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Nightmare Hall #15
Truth or Die
Joining in what seems to be a harmless game of truth or dare, first-year student Parrie Moore is alarmed when the dares start becoming dangerous, and the game seems to take on a life of its own.
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
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288 people want to read
About the author
Diane Hoh
83 books283 followersDiane Hoh is the author of fifty-seven novels for young adults. She grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Austin, Texas. Reading and writing are her favorite things, alongside gardening and grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 15, 2021
Once I’d started this book, I could tell it was not written by Diane Hoh. The writing was juvenile and repetitive, and just wasn’t smooth as Hoh’s books usually are. So I checked the copyright page, and, sure enough, it is written by someone named Nola Thacker. The mystery was satisfying, but the overall childish and rough writing lost it a couple of stars. Overall a subpar read.
October 15, 2014
Parrie just started at Salem University and doesn't know anyone. She meets a group of girls and thinks they could be friends. One of the girls, Carol, starts a game of Truth or Dare for fun - but it soon turns into a dangerous game that Parrie is afraid to quit.
Now why you would write down your deepest, darkest secret on a bit of paper and hand it over to someone you've known five minutes is beyond me, but apart from that, the book was okay. It wasn't majorly exciting or at all spooky, but it wasn't a terrible way to pass an hour and a half.
Now why you would write down your deepest, darkest secret on a bit of paper and hand it over to someone you've known five minutes is beyond me, but apart from that, the book was okay. It wasn't majorly exciting or at all spooky, but it wasn't a terrible way to pass an hour and a half.
February 21, 2020
I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
February 22, 2020
Re-read this for Teenage Scream podcast (lovingly dissecting the best and worst of 90s teen horror):
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
December 13, 2025
I believe Truth or Die was the last Nightmare Hall book to be published as a Point Horror in the UK, despite there being an additional fourteen that were released in the US. It makes it all the more disappointing that the final two UK published entries weren't even written by Diane Hoh -
The Initiation
was penned by Barbara Steiner, and the copyright page in Truth or Die reveals this entry was actually written by Nola Thacker (who has had a fairly significant contribution to the Nightmare Hall series
Last Date
,
The Experiment
,
The Scream Team
, and
The Roommate
). I'm not sure why the covers to these books all list Diane Hoh as the author although I'd love to find out. I'd also like to know why Truth or Die marks the last UK Nightmare Hall release. Does the series end here with a bang or a whimper? Well actually, it's somewhere in between.
I have always loved the potential of the Nightmare Hall series - the idea of a college campus is fertile ground, and could have allowed for events and characters to be cross-referenced. But besides locations, there is very little crossover that goes beyond a passing reference. It feels like such a missed opportunity, and is laid all the more bare in Truth or Die when it is mentioned that Nightmare Hall is having construction work done on it following a storm blowing off the roof. It would have been fun if this storm had been witnessed in a previous Nightmare Hall book, but no, as far as I can tell this is the first reference we have to it. It just feels like there's such a good concept here that isn't being utilised.
The plot follows freshman Parrie, who finds herself making a group of friends and quickly getting involved in a rapidly escalating game. Again, strong concept, it just isn't executed brilliantly. By the end of the book the logic to tie everything together is flimsy at best, and whilst the structure of the game and the escalation of the dares is a fun idea that lends the book a good framework, it falls apart once character motivations are revealed. Thacker also leans a little too heavily on dream sequences, particularly as a way to try and build tension, which ultimately backfires because the second it's revealed we're following a dream all tension immediately evaporates. At least Parrie is a somewhat likeable protagonist and I think Thacker does an okay job of making the group distinguishable from each other.
The location of Nightmare Hall does at least factor into the plot here, which is welcome - I've always thought it unusual that for a series titled Nightmare Hall so few books actually have anything of significance happen at Nightmare Hall. But there isn't anything about Truth or Die that stands out for this to be a logical ending point for releasing these books in the UK. There's no overall closure or anything of note, it really does feel like just another entry. Once I finish my journey through the UK published Point Horror books I will definitely be keen to try and acquire the US released Nightmare Hall books that never made it across the pond - I want to see if the concept is ever better utilised. As for Truth or Die - it's fine. Not one of the worst Nightmare Hall books, but definitely not one of the better ones either - it's perfectly average.
3/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) The Forbidden Game 1: The Hunter - 4/5
3) The Forbidden Game 3: The Kill - 4/5
4) Thirteen More Tales of Horror - 4/5
5) The Dead Game - 4/5
6) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
7) Camp Fear - 3.5/5
8) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
9) Dream Date - 3.5/5
10) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
11) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
12) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
13) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
14) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
15) Nightmare Hall - The Scream Team - 3.5/5
16) April Fools - 3.5/5
17) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
18) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
19) Freeze Tag - 3/5
20) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
21) The Accident - 3/5
22) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
23) Funhouse - 3/5
24) Nightmare Hall - The Initiation - 3/5
25) Nightmare Hall - Sorority Sister - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - The Nightwalker - 3/5
27) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
28) The Stranger - 3/5
29) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
30) The Window - 3/5
31) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
32) Nightmare Hall - The Whisperer - 3/5
33) Nightmare Hall - Truth or Die - 3/5
34) The Invitation - 2.5/5
35) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
36) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
37) Nightmare Hall - Last Date - 2.5/5
38) The Perfume - 2.5/5
39) The Train - 2.5/5
40) The Waitress - 2.5/5
41) The Snowman - 2.5/5
42) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
43) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
44) The Forbidden Game 2: The Chase - 2.5/5
45) Halloween Night II - 2.5/5
46) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
47) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
48) Nightmare Hall - Monster - 2.5/5
49) Beach House - 2.5/5
50) The Mall - 2.5/5
51) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
52) The Boyfriend - 2/5
53) Call Waiting - 2/5
54) The Fever - 2/5
55) The Cemetery - 2/5
56) The Diary - 2/5
57) Mother's Helper - 2/5
58) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
59) Twins - 2/5
60) The Phantom - 2/5
61) The Watcher - 2/5
62) The Witness - 2/5
63) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
64) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
65) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
66) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
67) Beach Party - 1/5
I have always loved the potential of the Nightmare Hall series - the idea of a college campus is fertile ground, and could have allowed for events and characters to be cross-referenced. But besides locations, there is very little crossover that goes beyond a passing reference. It feels like such a missed opportunity, and is laid all the more bare in Truth or Die when it is mentioned that Nightmare Hall is having construction work done on it following a storm blowing off the roof. It would have been fun if this storm had been witnessed in a previous Nightmare Hall book, but no, as far as I can tell this is the first reference we have to it. It just feels like there's such a good concept here that isn't being utilised.
The plot follows freshman Parrie, who finds herself making a group of friends and quickly getting involved in a rapidly escalating game. Again, strong concept, it just isn't executed brilliantly. By the end of the book the logic to tie everything together is flimsy at best, and whilst the structure of the game and the escalation of the dares is a fun idea that lends the book a good framework, it falls apart once character motivations are revealed. Thacker also leans a little too heavily on dream sequences, particularly as a way to try and build tension, which ultimately backfires because the second it's revealed we're following a dream all tension immediately evaporates. At least Parrie is a somewhat likeable protagonist and I think Thacker does an okay job of making the group distinguishable from each other.
The location of Nightmare Hall does at least factor into the plot here, which is welcome - I've always thought it unusual that for a series titled Nightmare Hall so few books actually have anything of significance happen at Nightmare Hall. But there isn't anything about Truth or Die that stands out for this to be a logical ending point for releasing these books in the UK. There's no overall closure or anything of note, it really does feel like just another entry. Once I finish my journey through the UK published Point Horror books I will definitely be keen to try and acquire the US released Nightmare Hall books that never made it across the pond - I want to see if the concept is ever better utilised. As for Truth or Die - it's fine. Not one of the worst Nightmare Hall books, but definitely not one of the better ones either - it's perfectly average.
3/5
Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) The Forbidden Game 1: The Hunter - 4/5
3) The Forbidden Game 3: The Kill - 4/5
4) Thirteen More Tales of Horror - 4/5
5) The Dead Game - 4/5
6) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
7) Camp Fear - 3.5/5
8) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
9) Dream Date - 3.5/5
10) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
11) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
12) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
13) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
14) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
15) Nightmare Hall - The Scream Team - 3.5/5
16) April Fools - 3.5/5
17) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
18) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
19) Freeze Tag - 3/5
20) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
21) The Accident - 3/5
22) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
23) Funhouse - 3/5
24) Nightmare Hall - The Initiation - 3/5
25) Nightmare Hall - Sorority Sister - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - The Nightwalker - 3/5
27) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
28) The Stranger - 3/5
29) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
30) The Window - 3/5
31) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
32) Nightmare Hall - The Whisperer - 3/5
33) Nightmare Hall - Truth or Die - 3/5
34) The Invitation - 2.5/5
35) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
36) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
37) Nightmare Hall - Last Date - 2.5/5
38) The Perfume - 2.5/5
39) The Train - 2.5/5
40) The Waitress - 2.5/5
41) The Snowman - 2.5/5
42) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
43) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
44) The Forbidden Game 2: The Chase - 2.5/5
45) Halloween Night II - 2.5/5
46) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
47) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
48) Nightmare Hall - Monster - 2.5/5
49) Beach House - 2.5/5
50) The Mall - 2.5/5
51) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
52) The Boyfriend - 2/5
53) Call Waiting - 2/5
54) The Fever - 2/5
55) The Cemetery - 2/5
56) The Diary - 2/5
57) Mother's Helper - 2/5
58) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
59) Twins - 2/5
60) The Phantom - 2/5
61) The Watcher - 2/5
62) The Witness - 2/5
63) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
64) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
65) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
66) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
67) Beach Party - 1/5
March 5, 2024
It isn't that this book was bad it was just...kind of okay.
