Fatal Games

Freddy Krueger's Tales of Terror #2

by Bruce Richards

Freddy Kruger is back--in six new original YA thrillers coming from Tor Books. The first book, released to take advantage of New Line Cinema's major motion picture release of Wes Craven's New Nightmare, features Freddy disguised as a new character haunting the kids of Springfield once again.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 15, 1995

Reviews

[Armand · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can work as a standalone, but for a fuller experience I suggest reading the first piece in this series, Blind Date. That was a nice enough read, but Richards upped the ante on this one and the result is one delicious blood-spattered twosome. Nobody's spared here, but if you knew how merciless our Freddy can be you won't be surprised.

Football has been staged as a backdrop in these high school slashers, but it has never been used as effectively as in here. Since the last book, a star quarterback's face has been mutilated and his passing hand savaged, his replacement's leg was broken in practice, the second stringer had an unfortunate "accident" on the stairs so he could no longer play, the team manager was an ex-player whose legs were run over by a car, another player went mad and tried to kill himself, etc. And yeah, two cheerleaders have been brutally murdered while a third is staying away from school, wisely it may seem.

Now Chip and Al are extending their sibling rivalry onto the green, and with the way they have been on edge recently, we can only guess where they'll end up. No wonder Coach Cuttler is at his wits' end - the Springwood Night Owls is this close to calling this season in.

The ending was entirely unexpected if a bit too sudden. It's crafted to anticipate a sequel, but it's been decades since this book was written so that isn't very likely. In any case, I'm rating this 7.5/10 or 4 stars out of 5.

[Mikepottz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some characters are back from the first book. Two brothers move into the house of the first book (weird evan) and alicia is still living next door. A character gets set on fire, Freddy has a son, and another likeable confusing tale of dream and real life in the same dimension.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's far more going on here than what you'd expect from a quickie 90s tie-in to a popular horror franchise! Who is Al speaking to in the basement? What's the deal with the eye surgeon whose nephew hung himself due to deaths of several teenagers? Or the teenager who really could be behind it, locked away in an asylum? Or the teenager whose grossly injured face can't be repaired, even by plastic surgery? There are several other unexplained circumstances, but don't expect any wrap-up, because it's all just the work of Freddy Krueger in the end! (I'm guessing there was a direction from the publishing company that it had to be the work of Freddy).

Despite having no real idea what was going on, it was pretty cool! I'd like to see what could have been done with it if it weren't part of the Freddy franchise. There was a weird homoerotic vibe between the brothers too (don't worry, one of them is adopted). This book was all kinds of strange!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of the first book in the series, this touches base with the first story to introduce two brothers who are in competition with each other that just happen to anger Springwood's eternal tormentor, Freddy Krueger. Not a bad story and kudos to bringing back a few characters from 'Blind Date' in order to resolve their stories, but the ending kinda falls flat with possibly the most obvious reveal ever. You'll see it coming.

That said, this is Bruce Richards' final book in the series and he really does a great job creating a universe of people that flow in and out of the plot and continue the work he did on the first book. Worth a read.

[Jack Reacts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at: https://www.jackreacts.com.au/freddy-...

Snippet: Another enjoyable Tale of Terror! I enjoyed how it was a new story that somewhat intertwined with Alicia’s from the last book, and hopefully that sort of continuation continues through the series...

Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've got no idea what the idea what the point of this story was, none of the characters were engaging, and the flow of the plot was underwhelming. The only good thing was that I got to go through this for free thanks to the 80s Slasher Librarian recording an audio version of this book on YouTube.

[ณัฐพันธุ์ บุญเลิศ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. The storyline, and characters are too complicated.
After a short quick run, the story seems downhill to the hell.

[☆Angel☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, this book follows in the footsteps of the old school TV show "Freddy's Nightmare's". If you liked that show, you will like this book. My favorite parts are the ones with Freddy, of course. It's a fast and enjoyable read for any horror fan.