Monster

Nightmare Hall #13

by Diane Hoh

High on a hillside overlooking Salem University, sits Nightingale Hall. Nightmare Hall, the students call it. Because that's where the terror began...

Rumours are flying around Salem University - a monster is stalking the campus. Striking in the dead of night, it leaves its victims bloodied and traumatized... But surely it's just a prank gone wrong?

When her friends are viciously attacked one by one, Abby knows it's no joke. It's terrifying. But the truth about the monster is even more horrific than Abby ever suspected...

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense

165 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Diane 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.

Reviews

[JESSICA · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, we have Abby, nice girl but total control freak! She likes being in control of her life, likes order. Getting straight A’s, being on the honor roll, etc. She doesn't have time for parties, her boyfriend, friends.. So, when attacks start happening on campus, she doesn't pay any attention to it.. But when the attacks start effecting her friends, she gets involved.. This book was a good one but I didn't love or hate it. Actually, there was one scene that pissed me off; She catches her boyfriend cheating on her with a "So-called" friend! They get attacked from the monster! And Abby is totally there for her boyfriend! Visiting him in the hospital. Bringing food! WTF! Hell-to-the-no! You tell him off and scream "Karma Is A Real Damn Bitch!" And punch that so-called friend! I will never understand why a woman would take back her douche bag of a boyfriend/husband (knowing he is dickin down another chick) Smh *don't get it* I enjoyed the twist at the end. Didn't see that coming!

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely not one of the better ones in the series. It’s pretty bizarre overall, and the ending is really rushed.

[Liam Underwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to returning to Nightmare Hall as it's been over half a year since I read The Whisperer , and I'm finding Diane Hoh's Nightmare Hall Point Horror entries to be an intriguing experiment. Well... I say Diane Hoh's Nightmare Hall Point Horror entries, but Monster is actually copyrighted by Barbara Steiner. So far the only Steiner Point Horror book I've read is The Phantom , and I can't say I was too keen on that one. Unfortunately, I can't say I was too keen on Monster either.

I'll start with the positives. It feels like there's been a little more effort in this book to reference events from previous Nightmare Hall entries, which I appreciated. I also always like it when Point Horror leans into the supernatural, which we kinda get here. There's also some surprisingly mature themes tackled here - I think Monster is the first Point Horror book I've read to explicitly include the word 'rape' and there are some scenes of violence which I really wasn't expecting.

However, there is a lot in this book that just doesn't quite work. I found the protagonist, Abby, to be a little annoying (I would've preferred more time with her friend Jerry) and the plot to be a little bit predictable. I was enjoying the journey of the story playing out for about two thirds, and I was keen to see how the mystery of who was behind the monstrous attacks would be unveiled, and then I had a sudden suspicion as to how it would all resolve and the last third of the book was spent reading in disappointment as the nonsense unfolded and my suspicion was proven correct. Not only is the resolution apparent, but also the involvement of certain characters. It's all just a little too obvious in a really unsatisfying way. The ending is also incredibly abrupt.

For a Point Horror book Monster is decidedly average, but I've come to expect a little bit better from the Nightmare Hall series and so I can't help but find this to be disappointing. It's not quite as bad as the worst Nightmare Hall book so far, The Experiment , but it's not far off. I'll be curious to see if this series continues to be placed in the hands of other authors, or if Diane Hoh will return to take the reins and bring things back on track.

2.5/5

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 - Sorority Sister - 3/5
25) Nightmare Hall - The Nightwalker - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
27) The Stranger - 3/5
28) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
29) The Window - 3/5
30) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
31) Nightmare Hall - The Whisperer - 3/5
32) The Invitation - 2.5/5
33) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
34) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
35) Nightmare Hall - Last Date - 2.5/5
36) The Perfume - 2.5/5
37) The Train - 2.5/5
38) The Waitress - 2.5/5
39) The Snowman - 2.5/5
40) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
41) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
42) The Forbidden Game 2: The Chase - 2.5/5
43) Halloween Night II - 2.5/5
44) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
45) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
46) Nightmare Hall - Monster - 2.5/5
47) Beach House - 2.5/5
48) The Mall - 2.5/5
49) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
50) The Boyfriend - 2/5
51) The Fever - 2/5
52) The Cemetery - 2/5
53) The Diary - 2/5
54) Mother's Helper - 2/5
55) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
56) The Phantom - 2/5
57) The Watcher - 2/5
58) The Witness - 2/5
59) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
60) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
61) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
62) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
63) Beach Party - 1/5

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off...this Nightmare Hall book was not written by Diane Hoh. The copyright page says Barbara Steiner wrote it.

Second...I wish my copy had the cool stepback art/die cut cover edition of this book. I saw that someone posted it on like a Pinterest page or Instagram or something and seeing that alone made me want to read this book. It is wicked sick and I mean that in a good way.

Those two points out of the way...

Abby McDonald is another one of those Salem U students here on a scholarship who works her butt off taking a bazillion classes while her friends still get good grades and party like normal college students.

All her time taken up by Chemistry and Lit and American History and English and a part-time cafeteria job...it's no wonder Abby is swamped. Her boyfriend from high school, David Waters, goes to the same university and they barely get to see each other. Abby knows that Sissy King has her eyes set on David and Abby can't help but feel guilty crushing on Martin Beecher.

Abby has to share lab space with Stan Hurley and he has a less than shiny personality but she can always feel him watching her. Abby's roommate Carrie is hardly ever there to talk to but again it's not like Abby has time.

Soon news starts spreading about campus that there are attacks on students...attacks by a monster.

Abby doesn't believe in such nonsense...it has to be a frat prank when a pledge is attacked.

It has to be some sort of drama student with a sick sense of humor doing a performance piece and everyone has a good laugh until Abby's friend Jerry Todd is attacked. It's still a little hard to believe until Abby sees Carrie all bruised up but there's no doubt when they find the hairs and Abby can smell the rotten stench about Varsity Pond where all the attacks have taken place.

Soon the attacks became even more violent and they start happening to more people Abby knows and she is left to find out who this monster truly is. There's no way a human could be responsible...can they?

We get a lot of potential red herrings and different theories on just what the monster is or why it attacks. You can probably figure out that it does have something to do with Abby once the rest of the victims are spotlighted but the reveal is pretty good. There are a lot of sci-fi and horror movies dropped in the book so you can pick out them a few clues.

The ending is very bittersweet and I wish it could have been dragged out a little bit more but the payoff is excellent.

A very high recommendation.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A monster is attacking students at Salem University. At first, it is believed to be just a rumour, or a fraternity prank. However, when Abby's friend is attacked, the group of friends realise how serious it is.

There's not much more to the story than that; the book's enjoyment is firmly placed on the idea that the reader is kept guessing at who/what the monster is. Unfortunately, I think I read this book twice when I was younger and I remember the twist.

Therefore, this time I found it rather dull, but seem to remember liking it quite a lot in my youth. There's a few people Abby suspects to be the monster, but these characters aren't developed enough for you to really suspect them.

When the person is revealed to be the monster, they were unaware that it was them, and an antidote is found within minutes; which I didn't think was very believable. There's no description of the aftermath either; the book seems to end abruptly.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Nightmare Hall was mentioned when they discussed the woods.

* So, some sort of furry monster attacks 2 boys in the dark, in the woods, and on the site of the old Peabody gym.
* Abby works late at the chemistry lab and thinks the boy who also stays late is weird.
* Anyway, Abby finds a letter that makes her think that her boyfriend is cheating on her with a girl called Sissy. She follows them, but they end up getting attacked by the monster.
* Abby suspects that her roommate is the monster so starts following her and again almost comes upon the monster.
* Abby is then working in the lab when she realises that the smell of her experiment is the same as the smell of the monster and realises it is her! She is the monster.
* Luckily the weird boy (Stan) traps her in a cupboard while he mixes an antidote and cures her. Abby then burns the recipe and decides that maybe Stan isn't so bad after all.

[Emma Beckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was ghost written by Barbara Steiner, and it certainly felt different. I admire the effort she made to include a lot of details from previous books.
In addition to the drama of there being an actual monster, I was surprised how dark the story got, and how toxic all the boys were. So angry about every perceived slight or rejection!
I wish Steiner had been asked to contribute more to the series, this one had some depth.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story but I didn't really think there was enough depth to the characters

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. A twist you can see a mile off, a rushed ending that doesn't resolve the character relationships.

[Abigail H. Leskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[absolutely _ grim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need more Martin Beecher content.

[Hermione Volino · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing that I can say about this book is that the ending made no sense. I was confused and I didn't understand how all of it ended the way that it did. Really didn't like this book.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked MONSTER. It was creepy and cheesy and spine-tingly and it hit right for old school YA horror.

I just want to know who’s taking chemistry as a 100/200 level class if they don’t actually have to? Talk about torture. Another bid to my thinking that the Nightmare Hall books don’t really know whether to be high school or college. While I’m sure chemistry’s offered at college level no one would actually subject themselves to that unless it was required for a major or minor. Ick.

So a monster is supposedly stalking the campus and attacking people but most don’t really believe it. Until someone in their circle of friends is attacked and he swears it was really some kind of beast that did it. Soon “proof” starts turning up in the form of clumps of coarse fur but even then Abby can’t be bothered with it too much because she’s spread herself out a bit too thin as it is. On top of stuffing herself full of school in order to maintain her scholarship she’s working part-time in the cafeteria and her boyfriend of multiple years is slipping away from her because she doesn’t make time for him. So much on her plate!

I really like Hoh’s ability to build suspense. It feels natural and organic to the story and she’s good at misleading you down one path to the truth when really it’s another path entirely. I’m sure the more Nightmare Hall books I read the more formulaic this will get but for right now it’s refreshing and lends itself to the scare factor of the story.

With MONSTER you do get a supernatural element to it and it’s kind of neat. Different but recognizable once that twist is revealed. It’s even mentioned by another character, the familiar part to it, so you can’t miss it if you don’t immediately recognize it yourself. There are a few possibilities for who could be doing this but over the course of the story those suspects get whittled out and I think that lends itself to a greater level of suspense. WHO’S LEFT?

MONSTER is what I think of when I think of YA horror. It’s cheesy, yes, but it embodies teen life (at least in the 90s), it has a heavy dose of suspense, a supernatural element, and a twist ending that you may or may not see coming. I didn’t see this one coming although, really, things aren’t all that subtle in hindsight. Isn’t that always the truth? Still, I really liked MONSTER for what it was. The characters were believable; they weren’t caricatures of teenagers and how someone thinks they might interact. Abby is a genuinely good character that has too much on her plate but her intentions are nothing but admirable. Unfortunately things don’t always work out for her. I actually felt for them in the too-short story and yeah, it was creepy too.

4.5

[Steff S (The Bookish Owl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting idea and I liked the twist at the end :)

[Jina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing Diane Hoh's M.O., I already guessed the truth of what was happening after a few chapters. Still a good story.

[Christa Maurice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awkwardly written. DNF

[Jessie Wilkens · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is very different from the others. It was okay, not my favorite. But still a fun read.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

What kind of chemicals are the professors at Salem University giving their Chem 101 students?

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silly as fuck and I loved every second.