If I find physical copies of Nightmare Hall books for cheap and they seem as if the plot may be interesting, I buy them to add to my collection.
Early on it is established that not all of them are written by Diane Hoh and this is another one written by Nola Thacker who also writes as D.E. Athkins. Some of her books are good and some are kinda meh and Truth or Die is the later example.
Parts of it enjoyable enough but overall...there have been other YA books that do this premise better.
Parrie Moore is a new freshman at Salem University and it is her first time in a long time that she has had to try and make friends.
All her friends through her school years are going to the state university but Parrie's parents wanted her to go to Salem U. Parrie gets invited to a tea thrown by the alumni for all the new freshman girls to mingle and Parrie finds herself with a group of girls making small talk and corny jokes.
It eases the tension a little and Parrie gets to know the same amount of information about these other girls that we do. A girl with icy blonde hair and icy blue eyes who is very thin named Jean Reagan who is just a little too much like the rest of her: cold.
Small boned Grace Oshida with very short dark hair and a love of big hoop earrings with animals adorning her ears. Redhead soccer player Lil Martinez, another brunette like Parrie except with longer hair named Mallory Stern who is quiet and shy compared to the others and finally Carol Hausdatter.
Carol is very tall with green eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses, like a cat, and her skin is described as dark so I will assume she is African-American. She isn't as icy as Jean but Carol is silently judging people apparently...one of those types.
When Lil says that this party is dull, Carol suggests that they spice it up a little by playing some Truth or Dare. It is just Carol suggesting Lil switch the bowls of sugar and salt around without being caught...a juvenile prank but harmless.
Lil succeeds and everyone at the party gets a good laugh except for the hostess. It breaks the ice despite being immature and Carol even points that out...suggesting they make Truth or Dare a little more interesting. Perform a dare or else get your most dark and deep secret revealed...a truth you would never want anyone to learn.
Reluctant at first, all of the other girls agree and plan to meet at Carol's dorm for the first meeting to exchange dares and write down the truth that will be shared if you refuse to do your part.
They each write down a secret that will be kept under lock and key on a piece of paper folded...the contents unknown to any of them. A dare is written down and placed in a vase and each girl draws one out, even if it is her own, and must perform the deed.
Athletic Lil has to wear a formal dress all day, Jean can't talk unless a teacher class on her in class, Mallory has to sing everything all day, Carol has to eat nothing but garlic for every mean and not brush her teeth until the following morning...even I couldn't do that.
Grace has to ask out her crush Kenn Rivers but kind of reveals his name on her own and Parrie has to go into a room in the male dorm and steal a pair of underwear!
Those last two actually yield some unexpected results because Kenn says yes to Grace asking him out and well...Parrie's is by far the best part of the story. Thinking all the guys are at a dorm meeting, Parrie succeeds in grabbing a pair of blue Calvin Klein briefs but doesn't count on one of the two guys who share the room...to come back from taking a shower instead.
He is amused and very flirty with Parrie even as she blushes but he is tastefully dressed in a bathrobe and not a towel. His name is Bryan and he takes it very well and not like a total jerk that he ends up getting dressed and they go for a walk.
Grace and Lil are witness to Parrie leaving with tall, dark and handsome Bryan and waving the underwear behind her back with her fingers. It is amusingly romantic and hilarious at the same time.
The week is over and every girl has done their dare. In doing so, Parrie and Grace have become good friends and they get along quite well with Lil and Mallory going out for pizza and movies. Jean and Carol are the more odd ones out, so alike that they get into a fight when Carol suggests playing another game of Truth or Dare and Jean refuses.
