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Fear Street Seniors #6
The Gift
Jennifer Fear, a member of the senior class at Shadyside High, believes that an antique necklace she received is forcing her to commit terrible crimes and may even lead her to commit murder. Original.
176 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 1998
3 people are currently reading
749 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,679 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...
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 11, 2024
I just finished the sixth book in the Fear Street Seinors series.This one is called The Gift. Jennifer Fear is on her way to Trisha Conrad's house.She wants to show her friend her new necklace that she got for Christmas.She heads over and shows off the necklace and Trisha shows off her jacket she got.They want to trade and try each others things on.Trisha puts on the necklace and immediately has a vision because remember she can do this.She claims she sees a girl being hung like a witch. Jennifer wears the necklace anyway.Meanwhile Jennifer is dating a guy named Ty,a local player at shadyside that Trisha warned her about. Her and ty ends up going to a cemetery and Jennifer ask him what does he want to do the next day and Ty basically breaks up with her.She ends up leaving ,going home and is really heartbroken.She goes to sleep that night and when she wakes up.She's in Ty's yard. She ends up somehow getting back home.The next day at school all of the kids are talking about Ty being attacked.The next day she wakes up again after finding out Ty is already dating another girl.This time I think she wakes up at her own home and find out the next day somebody tried to set fire to Ty's House. Jennifer is getting worried and she should be, because all evidence is pointing to Jennifer doing these things, like at the scene of the fire her glove is found.And she almost runs Ty over in her car.She ends up finding out through her dad's library that the necklace belongs to a girl named Dominique Fear and she suspects Dominique is possessing her and making her do these terrible things ,because she is a Fear. And she needs a Fear to do these things.I feel like I should've really liked this book.It has to deal with body possession and I usually like those.This one however felt like something was missing.I honestly don't know what.I will say however this book had two big twists in them that were absolutely stupid.One big one has to do with names.This book also has one of the weakest kills ever in a book.This vase thing falls and hits somebody in the head.And then to add insult to injury we get the ending.Trisha was a pretty endearing character until this.Shes rich but dosnt really let money get in the way of her being a good friend.Yeah that didn't last to long.There were also things that were poorly explained.The only positives I have is the concept of the haunted necklace and the scenery in the party for new years.I also liked the scene where Trisha changed after trying the necklace on.I give The Gift a two out of five stars.
October 19, 2022
Jennifer Fear receives an ancient necklace for Christmas that used to belong to her ancestor, Dominique Fear. Although Jennifer has no time for the scary Fear family legacy, she loves the necklace and shows it to her best friend, Trisha Conrad. Trisha tries it on and has a frightening vision of Dominque being hanged.
Jennifer is then dumped by her two-timing boyfriend, Ty Sullivan. She starts having strange dreams and sleepwalking episodes. Then Ty is attacked! Jennifer begins to worry that she is somehow being possessed by Dominique, who wants revenge for her untimely hanging.
A fun, quick read for the Halloween season. It's a Fear Street book, so you're not going to get a great deal of substance or deep character development...but is that what we even read a Fear Street book for? I also appreciated that this was a supernatural entry in the series that didn't skirt around the fact that it was supernatural. Something is clearly up with the necklace, and Dominique's spirit clearly has something to do with it.
Stine's trademark cliffhanger chapter endings and plot twists are handled well. It took me less than 90 minutes to read and I had fun with it.
Jennifer is then dumped by her two-timing boyfriend, Ty Sullivan. She starts having strange dreams and sleepwalking episodes. Then Ty is attacked! Jennifer begins to worry that she is somehow being possessed by Dominique, who wants revenge for her untimely hanging.
A fun, quick read for the Halloween season. It's a Fear Street book, so you're not going to get a great deal of substance or deep character development...but is that what we even read a Fear Street book for? I also appreciated that this was a supernatural entry in the series that didn't skirt around the fact that it was supernatural. Something is clearly up with the necklace, and Dominique's spirit clearly has something to do with it.
Stine's trademark cliffhanger chapter endings and plot twists are handled well. It took me less than 90 minutes to read and I had fun with it.
July 15, 2024
"Her expression grew dark and bitter. Her eyes glowed with a fearsome rage. Someone shall pay, she warned in a voice tortured by hatred. Someday, someone shall pay for my death!"
*cue the spooky music* Welcome back to Shadyside. Let’s travel to a little delightfully haunted street named Fear! Don’t worry… the Fear family don’t bite but they’ll tear your soul apart!
This tale was so wicked and one I read in one sitting. There were so many twists and turns that my eyes are rolling around in my skull. I just love these books. You can never go wrong with a little Fear Street during the weekend.
*cue the spooky music* Welcome back to Shadyside. Let’s travel to a little delightfully haunted street named Fear! Don’t worry… the Fear family don’t bite but they’ll tear your soul apart!
This tale was so wicked and one I read in one sitting. There were so many twists and turns that my eyes are rolling around in my skull. I just love these books. You can never go wrong with a little Fear Street during the weekend.
August 1, 2025
2.5⭐
A very middling Fear Street book. This one is something like a YA version of Horrors of the Black Ring or The Haunted Mask, being a cursed object story injected with some of the classic Fear family lore.
I thought it was mostly fine but also just felt bland and generic, never having any suprising or high moments to it.
It ends on kind of a weak note as well.
So far these Seniors books haven't been the greatest but I'm going to continue reading through them and will hopefully uncover a gem or two.
A very middling Fear Street book. This one is something like a YA version of Horrors of the Black Ring or The Haunted Mask, being a cursed object story injected with some of the classic Fear family lore.
I thought it was mostly fine but also just felt bland and generic, never having any suprising or high moments to it.
It ends on kind of a weak note as well.
So far these Seniors books haven't been the greatest but I'm going to continue reading through them and will hopefully uncover a gem or two.
December 15, 2022
Continuing with the Shadyside Class of 1999 this book is set the day after Christmas and goes up to a New Years Eve Party so it is appropriate for this time of year.
Happy Ho Ho Horror Holidays from Fear Street indeed!
Jennifer Fear goes over to best bud Trisha Conrad's after Christmas to show off the gift her dad got her for a present. It's not as impressive as the leather jacket and freaking white Corvette Trisha received it's just a really ornate and antique necklace of gold and garnet. Sounds pretty nice until you learn that Jennifer's dad is obsessed with his Fear Family roots.
He found it and discovered that it had the name Dominique Fear engraved on the back of it and gave it to his daughter. I'm sure that's just what Jennifer wanted.
Trisha lets Jennifer wear her jacket and she puts on the necklace in a buddy swap of clothes no big deal. Except this a Fear Street book and oh yeah Trisha has visions about really bad things and nothing is worse than the evil of the Fear Family.
Trisha sees a young woman being hanged and it is the death of Dominique Fear. They get the necklace off Trisha and despite the track run of bodies piling up since she had her big vision of the whole Senior class in their graves...Jennifer continues to wear the necklace.
She wears the necklace on her date with Ty Sullivan and they get a little heavy petting going on in his car at the cemetery (get the girls spooked and get them hot while the big strong man protects them...such a player)
The stone of the necklace cuts up Ty's face while they are kissing and then they both see the blood and get freaked out. Once cleaned up, Ty takes Jennifer home and she's talking about another date but Ty drops the big bomb: they aren't exclusive and he's seeing someone else.
Already getting a lot of action just moving to town during the summer because Jennifer was warned about Ty before by Trisha and she didn't listen. Jennifer is devastated and its worse because she doesn't live that far away from Ty.
She has a dream about walking around and waking up, Jennifer is right in Ty Sullivan's backyard.
Curious isn't it that soon news spreads that Ty was attacked but he didn't see who did it? It isn't until Jennifer has a second dream about walking around, wakes up and finds that her ex-boyfriend almost got killed when his house catches on fire?
The guy is a jerk but he does have parents and a little sister so you can tell how horrified Jennifer is by the revelation when she finds one of her gloves at the scene of the crime.
There's not really a deep plot going on and you guess most of the details pretty quickly. That may be easy to figure out but...Stine does give us a few curveballs.
Two really good twists that change some dynamic of the story yet to come but sadly that isn't much and that's why I rounded it up to three stars.
We get a character introduced and then...dead.
Also Ty is an awful character. Good thing Stine threw in that he had a little sister...it's his only redeeming quality. He threatens Jennifer not to harm his family but he also turns on Jennifer because she is a Fear pretty quickly.
At the halfway point and I'm kind of half and half so far. Episode 1, 2 and 4 were really good, Episode 5 was good but Episode 3 and this one...are okay. My full opinion once I'm finished may change but I still won't get all of the story.
Finding Episode 9: Spring Break and Episode 11: Prom Date in book format are not very promising.
Oh well better than nothing at all.
Looking forward to January 2023 and Episode 7 of the Fear Street Seniors topping my book reading list. Until then some other Fear Street goodies to get me through the holidays until I have Santa stuffing my stocking with some new/old reading material.
Until next time...
Happy Ho Ho Horror Holidays from Fear Street indeed!
Jennifer Fear goes over to best bud Trisha Conrad's after Christmas to show off the gift her dad got her for a present. It's not as impressive as the leather jacket and freaking white Corvette Trisha received it's just a really ornate and antique necklace of gold and garnet. Sounds pretty nice until you learn that Jennifer's dad is obsessed with his Fear Family roots.
He found it and discovered that it had the name Dominique Fear engraved on the back of it and gave it to his daughter. I'm sure that's just what Jennifer wanted.
Trisha lets Jennifer wear her jacket and she puts on the necklace in a buddy swap of clothes no big deal. Except this a Fear Street book and oh yeah Trisha has visions about really bad things and nothing is worse than the evil of the Fear Family.
Trisha sees a young woman being hanged and it is the death of Dominique Fear. They get the necklace off Trisha and despite the track run of bodies piling up since she had her big vision of the whole Senior class in their graves...Jennifer continues to wear the necklace.
She wears the necklace on her date with Ty Sullivan and they get a little heavy petting going on in his car at the cemetery (get the girls spooked and get them hot while the big strong man protects them...such a player)
The stone of the necklace cuts up Ty's face while they are kissing and then they both see the blood and get freaked out. Once cleaned up, Ty takes Jennifer home and she's talking about another date but Ty drops the big bomb: they aren't exclusive and he's seeing someone else.
Already getting a lot of action just moving to town during the summer because Jennifer was warned about Ty before by Trisha and she didn't listen. Jennifer is devastated and its worse because she doesn't live that far away from Ty.
She has a dream about walking around and waking up, Jennifer is right in Ty Sullivan's backyard.
Curious isn't it that soon news spreads that Ty was attacked but he didn't see who did it? It isn't until Jennifer has a second dream about walking around, wakes up and finds that her ex-boyfriend almost got killed when his house catches on fire?
The guy is a jerk but he does have parents and a little sister so you can tell how horrified Jennifer is by the revelation when she finds one of her gloves at the scene of the crime.
There's not really a deep plot going on and you guess most of the details pretty quickly. That may be easy to figure out but...Stine does give us a few curveballs.
Two really good twists that change some dynamic of the story yet to come but sadly that isn't much and that's why I rounded it up to three stars.
We get a character introduced and then...dead.
Also Ty is an awful character. Good thing Stine threw in that he had a little sister...it's his only redeeming quality. He threatens Jennifer not to harm his family but he also turns on Jennifer because she is a Fear pretty quickly.
At the halfway point and I'm kind of half and half so far. Episode 1, 2 and 4 were really good, Episode 5 was good but Episode 3 and this one...are okay. My full opinion once I'm finished may change but I still won't get all of the story.
Finding Episode 9: Spring Break and Episode 11: Prom Date in book format are not very promising.
Oh well better than nothing at all.
Looking forward to January 2023 and Episode 7 of the Fear Street Seniors topping my book reading list. Until then some other Fear Street goodies to get me through the holidays until I have Santa stuffing my stocking with some new/old reading material.
Until next time...
August 7, 2011
LOVED THIS BOOK! I didnt really expect what was going to happen but things were seriously taking me one way but turn out differently in the end. I especially loved the twist with Jennifer and Trisha and the way the novel ended is such a cliffhanger that you know something major is going to happen.
February 3, 2013
Ugh, my library never had the full stock of ANY of Stine's series (and to this day, it still doesn't). Glad they at least had this one.
March 14, 2013
This book really makes me curious. The case is actually easy to understand. But when I re-reading it, it actually really make sense, the details, the characters and many more. Love The Fear Street!
September 22, 2021
I still love the big twist in this one.
June 21, 2021
Maybe it's just because the previous episode (Last Chance) was such a dud, but my immediate assessment of The Gift is that it might be my favorite of the Fear Street Seniors series thus far. At the very least it's been a return to form for a fun series. I would say it's closer to a 4.5 than a mere 4, but I can't quite bring myself to round up in my star rating.
In the plus column for The Gift is that it takes place over winter break (I love an icy setting for a horror tale) and the protagonist is none other than Jennifer Fear--destined, by dint of her surname, to be a key player in the ongoing battle of good and evil playing out in Shadyside. I hope she continues to have an impact on the series rather than being relegated to the sidelines after this misadventure. Unlike Last Chance, which focused on a barely-remembered character and then failed to develop her for the next 150 pages, The Gift offers some key revelations not only about Jennifer Fear, but also about her best friend and class psychic Trisha Conrad, who originated the Doom Prophecy in the first book. I guess I am sort of impressed that Stine was planning the series far enough in advance to begin sowing the seeds way back in Let's Party for a plot twist that occurs here.
Stine also does a great job with the atmosphere. Icy leaves crunching underfoot, haunted necklaces, clairvoyant dreams, foggy roads, crowded malls and house parties--not exactly innovative for '90s teen-centric horror, but it's exactly what I want in a Fear Street book.
In the plus column for The Gift is that it takes place over winter break (I love an icy setting for a horror tale) and the protagonist is none other than Jennifer Fear--destined, by dint of her surname, to be a key player in the ongoing battle of good and evil playing out in Shadyside. I hope she continues to have an impact on the series rather than being relegated to the sidelines after this misadventure. Unlike Last Chance, which focused on a barely-remembered character and then failed to develop her for the next 150 pages, The Gift offers some key revelations not only about Jennifer Fear, but also about her best friend and class psychic Trisha Conrad, who originated the Doom Prophecy in the first book. I guess I am sort of impressed that Stine was planning the series far enough in advance to begin sowing the seeds way back in Let's Party for a plot twist that occurs here.
Stine also does a great job with the atmosphere. Icy leaves crunching underfoot, haunted necklaces, clairvoyant dreams, foggy roads, crowded malls and house parties--not exactly innovative for '90s teen-centric horror, but it's exactly what I want in a Fear Street book.
June 23, 2024
After the last seniors book this one was like a breath of fresh air. It was so much better. It is now right after Christmas, my favorite time of the year. We follow Jennifer Fear and Trisha Conrad, who right after Christmas are showing each other their best gifts. Jennifer got a necklace that belonged to an old Fear relative from years past, Dominique. When Trisha tries on the necklace she gets a vision of evil. Jennifer continues to wear the necklace when things start to happen to her ex Ty, he is attacked, his house is set on fire and Jennifer almost hits him with his car. Could it have something to do with the necklace? Hmmm duh. But Jennifer does research on the Fear family and discovers Dominique and her past and how she had visions and was hanged for the murder of her ex who she swore she didn’t kill and promised revenge. So is it Dominique using the power of the necklace to exact her revenge? I don’t want to spoil too much, but I loved the twists and turns of this book. Although the last twist at the end of the book sucks because can any of these characters be a real friend? And I was disappointed about the amount of deaths of the senior class members. I need high numbers!! Ugh get with it Stine!! Looking forward to book seven (:
July 11, 2018
More suspenseful than creepy but still an enjoyable, quick read. I really liked the class pictures at the front of the book and, as this was my first of this series, found myself constantly referring back to them as I was reading. I admit I'd be curious to see which of the kids makes it through to graduation day, morbid as that sounds.
September 23, 2019
Another one bites the dust! However, it was a character new to this book that was killed so does it really count? This one is about Ms. Jennifer Fear who hates her family legacy almost as much as her Dad loves it. For a birthday gift, he found an old Fear Family Heirloom, a necklace. But when Trisha tries it on, she gets a terrifying vision from the past, the previous owner being hanged for a murder she didn't commit! Now Jade is having dreams and nightmares of trying to hurt Ty. But these lapses in memory she realizes are coming from the necklace and Dominique's restless spirit inside of it. She confronts her parents about her hatred of the family name Fear and some stunning revelations are made about Jennifer and Trisha. A fun tease in the epilogue I'm hoping Stine follows for the second half of this series.
September 29, 2024
This one was actually really good. It was entertaining from beginning to end. I feel very bad for Jennifer, she definitely had bad luck… and bad friends.
I’m kind of torn on the twist at the end, It kind of feel cheap all the last name thing but I like a lot the fact that Trisha is a Fear in secret. And it makes a lot of sense, since she’s very rich, she has visions like Dominique but also the fact that she has a mean side. After all she stole Gary and she was fooling around with Ty behind Jennifer’s back.
Btw Ty is a massive jerk, I don’t understand how this guy is supposed to be the most desirable dude in shadyside, he’s a known fuckboy and also aggressive. I genuinely thought he was gonna hit Jennifer at some point.
I’m kind of torn on the twist at the end, It kind of feel cheap all the last name thing but I like a lot the fact that Trisha is a Fear in secret. And it makes a lot of sense, since she’s very rich, she has visions like Dominique but also the fact that she has a mean side. After all she stole Gary and she was fooling around with Ty behind Jennifer’s back.
Btw Ty is a massive jerk, I don’t understand how this guy is supposed to be the most desirable dude in shadyside, he’s a known fuckboy and also aggressive. I genuinely thought he was gonna hit Jennifer at some point.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2025
Full review at: https://www.jackreacts.com.au/fear-st...
Snippet: Another decent read in the Seniors series, although for whatever reason it wasn’t as captivating as some of the previous ones. Jennifer was even more likeable as a protagonist than a side character, but I’m wondering what her main character trait will be now that she’s aware Although she and Trisha are keeping it a secret, so I guess nothing will change. Speaking of Trisha, I’ve spent the last five books letting her affair with Gary Fresno slide, but not anymore!...
Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)
Snippet: Another decent read in the Seniors series, although for whatever reason it wasn’t as captivating as some of the previous ones. Jennifer was even more likeable as a protagonist than a side character, but I’m wondering what her main character trait will be now that she’s aware Although she and Trisha are keeping it a secret, so I guess nothing will change. Speaking of Trisha, I’ve spent the last five books letting her affair with Gary Fresno slide, but not anymore!...
Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)
October 31, 2017
Was this the scariest Fear Street I've read? The goriest? The most suspenseful? No. BUT, I did quite enjoy reading it. It had a comprehensive enough plot that that the lack of scares was,.. forgivable.
November 7, 2023
Oh la vache! At first I thought it was one of those Fear's family curse again which it was but the twist half way through the story really got me flabberghasted. That's definitely one of the best in this serie.
September 7, 2024
Okay this was eerie and quite good.
November 4, 2025
Ty is for the streets
February 23, 2023
Half way through the fear street seniors series, and so far the series has been great filled with some good books and some ok books. The 6th book in the series is surprisingly refreshing. The book spends no time introducing you to the characters because you should know them already because they have been in the other books. The plot kicks in right away from chapter one. This is the kind of book you have to read in one sitting to get the best experience possible. There are some twists to be had, so be ready for that.
3 stars
3 stars
June 6, 2011
Read this in 3 hours, it was really good and mysterious :)
March 21, 2013
Great part! Looking forward to know more about the secrets Trisha is hiding from Jennifer...
January 2, 2026
All i have to say is TRISHA IS A HORRIBLE FRIEND LMAO but besides that the book was decent with a nice twist
Read
April 8, 2019I really liked the book. I liked when Trisha figured out that I old lady is talking over her friend's body and killing her friends. You might ask how Trisha knows she knows because she is a psychic.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews