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Call Waiting
Someone wants to talk to Karen badly. Very badly. Someone who has something very special to say.
Someone is calling Karen to say they care. To tell her the plans they've made just for her. Someone wants to reach out. Touch her. Kill her.
Poor Karen. She's all alone this time.
And if Karen can't trace the killer caller...Karen's going to die.
Someone is calling Karen to say they care. To tell her the plans they've made just for her. Someone wants to reach out. Touch her. Kill her.
Poor Karen. She's all alone this time.
And if Karen can't trace the killer caller...Karen's going to die.
167 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
22 people are currently reading
1691 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,676 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 166 reviews
February 26, 2019
Como que R.L. Stine tiene algo con el nombre de Karen, porque muchas de sus protagonistas tienen ese nombre.
Esta historia la leí hace años, pero me gustó.
La chica era lista y la trama se me enmarañando hasta lograr ese efecto de presión que te hace mirar a todos lados, pensando que algo similar podría sucederte y eso es parte de la magia de esta serie.
Son libros e historias muy diferentes pero que comparten ese atributo de hacerte sentir como parte de ellas.
Casi como si conociera a la chica y lo que ha pasado.
Esta historia la leí hace años, pero me gustó.
La chica era lista y la trama se me enmarañando hasta lograr ese efecto de presión que te hace mirar a todos lados, pensando que algo similar podría sucederte y eso es parte de la magia de esta serie.
Son libros e historias muy diferentes pero que comparten ese atributo de hacerte sentir como parte de ellas.
Casi como si conociera a la chica y lo que ha pasado.
October 20, 2012
Great googly-moogly.
I just--
You know, if you have mental issues and you get help, I am here for you. Because if you were like this girl Karen, and you were jumping and screaming because there was snow in your boots, or because the phone rang, or your brother made fun of you eating Pop Tarts, that must be a really difficult way to live.
I would think that the assistance of your choice would make life bearable; take the edge off everything that was setting you off, especially if you were set off by everything. That would suck.
But in this book, Karen is not just living like that, she's living like that because she's determined to keep a boy, a goatlike boy with Alpine-chiseled ski features (tm Meriam Cadell) whose lines are basically:
"Are you okay?"
"All right."
Meanwhile Karen sees him talking into a payphone and loses her shit sideways. Like beyond normal rational or even high-schooler behavior. She thinks Goat Boy is cheating on her because he arrived home late (she was sitting outside in her car, watching, despite it being winter) so she CRASHES HER CAR.
She may or may not have pushed the girl she thinks Goat Boy is cheating on her with down a flight of stairs. She does the thing in the book, that you know what I mean, I'm just not spoilering you on it -- and then tries to pretend to Goat Boy it was a joke.
Karen needs help. She needs a better book. This book needs a better ending. I need a drink.
I just--
You know, if you have mental issues and you get help, I am here for you. Because if you were like this girl Karen, and you were jumping and screaming because there was snow in your boots, or because the phone rang, or your brother made fun of you eating Pop Tarts, that must be a really difficult way to live.
I would think that the assistance of your choice would make life bearable; take the edge off everything that was setting you off, especially if you were set off by everything. That would suck.
But in this book, Karen is not just living like that, she's living like that because she's determined to keep a boy, a goatlike boy with Alpine-chiseled ski features (tm Meriam Cadell) whose lines are basically:
"Are you okay?"
"All right."
Meanwhile Karen sees him talking into a payphone and loses her shit sideways. Like beyond normal rational or even high-schooler behavior. She thinks Goat Boy is cheating on her because he arrived home late (she was sitting outside in her car, watching, despite it being winter) so she CRASHES HER CAR.
She may or may not have pushed the girl she thinks Goat Boy is cheating on her with down a flight of stairs. She does the thing in the book, that you know what I mean, I'm just not spoilering you on it -- and then tries to pretend to Goat Boy it was a joke.
Karen needs help. She needs a better book. This book needs a better ending. I need a drink.
November 13, 2018
This was definitely one that I re-read multiple times.
Something moderately creepy but also fun.
Not that I remember any of it now, LOL
Something moderately creepy but also fun.
Not that I remember any of it now, LOL
February 11, 2018
Holy crap this book is terrible. Everyone has serious mental health problems, not a single one of them reacts to anything in a psychologically healthy way. Is the secret twist that they all have PTSD from some unmentioned trauma before the book started? It's the only possible explanation.
June 17, 2022
I love R.L. Stine. He reminds me of my childhood and teenage years. This book is so much fun to read. It’s very nostalgic for me, but still has a good plot.
Karen is an interesting main character with some crazy high teenage emotions that she doesn’t know how to handle.
A really easy and fun book. Nice plot with a good twist that I enjoyed.
Karen is an interesting main character with some crazy high teenage emotions that she doesn’t know how to handle.
A really easy and fun book. Nice plot with a good twist that I enjoyed.
February 17, 2020
One of the worst I’ve read by R.L. Stine. One-dimensional, over-the-top dramatic high school girls, rampant jealousy over a boring guy, pettiness, etc etc.
Stine’s biggest talent is his cliffhanger-y chapter endings, which he stayed true to. However, the ending to Call Waiting was anticlimactic and lacked that familiar spookiness. Meh.
Stine’s biggest talent is his cliffhanger-y chapter endings, which he stayed true to. However, the ending to Call Waiting was anticlimactic and lacked that familiar spookiness. Meh.
