Cahlee Daniels and her friends break into the local swimming pool to party. But the evening ends in tragedy when one of the group falls off the diving board and dies. Since they're underage and have been drinking, and fearing for their futures, they remove all evidence of alcohol from the scene and lie to the police about what really happened.
One year later, they are all trying to move on. However, somebody out there isn't willing to let them do that. Somebody out there seems to know what really happened that night, and wants to make sure they never, ever forget. One by one, Cahlee's friends are targeted and victimized, the crimes usually taking place in or near a pool - with Cahlee as the final prize.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Hi, my name is Paul Phillips.
If you were a fan of Point Horror, Nightmare Hall, Fear Street or the myriad other 90s YA horror books, then my work should be right up your alley!
My books are approximately 50,000 words in length and although set in the fictional town of Howlett, are all stand-alone stories. (Unless I one day write a sequel!)
I hope my books can provide some quick, harmless fun for those after a bit of 90s YA horror-style nostalgia, or those who are up for some cheap thrills and spills without having to commit to a 400-page book.
Not a Point Horror, but close enough for shelving purposes.
A solid 3.5 stars or higher.
While it's a recently-published book, this definitely belongs on the same shelf as vintage Stine or Point Horror. It requires the same suspension of disbelief: these are horror-movie teens, not quite like their real world counterparts. You just have to go with that if you're going to enjoy this book on its own terms.
It's a self published work, and has a few of the minor weaknesses I associate with self publication.
But those are extremely minor quibbles, and didn't detract from an enjoyable read. The plot and characters were a lot of fun (the characters were at least on par with, and sometimes better developed than, most of the population of the Point Horror series).
Pretty decent teen chiller! It's a fairly standard "I Know What You Did Last Summer" type scenario, but has some good plot twists along the way, with a memorable climax!
"Pool Pranks" began life as a hand-written story in an exercise book when I was a teenager. I have no idea where that version is now (in a tip somewhere, I think). I can't remember much of it, but it's a lot different to the version that has made it onto Amazon.
At one stage I tried to do an advertising campaign for it, but Amazon rejected it because the cover contained "nudity". I don't consider the cover particularly audacious - there's much worse stuff out there! I've put the cover on Facebook without any problems, and they are quite stringent in terms of the imagery that is allowed to be uploaded on there.
This one took a while to develop after publishing "Halloween Candy". I met a partner, bought a house and was still working full-time, so life got in the way. But being an "indie" author means you don't have traditional deadlines. If my writing becomes an obligation, it stops being fun...