Too Scared to Sleep

Sweet Valley Twins #97

by Francine Pascal

The Wakefield twins and their friends from Sweet Valley Middle School love babysitting the Riccolis—until little Juliana Riccoli starts having horrible nightmares. One night she wakes crying, saying a monster attacked her. The twins tell her that bad dreams aren't real, but Elizabeth is secretly afraid. If the monster isn't real, why does Juliana have deep scratches in her back?

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Horror, Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery

137 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.

Reviews

[Riley Ashby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books when I was younger. I read it over and over and it scared the shit out of me. Wonder what 29-year-old me thinks...

[kylajaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, let’s get Winston’s awful subplot out of the way first. I probably would have rated this book higher if not for that. The twins and friends start a babysitting service. The Karstens call one day and ask for Winston’s help with their baby twins. Winston agrees out of desperation. And why is he desperate? He owes Charlie Cashman money... to keep him from spilling the beans to the entire school that he (Winston) plays the accordion. Yep. That’s it. Winston thinks everyone will know he’s a nerd... but they already know that, buddy! So who cares?! The first night is rough but he gets paid... and is immediately blackmailed into giving it to Charlie the next day. The second time Winston babysits he destroys the Karsten’s microwave by putting metal inside. They fire him without pay. Winston owes Charlie the money the next day. But, thankfully, he’s good at stalling. So when Charlie comes over, Winston is waiting in the garage for him. As soon as he gets the chance, he locks Charlie inside. Only, what’s this? Yep, Charlie Cashman is afraid of the dark. At first Winston thinks he’s faking it but soon realizes that he isn’t. He lets Charlie out but then tells him that he’ll keep Charlie’s Fear a secret, but only if Charlie stops blackmailing him for money. Then he demands the first $15 back. He resumes polka lessons and all is well. The Karstens even call him back to babysit again, and he realizes he misses the twins.

Now, for the main plot, which has yet to get really scary. The Riccolis have moved into an old, supposedly haunted, mansion in Sweet Valley. Mrs. Riccoli has five children to look after as her husband hasn’t arrived yet. The twins see them moving in one day and decide to help her with babysitting after realizing how broke they are after a trip to Casey’s. So they begin watching after the kids, but Liz quickly becomes concerned about the youngest, Juliana, who has nightmares and claims a woman is coming for her in her sleep. Liz can’t seem to get her over it no matter what she does. Liz thinks she must be being ridiculous to get spooked, but then the gardener warns her and Jess not to fall asleep in the house or “she” might get them. After the gardener tracks her down in town one day, Liz becomes convinced he is the one scaring Juliana with his ridiculous stories about the house. Meanwhile, Jess has taken it upon herself to get her mom more interior decorating work. She thinks the living room of the Riccoli mansion is hideous and she volunteers her mom to fix the eyesore. But her mom doesn’t know what house they are going to until Jess leads her there one day. All of a sudden, Alice starts acting really shifty and saying that she cannot go in the house. She apologizes to Mrs. Riccoli and books it out of there. Liz find herself stuck in the situation with Juliana, so she suggests they sleep on the couch. Juliana agrees, but wakes up five minutes later screaming. Liz offers to give her a back rub... and notices the scratches all down her back. Juliana is telling the truth about her nightmares. The gardener also died a few days prior under mysterious circumstances. While Liz is with Juliana, Jess is upstairs trying to find Mr. Bear for Gretchen. She stumbles upon a crumbling wall that she breaks through. In it are toys and all sorts of things meant for a child’s playroom. Then Jess notices a bulletin board. On it are pictures of two blonde girls. She pulls one down and holds it up the candle. One of the girls is her mom!!! And on the back it says “Alice and Eva.” Well. This should be interesting.

Quotes:

“Jessica felt an unexpected pang of her least favorite emotion- guilt.”

Woo, even as a twelve-year-old.

Jessica’s thoughts: Of course, I’m not surprised. I knew one of them would idolize me eventually.

“Or else he didn’t like her at all. Which was creepy enough on its own.”

Good lord. So it’s a horror show if someone doesn’t like the twins.

“After all, Jessica and Elizabeth were twins, and they were a lot of fun.”

Todd: There’s no such thing as somebody getting you in your sleep.”

Freddy Krueger?

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never got a chance to read this 4-part miniseries as a kid, so I was so excited to finally get 3 of the 4 books from ILL. I don't have the second one which is a shame, but at least I can finally mark these books as "read!"

I loved Winston's side plot the most, actually. If some kid had blew up my microwave and then had the nerve to ask for his money, I would not have been nearly as nice as those parents!

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

So. Trashily. Awesome. The nightmares are real! What is this shit?!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading for the Sweet Valley book swap

First part of the Frightening Four arc I read when I was a kid. Good set up, but could have done without the Winston accordian side plot and babysitting shenanigans. Also, Winston gave babies Coca-Cola to drink and almost burned the house down because he didn't understand how to use a microwave.

Also, laughed out loud when the ghost was creeping on Jessica and just couldn't help but refer to how pretty she was 5x in one paragraph. Even ghosts can't resist the Wakefields' beauty!

[Dove Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely terrible. Somehow this book has over 30k words, but not even a teen scrap of plot.

Nothing happens until the final page, where everything promised in the summary all happens in a single paragraph.

Save your time, read the summary and move on.

[Kathryn]

Scared myself to death with this miniseries when I was in middle school, and frankly it was still a little creepy as an adult.

[Therese Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's nice

[Mariam]

The italicised cliffhanger scene at the end of this book where one of the twins finds the ghost girl in the attic used to flicker through my brain every time I was in a dark room for years.

[Amanda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent start to a mini series. This was build-up to things to come more than anything else. I’m definitely interested in checking out the rest of the series.

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good beginning to this four-part miniseries in this nostalgic series from the 90s.

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember the cover just not the story.