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Phantom Valley #5
The Spell
Determined to get back at her too perfect and rather nasty roommate, Diane, Mikki Merrill tries a little magic spell on her and learns her lesson the hard way
- GenresHorrorMiddle Grade
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
2 people are currently reading
38 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 of 1 review
December 19, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up to 5
As of now, this is the only other Phantom Valley book I have.
I have to say that I enjoyed The Spell slightly more than I did Stranger In The Mirror.
Again it isn't really stated how old the main characters are in these books but if I had to speculate based on cover art and details provided, I would say they were slightly older in this book.
That helps with the bad things going on because it is far more terrifying when things happen to younger kids.
Mikki Merrill is fourteen going on fifteen maybe and she is back for another year at Chilleen Academy which is a co-ed boarding school. She was hoping to room with her best friend Jenny Hollis but Mikki learned that Jenny and her family were moving all the way to Florida for her father's job.
Mikki thinks she might be rooming alone but finds that she has a roommate who has taken the side of the room where Mikki usually has her things. She doesn't mind and takes Jenny's old side but it does become a big deal when Mikki finds out who her new roommate is...Diane Mason.
Last year it was fine because Mikki and Jenny and Diane were The Three Musketeers and got along yet both Mikki and Jenny had a little more in common since they both took ballet. When it came time to choose roommates for the next year, Jenny told Mikki that Diane wanted to have a single room to herself instead of having a roommate.
That was fine but then Diane started treating both of them nastily and they stopped talking to Diane. It seems headmistress Mrs. Danita doesn't want anyone to have a single room if they can have people double up and isn't big on switching rooms so here is Mikki with the last person she thought would be sharing a room with her.
They seem to be complete opposites as Mikki dresses casually, has mousy and frizzy hair and is very much into ballet and reading. Diane is a blonde, popular, social butterfly who prides herself on being fashionable. When it seems Diane just might actually be nice to Mikki or be open to Mikki sort of offering an olive branch, her comments are snide and backhanded insults.
They avoid each other as much as possible with Mikki's ballet class and dance rehearsal taking up most of her time. When it comes time for work study jobs to be handed out, Mikki learns she has been assigned to read to an old woman in the nearby trailer park by request because the woman, Hazel Wembley, is so nearsighted she is almost blind.
Mikki finds Mrs. Wembley to be quite the character but in a good way. She listens to music like R.E.M. and Guns n Roses and dresses in bright colors, enjoys books about vampires in rock bands, can speak more than a few different languages and has tons of pictures to have lived such a fascinating life.
Then of course there are the vials of powders in the cupboard and the big old pot filled with unusual liquid she boils on the stove and the strange cat...
Mikki is a little slow to realize that this woman is a witch but the clues are all there for us readers and the back of the book a little too. Despite being a strange place, Phantom Valley, did you really think that Chilleen Academy would just have spellbooks in the library on their shelves for students to check out?
The day that Mikki enters her room to find Diane reading her personal diary aloud to all of her friends is the last she can take of the girl and her mean-spirited ways. She unloads her tears to Mrs. Wembley and the older woman says that she has the perfect spell to knock Diane down a few pegs.
Mikki doesn't want to hurt Diane...she only wants to get back at her humiliating Mikki in front of her friends who happen to be some of the most popular girls in school. Mrs. Wembley promises that it won't be anything permanent but just enough to wound a girl who is so vain about her appearance and judge the way others look.
Mikki agrees and is given instructions that she must perform to the letter in order for the spell to work. Once the spell is cast, it will last for 24 hours and be enough to finally get back at Diane for the way she has treated Mikki.
The next day, Mikki finds that nothing has happened to Diane the way Mrs. Wembley said it would and she is a little disappointed. The old woman waves it off, saying that magic can be unpredictable, and they can try again after some time has passed.
Mikki is sure she did everything right because why would she have felt her body tingling and having the spell wear her out to sleep so late if it didn't work right?
Poor naive and trusting Mikki, you can't help but feel sorry for her despite the realization that the spell she cast will bring her more harm than good...
Even as a much older woman and not a teenage girl, I can still relate to Mikki's motivations and her personality of just being a nice person. There are a few subtle hints that Mrs. Wembley is not a very nice witch but you really are shocked when the truth is revealed because she just seems like a cool old lady.
The tone of this story is so much darker than the previous book and there is more at stake. It has nothing glossed over with some silly little B plot and leads to some actual character growth.
The climax is insanely intense and nerve-racking that you have to breathe an actual sigh of relief when it is over. The ending has a little bit of humor but just enough to balance out all of the terrifying suspense and provide an uplifting resolution.
The Spell is just the right tone to grab the attention of a Fear Street reader if you want them to pay a visit to Phantom Valley and I hope I can travel back again to this series in 2024.
As of now, this is the only other Phantom Valley book I have.
I have to say that I enjoyed The Spell slightly more than I did Stranger In The Mirror.
Again it isn't really stated how old the main characters are in these books but if I had to speculate based on cover art and details provided, I would say they were slightly older in this book.
That helps with the bad things going on because it is far more terrifying when things happen to younger kids.
Mikki Merrill is fourteen going on fifteen maybe and she is back for another year at Chilleen Academy which is a co-ed boarding school. She was hoping to room with her best friend Jenny Hollis but Mikki learned that Jenny and her family were moving all the way to Florida for her father's job.
Mikki thinks she might be rooming alone but finds that she has a roommate who has taken the side of the room where Mikki usually has her things. She doesn't mind and takes Jenny's old side but it does become a big deal when Mikki finds out who her new roommate is...Diane Mason.
Last year it was fine because Mikki and Jenny and Diane were The Three Musketeers and got along yet both Mikki and Jenny had a little more in common since they both took ballet. When it came time to choose roommates for the next year, Jenny told Mikki that Diane wanted to have a single room to herself instead of having a roommate.
That was fine but then Diane started treating both of them nastily and they stopped talking to Diane. It seems headmistress Mrs. Danita doesn't want anyone to have a single room if they can have people double up and isn't big on switching rooms so here is Mikki with the last person she thought would be sharing a room with her.
They seem to be complete opposites as Mikki dresses casually, has mousy and frizzy hair and is very much into ballet and reading. Diane is a blonde, popular, social butterfly who prides herself on being fashionable. When it seems Diane just might actually be nice to Mikki or be open to Mikki sort of offering an olive branch, her comments are snide and backhanded insults.
They avoid each other as much as possible with Mikki's ballet class and dance rehearsal taking up most of her time. When it comes time for work study jobs to be handed out, Mikki learns she has been assigned to read to an old woman in the nearby trailer park by request because the woman, Hazel Wembley, is so nearsighted she is almost blind.
Mikki finds Mrs. Wembley to be quite the character but in a good way. She listens to music like R.E.M. and Guns n Roses and dresses in bright colors, enjoys books about vampires in rock bands, can speak more than a few different languages and has tons of pictures to have lived such a fascinating life.
Then of course there are the vials of powders in the cupboard and the big old pot filled with unusual liquid she boils on the stove and the strange cat...
Mikki is a little slow to realize that this woman is a witch but the clues are all there for us readers and the back of the book a little too. Despite being a strange place, Phantom Valley, did you really think that Chilleen Academy would just have spellbooks in the library on their shelves for students to check out?
The day that Mikki enters her room to find Diane reading her personal diary aloud to all of her friends is the last she can take of the girl and her mean-spirited ways. She unloads her tears to Mrs. Wembley and the older woman says that she has the perfect spell to knock Diane down a few pegs.
Mikki doesn't want to hurt Diane...she only wants to get back at her humiliating Mikki in front of her friends who happen to be some of the most popular girls in school. Mrs. Wembley promises that it won't be anything permanent but just enough to wound a girl who is so vain about her appearance and judge the way others look.
Mikki agrees and is given instructions that she must perform to the letter in order for the spell to work. Once the spell is cast, it will last for 24 hours and be enough to finally get back at Diane for the way she has treated Mikki.
The next day, Mikki finds that nothing has happened to Diane the way Mrs. Wembley said it would and she is a little disappointed. The old woman waves it off, saying that magic can be unpredictable, and they can try again after some time has passed.
Mikki is sure she did everything right because why would she have felt her body tingling and having the spell wear her out to sleep so late if it didn't work right?
Poor naive and trusting Mikki, you can't help but feel sorry for her despite the realization that the spell she cast will bring her more harm than good...
Even as a much older woman and not a teenage girl, I can still relate to Mikki's motivations and her personality of just being a nice person. There are a few subtle hints that Mrs. Wembley is not a very nice witch but you really are shocked when the truth is revealed because she just seems like a cool old lady.
The tone of this story is so much darker than the previous book and there is more at stake. It has nothing glossed over with some silly little B plot and leads to some actual character growth.
The climax is insanely intense and nerve-racking that you have to breathe an actual sigh of relief when it is over. The ending has a little bit of humor but just enough to balance out all of the terrifying suspense and provide an uplifting resolution.
The Spell is just the right tone to grab the attention of a Fear Street reader if you want them to pay a visit to Phantom Valley and I hope I can travel back again to this series in 2024.
Displaying 1 of 1 review