Carol is very adamant and persuasive saying that the girls did have fun didn't they so they all agree to play another round but this time, the dares become a little more...humiliating.
Make a stink bomb in class, put green hair dye in someone's shampoo, let the air out of all four tires on a pompous professor's prized car, come back from the lake at night all alone, answer a personal ad in the school paper and go out in only a nightgown and a raincoat.
A few of them a tad cruel but still slightly more malicious in intent with the potential of danger but how else is the game supposed to go? The result of refusing the dare is to have your secret revealed but is it worth dying for?
Even when one goes off the rails, Carol still wants to play another round and all the girls realize that they are too scared to quit and the dares are a combination of humiliating an RA that no one likes, trading chocolate laxatives for candy, putting a cat in the room of a person deathly afraid of them, steal another person's midterm, mix up clothes in the dryer on a busy laundry day or for Parrie...stay the night alone in Nightmare Hall.
Any more information would be a spoiler fest but the reveal as to who the real bad guy of the story is...it is not just black or white. It is a sort of gray area in my opinion but it highlights just who the good guys and the bads one are based on the person reading the story.
Expositional ending to fill in the blanks but at least one positive to keep the story from being a completely dull downer. A Nightmare Hall entry you can read if you are curious or haven't read it in awhile but Truth or Die is one you can pass.
If I find physical copies of Nightmare Hall books for cheap and they seem as if the plot may be interesting, I buy them to add to my collection.
Early on it is established that not all of them are written by Diane Hoh and this is another one written by Nola Thacker who also writes as D.E. Athkins. Some of her books are good and some are kinda meh and Truth or Die is the later example.
Parts of it enjoyable enough but overall...there have been other YA books that do this premise better.
Parrie Moore is a new freshman at Salem University and it is her first time in a long time that she has had to try and make friends.
All her friends through her school years are going to the state university but Parrie's parents wanted her to go to Salem U. Parrie gets invited to a tea thrown by the alumni for all the new freshman girls to mingle and Parrie finds herself with a group of girls making small talk and corny jokes.
It eases the tension a little and Parrie gets to know the same amount of information about these other girls that we do. A girl with icy blonde hair and icy blue eyes who is very thin named Jean Reagan who is just a little too much like the rest of her: cold.
Small boned Grace Oshida with very short dark hair and a love of big hoop earrings with animals adorning her ears. Redhead soccer player Lil Martinez, another brunette like Parrie except with longer hair named Mallory Stern who is quiet and shy compared to the others and finally Carol Hausdatter.
Carol is very tall with green eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses, like a cat, and her skin is described as dark so I will assume she is African-American. She isn't as icy as Jean but Carol is silently judging people apparently...one of those types.
When Lil says that this party is dull, Carol suggests that they spice it up a little by playing some Truth or Dare. It is just Carol suggesting Lil switch the bowls of sugar and salt around without being caught...a juvenile prank but harmless.
Lil succeeds and everyone at the party gets a good laugh except for the hostess. It breaks the ice despite being immature and Carol even points that out...suggesting they make Truth or Dare a little more interesting. Perform a dare or else get your most dark and deep secret revealed...a truth you would never want anyone to learn.
Reluctant at first, all of the other girls agree and plan to meet at Carol's dorm for the first meeting to exchange dares and write down the truth that will be shared if you refuse to do your part.
They each write down a secret that will be kept under lock and key on a piece of paper folded...the contents unknown to any of them. A dare is written down and placed in a vase and each girl draws one out, even if it is her own, and must perform the deed.
Athletic Lil has to wear a formal dress all day, Jean can't talk unless a teacher class on her in class, Mallory has to sing everything all day, Carol has to eat nothing but garlic for every mean and not brush her teeth until the following morning...even I couldn't do that.
Grace has to ask out her crush Kenn Rivers but kind of reveals his name on her own and Parrie has to go into a room in the male dorm and steal a pair of underwear!
Those last two actually yield some unexpected results because Kenn says yes to Grace asking him out and well...Parrie's is by far the best part of the story. Thinking all the guys are at a dorm meeting, Parrie succeeds in grabbing a pair of blue Calvin Klein briefs but doesn't count on one of the two guys who share the room...to come back from taking a shower instead.
He is amused and very flirty with Parrie even as she blushes but he is tastefully dressed in a bathrobe and not a towel. His name is Bryan and he takes it very well and not like a total jerk that he ends up getting dressed and they go for a walk.
Grace and Lil are witness to Parrie leaving with tall, dark and handsome Bryan and waving the underwear behind her back with her fingers. It is amusingly romantic and hilarious at the same time.
The week is over and every girl has done their dare. In doing so, Parrie and Grace have become good friends and they get along quite well with Lil and Mallory going out for pizza and movies. Jean and Carol are the more odd ones out, so alike that they get into a fight when Carol suggests playing another game of Truth or Dare and Jean refuses.
Carol is very adamant and persuasive saying that the girls did have fun didn't they so they all agree to play another round but this time, the dares become a little more...humiliating.
Make a stink bomb in class, put green hair dye in someone's shampoo, let the air out of all four tires on a pompous professor's prized car, come back from the lake at night all alone, answer a personal ad in the school paper and go out in only a nightgown and a raincoat.
A few of them a tad cruel but still slightly more malicious in intent with the potential of danger but how else is the game supposed to go? The result of refusing the dare is to have your secret revealed but is it worth dying for?
Even when one goes off the rails, Carol still wants to play another round and all the girls realize that they are too scared to quit and the dares are a combination of humiliating an RA that no one likes, trading chocolate laxatives for candy, putting a cat in the room of a person deathly afraid of them, steal another person's midterm, mix up clothes in the dryer on a busy laundry day or for Parrie...stay the night alone in Nightmare Hall.
Any more information would be a spoiler fest but the reveal as to who the real bad guy of the story is...it is not just black or white. It is a sort of gray area in my opinion but it highlights just who the good guys and the bads one are based on the person reading the story.
Expositional ending to fill in the blanks but at least one positive to keep the story from being a completely dull downer. A Nightmare Hall entry you can read if you are curious or haven't read it in awhile but Truth or Die is one you can pass.
Read
September 22, 2022Well, I've read better from Diane Hoh. But apparently this installment of Nightmare Hall wasn't written by Hoh...Do I dare read another? As the autumnal and "spooky" vibes descend on my hometown in Southwestern Ontario, I'm tempted but so busy. Perhaps this isn't the time.
This is perfectly fine for youngsters to read: It's creepy, spooky, thrilling, clean, and wholesome. But it's just not AS good as other Nightmare Hall books.
The one pro? It definitely gave spooky vibes and was quick and easy to read at a time when work + school + travel + appointments galore = no time for reading :(
[Physical, purchased somewhere in London Ontario about 800 years ago when I was a preteen]
This is perfectly fine for youngsters to read: It's creepy, spooky, thrilling, clean, and wholesome. But it's just not AS good as other Nightmare Hall books.
The one pro? It definitely gave spooky vibes and was quick and easy to read at a time when work + school + travel + appointments galore = no time for reading :(
[Physical, purchased somewhere in London Ontario about 800 years ago when I was a preteen]
December 30, 2020
I really enjoyed this one. It was very hard to put it down. I absolutely love this entire series.
July 10, 2024
Part of this one took place at Nightmare Hall.
April 12, 2025
Truth or Die is a chilling entry in Diane Hoh’s Nightmare Hall series, where a group of college students play a twisted game of Truth or Dare—and quitting could mean death. The suspense builds quickly, with creepy dares and growing paranoia keeping the tension high.
What really stood out was the twist—I didn’t see it coming at all. Honestly, I was confused right up until the final chapter when everything finally clicked. Once it was explained, it made sense, but it definitely kept me guessing.
A fun, eerie read for fans of 90s teen thrillers like R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike.
What really stood out was the twist—I didn’t see it coming at all. Honestly, I was confused right up until the final chapter when everything finally clicked. Once it was explained, it made sense, but it definitely kept me guessing.
A fun, eerie read for fans of 90s teen thrillers like R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike.
September 19, 2023
Starting Nightmare Hall. A place where ghosts are said to haunt.
Remember playing truth or dare.
Remember when it used to be fun.
Forget all that as you enter Nightmare Hall.
The dares start of innocent until deadly things start to happen.
Think carefully what you pick.
What will you choose.
Truth or Dare
Remember playing truth or dare.
Remember when it used to be fun.
Forget all that as you enter Nightmare Hall.
The dares start of innocent until deadly things start to happen.
Think carefully what you pick.
What will you choose.
Truth or Dare
July 31, 2021
This was a fun trip down memory lane.
November 2, 2021
Pretty good. A typical Nightmare Hall book.
Read
September 27, 2025I read this a million years ago and had lent to someone, never got it back and forgot the name. finally found it!
June 15, 2016
Not a great twist or story, really, hence the one star. Bizarrely enough though, I want to read the rest. These types of books are decent for reading in between longer more complex books. So that is why I am giving it 2.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews