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Phantom Valley #4
Stranger in the Mirror
Mirror, mirror on the wall. . .
Stacy James is pulled through the mirror into a terrifying nightmare!
Now her twin, Tracy, has to pretend to be both sisters, as she desperately tries to get Stacy back.
Can the twins figure out the secret to the mirror before time runs out? Or will Stacy have to face the girl with the ax alone?
Stacy James is pulled through the mirror into a terrifying nightmare!
Now her twin, Tracy, has to pretend to be both sisters, as she desperately tries to get Stacy back.
Can the twins figure out the secret to the mirror before time runs out? Or will Stacy have to face the girl with the ax alone?
119 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
4 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Beach
32 books7 followersThis is a pen name for author Kathryn Lance.
Kathryn Lance, the author or co-author (or ghostwriter) of more than 50 print books (fiction, nonfiction, for adults and children), has moved into the world of e-publishing. Several of her out of print fiction books are or will soon be up on Smashwords and other online venues; new work, including short fiction and a YA sci-fi series, will soon be in print online as well.
A member of Authors Guild and Science Fiction Writers of America, Lance grew up in Tucson, Arizona, then moved to New York City for several years. Now she is back in Tucson, where she leads nature tours, writes, and has fun with her husband and four cats.
Kathryn Lance, the author or co-author (or ghostwriter) of more than 50 print books (fiction, nonfiction, for adults and children), has moved into the world of e-publishing. Several of her out of print fiction books are or will soon be up on Smashwords and other online venues; new work, including short fiction and a YA sci-fi series, will soon be in print online as well.
A member of Authors Guild and Science Fiction Writers of America, Lance grew up in Tucson, Arizona, then moved to New York City for several years. Now she is back in Tucson, where she leads nature tours, writes, and has fun with her husband and four cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 11, 2017
Cripes on a cracker I've been trying to figure out the name of this book for about TWENTY YEARS. I honestly can't remember whether it was "good" or not in the traditional sense, but it sure stuck out to 8 year old me when I read it in 1993.
July 24, 2019
I was obsessed with the first 4 of this series in elementary school, and this was probably the scariest one of all to me. Because you see, I also had an antique mirror in my room. Was I maybe inspired to spend an inordinate amount of time making TERRIFYING, evil-looking faces in it until I felt genuine prickles of fear that my reflection might suddenly reach out and drag me through the glass? YOU KNOW IT.
I found this cheap at a used bookstore, bought it immediately, and proceed to revert back to being 8 and scared the dickens out of myself in broad daylight with no mirrors in sight, so I'd say that was $1.50 well spent. It's such a great concept, a mirror that serves as both a window and a portal into another time period during certain phases of the moon. The details of Stacy's struggle with hardscrabble pioneer life, the deranged Philomena, the bloodstained axe of ominousness, Sister....it all came flooding back with intensity. What a great concept! A+ would recommend to all your kiddos who want to be scared silly.
I found this cheap at a used bookstore, bought it immediately, and proceed to revert back to being 8 and scared the dickens out of myself in broad daylight with no mirrors in sight, so I'd say that was $1.50 well spent. It's such a great concept, a mirror that serves as both a window and a portal into another time period during certain phases of the moon. The details of Stacy's struggle with hardscrabble pioneer life, the deranged Philomena, the bloodstained axe of ominousness, Sister....it all came flooding back with intensity. What a great concept! A+ would recommend to all your kiddos who want to be scared silly.
December 17, 2023
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars
Of course, I was always into Fear Street and Point Horror books but on occasion they would have advertisements for other book series to get readers interested in or the works of other similar authors.
Most of the time the Fear Street books would talk about Christopher Pike or L.J. Smith or John Peel but a few would talk about Phantom Valley.
It was weird that they never tried to push Goosebumps on Fear Street readers since Stine wrote both but they had mentions of Phantom Valley. Goosebumps was for younger readers but I feel like Phantom Valley is in-between and it would be more of the stepping stone towards Fear Street.
I say this now because I have finally read a Phantom Valley book.
I always cruise the Young Adult and Teen sections of Half Price Books after hitting the Horror and Mystery and Romance sections before I peruse any DVDs or the Clearance sections. Was I surprised one day to find two Phantom Valley books?
Yes and delighted as well as curious.
I always feel a little apprehensive starting a series in the middle but I'll take what I can get.
For anyone else who has yet to read any it takes place in the town of Phantom Valley out in the west or more the Southwest part of the U.S. and the students who go to the Chilleen Academy seem to be the main characters.
I would say that the ages of the characters have to be thirteen if they live at a private school.
Weird things happen but nothing too scary yet highly disturbing.
Stacy and Tracy James are twins who go to Chilleen. Stacy is the more serious twin who is smart and studious and always wearing her hair down with fashionable clothes. Tracy is more comfortable in sweats, hair in a ponytail, smart yet not an honor student always studying like her twin.
Their Aunt Louise has moved to the nearby town of Silverbell to be the librarian at the county historical society. On their first visit with her, they explore the local flea market to find things for Aunt Louise's new home and come across Native American pottery and old furniture from the settlers of Phantom Valley back in the 1830s.
There is a mirror for sale by an old woman with the phases of the moon carved at the top of the wooden frame. The glass needs to be resilvered but it is still in sturdy shape and Aunt Louise buys it for the girls to put in their room at school.
Stacy and Tracy love it at first but soon they start to see images in the glass once the moon rises.
They are of a girl their age with her red hair in pigtails and wearing old-fashioned clothing. She does chores and seems to live with an older woman and always seems so sad. Then one night, the girl looks up at the mirror and seems to see Stacy and Tracy just as clearly as they see her!
Stacy is the one who gets closer to the mirror, being waved on by the girl, and it is part fascination and maybe a little against her will since Tracy remains sitting on her bed. The awe turns to terror once the girl reaches out of the mirror and grabs Stacy by her shoulders and starts to pull her into the mirror!
Tracy is too late to reach her twin and is horrified that she can't find way to get Stacy out of the mirror and can't even see her sister! Tracy is soon having to pretend to be both Stacy and herself with all of their classes to keep her sister's disappearance a secret despite weird things having happened at the school before.
Could you blame her? People would think she was crazy.
Tracy gives the excuse that "Stacy" is sick for a few days and then pretends she is sick from catching the same thing. Sometimes the ruse works but all of the studying and trying to reach Stacy is wearing Tracy out that she starts falling asleep in class and sometimes mixing up who she is pretending to be with her hair or a piece of clothing.
Stacy's nosy friend Angela is the one Tracy has to watch out for the most but also the head of the school, Mrs. Danita. You see...the twins have switched places in the past and Stacy did take a history test pretending to be Tracy recently as well as miss filling in for Stacy in her art class at the same time...
One slip-up could have the sisters going to different schools...as if that is the biggest problem either one has to face at the moment!
Stacy finds herself now in the past and the red-haired girl with the braided pigtails named Philomena is glad to have herself a new friend, a companion...a sister. At first, she doesn't seem to act as if Stacy came through the mirror but as Stacy presses Philomena with questions...it's clear she knows more than she is letting on.
Phil has temper tantrums if it seems that Stacy might be taken from her or sent away by her grandmother for any reason. She even gets mad at Stacy for being homesick that Philomena throws pig slop in her face and locks Stacy in the bedroom to keep her from the mirror.
It isn't until Stacy finds the axe hidden and wrapped in a blanket with dried brown stains that she begins to think that Philomena could be crazy enough to do anything to keep Stacy from finding a way back through the mirror.
As if she has done the same thing before...
It isn't hard to figure out the reveal or twist but it doesn't make it any less terrifying when we get to the climax. The most interesting point of the book is how the time is just glossed over of exactly how long Stacy was stuck in the mirror and Tracy was going around pretending to be both twins.
That's where the suspension of disbelief really lies...
The ending is of course quippy and there are a lot of unanswered questions that I would have liked answers to but...oh well.
Stranger in The Mirror is pretty tame for the series so far but I am not disappointed and hope that I can find a few more of these Phantom Valley books.
Of course, I was always into Fear Street and Point Horror books but on occasion they would have advertisements for other book series to get readers interested in or the works of other similar authors.
Most of the time the Fear Street books would talk about Christopher Pike or L.J. Smith or John Peel but a few would talk about Phantom Valley.
It was weird that they never tried to push Goosebumps on Fear Street readers since Stine wrote both but they had mentions of Phantom Valley. Goosebumps was for younger readers but I feel like Phantom Valley is in-between and it would be more of the stepping stone towards Fear Street.
I say this now because I have finally read a Phantom Valley book.
I always cruise the Young Adult and Teen sections of Half Price Books after hitting the Horror and Mystery and Romance sections before I peruse any DVDs or the Clearance sections. Was I surprised one day to find two Phantom Valley books?
Yes and delighted as well as curious.
I always feel a little apprehensive starting a series in the middle but I'll take what I can get.
For anyone else who has yet to read any it takes place in the town of Phantom Valley out in the west or more the Southwest part of the U.S. and the students who go to the Chilleen Academy seem to be the main characters.
I would say that the ages of the characters have to be thirteen if they live at a private school.
Weird things happen but nothing too scary yet highly disturbing.
Stacy and Tracy James are twins who go to Chilleen. Stacy is the more serious twin who is smart and studious and always wearing her hair down with fashionable clothes. Tracy is more comfortable in sweats, hair in a ponytail, smart yet not an honor student always studying like her twin.
Their Aunt Louise has moved to the nearby town of Silverbell to be the librarian at the county historical society. On their first visit with her, they explore the local flea market to find things for Aunt Louise's new home and come across Native American pottery and old furniture from the settlers of Phantom Valley back in the 1830s.
There is a mirror for sale by an old woman with the phases of the moon carved at the top of the wooden frame. The glass needs to be resilvered but it is still in sturdy shape and Aunt Louise buys it for the girls to put in their room at school.
Stacy and Tracy love it at first but soon they start to see images in the glass once the moon rises.
They are of a girl their age with her red hair in pigtails and wearing old-fashioned clothing. She does chores and seems to live with an older woman and always seems so sad. Then one night, the girl looks up at the mirror and seems to see Stacy and Tracy just as clearly as they see her!
Stacy is the one who gets closer to the mirror, being waved on by the girl, and it is part fascination and maybe a little against her will since Tracy remains sitting on her bed. The awe turns to terror once the girl reaches out of the mirror and grabs Stacy by her shoulders and starts to pull her into the mirror!
Tracy is too late to reach her twin and is horrified that she can't find way to get Stacy out of the mirror and can't even see her sister! Tracy is soon having to pretend to be both Stacy and herself with all of their classes to keep her sister's disappearance a secret despite weird things having happened at the school before.
Could you blame her? People would think she was crazy.
Tracy gives the excuse that "Stacy" is sick for a few days and then pretends she is sick from catching the same thing. Sometimes the ruse works but all of the studying and trying to reach Stacy is wearing Tracy out that she starts falling asleep in class and sometimes mixing up who she is pretending to be with her hair or a piece of clothing.
Stacy's nosy friend Angela is the one Tracy has to watch out for the most but also the head of the school, Mrs. Danita. You see...the twins have switched places in the past and Stacy did take a history test pretending to be Tracy recently as well as miss filling in for Stacy in her art class at the same time...
One slip-up could have the sisters going to different schools...as if that is the biggest problem either one has to face at the moment!
