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Kill the Babysitter

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From the author of Mandy and The Stepchildren, Kill the Babysitter is a retro-style horror novella you won't soon forget...Jane Freeman’s first-ever babysitting gig comes with a lot of rules, and after a hellish night of watching the Harker children, she breaks an important Don't let them play with the Ouija board.

The children introduce Jane to a mischievous spirit named Zed who grants their every wish — as long as they let him have some fun.

It isn’t long before Jane has everything she could ever want, but when she makes a wicked wish against her high school bully, she decides the fun and games have gone too far.

Now Zed wants to play a deadly new Kill the Babysitter.

Soon Jane is fighting tooth and nail against a murderous horde of possessed children — and if she doesn’t team up with her worst enemy, she may not survive the night.

180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2021

87 people want to read

About the author

Stephanie Sparks

14 books29 followers
Retro horror author Stephanie Sparks writes stories reminiscent of classic '70s and '80s slasher and monster movies. She loves scream queens, final girls, and the masked maniacs who stalk them. Her books feature action, thrills, dark humor, and sarcasm. She prefers cats to people and when she's not lost in a paperback from hell or listening to 1980s movie soundtracks, she's daydreaming ideas for her next book or writing furiously. She's currently working on her next novel.

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Horror Sickness .
897 reviews363 followers
October 16, 2021
3,5

What would you do if you were a teenager desperate to make a quick buck to treat yourself and get a car? Work at a burger place for a low wage or pretend you are a babysitter and cash that good coin?

Jane will pretend to be an experienced babysitter and a responsible teenager to get enough money to get herself her dream car as fast as possible. She assumes it can not be so hard to take care of a couple of kids and takes the first job she gets offered.

Mrs Harker gives Jane a set of rules and is very clear on not letting the children under any circumstances, play with the ouija board.

However Jane is desperate to keep the children quiet and she will give in to play the game with them. What harm can it come from playing a simple board game right?

This was a fun, fast paced slasher and even though Jane as a character was annoying for me at the beginning, if you keep going it will be worth your time. There are some unexpected twists and turns to the story and I really enjoyed the ending.
Profile Image for Alex | | findingmontauk1.
1,568 reviews91 followers
August 2, 2023
OOOOH the way I would just walk out of this job, these kids, and never ever look to babysit again! They are little tyrannical monsters from hell in this! Jane is our main character and she definitely has more patience than me. And, also, I 100% would have just let them ruin my cell phone than to pull out a dang Ouija board?! That threat would not work for me. But, there you go: Ouija time! And this is not a fun little experience but an onslaught of scares and terror. Between the kids and the newly summoned demon, Zed, who is the real villain here?! KILL THE BABYSITTER is a page turner and reads super fast! This is my third book from Stephanie Sparks and it's just so evident her love for the genre!
Profile Image for James.
48 reviews
November 28, 2023
3.5 stars. This straightforward, fun and fast-paced retro-inspired possession horror romp uses some narrative tricks to cause you to question the true nature of the characters, especially towards the conclusion. It reads a little young - largely due to the teenage characters - but has some fun horror moments.
Profile Image for BannedBibliophile.
6 reviews
September 29, 2025
Rating: 3.5

Kill the Babysitter takes place in 2019 yet promises the fun of a retro horror film set 40 years ago. High schooler Jane never aspired to be a babysitter, but when she sees the dollar signs that can come with the job, she takes her inexperienced tush and hikes it over to the Harker house, where she's introduced to three headstrong, semi-disturbing children. Among Ms. Harker's laundry list of rules is her explicit refusal to allow her kids to play with the Ouija board, but Jane's broken down by continuously bad behavior and allows the children to pull the spirit board off the shelf. While it seems harmless enough, the Harker brood introduces her to Zed, a mischievous "spirit" who grants your every wish if you let him have a little fun. With all Jane's dreams coming true, our protagonist feels on top of the world until Zed's next game is all about unaliving the babysitter. The only way to survive the night might require Jane to team up with her worst enemy, and even then, her continued existence above ground isn't guaranteed.

Recommended for those who enjoy:
💀 Creepy Children
💀 '80s Vibes in a Modern Setting
💀 Evil Entities
💀 Ouija Boards
💀 Survive the Night Stories

I fell in love with this cover when I saw it on a random Instagram post, which made me want to snatch the title up right away, and you can bet that's exactly what I did because I possess literally no impulse control.

Kill the Babysitter is an enjoyable, easy to digest horror story on the shorter side filled to the brim with fun '80s vibes the author wove into a modern storyline complete with all the conveniences we enjoy today. I've never babysat in my entire life, but you can bet that I wish I have memories from 1980 of riding my bicycle in the late afternoon sun, pedaling across leaf-strewn streets that wove their way to my wards' house, where I'd make peanut butter sandwiches, play board games, and talk on the phone with my bestie once I put everyone to bed. There's a simple, nostalgic ring to it all where I imagine I wouldn't feel pulled in so many directions. Who's posting what on their social media right now? How many texts do I need to catch up on? What's the balance on my student debt this month?

I'll be completely honest, though, when I say that I'm not sure who the book's intended audience is. (At this point, I'd say the story runs on the YA side.) It's written in a younger voice, most likely because the MC is a teen herself, but I expected this to be a little more adult. The teen drama takes full center stage when Jane deems her bully "The Beast" for literally the pettiest reason imaginable, but I think this exaggerated and unnecessary meanness is what heavily contributes to the book's campiness. You can't help but think it's ridiculous and derive some sort of "so bad it's good" type of attitude from it - and I mean all this in the best way possible. The bully vs. the bullied is an interesting dynamic but one that you often feel clear-cut emotions about: the identified bully is a dirtbag who must be crushed by the welcomed foot of karma, while the bullied is a downtrodden, underdog who deserves the world for what they've endured. Kill the Babysitter isn't so simple, though. Jane's story of events is drastically different from The Beast's, and the title of villain becomes muddled quickly as you begin to see Jane for the less than stellar person she can be. Is the supposed bully actually the bad guy, or has she been unjustly targeted? I love these twisted narratives that make it difficult for you to root for the main character. Witnessing the MC make decisions becomes all that more compelling, especially when her perspective gets shaken and she must revisit the choices that defined her experiences thus far.

Besides a strong victim/perpetrator dynamic, there's a lot to love in Kill the Babysitter, possessed children being among them. The Harker family is a handful and frighteningly manipulative, especially the oldest child. She knows how to get what she wants, and she directs her younger siblings accordingly without fear of consequence. A child so self-willed as to border on obstinate, she is a force to be reckoned with, but all the Harkers would rate highly on the creepy children scale. I bet they could all sport a bowl cut because it's what evil children do best, and that's science. There was one scene where the children had a clandestine meeting, and their discussions brought goosebumps to my arms. Picturing young people planning horrendous events is a perfect example of innocence so blatantly discarded. For a split moment, it genuinely made me fear having my own children in the event they tried to knife anyone in the dead of night. (Long live overactive imaginations.) But the creepy, evil children don't stop at this trio! Zed can take over just about anybody he wants, altering reality to his will, as is evident in the way he uses hordes of local children to do the most heinous crime imaginable - kill for him. Mobs of deadly children running around quickly brought to mind a film called The Children (2008). The youth are savage and unstoppable, hunting prey down without relief. I can confidently say I'd never want to encounter them on a trip to the park, let alone trying to break into my house.

Hands down, my favorite elements in Kill the Babysitter are the ouija board itself and the creepy entity named Zed that's attached to it. There's an air of mystery to them both that left me begging for answers, and unfortunately, I never really got any. A brief explanation is given at one point, but it's so fleeting and feels like Zed was manipulating the situation, crafting lies to hide his true identity. (That could also just be me wishing for something more malevolent than necessary because I have a fascination with the more twisted things in life. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) I love learning about the supernatural, so I wanted to know everything down to the last possible technicality, including the intimate details of his origins, the grievous specifics of his past exploits, and the benefits he received from his reality-altering games. How long has he been playing with people? Is he permanently attached to the ouija board, or is it simply a vehicle that makes it easy for him to find victims? Do most of his victims live or die? And my laundry list of inquiries goes on and on. For me, half the fun is derived from a book's revelations and backstories, but I can appreciate some ambiguity as long as the story is enjoyable - and Kill the Babysitter certainly is.

Final Thoughts:
While not as gritty as I originally thought it'd be, Kill the Babysitter is fast to consume and an entertaining time, especially if you're in the market for something with a YA feel to it. I adored the atmosphere and was anxious to see how the story ended. I was not disappointed! I've already purchased another book by Stephanie Sparks, and I can't wait to see what else she contributes to the horror community!
353 reviews3 followers
January 14, 2022
It's all fun and games until someone summons a demon

Jane becomes a babysitter to earn money for a car. She thinks the Harder kids are brats but she finds out what kind of monsters they really are when they start playing with a Ouija board. Kill the Babysitter starts slow but the action and terror kick into high gear when the children get possessed by a demon. This novel is a fun rollercoaster.
Profile Image for Ziggy Nixon.
1,158 reviews36 followers
January 9, 2026
No snacks. Bed by 7:30. Don’t play with the Ouija board. No making a mess. Quiet activities…

Wait — Ouija board?

3 ½ stars. Stephanie Sparks' "Kill the Babysitter" comes exactly as advertised. No, not by the plot recap included on goodreads - which I think is cleverly misleading in some key ways - but based on its title alone. Yes, the name of the game is indeed "Kill the Babysitter" and teenager Jane is in for a lot more than she could have ever bargained for when she lands her first sitting gig. I mean, who hasn't been there, huh? Your first time thinking "this will be a breeze" but then you find you've got a house full of spoiled rotten - and weirdly devilishly clever - kids to deal with ("…she knelt before the most powerful ten-year-old in the world."). Plus it seems they have summoned an incredibly powerful demon over the past weeks while playing a game their mother insisted had been forbidden (but Mom still kept the game and apparently within easy reach of the kids). Wow, I bet everyone is saying if I had a dollar for each time that happened, huh?

Babysitting was going to be a piece of cake. Maybe even fun.

This is a quick-ish read but don't go chiseling too much of what you read into your brain tablets just yet. Sure, Jane comes across as our typical attractive but lower-ish income teenager … even if eventually we begin to see some cracks in her facade (she struck me from the get-go as a bit arrogant and you just don't treat your best friends that way). And the stone cold mom in the story is nothing for the cover of any magazines that include delicious low-cal recipes or how to prepare your living room for the upcoming Spring months. OK, but enough with the rocky analogies. Bottom-line is that Jane is a little too anxious to get some of the things - and people - she wants in her life and it leads her to take some really bad decisions along the way. And if this deep dive into the world of YA shenanigans isn't enough for you, well, consider the fact that our teen protagonist just may be (cue creepy music) an unreliable narrator!

It’s not like I made a deal with the devil — or have I?

Naturally Jane has taken the easy way out in terms of becoming a baby-sitter in the first place, by not taking the training course nor getting "licensed" for same through some rather sad techniques (seriously, if the mom couldn't see through all that, well, maybe her kids deserved what they got … or I guess since they got off scott-free, I guess mom got what she deserved what with the loss of her marriage and property). But getting back to Jane: this gig she lands pays EXTREMELY well - seriously the HOURLY rates quoted were more than I'd earn in an entire evening when I did a bit of same in high school ("For a hundred bucks? She can put a goddamn leash on me.") even if she's really really bad at what she does (it appears she'd never been around a child before this). It's not long then before the kids have whipped out the ol' Ouija board and introduced Jane to their newest, bestest buddy, namely the demon Zed.

It’s a game, and I love games. But I love death even more.

If you do dive into this wee adventure, you may realize very quickly that Zed isn't just some run-of-the-mill demonic type that wants the kids to play pranks on others for the heck of it or maybe devour the odd soul or seven. No this is a blood-thirsty, EXTREMELY powerful demon that without spoiling too much has the power to control time and reality, including even life and death and maybe the future, too. Just some of the "rewinds" we see in this tale are pretty far-fetched but hey, if you play by the rules you'll win valuable prizes along the way. I mean who needs luck when you wind up getting an endless supply of wishes? Kind of like wondering what if the genie in Aladdin had in fact been evil instead of essentially Robin Williams in blueface ("You bully everyone... And you act like you’re so cool, but no one likes you.")? One might even say it would have been… Beastly? OK, that was too close to a spoiler, ignore everything I just said!

The stupid babysitter should be dead. The doorbell rang and everything!

Now, there are a lot of moments in this tale where you not only have to suspend your belief but just chuck it out the window and hope for the best. Yes, I mentioned that Zed was all-powerful but holy cow, even the police and a full neighborhood of parents should have been a bit more aware of what was going on in their midst. I mean, did none of these houses have functioning fire alarms of any kind? But it's a fun read even if the editing wasn't always up to top standards in some spots. But for my money, the big twist surprise - remember our unreliable narrator who was, indeed, very unreliable? - was totally worth it.

Profile Image for Amber.
211 reviews27 followers
June 30, 2022
4⭐
This was such a fun, quick read. The author, Stephanie Sparks, is an indie author from Canada. She has 3 novellas out now, and a new release Mandy coming soon. Look for a review of that one this month as well.
We follow Jane Freeman, who is not a great person, as she takes on a babysitting job in order to obtain some cash. She is not very popular, and has a bully at school. While babysitting the kids convince her to play the Ouija Board, and introduce her to Zed. Zed is a spirit the kids have summoned, and he loves to play games. Jane will have to possibly join forces with her enemy to survive.
This was such a fun read. It was so quick, and I kept turning the page to figure out what was happening. Sparks' writing will keep you engaged, and it gets graphic and deep at moments. Who will survive the game of Kill the Babysitter?
Thank you so much to Stephanie Sparks. She very kindly sent me three of her books to review: Kill the Babysitter, The Stepchildren, and Mandy. Stay tuned for further reviews. I recommend you pick this novella up if you like possession, supernatural, or survival horror stories that involve some creepy kids.
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