October 8, 2023
I really enjoyed this one, definitely on the lower scale when it comes to horror moments in this series. But the book was very well paced due to Stine's trademark chapter cliffhangers and some unusual story points made me want to keep reading. I was also a fan of the twist ending and thought he picked the right person.
Karen is worried about her boyfriend ethan, he's becoming distant and making up excuses not to see her. She then receives threatening phone calls claiming her life is danger. What is ethan up to? And what is his connection to the dangerous phone calls threatening Karen's life?
Karen is worried about her boyfriend ethan, he's becoming distant and making up excuses not to see her. She then receives threatening phone calls claiming her life is danger. What is ethan up to? And what is his connection to the dangerous phone calls threatening Karen's life?
May 7, 2024
Oh man this review is gonna be a mess. Usually for Stine Point stuff, I hold off until a blog review since there's only so many and most I know have things to mock. But thus was a special case. In a Discord server I'm on, someone had all of Stine's Points and dissed this one, especially the lead character.
Another person started on it and had been ragging on it. I got so curious. Is it that bad? Does it compete with Halloween Night at all?
I figured I would read it to weigh in and vet it. And Boy am I conflicted. Usually I'd save deep details for a full review. It will happen as there is plenty to say. But man it left with so many emotions that I just want to get it out now. Some spoilers will be saved for later.
This will be messy but it here goes. So thus really isn't as much of a thriller as you'd expect from these. Sure, it seems to be about weird phone calls and there are tons of scary fake outs. Too many. It may be one of the west in that regard, hardly any real horror happens.
It's more of a slice of life story about Karen Masters dealing with boyfriend stuff. Her parents are divorced, and she is already an emotionally intense person. She got lonely with her family being busy leaving her boyfriend Ethan as her only big companion as he is good and there for her. But lately she's suspected he's cheating on her with someone else.
She is very emotional vulnerable so her main source of help with that maybe not being trustworthy…yeah that messes with her. That is really what what this is about. There's hardly a plot and we focus a lot on this open emotion.
Karen becomes a fascinating character that is also frustrating. She can lash out at others and give off the appearance of just caring about herself at times. Yet at the core of you at least get why she is like this, with how emotional she can be.
She does something rather bad which should make me hate her. Yet as bad as it is, i get it. It ties into her troubles and her emotional reliance on Ethan.
For the first half or so, i didn't get the hate for her. She had her annoying moments for sure which gets to be too much but she didn't over step much and didn't fully do anything bad on that early stuff.
She later does but I get it. She may somehow secretly be one of Stine's most complex characters. That is a result of wonky writing that can be so on and off. The book flip between engaging emotional stuff and some annoying bits of plotting.
The 3rd act gets more generic, down to the twist and part of the motive. Yet it kind of stumbles into themes of mental health and the stigma around it. Seriously. Doubt a lot of what I am reading into it is intentional but it is there, I swear.
Most of that is a spoiler but you can think of what her true problem is, how she fixes it and what the villains plan really is. It's all there, no matter what Stine likely thought. I was fully expecting the usual mental health related twist we get due to the not so great understanding we had at the time.
And we don't quite get that and get something that is a bit more positive with that stuff. Sort of. This one honestly put me through the ringer, honestly.
Don't wanna get too open but I'm pretty emotional myself and don't always get be too open and can have my moments of appearing a bit worse than I intended. I weirdly connected with at least some parts if it in a scary way.
Some of the hate with Karen looks a bit sus given all this lol. So overall, it”# one of Stine's weirdest. Good emotional aspects but a weak plot that can be frustrating. Abrupt ending too which robs of it of a truly good emotional wrap up that we needed.
I guess I call it Average. It has a lot of Stine's themes on full display and is far from his worst. It's no Silent Night 3 and Halloween Night and Brenda would hate Karen lol.
It's okay? Some bad parts but too emotionally open to be bad….So yeah, sorry about that. More details coming eventually.
Sidenote, add Micah to the list of names Stine hates, geez.
Whew. Next should be normal. It's a backburner item that should be interesting.
See ya then.
Another person started on it and had been ragging on it. I got so curious. Is it that bad? Does it compete with Halloween Night at all?
I figured I would read it to weigh in and vet it. And Boy am I conflicted. Usually I'd save deep details for a full review. It will happen as there is plenty to say. But man it left with so many emotions that I just want to get it out now. Some spoilers will be saved for later.
This will be messy but it here goes. So thus really isn't as much of a thriller as you'd expect from these. Sure, it seems to be about weird phone calls and there are tons of scary fake outs. Too many. It may be one of the west in that regard, hardly any real horror happens.
It's more of a slice of life story about Karen Masters dealing with boyfriend stuff. Her parents are divorced, and she is already an emotionally intense person. She got lonely with her family being busy leaving her boyfriend Ethan as her only big companion as he is good and there for her. But lately she's suspected he's cheating on her with someone else.
She is very emotional vulnerable so her main source of help with that maybe not being trustworthy…yeah that messes with her. That is really what what this is about. There's hardly a plot and we focus a lot on this open emotion.
Karen becomes a fascinating character that is also frustrating. She can lash out at others and give off the appearance of just caring about herself at times. Yet at the core of you at least get why she is like this, with how emotional she can be.
She does something rather bad which should make me hate her. Yet as bad as it is, i get it. It ties into her troubles and her emotional reliance on Ethan.
For the first half or so, i didn't get the hate for her. She had her annoying moments for sure which gets to be too much but she didn't over step much and didn't fully do anything bad on that early stuff.
She later does but I get it. She may somehow secretly be one of Stine's most complex characters. That is a result of wonky writing that can be so on and off. The book flip between engaging emotional stuff and some annoying bits of plotting.
The 3rd act gets more generic, down to the twist and part of the motive. Yet it kind of stumbles into themes of mental health and the stigma around it. Seriously. Doubt a lot of what I am reading into it is intentional but it is there, I swear.
Most of that is a spoiler but you can think of what her true problem is, how she fixes it and what the villains plan really is. It's all there, no matter what Stine likely thought. I was fully expecting the usual mental health related twist we get due to the not so great understanding we had at the time.
And we don't quite get that and get something that is a bit more positive with that stuff. Sort of. This one honestly put me through the ringer, honestly.
Don't wanna get too open but I'm pretty emotional myself and don't always get be too open and can have my moments of appearing a bit worse than I intended. I weirdly connected with at least some parts if it in a scary way.
Some of the hate with Karen looks a bit sus given all this lol. So overall, it”# one of Stine's weirdest. Good emotional aspects but a weak plot that can be frustrating. Abrupt ending too which robs of it of a truly good emotional wrap up that we needed.
I guess I call it Average. It has a lot of Stine's themes on full display and is far from his worst. It's no Silent Night 3 and Halloween Night and Brenda would hate Karen lol.
It's okay? Some bad parts but too emotionally open to be bad….So yeah, sorry about that. More details coming eventually.
Sidenote, add Micah to the list of names Stine hates, geez.
Whew. Next should be normal. It's a backburner item that should be interesting.
See ya then.
October 3, 2016
Okay. This book was almost complete trash. I haven't read a Fear Street title since I was a kid, and I don't know why in the world I enjoyed these books.
Basically Karen is getting "mysterious phone calls" where someone is threatening to kill her and needs her boyfriend , Ethan, to be at her side at all times to "protect" her.
Karen is a complete psycho. She has anger issues, mumbles to herself constantly, is super clingy.at one point she says (repeatedly) that she's going to kill a girl because she thinks Ethan might be cheating on her.
That same girl falls down a flight of stairs during an argument she was having with Karen. I'm not saying Karen pushed her, BUT KAREN DEFINITELY PUSHED HER.
and that ending. Oh my god, thank god this was on,y 150 pages because that was awful.
I'm giving it two stars instead of one because Ethan worked at the Sizzler, and the constant discussion of Sizzler made me laugh & feel nostalgic.
Basically Karen is getting "mysterious phone calls" where someone is threatening to kill her and needs her boyfriend , Ethan, to be at her side at all times to "protect" her.
Karen is a complete psycho. She has anger issues, mumbles to herself constantly, is super clingy.at one point she says (repeatedly) that she's going to kill a girl because she thinks Ethan might be cheating on her.
That same girl falls down a flight of stairs during an argument she was having with Karen. I'm not saying Karen pushed her, BUT KAREN DEFINITELY PUSHED HER.
and that ending. Oh my god, thank god this was on,y 150 pages because that was awful.
I'm giving it two stars instead of one because Ethan worked at the Sizzler, and the constant discussion of Sizzler made me laugh & feel nostalgic.
November 11, 2018
Karen is convinced that her boyfriend Ethan is no longer interest in her and that he’s more interested in the most popular girl at school called Wendy.
The suspicion is driving her nuts, then the threatening phone calls begin...
This was such a disappointment even by Point Horror standards.
The suspicion is driving her nuts, then the threatening phone calls begin...
This was such a disappointment even by Point Horror standards.
June 5, 2025
It’s a book about teenage girls and i did predict the first half of it, The main character was annoying
The pace of the book is somewhat average, but I did not feel bored by it, However, on the other hand I did not find it intriguing or thrilling.
I was expecting better, especially since I initially expected a Scream movie atmosphere because of the phone calls, but unfortunately this was not there, the book is not bad but also not as I expected.
*****************************************************************************
Verdict
(6/10)
The pace of the book is somewhat average, but I did not feel bored by it, However, on the other hand I did not find it intriguing or thrilling.
I was expecting better, especially since I initially expected a Scream movie atmosphere because of the phone calls, but unfortunately this was not there, the book is not bad but also not as I expected.
*****************************************************************************
Verdict
(6/10)
April 2, 2024
This was fun in a nostalgic way. Nothing mind blowing or particularly creepy. I knew exactly what was going on in the first half. Didn’t guess the second half but by then it was so silly it was like, who cares.
It’s a book about teenage girls written by a middle aged man and it shows.
No shade, because I love RL Stine but this wasn’t exactly one of his best.
It’s a book about teenage girls written by a middle aged man and it shows.
No shade, because I love RL Stine but this wasn’t exactly one of his best.
March 29, 2020
A totally fun 90's teen flashback.
April 13, 2023
Changed from a five star rating to a three star rating upon re-read.
It was mostly nostalgia but I do still like it...it's just not amazing. It's not bad but it's not 'really liked it" material either.
It has Stine's style written all over it. Sometimes that isn't really a good thing actually...
Karen Masters has to be the most paranoid teenage girl ever (and I know a thing or two about that) but it pushes her more to the unstable, bitchy part of the spectrum instead of being all jumpy and scared to death.
Sort of ironic as the book continues...
She hauls her best friend Micah James along to sit out in the freezing cold even in her car but without it running to keep an eye on her boyfriend Ethan Parker. Karen believes that Ethan lied to her about having to work at The Sizzler so he could sneak around with Wendy Talbot, a flirty redhead, she saw him talking to at school.
Micah thinks Karen is crazy and when Ethan gets home before his shift is supposed to be over, she thinks that is proof he lied. The girls drive off and Karen almost gets them hurt in a car accident on the slippery roads but the other driver involved believes he was speeding (he might have but Karen was a bit crazed...)
Ethan comes over on Sunday and says he wants to talk about something while Karen is on the phone with Micah. Ethan isn't alone, his best friend Jake is with him. Jake either isn't very bright or he deliberately tries to give Ethan back his wallet that he left over at Jake's house...last night.
Ethan tries to convince Karen it was before he went to work and then the boys leave and Karen is no longer soothed by thinking she was overreacting so she...overacts some more.
Things get so out of hand that Micah tells Karen's mom about how her daughter has been handling all this stuff about Ethan without directly telling her but still as a concerned friend. Karen jumps down her throat and refuses to talk to Micah anymore.
The blurb on the back makes it feel like this is going to be a stalker, horror kind of book but it couldn't be far from the truth. We all know that when a guy says "We have to talk" it is not good so Ethan wants to still be friends with Karen but see other people.
Soon after Karen starts getting calls from someone saying they want to kill her and she has Ethan come over to be her protector soon afterwards. Ethan is dumb not to put that together right away and Karen is just such a teen drama queen mess.
We can still be convinced that someone might actually be threatening Karen because the suspect pool is just ripe anyway. Her cousin Adam has moved back into town and he's always been weird like horror stuff and the grisly bits of history. Her older brother Chris plays practical jokes on her all the time because Karen is such an easy target, Jake obviously doesn't like Karen hogging his best friend all the time.
Now when the threatening phone calls start for real, Karen gets a little slap on the wrist as long as she agrees to go and see a shrink. Ethan still goes out with her which is a mystery because in real life you lie to a guy like that about anything he would be out the door.
Again Ethan is either not very bright or he might just *gasp!* actually be a nice guy? As whiny and horrible as she can be, Karen needs at least someone as an anchor. Too bad in an unhealthy way it has to be Ethan...
Karen isn't dumb, slightly naive perhaps and unbalanced, since she soon figures out who it is actually calling her. I won't spoil as much as I possibly can but the antagonist...isn't very bright either.
They give themselves away, their reasoning is no better than anything Karen was also guilty of, there is a big scuffle between Karen and the other person but it goes nowhere.
Really.
Ethan shows up because he heard the whole thing over the phone and rushed over. Subdues the antagonist enough to get Karen out of there and we are just going to not even get an explanation or some sort of comeuppance for all the bad stuff that happened? Threatening phone calls and almost beating someone to death with a fire poker and...not even the police leading the antagonist away?
Oh well we get a little quip...shouldn't we deserve more?
Stine has written better than Call Waiting and stuff just as meh but it is still an enjoyable read.
Mostly for the fact at marveling how dumb everyone acts...
Nothing gruesome, nothing gory but so much teen drama you could eat up with a spoon and if that is your thing...Call Waiting is for you.
It was mostly nostalgia but I do still like it...it's just not amazing. It's not bad but it's not 'really liked it" material either.
It has Stine's style written all over it. Sometimes that isn't really a good thing actually...
Karen Masters has to be the most paranoid teenage girl ever (and I know a thing or two about that) but it pushes her more to the unstable, bitchy part of the spectrum instead of being all jumpy and scared to death.
Sort of ironic as the book continues...
She hauls her best friend Micah James along to sit out in the freezing cold even in her car but without it running to keep an eye on her boyfriend Ethan Parker. Karen believes that Ethan lied to her about having to work at The Sizzler so he could sneak around with Wendy Talbot, a flirty redhead, she saw him talking to at school.
Micah thinks Karen is crazy and when Ethan gets home before his shift is supposed to be over, she thinks that is proof he lied. The girls drive off and Karen almost gets them hurt in a car accident on the slippery roads but the other driver involved believes he was speeding (he might have but Karen was a bit crazed...)
Ethan comes over on Sunday and says he wants to talk about something while Karen is on the phone with Micah. Ethan isn't alone, his best friend Jake is with him. Jake either isn't very bright or he deliberately tries to give Ethan back his wallet that he left over at Jake's house...last night.
Ethan tries to convince Karen it was before he went to work and then the boys leave and Karen is no longer soothed by thinking she was overreacting so she...overacts some more.
Things get so out of hand that Micah tells Karen's mom about how her daughter has been handling all this stuff about Ethan without directly telling her but still as a concerned friend. Karen jumps down her throat and refuses to talk to Micah anymore.
The blurb on the back makes it feel like this is going to be a stalker, horror kind of book but it couldn't be far from the truth. We all know that when a guy says "We have to talk" it is not good so Ethan wants to still be friends with Karen but see other people.
Soon after Karen starts getting calls from someone saying they want to kill her and she has Ethan come over to be her protector soon afterwards. Ethan is dumb not to put that together right away and Karen is just such a teen drama queen mess.
We can still be convinced that someone might actually be threatening Karen because the suspect pool is just ripe anyway. Her cousin Adam has moved back into town and he's always been weird like horror stuff and the grisly bits of history. Her older brother Chris plays practical jokes on her all the time because Karen is such an easy target, Jake obviously doesn't like Karen hogging his best friend all the time.
Now when the threatening phone calls start for real, Karen gets a little slap on the wrist as long as she agrees to go and see a shrink. Ethan still goes out with her which is a mystery because in real life you lie to a guy like that about anything he would be out the door.
Again Ethan is either not very bright or he might just *gasp!* actually be a nice guy? As whiny and horrible as she can be, Karen needs at least someone as an anchor. Too bad in an unhealthy way it has to be Ethan...
Karen isn't dumb, slightly naive perhaps and unbalanced, since she soon figures out who it is actually calling her. I won't spoil as much as I possibly can but the antagonist...isn't very bright either.
They give themselves away, their reasoning is no better than anything Karen was also guilty of, there is a big scuffle between Karen and the other person but it goes nowhere.
Really.
Ethan shows up because he heard the whole thing over the phone and rushed over. Subdues the antagonist enough to get Karen out of there and we are just going to not even get an explanation or some sort of comeuppance for all the bad stuff that happened? Threatening phone calls and almost beating someone to death with a fire poker and...not even the police leading the antagonist away?
Oh well we get a little quip...shouldn't we deserve more?
Stine has written better than Call Waiting and stuff just as meh but it is still an enjoyable read.
Mostly for the fact at marveling how dumb everyone acts...
Nothing gruesome, nothing gory but so much teen drama you could eat up with a spoon and if that is your thing...Call Waiting is for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2016
I recently found a pile of old R.L. Stine books at my mom's place. Not the Goosebumps stuff, but some of his YA books for high schoolers. I decided to read them partly out of curiosity, and partly because I needed something low-stress during a busy couple of months, and found myself enjoying them more than I expected. From this handful of books, I can see why Stine was such a big deal. The writing is short and sharp. Lots of short sentences, lots of short paragraphs. Nothing fancy, but propulsive.
This was a weird book to start on, though, In spite of its When a Stranger Calls-ish premise, there's actually very little peril in this book, and the back cover plot doesn't really get going until the last third. Also, every chapter ends with a silly cliffhanger that's intended to make you catch your breath, but always gets explained away as a joke or misunderstanding in the first sentence of the next chapter. The book equivalent of a cat scare in a movie.
This was a weird book to start on, though, In spite of its When a Stranger Calls-ish premise, there's actually very little peril in this book, and the back cover plot doesn't really get going until the last third. Also, every chapter ends with a silly cliffhanger that's intended to make you catch your breath, but always gets explained away as a joke or misunderstanding in the first sentence of the next chapter. The book equivalent of a cat scare in a movie.
Want to read
January 24, 2009I like to email my friends whole chapters. We had a Fear Street reading group in college (and by that I mean - everyone jump on my bed while Danielle leaves on the desk light and narrates while Bobby screams at every scene because he is drunkitydrunk and I secretly revel in the fact that I brought Fear Street back from my past) and I can't seem to let that Fear Street book club go. Viva R.L. Stine. If you want me to forward you the emails, just let me know. I use fancy red and black font.
April 29, 2018
It's not as "scary" as his books usually are and I hated the characters...all of them...but it still surprised me in the end, just when I thought I knew what the ending would be. It's a fast, easy read but it still keeps up the suspense. R.L. Stine is a master. I think I'll be keeping my tradition of reading a book of his each spring forever.
February 12, 2019
Totally ridiculous!
April 26, 2020
Leer a R.L. Stine siempre será un deleite para mi. Tiene las historias más entretenidas y palomeras de la vida.
Este es tu típico thriller/misterio ochentero. Hay mucho drama adolescente, del que luego es innecesario pero a mi me entretiene mucho, especialmente cuando se que para eso es. la historia es sencilla aunque, comparada con otros libros que he leido del autor, algo x, muy tame para ser un misterio. Todo se resuelve super sencillo y nunca hubo un super conflicto, como que todo fue demasiado... leve.
El final no me encanto porque no pasa nada. Literal. Como mencione, la historia es super sencilla y siento que ese final, aunque le queda, no hizo mucho.
Seguiré leyendo a este autor por siempre porque el sabe como entretenerme.
Este es tu típico thriller/misterio ochentero. Hay mucho drama adolescente, del que luego es innecesario pero a mi me entretiene mucho, especialmente cuando se que para eso es. la historia es sencilla aunque, comparada con otros libros que he leido del autor, algo x, muy tame para ser un misterio. Todo se resuelve super sencillo y nunca hubo un super conflicto, como que todo fue demasiado... leve.
El final no me encanto porque no pasa nada. Literal. Como mencione, la historia es super sencilla y siento que ese final, aunque le queda, no hizo mucho.
Seguiré leyendo a este autor por siempre porque el sabe como entretenerme.
January 7, 2024
Reliving my youth by revisiting these point horror books. I was not impressed with this one unfortunately, but I have to remember it's not aimed at my age grp. Little plot twist near the end which made it a little better.
August 19, 2021
Ugh. Not good, though I remember thinking that this was a weaker one when I read it in sixth grade, too. Literally every character is obnoxious, especially the protagonist, Karen.
August 11, 2022
i didn’t like the ending at all but it did keep me interested
March 26, 2025
It's been over a year since I read an R.L. Stine penned Point Horror book (
Halloween Night II
back in November 2023) and I've always found his Point Horror to be really hit and miss. Stine has been responsible for my favourite Point Horror book I've read so far -
The Girlfriend
- and also my least favourite Point Horror book I've read so far -
Beach Party
. However, I will note that he's delivered more books that I've found underwhelming -
The Baby-Sitter
,
The Boyfriend
,
Hit and Run
,
The Dead Girlfriend
, and
The Baby-Sitter III
for example - as opposed to books I've found better than average - only
The Baby-Sitter II
and
The Hitchhiker
thus far. So, I always approach a Stine Point Horror book with some trepidation, and Call Waiting demonstrates exactly why this is the right approach for me.
There is an idea within Call Waiting that has the potential to be very intriguing. For most of the book a lot of the horror and suspense happens off-page, meaning we're left with the decision of how much do we trust protagonist Karen's account of events. Whilst this idea certainly has potential, we unfortunately have Stine writing what, at times, feels like a parody of teenage girl angst. Much like The Boyfriend , we are presented here with a leading character who is very hard to get behind. Karen isn't quite as deliberately unlikeable as The Boyfriend 's Joanna, but Stine doesn't really do her many favours.
However, the entire intriguing concept of how much do we trust our protagonist is completely undermined during the last third of the book. The resulting reveal isn't particularly effective, and the motivations are somewhat lacking. The book ultimately ends up reading like a warning about the perils of dating emotionally volatile teenage girls. There aren't even any particularly interesting or likeable supporting characters to redeem this. I can appreciate what it feels like Stine initially set out to do, but Call Waiting feels like it lacks conviction to see this concept through to the end, and disappointingly tacks on some fairly standard Point Horror tropes during the last third. To give Stine some credit, he's at least trying to provide some fresh ideas with his Point Horror output, it's just unfortunate that they're not pulled off more successfully.
2/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) The Forbidden Game 1: The Hunter - 4/5
3) The Forbidden Game 3: The Kill - 4/5
4) Thirteen More Tales of Horror - 4/5
5) The Dead Game - 4/5
6) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
7) Camp Fear - 3.5/5
8) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
9) Dream Date - 3.5/5
10) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
11) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
12) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
13) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
14) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
15) Nightmare Hall - The Scream Team - 3.5/5
16) April Fools - 3.5/5
17) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
18) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
19) Freeze Tag - 3/5
20) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
21) The Accident - 3/5
22) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
23) Funhouse - 3/5
24) Nightmare Hall - Sorority Sister - 3/5
25) Nightmare Hall - The Nightwalker - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
27) The Stranger - 3/5
28) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
29) The Window - 3/5
30) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
31) Nightmare Hall - The Whisperer - 3/5
32) The Invitation - 2.5/5
33) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
34) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
35) Nightmare Hall - Last Date - 2.5/5
36) The Perfume - 2.5/5
37) The Train - 2.5/5
38) The Waitress - 2.5/5
39) The Snowman - 2.5/5
40) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
41) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
42) The Forbidden Game 2: The Chase - 2.5/5
43) Halloween Night II - 2.5/5
44) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
45) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
46) Nightmare Hall - Monster - 2.5/5
47) Beach House - 2.5/5
48) The Mall - 2.5/5
49) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
50) The Boyfriend - 2/5
51) Call Waiting - 2/5
52) The Fever - 2/5
53) The Cemetery - 2/5
54) The Diary - 2/5
55) Mother's Helper - 2/5
56) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
57) The Phantom - 2/5
58) The Watcher - 2/5
59) The Witness - 2/5
60) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
61) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
62) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
63) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
64) Beach Party - 1/5
There is an idea within Call Waiting that has the potential to be very intriguing. For most of the book a lot of the horror and suspense happens off-page, meaning we're left with the decision of how much do we trust protagonist Karen's account of events. Whilst this idea certainly has potential, we unfortunately have Stine writing what, at times, feels like a parody of teenage girl angst. Much like The Boyfriend , we are presented here with a leading character who is very hard to get behind. Karen isn't quite as deliberately unlikeable as The Boyfriend 's Joanna, but Stine doesn't really do her many favours.
However, the entire intriguing concept of how much do we trust our protagonist is completely undermined during the last third of the book. The resulting reveal isn't particularly effective, and the motivations are somewhat lacking. The book ultimately ends up reading like a warning about the perils of dating emotionally volatile teenage girls. There aren't even any particularly interesting or likeable supporting characters to redeem this. I can appreciate what it feels like Stine initially set out to do, but Call Waiting feels like it lacks conviction to see this concept through to the end, and disappointingly tacks on some fairly standard Point Horror tropes during the last third. To give Stine some credit, he's at least trying to provide some fresh ideas with his Point Horror output, it's just unfortunate that they're not pulled off more successfully.
2/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) The Forbidden Game 1: The Hunter - 4/5
3) The Forbidden Game 3: The Kill - 4/5
4) Thirteen More Tales of Horror - 4/5
5) The Dead Game - 4/5
6) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
7) Camp Fear - 3.5/5
8) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
9) Dream Date - 3.5/5
10) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
11) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
12) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
13) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
14) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
15) Nightmare Hall - The Scream Team - 3.5/5
16) April Fools - 3.5/5
17) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
18) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
19) Freeze Tag - 3/5
20) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
21) The Accident - 3/5
22) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
23) Funhouse - 3/5
24) Nightmare Hall - Sorority Sister - 3/5
25) Nightmare Hall - The Nightwalker - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
27) The Stranger - 3/5
28) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
29) The Window - 3/5
30) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
31) Nightmare Hall - The Whisperer - 3/5
32) The Invitation - 2.5/5
33) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
34) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
35) Nightmare Hall - Last Date - 2.5/5
36) The Perfume - 2.5/5
37) The Train - 2.5/5
38) The Waitress - 2.5/5
39) The Snowman - 2.5/5
40) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
41) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
42) The Forbidden Game 2: The Chase - 2.5/5
43) Halloween Night II - 2.5/5
44) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
45) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
46) Nightmare Hall - Monster - 2.5/5
47) Beach House - 2.5/5
48) The Mall - 2.5/5
49) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
50) The Boyfriend - 2/5
51) Call Waiting - 2/5
52) The Fever - 2/5
53) The Cemetery - 2/5
54) The Diary - 2/5
55) Mother's Helper - 2/5
56) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
57) The Phantom - 2/5
58) The Watcher - 2/5
59) The Witness - 2/5
60) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
61) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
62) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
63) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
64) Beach Party - 1/5
October 12, 2014
I'm a huge fan of R.L. Stine. I like his style of writing and his work is really good (especially his Fear Street series). But there are some books where he isn't at his best.
This is kind of one of them.
Karen's a teenage girl who suspects her boyfriend Ethan is cheating on her with a girl from school named Wendy. Soon after, Karen starts getting threatening phone calls from a person who claims they want to kill her...
...except they aren't, because it's revealed later on that Karen was making up the calls to keep Ethan with her. I wasn't very surprised by this, because it was obvious the calls were fake since we never read about what the caller was saying exactly. And even less surprising, soon afterwards, Karen starts getting REAL calls.
Now, I'll admit, I was wondering who was making the calls. Some of my suspects were:
Ethan (to get Karen out of the way so he could be with Wendy)
Micah, Karen's best friend (they got into a big fight and their friendship fell apart)
Adam, Karen's cousin (he was weird. That's about it.)
Jake, Ethan's best friend (he has a raspy voice, like the caller)
And Wendy (to get Karen out of the way to be with Ethan)
The ending was so-so. While the buildup, the reveal of the caller and their motive (it was Micah who did it to get Karen out of the way so she could be with Ethan, who she was secretly dating), and their final confrontation were exciting, the ending where Ethan chooses to be with Karen and they just leave was...unsatisfying.
I mean seriously!? Micah just tried to kill Karen, and they just waltz out of there like nothing happened. And Micah just lets them! It was just disappointing.
Another complaint I have is with the characters Wendy and Adam. They both could've and should've been removed completely from the story. They were both just red herring characters made simply to make the mystery of who was making the calls more complicated.
Plus, Karen becomes VERY obsessive over Ethan. She's constantly screaming at him and suspects him of cheating. I know some teenage girls are like that, but it's just annoying.
But it's still a good book to read for those who like mysteries.
This is kind of one of them.
Karen's a teenage girl who suspects her boyfriend Ethan is cheating on her with a girl from school named Wendy. Soon after, Karen starts getting threatening phone calls from a person who claims they want to kill her...
...except they aren't, because it's revealed later on that Karen was making up the calls to keep Ethan with her. I wasn't very surprised by this, because it was obvious the calls were fake since we never read about what the caller was saying exactly. And even less surprising, soon afterwards, Karen starts getting REAL calls.
Now, I'll admit, I was wondering who was making the calls. Some of my suspects were:
Ethan (to get Karen out of the way so he could be with Wendy)
Micah, Karen's best friend (they got into a big fight and their friendship fell apart)
Adam, Karen's cousin (he was weird. That's about it.)
Jake, Ethan's best friend (he has a raspy voice, like the caller)
And Wendy (to get Karen out of the way to be with Ethan)
The ending was so-so. While the buildup, the reveal of the caller and their motive (it was Micah who did it to get Karen out of the way so she could be with Ethan, who she was secretly dating), and their final confrontation were exciting, the ending where Ethan chooses to be with Karen and they just leave was...unsatisfying.
I mean seriously!? Micah just tried to kill Karen, and they just waltz out of there like nothing happened. And Micah just lets them! It was just disappointing.
Another complaint I have is with the characters Wendy and Adam. They both could've and should've been removed completely from the story. They were both just red herring characters made simply to make the mystery of who was making the calls more complicated.
Plus, Karen becomes VERY obsessive over Ethan. She's constantly screaming at him and suspects him of cheating. I know some teenage girls are like that, but it's just annoying.
But it's still a good book to read for those who like mysteries.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2017
I'm not ragey anymore.
but I still have that feeling of, not disappointment, but disillusionment.
Call Waiting is a masterful piece of exaggeration—the cringey, please stop using exclamation points type of piece.
Honestly, I don't know which to hate more...the writing, the plot, or the characters. From Karen, our MC, to Ethan, the love interest. I didn't realize it until I started reading Stine's work again, in my adult years, how each "suspenseful" chapter endings were all this like shocking ending only to be totally frivolous things in the beginning of the next chapter. Or, the way the characters are all this cartoonish exaggeration of teens. Thing with this book is all of the above, and more.
sometimes you shouldn't touch a memory that held good memories, because you might just taint them :/
but I still have that feeling of, not disappointment, but disillusionment.
Call Waiting is a masterful piece of exaggeration—the cringey, please stop using exclamation points type of piece.
Honestly, I don't know which to hate more...the writing, the plot, or the characters. From Karen, our MC, to Ethan, the love interest. I didn't realize it until I started reading Stine's work again, in my adult years, how each "suspenseful" chapter endings were all this like shocking ending only to be totally frivolous things in the beginning of the next chapter. Or, the way the characters are all this cartoonish exaggeration of teens. Thing with this book is all of the above, and more.
sometimes you shouldn't touch a memory that held good memories, because you might just taint them :/
April 26, 2022
The protagonist of this book, Karen, is indeed a "Karen". Stine occasionally writes an unlikable main character for the hell of it. Who doesn't enjoy reading/writing about someone who's a bit nasty? It's kind of fun, sometimes. Well, Karen is one of the most unlikable characters Stine has ever done - and she's not detestable in a way that she's intentionally cunning or cruel... she's just whiny and clingy as hell, extremely selfish/self-centered, and even a bit of a sociopath. Stine is undoubtedly aware of this and has the other characters in this book poke fun at her, which only further drives her ridiculous behavior. Still, he paints her as the "good guy", especially towards the end when one of Karen's "friends" plays a mean joke on her in order to steal her boyfriend. However, the joke that's played on her seems entirely inconsequential in light of Karen's attitude and personality throughout the story.
I should mention that the reason I'm ranting about her character, is that the plot is solely based around her and how much she just needs her boyfriend by her sides at all times, and how she "suspects" her boyfriend is going behind her back and cheating on her. Oh, and there's some threatening phone calls as well... that, guess what:
If the main character from the Goosebumps book, Curse of Camp Cold Lake, grew up, this would be her.
As much as I hated the lack of plot and story and the main character... I still gleaned a bit of guilty pleasure from this book by just how ridiculous it was. I can't necessarily recommend it and I would NEVER say it's one of my favorite Point Horror titles... but it's just really dumb entertainment - almost so bad that it's (kinda) good. My biggest gripe is that Karen doesn't get any comeuppance for her narcissistic behavior.
* 1.75 / 5 *
I should mention that the reason I'm ranting about her character, is that the plot is solely based around her and how much she just needs her boyfriend by her sides at all times, and how she "suspects" her boyfriend is going behind her back and cheating on her. Oh, and there's some threatening phone calls as well... that, guess what:
If the main character from the Goosebumps book, Curse of Camp Cold Lake, grew up, this would be her.
As much as I hated the lack of plot and story and the main character... I still gleaned a bit of guilty pleasure from this book by just how ridiculous it was. I can't necessarily recommend it and I would NEVER say it's one of my favorite Point Horror titles... but it's just really dumb entertainment - almost so bad that it's (kinda) good. My biggest gripe is that Karen doesn't get any comeuppance for her narcissistic behavior.
* 1.75 / 5 *
June 16, 2015
I found a few of my old, young adult books while cleaning, so I'm going to give them a bash. It's quite a difference reading books which are so short, and with such massive text size! R.L. Stine was one of my favourites while growing up, first Goosebumps, then Point Horror as I 'matured'. It was interesting to read this one from an adult's perspective, but I was sad to discover I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I was expecting!
To begin with, the entire story was incredibly predictable. I worked out about ten pages in who this 'phantom' caller was going to be, and the other little plot points weren't too difficult to fathom. This is a kid’s book, though, so I’m sure I can forgive this.
Stine portrays his teenage characters quite well; I think he gets their feelings and actions spot on. In particular, Karen's crazy teenage girlfriend behaviour was quite accurate, and can be attributed to people in real life quite easily. For this reason, I didn't like Karen. She was a complete brat, very selfish, and cracked in the head. I didn't particularly like any of the characters; none of them were developed enough.
I liked that the book was set in the 90s. It was so odd to read, especially as it's set around telephone calls and there were no mobile phones in those days. I also enjoyed the incredibly 90s Saved by the Bell patter that was peppered through the dialogue. Awesome!
This definitely isn't R.L. Stine's best. There are many other Point Horrors he has written that have had me terrified. I think it may be down to the fact that there isn't anything supernatural going down in this one, just emotions and silly behaviours. It was enjoyable nonetheless and has inspired me to have a dig for the huge amount of others I had back in the day.
To begin with, the entire story was incredibly predictable. I worked out about ten pages in who this 'phantom' caller was going to be, and the other little plot points weren't too difficult to fathom. This is a kid’s book, though, so I’m sure I can forgive this.
Stine portrays his teenage characters quite well; I think he gets their feelings and actions spot on. In particular, Karen's crazy teenage girlfriend behaviour was quite accurate, and can be attributed to people in real life quite easily. For this reason, I didn't like Karen. She was a complete brat, very selfish, and cracked in the head. I didn't particularly like any of the characters; none of them were developed enough.
I liked that the book was set in the 90s. It was so odd to read, especially as it's set around telephone calls and there were no mobile phones in those days. I also enjoyed the incredibly 90s Saved by the Bell patter that was peppered through the dialogue. Awesome!
This definitely isn't R.L. Stine's best. There are many other Point Horrors he has written that have had me terrified. I think it may be down to the fact that there isn't anything supernatural going down in this one, just emotions and silly behaviours. It was enjoyable nonetheless and has inspired me to have a dig for the huge amount of others I had back in the day.
October 10, 2020
I wrote a review for this book on my blog: The Real World According To Sam
Read
March 18, 2009In the begining karen was normal but it all started with karen going out with ethan. Her and her friend went to ethans house to see if he was lying to her about canceling a date with her. She thought that he had canceled the date because he was cheating on her with wendy. She and her friend Micah where still in the car outside his house they finally saw him come home. She was relieved that he didn't cheat on her. When they saw him get in the house she got out of the car and got a wiper out of the trunk. When she opened it there lied a body inside. She squeled and then her face turned with anger. Her mind quickly went to her brother. She noticed it was a mannequen that her brother put as a prank to scare her. When she got home she had a phone calll. When she answered someone told her she was going to die and then she called Micah. She was worried about it. She went to school the next day and forgot about it until they called her to go to the office and she had a phone call. Then she heard that horrible voice again it said that shes in her mind and that she cant escape her that she is going to die. When she got home later they called her again and told her they can see her and that she might die that day.She whent over to Ethans house when she got there she saw and found out who it was it was Micah because she was jelouse of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2025
⭐️3.5 stars⭐️
Totally predictable but fun enough!
Totally predictable but fun enough!
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