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Nightmare Hall #26
Revenge
When the students at Salem University are terrorized by a vengeful stalker, Addie Adair, a co-ed who is working on an English paper at the computer lab, fears that she will be the next victim when she discovers a strange disk. Original.
- GenresYoung AdultHorror
214 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
Diane Hoh
83 books291 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 27, 2015
Another great book in the series, but it was very faaaaar-fetched. There is no way that some of the things that happened could have happened. The thing with Shelley for instance, not nearly enough time passed. There is also no way Adair could have remembered that code. She looked at the disk two times for like five seconds before it was stolen. Am I really supposed to believe that after so much time passed, she could remember the code completely right off the top of her head, and write it down on paper? We're talking about a 64-letter code with some punctuation and spaces. Gah! I hate when I'm played for a fool.
November 22, 2016
I've always loved this one, and I had so much fun re-reading it.
March 10, 2026
“Time to save the file. REDD, I’ve titled it. For REVENGE and DEAD. Revenge is my goal, Dead is what they’ll all be, each and every one of them. REDD.”
It was clear from the Prologue that this was not going to be a good book. It was clear from Chapter 1 that Diane Hoh is running out of first names and has resorted to heavily relying on using surnames instead.
This time around we have:
* Brigham (Not even entirely sure how this would be pronounced)
* Brynne Sawyer (A girl. You can tell by the extra letters that aren’t doing anything)
* Donovan McGarry
* Kirk Howard
* Cameron Truro
* Stokes
* Parker Nordstrum
* Addie Adair (the protagonist)
This last choice really shows up the stupidity of the characters, as they can’t guess what Addie is short for. Come on! There’s surely only one option. What’s it going to be? Adventure? Adenoid? Advil? Advocaat? Admiration?
I know the names at Nightmare Hall are bad, but they’re not that bad.
We also don’t get further than the first chapter before the writing stops making sense:
“In the front row, closest to the curb, I saw two boys from my math class. I didn’t know their names, although one looked vaguely familiar.”
They both look vaguely familiar, Addie. From maths class. You said that in the previous sentence.
I understand Hoh is trying to plant a clue, but the problem is that thinking doesn’t work like that.
So basically, I was tired before I reached Chapter 2.
Things get worse when we move on to extended droning about some pathetic sports thing. The setting isn’t even a rich seam for potential accidents and attacks, so at one point we have to endure one of the stupider moments of the series, when a character is nearly killed by tripping on an unexpected flying discus of unknown providence.
As well as one of the stupidest attacks in the series we also get one of the silliest, when someone’s toes are accidentally mown off while they’re distracted by a discman.
Things drag on for a while, as various rooms are damaged and lots of conversations between stupid people happen, often about the existence of the revenge floppy disc, which nobody can understand. They are complicated by the fact that our protagonist, besides being stupid, appears to have both a photographic memory and amnesia, making for some very odd storytelling.
Finally, things wrap up. The fact that everyone has surnames for first names actually turns out to be relevant. Kinda. The biggest clue to the backstory is the mention in the first chapter of a character having recently lost weight: in Point Horror and adjacent, losing weight is generally a sign of evil influences. As is not being thin. Normal people all have the same body type, of course.
Things end in the usual way, with our protagonist dodging an attack in a ridiculous high location so that the killer conveniently falls to their death.
Overall, this was pretty clumsily written. In order for the mystery to work, the lead has to be an idiot who suddenly solves an illogical code by divine inspiration because we are reaching the end of the book. She also has to be dangerously unaware of her surroundings and the major news stories in her town, but simultaneously hyperaware of the locations and life choices of every student from her town who is at university with her. And of course, she has to be unable to recognise the voices of her closest friends, even during extended conversations.
Voice blindness was a real plague in 90s teen horror.
It was clear from the Prologue that this was not going to be a good book. It was clear from Chapter 1 that Diane Hoh is running out of first names and has resorted to heavily relying on using surnames instead.
This time around we have:
* Brigham (Not even entirely sure how this would be pronounced)
* Brynne Sawyer (A girl. You can tell by the extra letters that aren’t doing anything)
* Donovan McGarry
* Kirk Howard
* Cameron Truro
* Stokes
* Parker Nordstrum
* Addie Adair (the protagonist)
This last choice really shows up the stupidity of the characters, as they can’t guess what Addie is short for. Come on! There’s surely only one option. What’s it going to be? Adventure? Adenoid? Advil? Advocaat? Admiration?
I know the names at Nightmare Hall are bad, but they’re not that bad.
We also don’t get further than the first chapter before the writing stops making sense:
“In the front row, closest to the curb, I saw two boys from my math class. I didn’t know their names, although one looked vaguely familiar.”
They both look vaguely familiar, Addie. From maths class. You said that in the previous sentence.
I understand Hoh is trying to plant a clue, but the problem is that thinking doesn’t work like that.
So basically, I was tired before I reached Chapter 2.
Things get worse when we move on to extended droning about some pathetic sports thing. The setting isn’t even a rich seam for potential accidents and attacks, so at one point we have to endure one of the stupider moments of the series, when a character is nearly killed by tripping on an unexpected flying discus of unknown providence.
As well as one of the stupidest attacks in the series we also get one of the silliest, when someone’s toes are accidentally mown off while they’re distracted by a discman.
Things drag on for a while, as various rooms are damaged and lots of conversations between stupid people happen, often about the existence of the revenge floppy disc, which nobody can understand. They are complicated by the fact that our protagonist, besides being stupid, appears to have both a photographic memory and amnesia, making for some very odd storytelling.
Finally, things wrap up. The fact that everyone has surnames for first names actually turns out to be relevant. Kinda. The biggest clue to the backstory is the mention in the first chapter of a character having recently lost weight: in Point Horror and adjacent, losing weight is generally a sign of evil influences. As is not being thin. Normal people all have the same body type, of course.
Things end in the usual way, with our protagonist dodging an attack in a ridiculous high location so that the killer conveniently falls to their death.
Overall, this was pretty clumsily written. In order for the mystery to work, the lead has to be an idiot who suddenly solves an illogical code by divine inspiration because we are reaching the end of the book. She also has to be dangerously unaware of her surroundings and the major news stories in her town, but simultaneously hyperaware of the locations and life choices of every student from her town who is at university with her. And of course, she has to be unable to recognise the voices of her closest friends, even during extended conversations.
Voice blindness was a real plague in 90s teen horror.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2024
Part of this one took place at Nightmare Hall.
June 29, 2025
Would I have made a trip to the bookstore to buy this? Nope. Did I discover it on a musty old bookshelf at the cottage and enjoy reading it? Yes.
Read
July 11, 2013Burn it to ashes!
November 24, 2013
This was one scary book. It started off slow, but the last few chapters will have you wanting more.
November 8, 2015
I remember reading this book in school and enjoying it. I recall it was scary in parts. I've been trying to track down a copy so I can re-read it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews