a previous review of another Fear Street book that it was unusual to have more than one narrator, here is kinda the same but not exactly, since in one side you a character April, that she’s clearly the protagonist, but there are chapters told from the point of view of the antagonists (which is highly unusual in R.L. Stine’s books), that it’s a pair of vampires, one male, one female, having a “dispute” for a bet…
Jessica & Gabri are two vampires but they’re not lovers or anything, even they try to feed from each other in a blind date, when they realize that they both are “Eternal Ones”, Gabri is quite hungry and he’s constantly mentioning that he needs “the nectar” (obviously referring to blood), however he proposes a bet to Jessica that both needs to try to convert a human (honestly I haven’t clear what they’d obtain if they win :P ).
I think that R.L. Stine was quite visionary creating this couple of vampires since they are pretty much like Jessie & James from Team Rocket from the Pokemon franchise, but you have to ponder about that the Team Rocket’s favorite couple was introduced in 1998 (both anime and video game), and this book at hand was published in 1992.
The similarities in personalities are astonishing, even taking in account that even Jessie is a short for Jessica, therefore all this is striking.
And honestly, I don’t if it’s because I am huge fan of Team Rocket or what, but I’d prefer to have Jessica and Gabri as protagonists than antagonists, they’re funnier and more entertaining than April and his boring bunch of cliché friends, Matt and Todd.
Other unusual thing in this book is that events aren’t in…
…FEAR STREET!!!…
…which is a real bummer, I mean, there isn’t even some brief scene happening there, everything is Sandy Hollow, but it’s mentioned that April and Matt are from Shadyside (so I guess that at least one of them must live in Fear Street).
And I have to mention that there is a lot of humor (I'm not complaining since the humor comes from the scenes of Jessica and Gabri) but it's kinda unusual having so much humor in a Fear Street book, but taking in account that there are several examples of using humor with vampire stories like the original Fright Night, the original film of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Vampire's Kiss, and even we can add the recent Renfield, so I guess that was what R.L. Stine wants to try in this particular entry.
THE NECTAR!... THE NECTAR!!
Soooo…
…Jessica and Gabri from Team Eternal placed the bet and they choose a prey for each other, Gabri chooses Todd (who is a big mistake for Gabri (but since he’s not the smartest guy in the neighborhood (just like James from Team Rocket) I guess it’s not such surprising) since this Todd is a shy guy who is clearly that when he’d meet Jessica, it’d a easy task to seduce him. Meanwhile, Jessica picks April, but since she is already having a boyfriend (Matt), Gabri complains that it’s not fair (so much for the usual overconfidence in sexual appealing of your usual male vampire).
I won’t get into further details or I will spoil the fun of reading this book (but I can tell you that it was one of the less good that I ever read from the pen of R.L. Stine). It wasn’t terrible at all, maybe as I already mentioned, I liked better the antagonists than the protagonists and her friends.
The body count is just one (but there is a cool twist in the final scene that it adds another one to the count).
There is a sequel that I’d be hesitant to read but since I am trying to cover all the remaining entries of Fear Street Super Chiller, I will read the sequel right away to see if that one is little better.
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