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Halloween Night #1
Halloween Night
Hallowe'en Night (Point Horror) [Paperback] Stine, R. L.
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1993
33 people are currently reading
2476 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 261 reviews
October 22, 2019
I’m pretty sure that I’d not read this Point Horror before!
With all the usual ‘fun’ Stine fake out cliffhangers, it’s entirely possible that I’d blurred it with the numerous other books of his that I’d read in the 90’s.
The main gist of this one sees Brenda annoyed by cousin Halley that reaches a point where a plan is conceived to kill her at a Halloween fancy dress party.
From the jokingly ‘I could kill her’, this elaborate scheme starts to grow...
From one scare provided by a cardboard cutout to an overly complex dramatic final sequence, this had everything that I nostalgically love about these books!
With all the usual ‘fun’ Stine fake out cliffhangers, it’s entirely possible that I’d blurred it with the numerous other books of his that I’d read in the 90’s.
The main gist of this one sees Brenda annoyed by cousin Halley that reaches a point where a plan is conceived to kill her at a Halloween fancy dress party.
From the jokingly ‘I could kill her’, this elaborate scheme starts to grow...
From one scare provided by a cardboard cutout to an overly complex dramatic final sequence, this had everything that I nostalgically love about these books!
March 11, 2019
Si hay algo que estos libros me causan son: enojo.
Las cosas por las que Brenda, la protagonista tiene que pasar de verdad me hicieron pasar unos corajes que ash.
Su prima es odiosa, y lo peor es que sus papás ni en cuenta. Esta niña (la prima) se cree con el poder para quitarle todo, comenzó con algo sin importancia como la ropa, luego el cuarto, hasta llegar al novio y hasta las amigas.
Cada cosa que le hace es horrible, y el asunto va empeorando, hasta ponerse todo peor, mucho peor.
Las cosas por las que Brenda, la protagonista tiene que pasar de verdad me hicieron pasar unos corajes que ash.
Su prima es odiosa, y lo peor es que sus papás ni en cuenta. Esta niña (la prima) se cree con el poder para quitarle todo, comenzó con algo sin importancia como la ropa, luego el cuarto, hasta llegar al novio y hasta las amigas.
Cada cosa que le hace es horrible, y el asunto va empeorando, hasta ponerse todo peor, mucho peor.
October 29, 2024
Cousin Halley moves in with main character Brenda and her parents after Halley's parents are in the middle of a nasty divorce that is expected to continue on for the next three months. Halley is completely insufferable - chasing after everyone else's boyfriend and organizing ridiculous pranks, all while playing the victim. To make matters worse, Brenda's parents side with Halley every single time. When Brenda's teacher gives the class an assignment to write their own murder mystery, she begins to plot her cousin's death in time for the upcoming Halloween party. This becomes increasingly intense as the story progresses and there are some incredible twists along the way that are surprisingly unpredictable, especially in comparison to R.L.'s typical work. The climax is absolute chaos in the best way possible and was so geniusly thought-out. This is easily a 5/5 and I cannot wait to read the sequel. Absolutely epic.
October 24, 2024
3/5 because this was fun to read!
Like many millennials born in the early or mid 80s, RL Stine was a huge deal for me. It’s tough to look back and say for sure, but I think it’s safe to say that Stine was my doorway into both reading for pleasure, and the horror genre as a whole. Of course it started with Goosebumps—anxiously waiting for each new release, and devouring it in an evening.it didn’t take long to start reading his Fear Street and Point Horror books. They are longer books for older kids, with more horror and more violence. Though it’s all still very PG, these books really grabbed me and soon after I was looking into Stephen King.
Stine’s books, even his adult novels, are very simply written. But they are easy to read, and they’re filled with twists and turns. He often ends his chapters with fun little cliffhangers. His dialogue is dated and unrealistic, consistently lol. But to tear Stine’s writing apart too much would be to miss the point here. He wrote about killers (often jealous teenagers), vampires, werewolves, ghosts, robots, evil inanimate objects, yeti, and even egg monsters from mars! His books are super readable at any age, and the way he incorporated both classic horror tropes and monsters into stories about kids and teenagers, written for kids and teenagers, is why he was so unbelievably successful at this. Goosebumps is the second best selling book series of ALL TIME, beat out only by Harry Potter, so whatever he was doing was working. And all these years later, I had a blast reading this book. Like most of his books, the story is simple—a group of friends plans to murder a schoolmate and cousin of one of the girls, because she’s just being generally awful. She steals their boyfriends. She puts on a face in front of parents and adults that make her seem perfect. She’s selfish and attention-seeking, and her friends are fed up. As this murder plot progresses, they start to see that someone has a plan of their own…
It’s fun, it’s twisty and turny, and it has a great “horror” vibe to it. This was a great reminder of why I loved Stine so much back then, and it definitely brought back memories. These books remain a great stepping stone for kids interested in horror as they really aren’t especially violent or sexual, but they feel like horror. Despite their flaws, I hope kids continue to discover RL Stine and his many horror books for kids of all ages. For all this alone, they will always be a favorite of mine!
Like many millennials born in the early or mid 80s, RL Stine was a huge deal for me. It’s tough to look back and say for sure, but I think it’s safe to say that Stine was my doorway into both reading for pleasure, and the horror genre as a whole. Of course it started with Goosebumps—anxiously waiting for each new release, and devouring it in an evening.it didn’t take long to start reading his Fear Street and Point Horror books. They are longer books for older kids, with more horror and more violence. Though it’s all still very PG, these books really grabbed me and soon after I was looking into Stephen King.
Stine’s books, even his adult novels, are very simply written. But they are easy to read, and they’re filled with twists and turns. He often ends his chapters with fun little cliffhangers. His dialogue is dated and unrealistic, consistently lol. But to tear Stine’s writing apart too much would be to miss the point here. He wrote about killers (often jealous teenagers), vampires, werewolves, ghosts, robots, evil inanimate objects, yeti, and even egg monsters from mars! His books are super readable at any age, and the way he incorporated both classic horror tropes and monsters into stories about kids and teenagers, written for kids and teenagers, is why he was so unbelievably successful at this. Goosebumps is the second best selling book series of ALL TIME, beat out only by Harry Potter, so whatever he was doing was working. And all these years later, I had a blast reading this book. Like most of his books, the story is simple—a group of friends plans to murder a schoolmate and cousin of one of the girls, because she’s just being generally awful. She steals their boyfriends. She puts on a face in front of parents and adults that make her seem perfect. She’s selfish and attention-seeking, and her friends are fed up. As this murder plot progresses, they start to see that someone has a plan of their own…
It’s fun, it’s twisty and turny, and it has a great “horror” vibe to it. This was a great reminder of why I loved Stine so much back then, and it definitely brought back memories. These books remain a great stepping stone for kids interested in horror as they really aren’t especially violent or sexual, but they feel like horror. Despite their flaws, I hope kids continue to discover RL Stine and his many horror books for kids of all ages. For all this alone, they will always be a favorite of mine!
November 19, 2023
right off the bat i knew the villain would be the
this was a fun light read for spooky season. stine's fear street series was extremely formative reading for me, so it's fun to read something similar but still fresh. the halloweeny vibes are also great, complete with pumpkin carving, a costume party, and ominous notes written in blood. the ending is wonderfully chaotic (and twisty, unless you've guessed the villain like i did).
i have to say that after reading a lot of christopher pike this year, stine just doesn't feel the same. pike has showed me that cheesy 80s/90s teen horror can also have depth and complexity, so now stine's work feels kind of hollow in comparison.
nevertheless, i think i do want to read the sequel... need to see what type of villain will show up next halloween!
this was a fun light read for spooky season. stine's fear street series was extremely formative reading for me, so it's fun to read something similar but still fresh. the halloweeny vibes are also great, complete with pumpkin carving, a costume party, and ominous notes written in blood. the ending is wonderfully chaotic (and twisty, unless you've guessed the villain like i did).
i have to say that after reading a lot of christopher pike this year, stine just doesn't feel the same. pike has showed me that cheesy 80s/90s teen horror can also have depth and complexity, so now stine's work feels kind of hollow in comparison.
nevertheless, i think i do want to read the sequel... need to see what type of villain will show up next halloween!
October 9, 2021
One-Line Review: I hated every person in this book.
Full Review:
Spoilers abound for this book; it's too hard to review it without them. Also swearing. Sorry.
I originally gave this three stars, but had to go and change it to two, because I've been thinking about it this week, and it's been grating on me. I hate having to decrease a rating. Sigh.
I wanted to like this book so much. I ordered this and number two three years ago, having never read them in my younger years, and I was so excited. Halloween is my favourite time of year - one of my favourite things in general - and Halloween-themed books are a huge pleasure of mine. I have Stine's Halloween Party, from the Fear Street series, and that was a really fun book, so I was hoping that Halloween Night would be something similar.
Instead, we have a book that runs along similar plot lines to The Stepsister, but with some of the most unlikeable characters I've encountered lately.
Basic plot points: Brenda's cousin Halley has moved in with Brenda's family and basically taken over Brenda's life. She's got Brenda's room - and Brenda's now sleeping in what appears to be a closet - and she steals her clothes and borrows her car and all that sibling stuff that's supposedly normal but is actually really irritating. Then she goes after Brenda's boyfriend. And Brenda's friend Traci's boyfriend. So Brenda, Traci and other friend Dina decide to kill her.
Or not. They're planning a murder mystery for English class, so they murder Halley's character in their story. And then Brenda starts having nasty tricks played on her - dead birds in her room, writing in blood on her wall, maggoty meat in her bed - and of course she assumes it's Halley who's doing it. And her folks don't believe her. So she decides to kill Halley for real. Or something.
First: Brenda. I want to sympathise with her, because Stine does that - he has a talent for making you angry on the part of the characters who are getting stiffed. But I can't understand if she's genuinely getting a raw deal, or if she's just a whinger. I also can't figure out if she was ever genuinely planning to kill Halley, or if it was all a ruse. If it's the former, then she's sick and twisted. If it's the latter, she's sick and twisted and just s bit awesome.
Halley is a bitch, pure and simple. I do feel for her a bit, because her home life is miserable, but being miserable doesn't give you carte blanche to treat others like shit. Now I realise I may be overreacting here, because I'm a) a spoiled only child (four sisters and two brothers, but I wasn't raised in the same house) and b) someone who grew up poor, without a lot of money for stuff. The combination of these two things has made me territorial when it comes to my things. Mine is mine. I'm (almost always) happy to lend people stuff - if they ask. And if I have a pretty good idea that it'll come back in the same condition it went out in, or that it'll be replaced if it's damaged. YMMV here; I'm sure some of you are more generous than I am when it comes to friends and relatives "borrowing" (ie stealing) your things without asking. But just the description of Halley as someone who thought it was okay to take Brenda's things without permission - that made me hate her, just like I hated Jessie in The Stepsister for the same reason.
Well, I did say I was probably overreacting.
The other characters? Traci's fine. Dina's fine. Ted (Brenda's boyfriend) and Noah (Traci's boyfriend), who both end up hooking up with Halley, are pretty much jerks. I don't know how Stine continually writes these teenagers with no conscience. Thankfully I never knew boys like this in high school, although I'm sure there were a few around.
My main contempt, though, is saved for Brenda's parents. They take in their niece, because her parents are going through a bad divorce - but then they find they have no room. Their solution? Give the niece their daughter's bedroom, and shove the daughter into a closet. Harry Potter, but in reverse. Someone carves a threatening message on their daughter's walls, in blood, and instead of comforting her, or questioning the niece, or calling the freaking police if they believed it was done by an intruder, they get upset with their daughter for being angry about it. Repeat pattern with the burnt carcass of a bird thar shows up in a Jack O'Lantern on Brenda's desk. Someone's threatening their kid, and they're more concerned with her hostility towards her cousin. Point Horrors are full of absent parents and absent-minded parents and naïve parents and sometimes just BAD parents, but these ones get the Scumbag Parental Units Of The Year award.
The plot is just too confusing for me. After Brenda finds maggoty meat in her bed, she decides that she needs to kill Halley for real. Then Halley overhears Brenda talking about it, apologises for being rotten, and cries. We're led to believe that Brenda's continuing with the plot to kill Halley, but then at the party they switch costumes and Brenda gets stabbed instead of Halley, cleverly drawing out the prankster and potential killer. The problem is that it's never made clear whether a) Brenda actually planned to kill Halley, and just changed her mind when Halley apologised, or b) the whole killing-Halley thing was one elaborate plot to draw out the prankster. There are too many red herrings in this book, and the amount of twists and turns make it damn near impossible - for this girl, at least - to know what's going on.
So, two stars. Although it's a bit higher on the two-star rating than, say, Hit and Run.
Verdict: A big disappointment, due to an overly complicated plot and unlikable characters.
Full Review:
Spoilers abound for this book; it's too hard to review it without them. Also swearing. Sorry.
I originally gave this three stars, but had to go and change it to two, because I've been thinking about it this week, and it's been grating on me. I hate having to decrease a rating. Sigh.
I wanted to like this book so much. I ordered this and number two three years ago, having never read them in my younger years, and I was so excited. Halloween is my favourite time of year - one of my favourite things in general - and Halloween-themed books are a huge pleasure of mine. I have Stine's Halloween Party, from the Fear Street series, and that was a really fun book, so I was hoping that Halloween Night would be something similar.
Instead, we have a book that runs along similar plot lines to The Stepsister, but with some of the most unlikeable characters I've encountered lately.
Basic plot points: Brenda's cousin Halley has moved in with Brenda's family and basically taken over Brenda's life. She's got Brenda's room - and Brenda's now sleeping in what appears to be a closet - and she steals her clothes and borrows her car and all that sibling stuff that's supposedly normal but is actually really irritating. Then she goes after Brenda's boyfriend. And Brenda's friend Traci's boyfriend. So Brenda, Traci and other friend Dina decide to kill her.
Or not. They're planning a murder mystery for English class, so they murder Halley's character in their story. And then Brenda starts having nasty tricks played on her - dead birds in her room, writing in blood on her wall, maggoty meat in her bed - and of course she assumes it's Halley who's doing it. And her folks don't believe her. So she decides to kill Halley for real. Or something.
First: Brenda. I want to sympathise with her, because Stine does that - he has a talent for making you angry on the part of the characters who are getting stiffed. But I can't understand if she's genuinely getting a raw deal, or if she's just a whinger. I also can't figure out if she was ever genuinely planning to kill Halley, or if it was all a ruse. If it's the former, then she's sick and twisted. If it's the latter, she's sick and twisted and just s bit awesome.
Halley is a bitch, pure and simple. I do feel for her a bit, because her home life is miserable, but being miserable doesn't give you carte blanche to treat others like shit. Now I realise I may be overreacting here, because I'm a) a spoiled only child (four sisters and two brothers, but I wasn't raised in the same house) and b) someone who grew up poor, without a lot of money for stuff. The combination of these two things has made me territorial when it comes to my things. Mine is mine. I'm (almost always) happy to lend people stuff - if they ask. And if I have a pretty good idea that it'll come back in the same condition it went out in, or that it'll be replaced if it's damaged. YMMV here; I'm sure some of you are more generous than I am when it comes to friends and relatives "borrowing" (ie stealing) your things without asking. But just the description of Halley as someone who thought it was okay to take Brenda's things without permission - that made me hate her, just like I hated Jessie in The Stepsister for the same reason.
Well, I did say I was probably overreacting.
The other characters? Traci's fine. Dina's fine. Ted (Brenda's boyfriend) and Noah (Traci's boyfriend), who both end up hooking up with Halley, are pretty much jerks. I don't know how Stine continually writes these teenagers with no conscience. Thankfully I never knew boys like this in high school, although I'm sure there were a few around.
My main contempt, though, is saved for Brenda's parents. They take in their niece, because her parents are going through a bad divorce - but then they find they have no room. Their solution? Give the niece their daughter's bedroom, and shove the daughter into a closet. Harry Potter, but in reverse. Someone carves a threatening message on their daughter's walls, in blood, and instead of comforting her, or questioning the niece, or calling the freaking police if they believed it was done by an intruder, they get upset with their daughter for being angry about it. Repeat pattern with the burnt carcass of a bird thar shows up in a Jack O'Lantern on Brenda's desk. Someone's threatening their kid, and they're more concerned with her hostility towards her cousin. Point Horrors are full of absent parents and absent-minded parents and naïve parents and sometimes just BAD parents, but these ones get the Scumbag Parental Units Of The Year award.
The plot is just too confusing for me. After Brenda finds maggoty meat in her bed, she decides that she needs to kill Halley for real. Then Halley overhears Brenda talking about it, apologises for being rotten, and cries. We're led to believe that Brenda's continuing with the plot to kill Halley, but then at the party they switch costumes and Brenda gets stabbed instead of Halley, cleverly drawing out the prankster and potential killer. The problem is that it's never made clear whether a) Brenda actually planned to kill Halley, and just changed her mind when Halley apologised, or b) the whole killing-Halley thing was one elaborate plot to draw out the prankster. There are too many red herrings in this book, and the amount of twists and turns make it damn near impossible - for this girl, at least - to know what's going on.
So, two stars. Although it's a bit higher on the two-star rating than, say, Hit and Run.
Verdict: A big disappointment, due to an overly complicated plot and unlikable characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2021
3.5 rounded down for Goodreads. This was so much fun. I do wish the plot was a little more in depth at times, but that didn't bother me too much. I would also have enjoyed even more Halloween-related imagery, but, overall, reading this book was a really good time! What I got out of this book was exactly what I expected when I went into reading it: a nostalgia-filled, no-thinking-required type of read.
If you're looking for a book with an advanced plot or Shakespearean or overly elegant writing, then you may want to look elsewhere. But I'd totally recommend it to people looking for a quick and easy read with a cheesy nineties flare.
If you're looking for a book with an advanced plot or Shakespearean or overly elegant writing, then you may want to look elsewhere. But I'd totally recommend it to people looking for a quick and easy read with a cheesy nineties flare.
October 12, 2021
It can't be a coincidence that BRENDA our protag has a poster of LUKE PERRY in her bedroom 💘💘💘 Welcome to 1993, folks!
Anyway if your pretty blonde cousin Halley has parents going through a messy divorce, DO NOT let her stay at your home. She will take over your room, steal your boyfriend (and your friend's boyfriend too, natch) AND wreck your beloved blue Geo! Your parents will side with her and not you because POOR THING, her parents are divorcing so we must coddle her!!
Sooo, how do you enact revenge? Kill her off in a writing assignment, and then plot to kill her FOR REALS 💀💀💀
A bit convoluted and messy but silly and lovable...kinda like Randy, the annoying 10 year old brother of Brenda. Noone dies though.
3 out of 5 smooches for all your friend's boyfriends. Halley's coming to smooch and steal them all. 💋💋💋
Anyway if your pretty blonde cousin Halley has parents going through a messy divorce, DO NOT let her stay at your home. She will take over your room, steal your boyfriend (and your friend's boyfriend too, natch) AND wreck your beloved blue Geo! Your parents will side with her and not you because POOR THING, her parents are divorcing so we must coddle her!!
Sooo, how do you enact revenge? Kill her off in a writing assignment, and then plot to kill her FOR REALS 💀💀💀
A bit convoluted and messy but silly and lovable...kinda like Randy, the annoying 10 year old brother of Brenda. Noone dies though.
3 out of 5 smooches for all your friend's boyfriends. Halley's coming to smooch and steal them all. 💋💋💋
March 9, 2024
Well I finally found it, a bad point horror book. I was underwhelmed as I reading through this, the horror moments were incredibly tame and everything just seemed off. But then the ending... the final 20 pages of this are nonsensical. I appreciate this a very camp genre, but so many unbelievable things happen at the end. Including a completely out of no where twist that makes the whole story unravel. I have the sequel and will give it a chance though, here's hoping it's better than this one!
Brenda's cousin moves in with her family and quickly ruins her life. She takes her boyfriend and crashes her car and when she starts to get threatening messages left in her room she thinks knows exactly who is responsible. Brenda and her friends plot to kill Halley during the halloween costume party, but how much does halley know? And who will really end up reaching there demise?
Brenda's cousin moves in with her family and quickly ruins her life. She takes her boyfriend and crashes her car and when she starts to get threatening messages left in her room she thinks knows exactly who is responsible. Brenda and her friends plot to kill Halley during the halloween costume party, but how much does halley know? And who will really end up reaching there demise?
October 12, 2021
Really ballsy to write about KILLING YOUR COUSIN (WHO ATTENDS THE SAME SCHOOL AS YOU) for a writing assignment, using real names and everything.
Everyone has questionable morals in this one but it is wild and silly in the traditional Stine fashion.
Everyone has questionable morals in this one but it is wild and silly in the traditional Stine fashion.
October 6, 2022
I can't pretend this stands up super well, but it made me feel like a kid again, so it gets an extra star for that. This is my 90s. Makes me want to read all of my old books again.
What a trip. Assuming you go into this knowing what you're getting, it's a fun time. Oh, the drama. Everyone sucks. It's so teenager-ridiculous, I can see why I ate this up. And it actually reads really fast. Has that compulsively readable quality that I remember as a kid from these young adult R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike books. I was a bigger fan of Pike, but I loved Stine's 99 Fear Street books and the Fear Street Sagas.
I've been really scared to do any rereads of my childhood favorites because I thought it would completely tarnish all the good memories I have--mostly of me being too young (2nd grade and sheltered) to read Pike's and Stine's YA stuff, staying up way too late to binge them, giving myself horrific nightmares, and then begging my parents for more books. I don't think reading Halloween Night again as an adult tarnished any memories. This was silly and entertaining, exactly what I wanted. I had good taste as a kid. At the time, this was the pinnacle of entertainment to me, and I get it. Is it high quality literature? Hell no. But you already know that.
I just can't believe little kid me read shit like this. I was such a wimp when it came to visual spooks, and yet I could read about murder and mayhem galore. This book is pretty mild for the intended age group though.
What a trip. Assuming you go into this knowing what you're getting, it's a fun time. Oh, the drama. Everyone sucks. It's so teenager-ridiculous, I can see why I ate this up. And it actually reads really fast. Has that compulsively readable quality that I remember as a kid from these young adult R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike books. I was a bigger fan of Pike, but I loved Stine's 99 Fear Street books and the Fear Street Sagas.
I've been really scared to do any rereads of my childhood favorites because I thought it would completely tarnish all the good memories I have--mostly of me being too young (2nd grade and sheltered) to read Pike's and Stine's YA stuff, staying up way too late to binge them, giving myself horrific nightmares, and then begging my parents for more books. I don't think reading Halloween Night again as an adult tarnished any memories. This was silly and entertaining, exactly what I wanted. I had good taste as a kid. At the time, this was the pinnacle of entertainment to me, and I get it. Is it high quality literature? Hell no. But you already know that.
I just can't believe little kid me read shit like this. I was such a wimp when it came to visual spooks, and yet I could read about murder and mayhem galore. This book is pretty mild for the intended age group though.
October 23, 2023
A fun halloween read containing plenty of talk about scary costumes, the planning of a halloween party, pumpkin carving and of course plots of murder, cheating boyfriends, ominous notes left in blood, decapitated animals and the cousin from hell.
The ending is a bit silly and I did guess the mystery of it as it was nearing its conclusion but overall it has the halloween themes you want for this time of year.
The ending is a bit silly and I did guess the mystery of it as it was nearing its conclusion but overall it has the halloween themes you want for this time of year.
November 19, 2018
Reading all my moms old scary books from when she was younger. Been reading them with her. So much fun!
November 11, 2024
I read this with my book club that I run on Instagram where we revisit Point Horror and other books from our childhood - @talespointhorrorbookclub
Tagline - This party is a killer….
Memorable For – Questionable Halloween Outfits and lots of hair talk!
Some Thoughts -
Brenda and her friends are plotting a Halloween party with homemade terrifying Halloween costumes including a clown, a monk and the most terrifying of all ever Halloween costumes….a peacock! But then Brenda’a cousin Halley comes to stay and sets her sights on Brenda’s boyfriend Ted! And over a truck full of buns and a hard gear stick Ted falls for Halley and snogs her under Brenda’s bedroom window! This makes Brenda mad enough to plot revenge! Brenda means business….murder! But not any old murder! A Halloween Murder!
Other highlights include a murder plot within a murder plot, messages written in blood, bitchy characters who should not be friends, rubbish love interests , a random chapter from another characters point of view and and finding out that a pumpkin coming alive in your nightmares would make a wet sucking sound 🤣
Oh and possibly the worst parents in Point Horror who make their child sleep in a room covered in blood!
There were some really fab horror moments in this book too 🖤
I had a good time with this one!
Tagline - This party is a killer….
Memorable For – Questionable Halloween Outfits and lots of hair talk!
Some Thoughts -
Brenda and her friends are plotting a Halloween party with homemade terrifying Halloween costumes including a clown, a monk and the most terrifying of all ever Halloween costumes….a peacock! But then Brenda’a cousin Halley comes to stay and sets her sights on Brenda’s boyfriend Ted! And over a truck full of buns and a hard gear stick Ted falls for Halley and snogs her under Brenda’s bedroom window! This makes Brenda mad enough to plot revenge! Brenda means business….murder! But not any old murder! A Halloween Murder!
Other highlights include a murder plot within a murder plot, messages written in blood, bitchy characters who should not be friends, rubbish love interests , a random chapter from another characters point of view and and finding out that a pumpkin coming alive in your nightmares would make a wet sucking sound 🤣
Oh and possibly the worst parents in Point Horror who make their child sleep in a room covered in blood!
There were some really fab horror moments in this book too 🖤
I had a good time with this one!
March 2, 2024
'I've got an idea...... LETS KILL HER' yeah,thats the spirit.....
Halley has moved in with her cousin Brenda because her parents are going through a divorce and that, apparently stinks. Halley thinks Brenda and her friends are a bunch of B's and Brenda sure as sugar don't like Halley.... Sounds like me and my neighbour....
Halley is going out of her way to steal the jock boyfriends of Brenda and Co and of course this dosent go down well.... so they plan to kill her at an upcoming Halloween Party......in an story they are writing for English.... (ahh, what a let down)
Meanwhile, Brenda who is getting as excited as hell about this whole 'killing Halley' thing, is getting some pretty messed up messages about what is going to happen to HER at the party.... hmmmm interesting....is it?.... well, sort of
things get a little confusing from here on in with twists and turns and backstabbing (not literally) and you end up with absolutely no idea what the outcome will be which was quite a nice touch...
Note to self: if I am successful in stealing my cousins beauty of a girlfriend, I will certainly not be going to his Halloween party this year.... I mean, he doesn't even have Fireworks! although he deos do a mean BBQ....hmmm maybe I'll think about it...
Halley has moved in with her cousin Brenda because her parents are going through a divorce and that, apparently stinks. Halley thinks Brenda and her friends are a bunch of B's and Brenda sure as sugar don't like Halley.... Sounds like me and my neighbour....
Halley is going out of her way to steal the jock boyfriends of Brenda and Co and of course this dosent go down well.... so they plan to kill her at an upcoming Halloween Party......in an story they are writing for English.... (ahh, what a let down)
Meanwhile, Brenda who is getting as excited as hell about this whole 'killing Halley' thing, is getting some pretty messed up messages about what is going to happen to HER at the party.... hmmmm interesting....is it?.... well, sort of
things get a little confusing from here on in with twists and turns and backstabbing (not literally) and you end up with absolutely no idea what the outcome will be which was quite a nice touch...
Note to self: if I am successful in stealing my cousins beauty of a girlfriend, I will certainly not be going to his Halloween party this year.... I mean, he doesn't even have Fireworks! although he deos do a mean BBQ....hmmm maybe I'll think about it...
October 5, 2025
Read this one for a buddy read with some awesome friends. It was utter 90s ridiculousness.
January 25, 2025
I read most of the Goosebumps series as a kid and a lot of the Fear Street books as a teenager (as well as a ton of Christopher Pike). I missed this one. I listened to the audiobook and everyone sounds like they're in an 80's slasher, all the lines just a little too dramatic and somehow flat at the same time? It's actually perfect for this story (and maybe intentional). The parents are clueless, the friends are suspects, no one's taking anything nearly as seriously as they should. I loved it. If you're feeling anxious about, oh, I don't know, everything, any of the original R.L. Stine books from basically any series will help take your mind off it. There's tons of violence and murder and jealousy and spookiness and blood splashed on walls that no parents have time to worry about (they've got work in the morning, Brenda, calm down!) and it's all too ridiculous to do anything but laugh. Recommend.
September 15, 2020
red herrings the house
October 20, 2019
Uno de mis clásicos favoritos de este autor, ideal para leer en estas fechas 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃
October 25, 2023
I really appreciated this story. The plot was creative, and it had a very Agatha Christie crossed with Halloween party 90’s cliche vibe - perfect Halloween read!
June 13, 2015
The thing about Stine’s characters is that they’re always really garish, nominally repugnant people. Super static, not much going for them beyond what’s on the page. Here we have Brenda who’s fueled by rage hate against her cousin because she moved in while her parents are getting a divorce and Brenda’s parents made her change rooms (one of many contrivances) and now Halley steals her clothes, her car, and her boyfriend. Does Brenda say any of this to her parents? Of course not because something needs to keep fueling the drama. Instead Brenda just stomps around and pouts angrily when her parents don’t get her.
Brenda and her friends have a group project and they need to write a murder mystery. Not so bad except Halley is the victim in their scheme and HA HA they plot her death. Maybe I’m just colored by the last fifteen years or so where student violence isn’t really used as light fodder anymore but this was all rather callous. But of course the girls think they’re geniuses and craft the “perfect” murder hinging on everyone switching costumes so no one knows who the real killer was. Someone’s been playing too much Clue.
Only when Brenda drinks too much rage-ahol and wants to make their fiction fact do the other girls start backing away slowly. Dina wants nothing to do with it and Traci reluctantly plows ahead but is still kind of on the fence about it. Understandable considering it’s MURDER. But Halley deserves it because Ted’s a flaky twat and can’t decide whom he wants to be with and Brenda has some misplaced anger and stuff.
In the end it was actually all a thinly-plotted ruse to draw Traci out because she’s really been the one tormenting Brenda because with Halley’s parents’ divorce it’s dredging up all these memories of perceived slights Traci remembers Brenda doing. Of course that also renders murder and there was a staged death to put the cherry on top of this Halloween sundae. Only this “twist” is so sudden and pretty out of nowhere that you end up feeling rather slapped with it. The real links are the things that happen in Brenda’s room being thinly traced to Traci’s vet job but other than that, even with hindsight you won’t see it coming, mainly because the details to connect it all aren’t there. The twist is more of an afterthought, like PS: Sike, this is really the intended killer.
Of course everyone moves on rather quickly, especially Brenda who had her best friend try to kill her but life’s peachy in Shadyside. These things are to be expected.
HALLOWEEN NIGHT isn’t one of Stine’s better showings but it lends itself to cheese nonetheless.
3
Brenda and her friends have a group project and they need to write a murder mystery. Not so bad except Halley is the victim in their scheme and HA HA they plot her death. Maybe I’m just colored by the last fifteen years or so where student violence isn’t really used as light fodder anymore but this was all rather callous. But of course the girls think they’re geniuses and craft the “perfect” murder hinging on everyone switching costumes so no one knows who the real killer was. Someone’s been playing too much Clue.
Only when Brenda drinks too much rage-ahol and wants to make their fiction fact do the other girls start backing away slowly. Dina wants nothing to do with it and Traci reluctantly plows ahead but is still kind of on the fence about it. Understandable considering it’s MURDER. But Halley deserves it because Ted’s a flaky twat and can’t decide whom he wants to be with and Brenda has some misplaced anger and stuff.
In the end it was actually all a thinly-plotted ruse to draw Traci out because she’s really been the one tormenting Brenda because with Halley’s parents’ divorce it’s dredging up all these memories of perceived slights Traci remembers Brenda doing. Of course that also renders murder and there was a staged death to put the cherry on top of this Halloween sundae. Only this “twist” is so sudden and pretty out of nowhere that you end up feeling rather slapped with it. The real links are the things that happen in Brenda’s room being thinly traced to Traci’s vet job but other than that, even with hindsight you won’t see it coming, mainly because the details to connect it all aren’t there. The twist is more of an afterthought, like PS: Sike, this is really the intended killer.
Of course everyone moves on rather quickly, especially Brenda who had her best friend try to kill her but life’s peachy in Shadyside. These things are to be expected.
HALLOWEEN NIGHT isn’t one of Stine’s better showings but it lends itself to cheese nonetheless.
3
September 9, 2021
As cheesy as Stine's books are, I still love them and continue to read them. The chapters always end with a fake-out cliffhanger, which is kind of annoying once you realize what is happening. After the 30th book, you just know there's always a cheesy explanation on the first page of the next chapter. This book was very similar to The Stepsister. But the characters were the most unlikeable characters. At first, I really felt bad for Brenda. But as the story drew on, you just grow to hate her and the kind of person she is. Halley is just awful too. I know she comes around in the end, but regardless, there's no excuse for being so awful as to try and steal two girl's boyfriends. And don't get me started on Brenda's parents. I couldn't stand them. They didn't even listen to Brenda one single time. They were a terrible support system.
November 17, 2019
This was so much fun! I loved the fact that it was centered around Halloween (obviously) I loved the fact that a “fake” murder mystery was involved that eventually turned into a real murder plot and I loved all the twists! At one point when the girls were plotting, it almost started to feel very meta and gave me Scream vibes which was amazing! I did kind of see the twist coming at the end but that didn’t really take away from any of the fun! Overall the pace was great, the twists were fun and I loved reading this!
5 stars from me!!!
5 stars from me!!!
January 19, 2019
I used to listen to an audio tape of this point horror when I was a young teenager, and it was so nostalgic to re-read!
March 13, 2021
this defined my childhood. what the fuck was this?!?! insane mf.
November 7, 2019
Totally ridiculous, even for R.L. Stine.
October 20, 2021
Halloween Night stars our main protagonist Brenda and her two friends Traci and Dina. Brenda's cousin is staying with them while her parents go through a divorce and Halley is the worst .She steals Brenda's clothes her car and steals Brenda's boyfriend ,along with tracies as well .So needless to say Halley isn't well liked. meanwhile somebody is playing bad pranks on Brenda, Halloween masks outside her window, bloody messages written on her wall, headless birds in jack o lanterns and more. So Brenda naturally assumes Halley is the culprit and decides to kill her off in a writing assignment about a murder mystery that's assigned in school to get back at her .Halloween Night is a very fun nostalgic read with with plenty of jack-o'-lanterns,roasted pumpkin seeds and what might be the dream sequence in R.L. Stine historyt.I also enjoyed how the corporate was figured out. The only downfall of this book would have to be it got a little confusing towards the end .Other than that, four out of five stars for me.
February 26, 2016
There is absolutely nothing that makes Halloween Night distinguishable from the rest of the Point Horror series or even from R.L. Stine's Fear Street stories (unless you count the fact that the protagonist is called Brenda, which is pretty old fashioned even for the 90's).
Now don't get me wrong, the book is fine as it goes. The writing is clear, there are no gaping plot-holes, there's no gaps where a reader just has to take things on faith at the end - you know, when the Scooby Doo ending comes and there's a 'twist' and someone fills in some gaps with blase excuses? In fact there's no twist, I'm pretty sure the target audience knew from chapter three who the 'bad' guy was.
I think one the main reasons this book was only OK was the fact there were no sympathetic characters and there was no tension. Nothing to chill you or keep you guessing, which was always one of the draws of the series and the genre as a whole.
Not one of his best, but still readable.
Now don't get me wrong, the book is fine as it goes. The writing is clear, there are no gaping plot-holes, there's no gaps where a reader just has to take things on faith at the end - you know, when the Scooby Doo ending comes and there's a 'twist' and someone fills in some gaps with blase excuses? In fact there's no twist, I'm pretty sure the target audience knew from chapter three who the 'bad' guy was.
I think one the main reasons this book was only OK was the fact there were no sympathetic characters and there was no tension. Nothing to chill you or keep you guessing, which was always one of the draws of the series and the genre as a whole.
Not one of his best, but still readable.
October 18, 2021
4.5/5
I really enjoyed this book! The plot was a lot of fun. It was easy to connect with the characters and feel sympathetic for their circumstances. The end was a great twist that I didn’t see coming! I knew about halfway through who I thought it would be, which turned out to be correct, but definitely not in the way I imagined it! It was a very fun time. There is a roller coaster of emotions that you feel towards each character throughout and it was a very well written story. I would definitely recommend this to other.
I really enjoyed this book! The plot was a lot of fun. It was easy to connect with the characters and feel sympathetic for their circumstances. The end was a great twist that I didn’t see coming! I knew about halfway through who I thought it would be, which turned out to be correct, but definitely not in the way I imagined it! It was a very fun time. There is a roller coaster of emotions that you feel towards each character throughout and it was a very well written story. I would definitely recommend this to other.
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