Stacy finds herself now in the past and the red-haired girl with the braided pigtails named Philomena is glad to have herself a new friend, a companion...a sister. At first, she doesn't seem to act as if Stacy came through the mirror but as Stacy presses Philomena with questions...it's clear she knows more than she is letting on.
Phil has temper tantrums if it seems that Stacy might be taken from her or sent away by her grandmother for any reason. She even gets mad at Stacy for being homesick that Philomena throws pig slop in her face and locks Stacy in the bedroom to keep her from the mirror.
It isn't until Stacy finds the axe hidden and wrapped in a blanket with dried brown stains that she begins to think that Philomena could be crazy enough to do anything to keep Stacy from finding a way back through the mirror.
As if she has done the same thing before...
It isn't hard to figure out the reveal or twist but it doesn't make it any less terrifying when we get to the climax. The most interesting point of the book is how the time is just glossed over of exactly how long Stacy was stuck in the mirror and Tracy was going around pretending to be both twins.
That's where the suspension of disbelief really lies...
The ending is of course quippy and there are a lot of unanswered questions that I would have liked answers to but...oh well.
Stranger in The Mirror is pretty tame for the series so far but I am not disappointed and hope that I can find a few more of these Phantom Valley books.
February 20, 2012
I guess this one would have to be filed under nostalgia. I read it a very long time ago, I think when I was 10 or 11, and have been trying to remember the title of this book for a very long time. Googling it didn't help, searching Amazon didn't help, nothing helped, until I spent some time searching the NoveList database. I searched for children's (9-12) books under multiple keywords and appeal terms, and finally found it under the subject of "magic mirrors." I was so ecstatic because now I can finally order a (probably really used and yellowing) copy on Amazon.
This book is a part of a small series of fantastical horror stories. It's about a girl who uncovers a magic mirror leading to another world, where another girl and her evil grandmother reside. And this is just about all I can remember, until I get my Amazon copy an re-read it of course.
This book is a part of a small series of fantastical horror stories. It's about a girl who uncovers a magic mirror leading to another world, where another girl and her evil grandmother reside. And this is just about all I can remember, until I get my Amazon copy an re-read it of course.
October 25, 2021
3.5 stars
Read
June 4, 2025This gave me the same feelings I remember from 27 years ago when I read it in 5th grade. I remembered certain scenes. A mirror that you can go back in time 140 years to live on a farm with a murderous girl intent on keeping you there? Horror, time travel. Don’t threaten me with a good time.
May 23, 2009
I still have this book from like 1993! It was really good and I remeber wishing it was much, much longer.
June 20, 2011
I enjoyed reading this book! I was a sophomore in high school when I read this one. It's a good read for teenagers.
July 12, 2022
The Phantom Valley series is usually pretty good at quickly establishing a sense of danger and adding cliffhangers that aren't cop-outs (like so many other middle grade horror novels do). This one follows polar opposite twins who learn from each other and each face different challenges involving a magic mirror and a deliciously evil farmgirl. Sure, one twin's storyline is a bit more interesting than the other's, but things come together beautifully. "Stranger in the Mirror" is a well-plotted and fast read, yet another example of the Phantom Valley series working as a nice, spooky bridge between the Goosebumps/Spinetinglers/Bonechillers mould and the more grown-up frights of Fear Street or Point Horror.
July 16, 2023
Very fun, spooky kids read. Loved the weird mirror that turns into a portal to another time. Each twin grows a lot through their half of the adventure - Stacy has to be brave, wily, and take risks to regain access to the mirror that can take her home, Tracy has to buckle down and learns to be disciplined to keep their lives on track outside the mirror, and both rely on and trust each other unreservedly to figure out the secret to the mirror and rejoin each other. Fun book from my childhood that I enjoyed rereading!
September 6, 2022
This book absolutely traumatized me as an eight-year-old. Being such a scaredy-cat at that age, I have no idea why I read it, but it really stuck out to me. When Stacy finally found out what was in the wardrobe, I had to sleep in my parents' bed for two weeks. It was horrifying! And I ending up thinking about this book a lot throughout the years. I'm sure if I read it now, it'd seem pretty tame, but to a third grader it was the scariest thing in the world.
June 29, 2025
Thanks to Goodreads and Google Search advancements, I have finally tracked this book down!! I can't believe it! I read it during the 90s while in grade school, but the name of the book was forgotten long ago. The book was that good, that even over 30 years later, it still haunted my memory as being my first scary read.
September 8, 2025
Stranger in the Mirror was a fun and spooky read, though I wish we had gotten answers to who the missing girls were in the Victorian timeline. Philomena was absolutely crazy, and I expected a more chilling reveal into her past. All in all, though, this was a decent book and I would love to read the others in the series.
May 2, 2022
Not sure why they compared this to Fear Street because it felt nothing like a Fear Street it even a Pike book from the 90s, it felt more like a tween version of goosebumps.
The story was boring until the end. It was super short so that was a plus.
Will most likely trade this one away.
The story was boring until the end. It was super short so that was a plus.
Will most likely trade this one away.
June 4, 2024
I loved this book as a kid and I think it started my fear of axe murderers. I tracked it down to read to my 10 year old who also loved it and asked if there was a sequel and whether it had been made into a movie. It was a nice scary read, especially if you're going out camping.
September 5, 2017
I give it 5 stars because it was scary as hell when I was a kid. It was exciting and suspenseful. I can't judge it as an adult because I didn't read it as an adult.
January 17, 2021
Inventive and frightening. It’s middle grade but the concept is pretty terrifying. Lots of tension and drama. Enjoyed it!
January 25, 2021
I searched the internet for this book for over 10 years and finally found it a week ago. It was just as scary as I remembered (although I’m no longer 9). What a wonderful walk down memory lane.
July 25, 2021
Love the concept of magic mirrors.
December 19, 2023
Honestly, it probably wouldn't hold up now but when I read this as a tween I loved it. I think I probably read it a few times.
January 12, 2024
Very good book. Loved the story!
October 11, 2025
"Prisonnière du Passé" est un bonbon de jeunesse assez inégal, bazardant bien des choses mais qui sait y faire avec sa prose, bien qu'étant un page-turner - sinon fatigué - mal assaisonné. On en ressort avec trop de répétitions et des personnages aussi plats que manquant d'empathie ; vive la nostalgie, moins la relecture.
January 10, 2019
Mirror, mirror on the wall. . .
Stacy James is pulled through the mirror into a terrifying nightmare!
Now her twin, Tracy, has to pretend to be both sisters, as she desperately tries to get Stacy back.
Can the twins figure out the secret to the mirror before time runs out? Or will Stacy have to face the girl with the ax alone?
Stacy James is pulled through the mirror into a terrifying nightmare!
Now her twin, Tracy, has to pretend to be both sisters, as she desperately tries to get Stacy back.
Can the twins figure out the secret to the mirror before time runs out? Or will Stacy have to face the girl with the ax alone?
July 12, 2011
This was one of the first books I read when I was in middle school. I remember reading it at least 3 or 4 times. I can't believe I found it again so that I can purchase it! It took me forever to remember the name... can't wait to get it in the mail and relive some memories :)
January 26, 2016
This was one of the first (possibly the first) book I ever read. I got it from the Scholastic Book Club they used to offer once a year at school. I must have read & reread it tons of times as a kid. I will always have a soft spot for it in my heart.
October 22, 2009
I loved this book growing up! It was so suspenseful.
October 21, 2011
Number four in the Re-read As An Adult series. I never finished this one either! I was so terrified of ghosts when I was little.
October 20, 2012
This was the best book i ever read. i would deffinently request this book to anyone who loves thrillers and mistery! i am very picky about reading but this book is nothing to be picky about!
October 7, 2013
Loved this book as a kid!
November 27, 2014
I read this as a teenager and absolutely loved it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews