What do you think?
Rate this book
Fear Street Sagas #4
The Sign of Fear
Discovering the ancient Fear amulet, Christina, a young servant girl, finds her fate linked to the revenge-driven warrior Fieran, the amulet's creator, who cursed the Fear family centuries earlier. Original.
151 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
19 people are currently reading
1254 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,680 books18.7k 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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
October 19, 2011
The Sign of Fear combines two stories, one told in The New World of 1710 and the beginning of the Fear Curse in A.D. 50. Christina of the New World finds herself in enslavement, tortuously working for two women who hold a dark secret. Her only hope of freedom is with Matthew, a handsome man looking for a family heirloom - only when he is able to find this heirloom will he whisk Christina away. Christina however, does not know that she has a connection to the family heirloom that Mathew seeks, endangering their future together.
Fieran, in A.D. 50, is hungry with power. To overcome being wronged by an enemy of his clan, he takes matters into his own hands, finding he can obtain all the power he needs through an amulet. Betrayal however is not far... but who can he trust?
Sign of Fear is great for answering all your questions about the Amulet we see coming up constantly in the first few installments. R.L. Stine has wonderfully created the background story necessary to understanding why the Fear family became so cursed. While it was difficult to keep track of the 2 coinciding stories, it was wonderful to see how they were necessary. While I also wish more time was spent on Christina's story, or even breaking the 2 stories into 2 separate books, I am glad to know how it all began!
Fieran, in A.D. 50, is hungry with power. To overcome being wronged by an enemy of his clan, he takes matters into his own hands, finding he can obtain all the power he needs through an amulet. Betrayal however is not far... but who can he trust?
Sign of Fear is great for answering all your questions about the Amulet we see coming up constantly in the first few installments. R.L. Stine has wonderfully created the background story necessary to understanding why the Fear family became so cursed. While it was difficult to keep track of the 2 coinciding stories, it was wonderful to see how they were necessary. While I also wish more time was spent on Christina's story, or even breaking the 2 stories into 2 separate books, I am glad to know how it all began!
February 1, 2009
#4 in the Fear Street Saga Series.
September 4, 2023
Oh these Fear Street Sagas were something else...
All of the books were ghostwritten but had that big draw name of R.L. Stine and were more of a mix of horror and romance and I have the first 11 books.
These tangled up the world of the Fear family by showing how the curse spread to anyone who grew close to a Fear or a Fier. I'm not sure what the official family tree looks like as of now but the best ones followed the lore setup by Stine himself in his Fear Street Saga.
If you wanted to go in some sort of canonical order, The Sign of Fear would be first.
It tells two stories and has some spoilers for The Fear Street Saga trilogy so spoilers are a given.
To keep it tidy the first timeline would be for Fieran back in Britain of 50 A.D.
He is a Celtic spellcaster fighting against the Romans who invaded the land then. He kills one of them by taking his head which is the most important part to take and keeps his own against one of his own people, Conn.
Always jealous of each other, the two men are both spellcasters whom have been chosen by the dying chief to be successor. The old chief will place his body inside a wicker man so that his spirit will go into the body of the one chosen to lead.
Fieran is sure that it will be him but is shocked to find Conn stepping into the fire of the wicker man with the woman Fieran loves, Brianna. The wicker man explodes but the two of them are not burned by the fire so the other Celts accept Conn as their leader since he was able to protect another from the flames.
Conn's first ruling is to banish Fieran from the village instead of having him be killed for offering false claims to the holy ritual of their people. Fieran goes back to his cave home in the woods and begins to strip the flesh from the head of the Roman leader he killed.
Once the skull is clean bone can Fieran harness the power but he has no time to let the flesh rot or cook off in the flames. The spirit of the Roman soldier will offer Fieran the power of revenge once he completes the last part of the ritual involving a blood sacrifice.
The conduit is created by Fieran in the form of a silver amulet with blue stones in the talons of a bird of prey. Engraved in the back are words in Latin that we all know too well:
POWER THROUGH EVIL
Once doused in the blood of his greatest enemy, Fieran will have power beyond belief added to his own...
In 1679, Christina Davis has just lost her father and is to live with her Aunt Jane who despises her...or so she thinks.
A terrifying incident happens at the gravesite and when Christina awakens later in the night, she hears her aunt conversing with another woman. There is the sound of coins clinking and talk that makes it clear to Christina she is to be killed.
Christina is able to get away but finds herself alone as a storm begins. She is saved from the rain but has a broken ankle from a fall yet the pain is small compared to the handsome features of her young rescuer. He takes her to a nearby farm to get help from the people he knows there and Christina is given a shock.
The woman who comes out to greet them is Mistress Peterson and not only does her voice give her away as the woman Aunt Jane was talking to that evening but she is also rumored to be...a practitioner of the Dark Arts alongside her daughter.
The money was not for killing but selling Christina to be a servant to the woman and her daughter Emily, who has her sights set on the young man who rescued Christina.
The man we are introduced to is nineteen year old Matthew Fier.
He is on a mission to find a lost family heirloom that was stolen from soon after he and his brother Benjamin arrived to the New World. Matthew tells Christina he will return for her once he finds it but until then she is at the mercy of Mistress Peterson and her beautiful yet vain daughter.
Christina soon finds that she is not safe here when strange noises can be heard from Emily's room and she remembers that other girls from the village have been sent here...and never returned.
Christina vows never to be a victim and it might have something to do with the strange yet beautiful silver amulet she found or did it find its way to her?
A gift to help her take revenge...
It is very clear that things do not work out for either Fieran or Christina the way they think yet more hopeful for Christina in a very bittersweet way.
There are some very unsettling deaths and I think not having it set in the present is a good way to get away with the gore.
The Sign of Fear is written by Cameron Dokey and I'm more familiar with the fairytale retellings the author is more known for but I like the grasp on the supernatural and all the bloody details.
You wouldn't know the difference if it wasn't printed on the copyright page...
If there are no actual faults in the timeline consistencies this would mean that twenty-six year old Benjamin Fear is already married to his wife Margaret and has his son Edward as being five years old while Matthew is off looking for the "heirloom"... interesting to know what happens between this and The Betrayal to add to just how cursed this family is.
In regard to The Sign of Fear, I still find it enjoyable and one of the better Sagas.
A high recommendation.
All of the books were ghostwritten but had that big draw name of R.L. Stine and were more of a mix of horror and romance and I have the first 11 books.
These tangled up the world of the Fear family by showing how the curse spread to anyone who grew close to a Fear or a Fier. I'm not sure what the official family tree looks like as of now but the best ones followed the lore setup by Stine himself in his Fear Street Saga.
If you wanted to go in some sort of canonical order, The Sign of Fear would be first.
It tells two stories and has some spoilers for The Fear Street Saga trilogy so spoilers are a given.
To keep it tidy the first timeline would be for Fieran back in Britain of 50 A.D.
He is a Celtic spellcaster fighting against the Romans who invaded the land then. He kills one of them by taking his head which is the most important part to take and keeps his own against one of his own people, Conn.
Always jealous of each other, the two men are both spellcasters whom have been chosen by the dying chief to be successor. The old chief will place his body inside a wicker man so that his spirit will go into the body of the one chosen to lead.
Fieran is sure that it will be him but is shocked to find Conn stepping into the fire of the wicker man with the woman Fieran loves, Brianna. The wicker man explodes but the two of them are not burned by the fire so the other Celts accept Conn as their leader since he was able to protect another from the flames.
Conn's first ruling is to banish Fieran from the village instead of having him be killed for offering false claims to the holy ritual of their people. Fieran goes back to his cave home in the woods and begins to strip the flesh from the head of the Roman leader he killed.
Once the skull is clean bone can Fieran harness the power but he has no time to let the flesh rot or cook off in the flames. The spirit of the Roman soldier will offer Fieran the power of revenge once he completes the last part of the ritual involving a blood sacrifice.
The conduit is created by Fieran in the form of a silver amulet with blue stones in the talons of a bird of prey. Engraved in the back are words in Latin that we all know too well:
POWER THROUGH EVIL
Once doused in the blood of his greatest enemy, Fieran will have power beyond belief added to his own...
In 1679, Christina Davis has just lost her father and is to live with her Aunt Jane who despises her...or so she thinks.
A terrifying incident happens at the gravesite and when Christina awakens later in the night, she hears her aunt conversing with another woman. There is the sound of coins clinking and talk that makes it clear to Christina she is to be killed.
Christina is able to get away but finds herself alone as a storm begins. She is saved from the rain but has a broken ankle from a fall yet the pain is small compared to the handsome features of her young rescuer. He takes her to a nearby farm to get help from the people he knows there and Christina is given a shock.
The woman who comes out to greet them is Mistress Peterson and not only does her voice give her away as the woman Aunt Jane was talking to that evening but she is also rumored to be...a practitioner of the Dark Arts alongside her daughter.
The money was not for killing but selling Christina to be a servant to the woman and her daughter Emily, who has her sights set on the young man who rescued Christina.
The man we are introduced to is nineteen year old Matthew Fier.
He is on a mission to find a lost family heirloom that was stolen from soon after he and his brother Benjamin arrived to the New World. Matthew tells Christina he will return for her once he finds it but until then she is at the mercy of Mistress Peterson and her beautiful yet vain daughter.
Christina soon finds that she is not safe here when strange noises can be heard from Emily's room and she remembers that other girls from the village have been sent here...and never returned.
Christina vows never to be a victim and it might have something to do with the strange yet beautiful silver amulet she found or did it find its way to her?
A gift to help her take revenge...
It is very clear that things do not work out for either Fieran or Christina the way they think yet more hopeful for Christina in a very bittersweet way.
There are some very unsettling deaths and I think not having it set in the present is a good way to get away with the gore.
The Sign of Fear is written by Cameron Dokey and I'm more familiar with the fairytale retellings the author is more known for but I like the grasp on the supernatural and all the bloody details.
You wouldn't know the difference if it wasn't printed on the copyright page...
If there are no actual faults in the timeline consistencies this would mean that twenty-six year old Benjamin Fear is already married to his wife Margaret and has his son Edward as being five years old while Matthew is off looking for the "heirloom"... interesting to know what happens between this and The Betrayal to add to just how cursed this family is.
In regard to The Sign of Fear, I still find it enjoyable and one of the better Sagas.
A high recommendation.
December 15, 2018
This book gives us the origin of the pendent that gives the Fears their evil power. Fierion was a warrior that only wanted to be Chief and would do anything to gain it, even using the skull of his enemy to forge a powerful medallion. But to activate the evil powers, he must make a sacrifice and he's thinking the woman who betrayed him is the perfect candidate. Then, in another time, Matthew Fier is searching for a lost amulet and not falling in love with an abused girl that burns her aunt's skin off with pie filling.
This book was messy. The dual plots both had pacing issues and never had the time to florish or develop properly. Also, this particular ghost writer needs to go back to sex ed and learn about pregnancy...
This book was messy. The dual plots both had pacing issues and never had the time to florish or develop properly. Also, this particular ghost writer needs to go back to sex ed and learn about pregnancy...
June 9, 2015
R.L. Stine never fails to amaze me.
If any of you have Facebook, you have probably seem the photo of the little goldfish going "ERHMAGERD! BURBLES", well that is pretty much how I was when I saw this book in the mailbox. "ERHMAGERD! FEAR STREET!" Haha
I've always be curious as to how the amulet came to be and how the story got started in the first place, now I finally know! I love everything about this book, the story line is epic and sad all at once because it's like "dang, you can't trust anyone!" while on the other hand, those who like the revenge, are cheering from the sidelines.... I was a cheerer. Haha. I love the details to EVERYTHING. How R.L. Stine manages to explain everything and not loose me a single time, really does amaze me because normally, that's when a author looses me. When it comes to the fear street books, I really wish I could rate higher than 5 stars because I believe they deserve more.
If any of you have Facebook, you have probably seem the photo of the little goldfish going "ERHMAGERD! BURBLES", well that is pretty much how I was when I saw this book in the mailbox. "ERHMAGERD! FEAR STREET!" Haha
I've always be curious as to how the amulet came to be and how the story got started in the first place, now I finally know! I love everything about this book, the story line is epic and sad all at once because it's like "dang, you can't trust anyone!" while on the other hand, those who like the revenge, are cheering from the sidelines.... I was a cheerer. Haha. I love the details to EVERYTHING. How R.L. Stine manages to explain everything and not loose me a single time, really does amaze me because normally, that's when a author looses me. When it comes to the fear street books, I really wish I could rate higher than 5 stars because I believe they deserve more.
January 24, 2019
A ranting, raving review is posted over at
my blog.
TL;DR: This was a nostalgic reread for me and one that didn't hold up. While I loved it as a kid and teen, I think this book is some hot, steamy garbage. It's disappointing to not only find you dislike a childhood favorite when you revisit it, but worse to find you hate it.
Worst of all??? IT'S NOT EVEN WRITTEN BY RL STINE. THIS PIECE OF SHIT WAS WRITTEN BY CAMERON DOKEY. I don't think he wrote a single Fear Street Saga book! Funny how hard it is to find that out though. I feel like ghostwriting is shady, especially when you only acknowledge it in small print in your copyright page.
Very disappointed in Dokey too - she's better than this crap book.
Anyway, if you want the full rant, visit my blog. It's way too involved to repost here.
TL;DR: This was a nostalgic reread for me and one that didn't hold up. While I loved it as a kid and teen, I think this book is some hot, steamy garbage. It's disappointing to not only find you dislike a childhood favorite when you revisit it, but worse to find you hate it.
Worst of all??? IT'S NOT EVEN WRITTEN BY RL STINE. THIS PIECE OF SHIT WAS WRITTEN BY CAMERON DOKEY. I don't think he wrote a single Fear Street Saga book! Funny how hard it is to find that out though. I feel like ghostwriting is shady, especially when you only acknowledge it in small print in your copyright page.
Very disappointed in Dokey too - she's better than this crap book.
Anyway, if you want the full rant, visit my blog. It's way too involved to repost here.
June 13, 2015
Ever since i read the Fear Street series i've always wonder how (and which book) that tells about how the amulet and the curse that run in the Fear family was created. This book is it. And it made me flipped.
DOMINATIO PER MALUM.
Power through evil
DOMINATIO PER MALUM.
Power through evil
July 24, 2015
This is the book that finally tells us how the Fear amulet was created!
June 7, 2019
Whoa okay okay...so now i know how that amulet came about. Pretty much, the fier is already curse right. They will get whatever they want but in return they have to pay the price.
Now, i get it. That explain why in "The New Fear", daniel fear and nora goode's son- nicholas is still lured to evil. It has nothing got to do with the goodes. I mean..yes initially but the debt was already pain in the trilogy "The Secret".
I wonder, did matthew told this story to any one? or he just kept it to himself?
Now, i get it. That explain why in "The New Fear", daniel fear and nora goode's son- nicholas is still lured to evil. It has nothing got to do with the goodes. I mean..yes initially but the debt was already pain in the trilogy "The Secret".
I wonder, did matthew told this story to any one? or he just kept it to himself?
June 3, 2023
Another Fier family book and I enjoying reading them. I am enjoying being taken back down memory lane.
In this book R L Stine takes us back to the beginning and back to the amulet. We see its origins and how it came in the hands of the Fier family.
Two different time lines.
Two different ways of seeing the amulets power.
Come and meet the Fier men, who are drawn to the power
Come and see what happens when unite.
Fear and fire
In this book R L Stine takes us back to the beginning and back to the amulet. We see its origins and how it came in the hands of the Fier family.
Two different time lines.
Two different ways of seeing the amulets power.
Come and meet the Fier men, who are drawn to the power
Come and see what happens when unite.
Fear and fire
November 30, 2019
I loved this one!!!1 Seriously loved it cause the two before are good but were not as good as the first 3 in saga so I was losing hope. Then I read this one and I gotta say it made me excited again to finish this series. The inception of the amulet is told in this one and it is a fabulous story with great twists and turns.
April 23, 2025
Another of the ghostwritten sagas. The origin of the Fear family, the origin of the curse, and the origin of the infamous Fear talisman coupled with a story about Matthew Fear being a teenage dirtbag. I wish the author had focused more on the origin story and left out Matthew. Of all the Fears Matthew and Benjamin are the least interesting but have made the most appearances (at this point.)
October 25, 2016
Fieran’s chapters seemed a bit like a cheesy LARPing adventure at times, but I did find the story interesting. It was cool to go even further back into the Fier family history and see how all the pieces clicked together with everything else that had been revealed already.
May 15, 2017
Love this book! I have read this many times when I was younger. I love to read it again. All the Fear street sagas are the best! RL Stine Knew how to keep me Interested in reading! I wish to rebuild my collection of Fear Street Sagas from RL Stine's first Fear street to the last!
June 4, 2017
I think I liked the Fear Saga more than just plain old fear street the series just had more to it for me .... I really loved all the twisted tales from this series so much fun
I really did have a blast reading all of these again in 2013 .... :)
I really did have a blast reading all of these again in 2013 .... :)
January 26, 2019
It had nothing out of the ordinary to attract attention.
A pretty bland read.
Though the last scene, of the choosing power over love, like others before him, it kinda rung true with what the world has come to nowadays.
Wouldn't necessarily recommend
A pretty bland read.
Though the last scene, of the choosing power over love, like others before him, it kinda rung true with what the world has come to nowadays.
Wouldn't necessarily recommend
May 16, 2017
Great book!!!!
I read this book so fast, It kept up wanting more with each page! I'm a huge R.L. Stine fan.
I read this book so fast, It kept up wanting more with each page! I'm a huge R.L. Stine fan.
June 20, 2019
Love the fears! Interesting read!
October 10, 2019
No offence but this was really boring, and I definitely don’t plan to get any more of the books in this series. I’ll stick with the original Fear Street books.
August 23, 2022
It's surprising how the Fear family can survive when so many members die horrific deaths at a young age
January 7, 2023
Nice book so refreshing for me. Horror book of R.L.Stine managed to refresh my mood & make me happy so I read this one in one day. 😃😃
September 15, 2023
most interseting about saga than other fear street..
June 15, 2024
It’s cool that we got the origins of the Fiers and the amulet, but otherwise this one just didn’t really do it for me
September 21, 2024
This was addictive. Unputdownable.
July 9, 2025
Not what I was expecting going into this but I really enjoyed it
July 14, 2025
2.5 stars - This book was a weird mash up of Fieran, the ORIGINAL original Fear (maybe? I'm getting kind of lost in this origin story) and Rebecca, who finds the amulet many years later.
December 30, 2020
This wasn’t the most riveting of the series - the “main character” was the amulet so it was hard to connect to y&4 characters.
But once pop the Fear Street Saga seal, you can’t stop.
But once pop the Fear Street Saga seal, you can’t stop.
December 9, 2020
Only mediocre, but good to get the origin story of the curse.
I actually wish they created an entire novel of the origin story, and not the two split stories with centuries between them. The ancient story could have easily been stretched and elongated. Much more interesting subject matter.
I actually wish they created an entire novel of the origin story, and not the two split stories with centuries between them. The ancient story could have easily been stretched and elongated. Much more interesting subject matter.
April 16, 2023
(copied from my book review blog: Patricia's Particularity)
The Sign of Fear combines two stories, one told in The New World of 1710 and the beginning of the Fear Curse in A.D. 50. Christina of the New World finds herself in enslavement, tortuously working for two women who hold a dark secret. Her only hope of freedom is with Matthew, a handsome man looking for a family heirloom – only when he is able to find this heirloom will he whisk Christina away. Christina however, does not know that she has a connection to the family heirloom that Mathew seeks, endangering their future together.
Fieran, in A.D. 50, is hungry with power. To overcome being wronged by an enemy of his clan, he takes matters into his own hands, finding he can obtain all the power he needs through an amulet. Betrayal however is not far… but who can he trust?
Sign of Fear is great for answering all your questions about the Amulet we see coming up constantly in the first few installments. R.L. Stine has wonderfully created the background story necessary to understanding why the Fear family became so cursed. While it was difficult to keep track of the 2 coinciding stories, it was wonderful to see how they were necessary. While I also wish more time was spent on Christina’s story, or even breaking the 2 stories into 2 separate books, I am glad to know how it all began!
My Rating:
The Sign of Fear combines two stories, one told in The New World of 1710 and the beginning of the Fear Curse in A.D. 50. Christina of the New World finds herself in enslavement, tortuously working for two women who hold a dark secret. Her only hope of freedom is with Matthew, a handsome man looking for a family heirloom – only when he is able to find this heirloom will he whisk Christina away. Christina however, does not know that she has a connection to the family heirloom that Mathew seeks, endangering their future together.
Fieran, in A.D. 50, is hungry with power. To overcome being wronged by an enemy of his clan, he takes matters into his own hands, finding he can obtain all the power he needs through an amulet. Betrayal however is not far… but who can he trust?
Sign of Fear is great for answering all your questions about the Amulet we see coming up constantly in the first few installments. R.L. Stine has wonderfully created the background story necessary to understanding why the Fear family became so cursed. While it was difficult to keep track of the 2 coinciding stories, it was wonderful to see how they were necessary. While I also wish more time was spent on Christina’s story, or even breaking the 2 stories into 2 separate books, I am glad to know how it all began!
My Rating:
December 6, 2021
3.5/5 i liked it but it was so cringey and too dramatic. With the goosebumps books it was understandable, because they were made for kids, but i just didn't expect that much cringe from an adult novel. Other then that (and the fact that im not really into short stories) it was really good in my opinion
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews