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Fear Street #21
The Dare
Nice girls don’t kill…
Johanna Wise has always longed to be part of Dennis Arthur’s rich, popular crowd, and she can’t believe it when he finally asks her out. Now she’ll do anything to continue to hang out with his cool friends and keep Dennis as her boyfriend.
So when Dennis dares her to kill their teacher, Mr. Northwood, she doesn’t say no. She can’t. Besides, it was only a joke, right? But now the joke has gone too far, and the whole school is taking bets on Johanna. The dare is serious…dead serious. Will she do it? Will she really kill for love?
Johanna Wise has always longed to be part of Dennis Arthur’s rich, popular crowd, and she can’t believe it when he finally asks her out. Now she’ll do anything to continue to hang out with his cool friends and keep Dennis as her boyfriend.
So when Dennis dares her to kill their teacher, Mr. Northwood, she doesn’t say no. She can’t. Besides, it was only a joke, right? But now the joke has gone too far, and the whole school is taking bets on Johanna. The dare is serious…dead serious. Will she do it? Will she really kill for love?
149 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 13, 1994
72 people are currently reading
2733 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,679 books18.6k followersRobert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 169 reviews
April 4, 2019
Recuerdo en lo particular esta historia.
Las ansias, el miedo y la emoción que la protagonista sentía al creer ilusionada que el grupo más cool de la secundaria la dejaría formar parte de ellos me puso la piel de gallina.
Es historias como esta pueden ver lo que algunas personas son capaces de hacer por pertenecer a algo, y también como personas que se sienten con ventaja se atreven a tratar y maltratar a otras por simple gusto.
Eso sí, tiene un plot twist que los dejará helados.
Las ansias, el miedo y la emoción que la protagonista sentía al creer ilusionada que el grupo más cool de la secundaria la dejaría formar parte de ellos me puso la piel de gallina.
Es historias como esta pueden ver lo que algunas personas son capaces de hacer por pertenecer a algo, y también como personas que se sienten con ventaja se atreven a tratar y maltratar a otras por simple gusto.
Eso sí, tiene un plot twist que los dejará helados.
January 28, 2021
There was a lot I liked about this addition to the Fear Street series, like the clash between the rich and middle class kids of Shadyside, the crazed and disturbing thoughts of the main characters, the pacing, the reference to Reva Dalby... But man, The Dare suffers worse than most about the false chapter endings. It's a basic Stine trope, but he really overdoes it with this one. Still, it's entertaining and I enjoyed my time with it.
September 9, 2024
3.5 stars
This one was pretty fun. Little lower rating just because it drags a bit in the middle and being 150 long, that is a problem. The ending in particular though was very satisfying and I would reccommend it just on that alone.
A group of popular highschool students think there teacher is deliberately out to get them. So they befriend a girl desperate to get in with the crowd to kill the teacher. Will she able to go through with it?
This one was pretty fun. Little lower rating just because it drags a bit in the middle and being 150 long, that is a problem. The ending in particular though was very satisfying and I would reccommend it just on that alone.
A group of popular highschool students think there teacher is deliberately out to get them. So they befriend a girl desperate to get in with the crowd to kill the teacher. Will she able to go through with it?
February 8, 2016
The Dare
This is the third "Fear Street" book I've read by R.L. Stine, and not one of his best. In this one he pulls you through the story with some of the same cheap tricks he uses in his other ones, but it's overdone to the point of annoying. At the end of every chapter Mr. Stine makes and outrageous thing happen, and then at the beginning of the next chapter the character is like "No of course that didn't happen, it was what I was imagining would happen." Another similar trick is to do the same thing and then in the next chapter switch to another viewpoint and get back to explaining the outlandish incident later. I know that as a 29 year old guy, I'm not the target audience for this teen book written in first person through a girl's point of view who's a junior in high school, but a lot of it was just bad writing. That said I had read some good stuff by R.L. Stine. In another "Fear Street" book I read called Double Date he did a great job with putting in so many twists and turns that I was guessing until the end of the book. He did a decent job of adding a good twist or two at the end of this book, but it was too little too late. As I'm finding with Stephen King, it is hit or miss with R.L. Stine. When he hits he's great, but he missed on this one.
This is the third "Fear Street" book I've read by R.L. Stine, and not one of his best. In this one he pulls you through the story with some of the same cheap tricks he uses in his other ones, but it's overdone to the point of annoying. At the end of every chapter Mr. Stine makes and outrageous thing happen, and then at the beginning of the next chapter the character is like "No of course that didn't happen, it was what I was imagining would happen." Another similar trick is to do the same thing and then in the next chapter switch to another viewpoint and get back to explaining the outlandish incident later. I know that as a 29 year old guy, I'm not the target audience for this teen book written in first person through a girl's point of view who's a junior in high school, but a lot of it was just bad writing. That said I had read some good stuff by R.L. Stine. In another "Fear Street" book I read called Double Date he did a great job with putting in so many twists and turns that I was guessing until the end of the book. He did a decent job of adding a good twist or two at the end of this book, but it was too little too late. As I'm finding with Stephen King, it is hit or miss with R.L. Stine. When he hits he's great, but he missed on this one.
February 26, 2009
the dare... isn't it supposed to be the double dare or something because daring someone to kill there own teacher just to impress some guy... isn't that going a little too far?
January 15, 2025
This has got to be one of the most savage Fear Street books I’ve read! Some would consider the story/events rather problematic but in my opinion, it made the book just that much more gripping! Definitely wouldn’t fly in today’s world of publishing.
March 6, 2021
Everyone is terrible, except the teacher. Sorry, I’m team teacher here. All the rich kids are abusive/destructive sociopaths who don’t have any endearing qualities, so that makes it harder to believe Johanna found their friendships so desirable in the first place. Don’t even get me started on Johanna. She’s neither interesting nor likeable, just kinda...there, and an unreliable narrator at that. The whole “did I do that or was it just one of my crazy fantasies” schtick got really old after a while. Ehhh. Skip this one.
September 3, 2023
Wzięło mnie na sentymenty i nie puszcza.
Uwielbiałam tę serię za dzieciaka. Z oczywistych względów dziś już nie robi takiego wrażenia jak kiedyś, ale myślę że współczesna 12-13 latka wcale by się nie pogniewała na taką historię.
Tym razem mamy typowy thriller z psychologiczną nutą. Jak zwykle rozdziały kończą się czymś mocno zaskakującym, a finał choć dość oczywisty okazuje się jednocześnie całkiem zmyślny. Jak to u Stine'a. Ta konkretna historia trochę za długo się rozkręcała jak na mój gust, ale mogę się pokusić o stwierdzenie, ze się wciągnęłam i byłam ciekawa jak to zostanie rozwiązane. Drugim minusem był zbyt duży nacisk na naiwne zachowania bohaterów, które dla dorosłego czytelnika są trudne do przetrawienia. Niemniej patrząc z perspektywy targetu tych książek - ma to sens i, co najlepsze, jest też cenna nauka płynąca z tej historii dla takiego młodego czytelnika. Za to duży plus.
Uwielbiałam tę serię za dzieciaka. Z oczywistych względów dziś już nie robi takiego wrażenia jak kiedyś, ale myślę że współczesna 12-13 latka wcale by się nie pogniewała na taką historię.
Tym razem mamy typowy thriller z psychologiczną nutą. Jak zwykle rozdziały kończą się czymś mocno zaskakującym, a finał choć dość oczywisty okazuje się jednocześnie całkiem zmyślny. Jak to u Stine'a. Ta konkretna historia trochę za długo się rozkręcała jak na mój gust, ale mogę się pokusić o stwierdzenie, ze się wciągnęłam i byłam ciekawa jak to zostanie rozwiązane. Drugim minusem był zbyt duży nacisk na naiwne zachowania bohaterów, które dla dorosłego czytelnika są trudne do przetrawienia. Niemniej patrząc z perspektywy targetu tych książek - ma to sens i, co najlepsze, jest też cenna nauka płynąca z tej historii dla takiego młodego czytelnika. Za to duży plus.
August 8, 2018
It was merely ok. I remember R.L. Stine being much better. These characters were unlikable and very stupid. I could feel brain cells dying.
July 10, 2022
I wanted to see sneak in at least one Fear Street read this month, maybe I can do more. Hopefully I'll do more this year now that I have more room, I want to make a bit more of a dent in these and vet more for review. Anyway, this one is review worthy, a fair amount to pick a part. Generally, I liked it, it was good, bordering on fine. It has enough things to pick on, like how it has plenty of padding the word count and too many fake outs. The ending is abrupt and doesn't quite cap off everything.
But it also has some of the more blatant class commentary I've seen in these. Johanna wants to fit into this rich popular crowd of kids who are used to getting what they want and rage when a teacher dares to not give them everything for once. We get things like that as well as little bits that show off the contrast of their live and Johanna's, as she is rather poor. It's not exactly Parasite or anything but there is enough to it, and it is generally done well., The situation of her being dared to kill the teacher is interesting and there is setup and payoff, even if it's a bit weird.
It has pacing issues and a fair bit you can poke at, but the general feel and plot is reasonably solid, being boosted by the commentary. Johnana is a complicated protagonist but she's mostly alright. The writing is on the weaker end but there's a few vocab words in it. Plus, a dry sense of humor that actually got me a few times.
So it has kinks, but for now i liked it. It could go up or down when I review, but overall it works fine for what it is. It's very Stine-y and works as a fun quick read, mostly. Smarter than average in the very least.
CONTINUITY WATCH: Mention of the local coffee shop The Corner, Reva Dalby appears at the party, Carter Phillips of the Cheater is mentioned, Deena of Wrong Number gets mentioned of course, and Suki Thomas appears at one point.
REDHEAD WATCH: Margret, Zack, unnamed girl at the party, Reva.
NUMBER OF FAKEOUTS: 8
POP CULTURE/REAL LIFE WATCH Alexander Hamilton, Abe Lincoln, Clint Eastwood, Charles Lindbergh, some car brands, Ralph Lauren, Coke, 7 11, Hulk, Hamlet,
STINE-ISMS: "riot", silvery, dryly, sour, swallowed hard,
TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS: Johanna and Dennis
BODY SHAMING?: Yes.
ANIMAL DEATH WATCH: Nope, thank god.
ACAB WATCH: The police are called about the teacher’s car being vandalized but don’t do anything because it’s just a prank bro even though it was a rather malicious prank.
No idea what's next outside of this weeks camp book, see ya then.
But it also has some of the more blatant class commentary I've seen in these. Johanna wants to fit into this rich popular crowd of kids who are used to getting what they want and rage when a teacher dares to not give them everything for once. We get things like that as well as little bits that show off the contrast of their live and Johanna's, as she is rather poor. It's not exactly Parasite or anything but there is enough to it, and it is generally done well., The situation of her being dared to kill the teacher is interesting and there is setup and payoff, even if it's a bit weird.
It has pacing issues and a fair bit you can poke at, but the general feel and plot is reasonably solid, being boosted by the commentary. Johnana is a complicated protagonist but she's mostly alright. The writing is on the weaker end but there's a few vocab words in it. Plus, a dry sense of humor that actually got me a few times.
So it has kinks, but for now i liked it. It could go up or down when I review, but overall it works fine for what it is. It's very Stine-y and works as a fun quick read, mostly. Smarter than average in the very least.
CONTINUITY WATCH: Mention of the local coffee shop The Corner, Reva Dalby appears at the party, Carter Phillips of the Cheater is mentioned, Deena of Wrong Number gets mentioned of course, and Suki Thomas appears at one point.
REDHEAD WATCH: Margret, Zack, unnamed girl at the party, Reva.
NUMBER OF FAKEOUTS: 8
POP CULTURE/REAL LIFE WATCH Alexander Hamilton, Abe Lincoln, Clint Eastwood, Charles Lindbergh, some car brands, Ralph Lauren, Coke, 7 11, Hulk, Hamlet,
STINE-ISMS: "riot", silvery, dryly, sour, swallowed hard,
TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS: Johanna and Dennis
BODY SHAMING?: Yes.
ANIMAL DEATH WATCH: Nope, thank god.
ACAB WATCH: The police are called about the teacher’s car being vandalized but don’t do anything because it’s just a prank bro even though it was a rather malicious prank.
No idea what's next outside of this weeks camp book, see ya then.
September 16, 2021
Oh what unlikable characters! I used to love Stine, but the more I read the worse he gets for me. Every chapter ends with a huge, outrageously bad thing but then the beginning of the next chapter is always "ha, just kidding!" After reading multiple Fear Street books, you know what's coming. I enjoyed the ending to this one. It was a nice twist.
I couldn't stand ANY of the teens. Johanna was the worst. How could you really believe Dennis liked you? It was painfully obvious he was using her but "he's such a great guy!" To be so in love with a guy that you're willing to kill for him...*eye roll*. But oh Mr. Northwood was just ruining his life! But here we have a group of rich kids who literally destroy this man's car, throw skunk piss on his porch, and get away with NOT EVEN a slap on the wrist. But it's Mr. Northwood who is trying to ruin their lives. I think it's them ruining HIS life. Literally. I felt bad for him. I, too, went to a school where the rich kids could get away with anything that the other kids did not get away with. I can understand as a teacher how frustrating that can be to have someone just blatantly disrespect you all the time but there's nothing you can do because that student's daddy could have you fired.
What some teenage girls are willing to do for popularity and boyfriends is just *major eye roll.* It makes for great reading though.
I couldn't stand ANY of the teens. Johanna was the worst. How could you really believe Dennis liked you? It was painfully obvious he was using her but "he's such a great guy!" To be so in love with a guy that you're willing to kill for him...*eye roll*. But oh Mr. Northwood was just ruining his life! But here we have a group of rich kids who literally destroy this man's car, throw skunk piss on his porch, and get away with NOT EVEN a slap on the wrist. But it's Mr. Northwood who is trying to ruin their lives. I think it's them ruining HIS life. Literally. I felt bad for him. I, too, went to a school where the rich kids could get away with anything that the other kids did not get away with. I can understand as a teacher how frustrating that can be to have someone just blatantly disrespect you all the time but there's nothing you can do because that student's daddy could have you fired.
What some teenage girls are willing to do for popularity and boyfriends is just *major eye roll.* It makes for great reading though.
February 4, 2024
3.5 rounded up to 4 for GR
Read
July 20, 2022Christina Moore, the audiobook narrator, also did Go Ask Alice. In both cases, she elevates the material, God bless her. I would just read Killing Mr. Griffin by Lo Dunc instead of this.
October 3, 2023
Das Positive zuerst: Ich bin froh, dass das Ende gut ausging. Dass Johanna zur Vernunft gekommen ist.
Es ist krass, dass Dennis und seine Clique es ernst meinten den Lehrer umzubringen. Johanna wollte als unsichere Jugendliche endlich zu den "coolen Kids" gehören und macht dieses Blödsinn mit. Als Kind empfindet man die Geschichte sicherlich als gut, aber als Erwachsene ist sie definitiv übertrieben dargestellt, denn auch Reiche sind nicht vom Recht befreit, wie sich am Ende zum Glück doch rausstellt.
Es ist krass, dass Dennis und seine Clique es ernst meinten den Lehrer umzubringen. Johanna wollte als unsichere Jugendliche endlich zu den "coolen Kids" gehören und macht dieses Blödsinn mit. Als Kind empfindet man die Geschichte sicherlich als gut, aber als Erwachsene ist sie definitiv übertrieben dargestellt, denn auch Reiche sind nicht vom Recht befreit, wie sich am Ende zum Glück doch rausstellt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2024
Another Fear Street where it has been awhile since I last read it.
The covers just always amaze me on these books. Just what are they looking at and what's with the light behind the car? Those faces aren't scared and it doesn't really have anything to do with the book.
We get first person narration from our main character Johanna Wise and it is mostly a flashback story in to how we got here. Yes just why is she holding a gun and preparing to shoot her neighbor, Mr. Northwood, and kill him?
I don't know how much sympathy we can garner for Johanna but out of the other characters...she isn't totally vile. Her best friend Margaret is a nice person though and Mr. Northwood is a teacher at Shadyside High. He's a tough but fair teacher who doesn't give special treatment to any student...he seems like a nice guy.
Everyone else in this book is just outright awful. Of course, they are from the wealthy part of town so the class thing has to be brought up since Johanna has divorced parents and her mother has to work two jobs. The Fear Street movies they put out on Netflix that have the Shadyside and Sunnyvale towns are a very good example of just what jerks the rich kids are in this town.
Go on and name me a character from any Fear Street book that lives in North Hills that is a nice person? Reva Dalby even gets mentioned later at a party so tell me that I'm wrong...
It is established that Johanna is a junior taking senior classes so she can't be that bad a student and while she and Margaret are getting some hot dogs at the 7-11, she notices some rich kids from her history class. It is Dennis Arthur and his gang of his girlfriend Caitlin Munroe, her bestie Melody Dawson and two of his friends Zack Hamilton and Lanny Barnes.
Dennis is on the track team and he is a pretty boy while Zack is built like a wrestler with a head of curly red hair who wears sunglasses all the time. Lanny is a blond jokester, Caitlin has short brown hair and wears dangly earrings and Melody is a snotty, snobby blonde.
They decide to mess around with the Slurpee machine and get purple slush all over the place to the owners annoyance and when he threatens to call the cops, Dennis pulls out a realistic gun but shoots a stream of water at the guy's shirt.
Johanna and Margaret were laughing at them joking around and laughing nervously after the gun prank but were not directly involved so no problems for them. It seems these rich kids think they can get away with anything and they soon get a dose of reality.
Johanna has to stay and ask Mr. Northwood a question about a report she is doing and she witnesses the teacher and Dennis having an argument. Apparently, Dennis' family always just sporadically goes to the Bahamas in February and he is going to miss a midterm. He wants Mr. Northwood to either let him take a make-up test when he gets back or take one on the trip with him (like he would actually do it *eyeroll*)
Mr. Northwood won't give him special treatment but Dennis whines that if he gets an F, he'll be kicked off the track team. Whiny jocks...things haven't changed since 1994 I see?
Dennis is a couple of lockers down from Johanna and he rushes there after his argument with Mr. Northwood, punching the locker. Johana tries to make Dennis laugh and flirt with him a bit but it isn't until she starts joking around with Dennis about how much he hates Mr. Northwood that he actually smiles.
The joking involves talk about shooting and drowning the teacher and messing him up real good...holy crap! We also get a little bit of what is going on in Johanna's head and it goes to a dark place where she fantasizes about beating up Caitlin.
She was walking with Dennis and saw Caitlin waiting for him in her little red Miata so she had a daydream about pulling the other girl out of the car and giving her a good beating before driving off with Dennis all impressed.
Yeah I am a pessimistic person and sometimes depressed but dang...Johanna does have issues. No wonder she's attracted to Dennis and his hyena friends...
Even while Dennis is gone on the vacation with his folks, his friends give Mr. Northwood a hard time too and the teacher sternly gets fed up with their attitudes of being better than everyone else.
So it is no surprise when Johanna hears a loud noise and goes to investigate, she finds them hiding behind Mr. Northwood's car. They are shocked to find Johanna is his neighbor and they think she is going to snitch on them but Johanna takes offense at the insult that she might just be brown-noser and says nothing.
Caitlin goes back to the car to get warm and Zack dares Lanny to pour sand in the gas tank of Mr. Northwood's car...which he does. Zack gets in his own vandalism by starting to scratch Dennis' name in the fender but Mr. Northwood comes out onto his porch at that moment.
The others get away but Mr. Northwood spots Johanna trying to get back to her house. He questions a nervous Johann about what was going on but he knew exactly who drove off and once he sees his fender, Mr. Northwood says he'll call the police as Johanna rushes inside.
The next day, all four chairs sit empty in class. After the class, Johanna learns from Mr. Northwood that he called the police but they didn't take the prank seriously and took two hours to even come out to his house. Except Northwood went and told the school principal and got them all suspended from school.
Johanna isn't in any trouble but Mr. Northwood says that he will be keeping an eye on her basically if she is going to hang around that crowd. Johanna gets a little miffed at that and as a teen, I would have too. Now as an adult, it just seemed like a word of friendly advice to a girl who is a good student and a nice person.
Dennis calls Johanna up that night, back from the Bahamas. He heard about what happened to his friends from his mom because she talked with Melody's mother and he has to brag to jOhanna about how they all got un-suspended because their parents threw an entitled Karen and Ken tantrum at the principal.
And the principal even apologized!! Wow...thirty years later and nothing changes does it?
Dennis invites Johanna to go with him to a party at Melody's house because Caitlin will be gone visiting her cousin and Johanna is concerned at first. Dennis assures her that they aren't exclusive and date other people so Johanna gladly accepts the date.
Dennis picks her up and takes her to the party and no one treats Johanna nasty or anything but Dennis doesn't really hang around her, mingling with other rich kids like Reva Dalby. As the party winds down to smaller numbers, Dennis soon shows Johanna attention but at the expense of announcing to everyone that they are planning to kill Mr. Northwood!
No one seems appalled at the idea and they start joking about the teacher and complaining about what a grump he is. Johanna goes along with joking and then she ends up making out with Dennis in her driveway. The moment is spoiled when Johanna catches Mr. Northwood watching them and Dennis is no longer in the mood for making out, both of them mad at what a creeper he is.
Johanna starts hanging around with Dennis and his friends and she thinks everything is going great until some of the dares go a little too far and Mr. Northwood starts to come down on Johanna too and she finds herself in deep...too deep to dig out of the toxic influence Dennis has on her.
Soon it is the talk of every student at Shadyside that Johanna is going to kill Mr. Northwood and bets are made on when and where and how to her distress. The story now comes full circle to where we came in at the prologue but it is still far from over...
The outcome is very predictable but there are still a few surprises and twists in The Dare that keep it from being completely awful. It isn't as compelling as Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan but it is more a comfort food version of the tale...deep fried Oreos compared to tiramisu.
The ending isn't quite what I expected and it seems that there are more questions than answers when some characters just drop out of the picture that seemed pretty important. Other than a few things that keep it from being really good or amazing, The Dare is entertaining enough for being written at a time when Fear Street books started coming out every month instead of every couple of months.
If it is a Fear Street book you haven't read, I can recommend The Dare for a cold winter day.
The covers just always amaze me on these books. Just what are they looking at and what's with the light behind the car? Those faces aren't scared and it doesn't really have anything to do with the book.
We get first person narration from our main character Johanna Wise and it is mostly a flashback story in to how we got here. Yes just why is she holding a gun and preparing to shoot her neighbor, Mr. Northwood, and kill him?
I don't know how much sympathy we can garner for Johanna but out of the other characters...she isn't totally vile. Her best friend Margaret is a nice person though and Mr. Northwood is a teacher at Shadyside High. He's a tough but fair teacher who doesn't give special treatment to any student...he seems like a nice guy.
Everyone else in this book is just outright awful. Of course, they are from the wealthy part of town so the class thing has to be brought up since Johanna has divorced parents and her mother has to work two jobs. The Fear Street movies they put out on Netflix that have the Shadyside and Sunnyvale towns are a very good example of just what jerks the rich kids are in this town.
Go on and name me a character from any Fear Street book that lives in North Hills that is a nice person? Reva Dalby even gets mentioned later at a party so tell me that I'm wrong...
It is established that Johanna is a junior taking senior classes so she can't be that bad a student and while she and Margaret are getting some hot dogs at the 7-11, she notices some rich kids from her history class. It is Dennis Arthur and his gang of his girlfriend Caitlin Munroe, her bestie Melody Dawson and two of his friends Zack Hamilton and Lanny Barnes.
Dennis is on the track team and he is a pretty boy while Zack is built like a wrestler with a head of curly red hair who wears sunglasses all the time. Lanny is a blond jokester, Caitlin has short brown hair and wears dangly earrings and Melody is a snotty, snobby blonde.
They decide to mess around with the Slurpee machine and get purple slush all over the place to the owners annoyance and when he threatens to call the cops, Dennis pulls out a realistic gun but shoots a stream of water at the guy's shirt.
Johanna and Margaret were laughing at them joking around and laughing nervously after the gun prank but were not directly involved so no problems for them. It seems these rich kids think they can get away with anything and they soon get a dose of reality.
Johanna has to stay and ask Mr. Northwood a question about a report she is doing and she witnesses the teacher and Dennis having an argument. Apparently, Dennis' family always just sporadically goes to the Bahamas in February and he is going to miss a midterm. He wants Mr. Northwood to either let him take a make-up test when he gets back or take one on the trip with him (like he would actually do it *eyeroll*)
Mr. Northwood won't give him special treatment but Dennis whines that if he gets an F, he'll be kicked off the track team. Whiny jocks...things haven't changed since 1994 I see?
Dennis is a couple of lockers down from Johanna and he rushes there after his argument with Mr. Northwood, punching the locker. Johana tries to make Dennis laugh and flirt with him a bit but it isn't until she starts joking around with Dennis about how much he hates Mr. Northwood that he actually smiles.
The joking involves talk about shooting and drowning the teacher and messing him up real good...holy crap! We also get a little bit of what is going on in Johanna's head and it goes to a dark place where she fantasizes about beating up Caitlin.
She was walking with Dennis and saw Caitlin waiting for him in her little red Miata so she had a daydream about pulling the other girl out of the car and giving her a good beating before driving off with Dennis all impressed.
Yeah I am a pessimistic person and sometimes depressed but dang...Johanna does have issues. No wonder she's attracted to Dennis and his hyena friends...
Even while Dennis is gone on the vacation with his folks, his friends give Mr. Northwood a hard time too and the teacher sternly gets fed up with their attitudes of being better than everyone else.
So it is no surprise when Johanna hears a loud noise and goes to investigate, she finds them hiding behind Mr. Northwood's car. They are shocked to find Johanna is his neighbor and they think she is going to snitch on them but Johanna takes offense at the insult that she might just be brown-noser and says nothing.
Caitlin goes back to the car to get warm and Zack dares Lanny to pour sand in the gas tank of Mr. Northwood's car...which he does. Zack gets in his own vandalism by starting to scratch Dennis' name in the fender but Mr. Northwood comes out onto his porch at that moment.
The others get away but Mr. Northwood spots Johanna trying to get back to her house. He questions a nervous Johann about what was going on but he knew exactly who drove off and once he sees his fender, Mr. Northwood says he'll call the police as Johanna rushes inside.
The next day, all four chairs sit empty in class. After the class, Johanna learns from Mr. Northwood that he called the police but they didn't take the prank seriously and took two hours to even come out to his house. Except Northwood went and told the school principal and got them all suspended from school.
Johanna isn't in any trouble but Mr. Northwood says that he will be keeping an eye on her basically if she is going to hang around that crowd. Johanna gets a little miffed at that and as a teen, I would have too. Now as an adult, it just seemed like a word of friendly advice to a girl who is a good student and a nice person.
Dennis calls Johanna up that night, back from the Bahamas. He heard about what happened to his friends from his mom because she talked with Melody's mother and he has to brag to jOhanna about how they all got un-suspended because their parents threw an entitled Karen and Ken tantrum at the principal.
And the principal even apologized!! Wow...thirty years later and nothing changes does it?
Dennis invites Johanna to go with him to a party at Melody's house because Caitlin will be gone visiting her cousin and Johanna is concerned at first. Dennis assures her that they aren't exclusive and date other people so Johanna gladly accepts the date.
Dennis picks her up and takes her to the party and no one treats Johanna nasty or anything but Dennis doesn't really hang around her, mingling with other rich kids like Reva Dalby. As the party winds down to smaller numbers, Dennis soon shows Johanna attention but at the expense of announcing to everyone that they are planning to kill Mr. Northwood!
No one seems appalled at the idea and they start joking about the teacher and complaining about what a grump he is. Johanna goes along with joking and then she ends up making out with Dennis in her driveway. The moment is spoiled when Johanna catches Mr. Northwood watching them and Dennis is no longer in the mood for making out, both of them mad at what a creeper he is.
Johanna starts hanging around with Dennis and his friends and she thinks everything is going great until some of the dares go a little too far and Mr. Northwood starts to come down on Johanna too and she finds herself in deep...too deep to dig out of the toxic influence Dennis has on her.
Soon it is the talk of every student at Shadyside that Johanna is going to kill Mr. Northwood and bets are made on when and where and how to her distress. The story now comes full circle to where we came in at the prologue but it is still far from over...
The outcome is very predictable but there are still a few surprises and twists in The Dare that keep it from being completely awful. It isn't as compelling as Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan but it is more a comfort food version of the tale...deep fried Oreos compared to tiramisu.
The ending isn't quite what I expected and it seems that there are more questions than answers when some characters just drop out of the picture that seemed pretty important. Other than a few things that keep it from being really good or amazing, The Dare is entertaining enough for being written at a time when Fear Street books started coming out every month instead of every couple of months.
If it is a Fear Street book you haven't read, I can recommend The Dare for a cold winter day.
January 15, 2015
I liked the book "The Dare." I liked how it kept me on the edge of my seat. It showed the change in the girl because she wanted Dennis so bad. Also, I liked how her mom and her friend showed concern for her when she started to hang out with the "cool" kids from school.
The plot of the story starts out when she is hanging out with her best friend. They are at the gas station and the rich kids show up. They start making a racket and messing the whole place up and being a nuisance. a few days later the popular guy she likes asks if she would like to study and she says, Yes. He picks her up and brings her to his friend's house and they are doing homework some are drinking and doing other drugs. As they sit and talk for a while, a joke starts to come about that they want to kill Mr. Northwood, but it turns into a reality quickly.
The main character is a normal young lady who just wants to be "popular." She tries so hard to get into their group. Denis is stuck up and thinks he can get whatever he wants because his parents are rich. Caitlin is the same way as Denis but for her it is boys so she can have whoever she wants as her boyfriend because she is rich and "popular."
The story takes place in modern times in a run-down neighborhood. The main character and Mr. Northwood live on the same street so that is why Denis picked the main character to blame and use for the killing of Mr. Northwood. She had the gun, she was close to his house, and she was also very gullible.
I would recommend this book for anyone ages 10-17. Also, it can be a boy or a girl; you can think of the events in the book in both perspectives. I would recommend the book because I enjoyed the book.
The plot of the story starts out when she is hanging out with her best friend. They are at the gas station and the rich kids show up. They start making a racket and messing the whole place up and being a nuisance. a few days later the popular guy she likes asks if she would like to study and she says, Yes. He picks her up and brings her to his friend's house and they are doing homework some are drinking and doing other drugs. As they sit and talk for a while, a joke starts to come about that they want to kill Mr. Northwood, but it turns into a reality quickly.
The main character is a normal young lady who just wants to be "popular." She tries so hard to get into their group. Denis is stuck up and thinks he can get whatever he wants because his parents are rich. Caitlin is the same way as Denis but for her it is boys so she can have whoever she wants as her boyfriend because she is rich and "popular."
The story takes place in modern times in a run-down neighborhood. The main character and Mr. Northwood live on the same street so that is why Denis picked the main character to blame and use for the killing of Mr. Northwood. She had the gun, she was close to his house, and she was also very gullible.
I would recommend this book for anyone ages 10-17. Also, it can be a boy or a girl; you can think of the events in the book in both perspectives. I would recommend the book because I enjoyed the book.
November 12, 2012
So we've got a bunch of rich kids and this out of the place, your-regular-next-door girl (who happens to live on Fear Street). Rich and handsome guy asks girl out. Girl ecstatic to the point she would do anything for him. Well, guy decides to take her up on that offer. Enter the murder of the mean high school teacher (well, mean to our rich kids anyway).
Meh.
I used to love reading the Fear Street series. This one though... Not so much.
Our lead was too annoying, self-absorbed and, well, clingy. Even the rest of the ensemble of characters were just too irritating. It was all I could do to just flip to the end to find out how it all ends and be done with it. Not to mention I was disappointed by the lack of ghosties and ghoulies. That's not really something to hold against the book, but still.
All in all, not one of R. L. Stine's best.
Meh.
I used to love reading the Fear Street series. This one though... Not so much.
Our lead was too annoying, self-absorbed and, well, clingy. Even the rest of the ensemble of characters were just too irritating. It was all I could do to just flip to the end to find out how it all ends and be done with it. Not to mention I was disappointed by the lack of ghosties and ghoulies. That's not really something to hold against the book, but still.
All in all, not one of R. L. Stine's best.
November 14, 2018
There's a lot to dislike about this book. It has some of RL Stine's worst tendencies. But at the same time I genuinely liked the examination of rich vs poor that is in Shadyside. The best parts of the Fear Street books are when RL Stine has something to say, and it's clear there's something here. It's just buried in dumb jump scares and internal thoughts that make no sense. However, I can see a lot that can be brought up in the whole classism conversation and anything that sparks debate gets +++'s in my book.
February 6, 2016
The plot of this book is so ridiculous I don't even know where to begin. I can see someone wanting to be a part of something so badly that they are willing to do anything so I guess that part of this book is believable, but still...an entire school taking bets on whether a girl is going to kill a teacher? It's stupid.
August 29, 2021
“Why do I have such violent fantasies?
Why am I always picturing myself socking people in the jaw, pushing people down stairs or off cliffs, tearing peoples’ heads off and watching the blood gush up from their necks?
Why do I always imagine myself doing the most horrible, unspeakable things?”
A fun, ridiculous early 90s read.
Johanna, who sometimes confuses reality with the violence in her mind, is desperate to be popular. She hooks up with the cool clique and starts to agree to worsening dares leading up to…dun dun dun…MUR.DER.
The ending was fun.
A not bad, but not too memorable, Fear Street installment.
Why am I always picturing myself socking people in the jaw, pushing people down stairs or off cliffs, tearing peoples’ heads off and watching the blood gush up from their necks?
Why do I always imagine myself doing the most horrible, unspeakable things?”
A fun, ridiculous early 90s read.
Johanna, who sometimes confuses reality with the violence in her mind, is desperate to be popular. She hooks up with the cool clique and starts to agree to worsening dares leading up to…dun dun dun…MUR.DER.
The ending was fun.
A not bad, but not too memorable, Fear Street installment.
April 21, 2024
Did I read this in 3 hours instead of studying? Maybe..
I reread this since this was one if my favorite books a few years ago. Honestly, it's not the best but not the worst either. It's easy to read but at the end of every chapter are Johanna's daydreams that go like "Omg guys I did something horrible" then you flip the page and it's "haha it's just my silly daydreams". Could be better but it's Fear Street so it was to be expected.
I reread this since this was one if my favorite books a few years ago. Honestly, it's not the best but not the worst either. It's easy to read but at the end of every chapter are Johanna's daydreams that go like "Omg guys I did something horrible" then you flip the page and it's "haha it's just my silly daydreams". Could be better but it's Fear Street so it was to be expected.
August 23, 2021
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Gun Violence, disturbing intrusive thoughts, mentions of murder.
I really enjoyed this one! This was a little more predictable than the last one I read, but that’s ok! Still a great read.
I really enjoyed this one! This was a little more predictable than the last one I read, but that’s ok! Still a great read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2019
Wow! The main character is so gullible and just sad. I get this is written for younger teens, but seriously! Everything felt unbelievable and all the characters were unlikable in my opinion.
December 23, 2022
3 stars only because of the pure middle school nostalgia
July 17, 2023
I hate everyone in this book; they were awful, and Johanna was a moron. I want to give it a lower rating, but I still enjoyed it in a way. I just dont recommend it.
April 9, 2024
Still love the fear street series!
May 7, 2024
3.75 rounded up to 4
August 15, 2025
3.5
This girl…a little…
Don’t be a follower, and I promise he ain’t enough of anything to commit murder, girl, go make some real friends.
Poor teacher, just ‘cause he ain’t giving into these entitled little shits.
This girl…a little…
Don’t be a follower, and I promise he ain’t enough of anything to commit murder, girl, go make some real friends.
Poor teacher, just ‘cause he ain’t giving into these entitled little shits.
November 4, 2025
It’s 4.5 won’t let me do that tho 🫤
October 23, 2021
Horrible!! I've been re-reading Stine to revive my childhood a bit, but this novel is so disappointing. The story is so shallow and dumb, it's not even for kids. I've considered giving it a one star but out of charity i'm giving 2 stars.
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