The dark power of the Fear family consumes all those connected with it. No one can escape the evil of the family's curse—not even the Fears themselves.
Savannah Madison doesn't believe that. She marries Tyler Fear. But then she goes with him to Blackrose Manor. That's when the deaths begin. That's when she learns his terrible secret.
Robert 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.
This is one of the more memorable entries in Stine's vast retro YA oeuvre. It is lush Gothic horror with glimmers of a Southern sensibility - a far cry from the jejune, uninspired pieces in the Fear Street series. Macabre black roses, dolls dressed in mourning black, funereal weddings in empty stone churches, and all manner of baleful sorcery create an intriguing atmosphere that makes this such a piquant morsel. Add to these all those grotesque deaths and it's no wonder this is such a breeze to read.
Perusing the copyright page, it says that this was written by a certain Brandon Alexander. I wonder how much creative license he was allowed. This tosh is far from literary, but it does stand head and shoulders above books of the same ilk.
Savannah marries Tyler Fier and she and her sister, Victoria, move to his home at Blackrose Manor after the Civil War. While they are there, crazy stuff starts happening.
Cool ending, but the narration makes it difficult to keep going - it's dawning on me more and more how 'normal' death and killing are made to seem in these books. That said, guilty pleasure. I will probably keep reading.
Not too long of a review on this and it isn't because there isn't good stuff but because I have sinus pressure so bad I can barley see the screen as I type.
Gotta love summer allergies...
This entry into the Fear Street Sagas series isn't too different from House of Whispers as it takes place against the backdrop of the Civil War Era. The story is told by an old woman and we eventually learn just who she is but it is a tale of two sisters.
Savannah Gentry is turning seventeen and she has been falling for the friend her brother Zachariah has brought home to their plantation of Whispering Oaks, Georgia after graduating West Point.
His name is Tyler Fier.
Savannah believes that her sister Victoria is also in love with Tyler and isn't too happy to hear him ask little sister for her hand in marriage. When Savannah finds her sister, Victoria is killing baby pigs and using the blood in the "practices" some of the slave women have taught her.
It isn't out of revenge but because Victoria has sensed something evil about Tyler and she has now learned the truth...his family is cursed. Savannah believes it is just jealousy making her sister a little unwell and runs off to find Tyler.
That's when the news is given: Fort Sumter has fallen and we are in a Civil War. Savannah is naive to think Tyler will fight for the South when his home is up North and she refuses to go with him and marry him if he can turn his back on her or make him think she would turn her back on her family.
Tyler doesn't take this too well and rides off saying that Savannah will regret her decision...
During the War, both of Savannah and Victoria's parents die and all of the slaves leave when given emancipation and both girls know nothing about cotton planting and their seeds aren't growing too well in the garden for food.
They resort to eating worms and later that night, Savannah has a dream that brother Zachariah returns home with horrific wounds and can only spit out blood. The next day, she finds blood on the floor and then receives a letter.
It is from Tyler telling her that Zachariah died when they were fighting in Gettysburg and it made him realize his own mortality and never seeing Savannah again. If he is able to survive and make his way to her, Tyler wants Savannah to marry him.
Victoria isn't too pleased to find Tyler is still alive while their brother is dead or that Savannah would take him back. She believes he is still evil and makes a flannel pouch with the dirt from their parents' graves to protect herself and Savannah but it only drives a wedge between her and Victoria.
The war is over and Tyler survives and takes both of the girls to his home in Massachusetts...a place called Blackrose Manor.
Quite literally as the roses are all black to match the inside while the outside is as cold and stony gray as you may think in a Gothic romance such as this. The main servant of the house is Mrs. Mooreland and also there is a young girl named Lucy, ward of Tyler's parents after her own died.
If you are a fan of stuff like Rebecca and yet want that edge of Crimson Peak...Forbidden Secrets is the perfect book for you to read.
The Fear family curse continues in the 3rd installment of the Fear Street Sagas. This time we are taken back to a time of war in 1861 Georgia. Despite the fact that Tyler Fear has gone off to fight for the North, against the Savannah Gentry's South, she can't help but feel connected to him. Savannah's sister, Victoria, insists that the Fear family only brings evil and that she must stay away from Tyler. Savannah refuses to listen to anyone or anything but her heart, which is telling her she belongs with Tyler Fear. After returning from the war, Tyler is a changed man. Savannah doesn't know how much he has changed, but she soon finds out when she moves with her sister to Tyler's home, Black Rose Manor. And Black Rose Manor is anything but homey and warm, literally chilling it's inhabitants to the bone.
While the first installment of this series, A New Fear, is still one of my favorites, Forbidden Secrets is a very entertaining read. I love how R.L. Stine weaves in bits of history into his stories, making them feel more grounded and permanent in a way. As always you are on your toes and you think you know which characters fall on the side of evil and which ones fall on the side of good, but R.L. Stine does a wonderful job in throwing you a curve ball, surprising you at the very last moment. Even when little things are obviously predictable, you are still pleasantly surprised at the outcome. While you know that there is more to Tyler, as he is a 'Fear' after all, you quite can't put your finger on it - he is very suave and sweet.
If you're a sucker for quick entertaining thrillers you won't be disappointed in Forbidden Secrets or the The Fear Street Sagas.
The Fear Street series holds a very special place for me, mostly because it was part of the young adult horror fiction that my parents disproved of reading when I was small. Those early FS volumes are not to be found at home now though, but I have 02 memories regarding the FS series:
a. Borrowing a FS book from the Vision International School library (courtesy Mrs. Subasinghe) and my mother being highly disapproving of it. I believe it was a volume from the "Cataluna Chronicles", and the name "Bad Luck Catherine" is all that I remember of this incident.
b. When booksales were held at school, they stocked FS, Goosebumps and Shivers by the loads, and students used to reserve these for later purchase. FS was that much in demand.
I simply read this FS book for a number of reasons; since it's been so long since I read one, since I got a copy at a thrift shop for a reasonable amount (the only FS book that I possess now), but mostly because I wanted to recollect some memories that I had with FS. I was however disappointed to find out that this volume was written by a Brandon Alexander and not by R. L. Stine.
Coming back to the book proper, although it is part of a series, the story is standalone, describing a macabre incident involving a living dead (lich?) of the "Fier" family. The book is written just like Goosebumps - fast paced, small (I should say tiny) chapters that a just 02-06 pages which almost always ends at a cliff hanger. Overall a page turner, does not take much time to read, but I did notice that the enjoyment factor is pretty low. Perhaps I'm too grown up for these now.
But would I read another FS volume again? Possibly.
This book scared the crap out of my little junior high self! I actually chunked it out of the window when I finished it lol! It's been a long time but I will say Stine is the master at twists and turns with some predictability.
Of all the Fear Street books, I loved the Fear Street Sagas the best. I only read the original trilogy, which was of dubious quality, but when I saw this come in as a library donation I had to read it to see how bad it was. It was a fun kind of bad, hence the three stars.
The story is told by an old woman, who we surmise is Savannah, one of two Southern sisters. Both Savannah and her sister Victoria fall for the same guy, Tyler Fier, a friend of their brother's, but right after Savannah agrees to marry Tyler, the Civil War starts, and of course Tyler is from the north which means Savannah renegs on their engagement. Victoria warns Savannah not to marry him, because he's evil and his family is cursed. Victoria is also really into the Dark Arts, so Savannah doesn't entirely trust her. Throughout the War, the sisters try to survive alone on their plantation which is now devoid of slaves to work the land, and after their brother is killed, Savannah is happy to agree to marry Tyler. Victoria doesn't want to move north and live in Blackrose Manor, a gloomy place surrounded by (you guessed it) black roses, with all the rooms painted black. But Savannah drags her along, because they had been at the point of eating worms.
At Blackrose Manor, Savannah meets Lucy, Tyler's cousin (I think?), who acts like a 6-year-old but who is actually 17, and also weirdly and childishly in love with Tyler herself. The strange housekeeper and Victoria's Dark Arts and Lucy's creepy antics quickly boil over into horror. I don't want to include any spoilers but there are creepy dolls, descriptions of crushed skulls, eyeballs, and brain matter, and of course a nice twist at the end.
All in all this was a fast read with short chapters and lots of R.L. Stine's usual cliffhangers. I'm not even sure this is of the quality of the original Fear Street Saga trilogy, but that's almost the best part!
My Fear Street readings continue! I actually really like the Sagas. I like the historical side of it. I like that they are so over the top gothic horror. I like that each chapter ends with a BUM BUM BUM kind of cliffhanger. I really liked this one. It was just very satisfying, so much so that I got up at 4:30 one morning to finish it.
Savannah has always been the beautiful sister and Victoria has always been the strange one. Tyler Fear proposes and Savannah thinks that Victoria is just jealous when she warns her sister that Tyler is evil and Tyler is cursed. Victoria has been visiting the slave quarters on their plantation and learning the dark arts, but Savannah thinks this is all superstition. Then the Civil War breaks out and Tyler and Savannah end their engagement, as he will fight for the North.
And that's just the FIRST DAY in this book.
When Tyler returns from the war he takes the sisters to his home up north, Black Rose Manor. There everything is cold and damp, plus there's an unwelcoming servant and Tyler's niece, who is obsessed with fire, secrets, and Tyler himself. Victoria keeps warning Savannah that one of them will die before the year is out but Savannah loves Tyler. Her sister is just going mad, right?
This book was so damn extra. Like I said, I loved it. I pretty much devoured it. And the twist? I didn't see it coming and it was super cliche and I might have laughed manically.
Meh. The problem with this series is the mere fact is that it's ghost-written. You can see the seeds of what was clearly Stine's idea but the final product is truly lacking that style Stine brings for these plots. Savannah and her sister live a quiet life at Whispering Oaks, until Tyler Fier shows up and causes a rift that would forever change the sisters lives. Savannah loves Tyler despite the fact he's fighting for the North, but he vows he'll keep her forever and she'll regret choosing the South over him. Her sister Victoria tries to convince her Tyler is evil but Savannah brushes it off as sibling jealousy, afterall, Tyler loves her. She follows him to Blackrose Manor meeting the grim staff and the obsessive cousin. The murders begin, each more gruesome than the next. Until Savannah learns the chilling truth. It wasn't awful but I could see the potential and was just frustrated at what could have been.
I remember this book making me cry the first time I read it. As I reread it, I was struck by the notion that it was too good to be R. L. Stine. Not that Stine isn't a good author, but I recognize his writing and knew that this wasn't it. Forbidden Secrets is not an R. L. Stine book, it's not a Fear Street book, it's a genuine gothic romance that is tangentially related to the Fear family. Low and behold, at the back of the book Forbidden Secrets written by Brandon Alexander. Vindication! I have feelings about authors putting their name on other people's work. I hope Alexander got paid well for her work, Forbidden Secrets is one of my favorite 'R. L. Stine' books and sparked abiding love of gothic literature.
This is why you should take the advice of your sister much more often...
It was definitely not my favorite, the twist wasn't really a twist it was more a HEY I AM CRAZY LOOK AT ME, no I'm crazier it was me, NO NO NO I promise, I'M CRAZY THAN BOTH OF THEM BWAHHA.
But this is the second time I've read it (the first was sometime in my elementary school years; now I'm about ready to have my own "adult" college adventures), and I've realized the writing is tacky, there's little to no variation in sentence structure or word choice, signalling the author's lack or control over writing or his intent to aim this at an audience of little kids. Like 2nd graders. Actually, how did I ever find this scary? (Just kidding, it's still slightly scary.)
The most gothic horror out of the three I’ve read so far and it seems to me like RL Stine has a talent for writing these types of stories.
I really enjoyed this one but I felt like Savannah should have listened to Victoria. Not everything is about jealousy and that was ultimately their downfall.
Also the Fier/Fear men, fricken need therapy. Some moments legitimately made me go WTF and the plot twist at the end actually got me. I did not see it coming.
I really do enjoy the Fear Street Saga's, as they take place in different centuries as the original seires. This one in particular was pretty good. It has a fairly high body count, which is something I don't see much in a Stine story. A couple of the deaths were a little nasty too.
I also enjoyed how the story was told. Flipping back and forth time lines by our story teller. The ending made me smile as well. Very satisfying and if I had read this when I was a kid I'd have loved it for sure!
Disappointing. Felt the most strayed from the original curse, within the full series so far. A very disjointed story line along with a villian that was laughable and barely knowable as a character. Although the one bright spot of this story was the great use of southern gothic atmosphere and the brutality of war time.
I thought the majority of this one was slow going. I didn't mind too much, since the ambiance was mysterious and gloomy and just overall creepy. I wish Victoria could've had a chance to show clues about the truth. I think her character had more potential. Overall a page turner!
A thrilling quick read. R.L. Stine stepped outside of the box with the setting of this one, where we are transported to the historical South during the Civil War. Very interesting choice! I liked the gothic mansion atmosphere. Would read more that are similar to this one.
This was the first Fear Street story told by an older person looking back on their life. It chronicles Savannah's descent into lunacy as she loses everything that matters to her. It was interesting but the story didn't fit in as well with the Fear Street saga line.
I loved the fear street series ... I used to devour these books in my teens I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants to get all teenagers reading rather than playing video games ..
Seeing as this one was ghost written under Stine's name, I really wasn't expecting much from it. However, it actually wasn't all that bad. Not the greatest Fear Street, but far from the worst.