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Deadtime Stories #15
Cyber Scare
Two computer nerds suddenly find themselves trapped in cyber space. Cool...right? Wrong. Dead wrong. A winning combination of thrills, chills, and a cyber space setting.
- GenresMiddle GradeHorror
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1997
About the author
A.G. Cascone
27 books23 followersThe team of Annette Cascone and Gina Cascone, sisters.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 16, 2026
More of a 2.5⭐, but decided to round up because I did have fun with this book.
Objectively I don't think it's that great, especially if you try to take it too seriously.
Three cousins are playing a computer game when one of them inexplicably gets sucked into the video game, and must beat the game in order to escape. His cousins still in the real world are the ones controlling him and helping him along the way.
They encounter various threats in the game with the ultimate goal of defeating Vlad - a Dracula-clone as the main villain.
Off the bat you have to put your disbelief aside and just ride along with this one - there's little in the way of how/why explanations for anything that happens. It's also very corny and perhaps even a bit cringy at times with some of the humor it tries to implement - but I did also find myself amused at how weird and ridiculous some of it was.
There's some good scenes within the video game, one particularly dark and disturbing one involving a butcher shop - but most of it is pretty light fare and the final showdown with Vlad rather tame and disappointing.
There is a fun little twist ending that makes me wish the twist had arrived sooner, perhaps, and maybe the story could have followed up that?
Overall this was kind of a dumb fun type of kids horror book for me. One of the more entertaining of the Deadtime Stories that I've read but it's quite messy and not one to take too seriously, sadly.
Recommended for fans of this genre just don't go in expecting too much.
Objectively I don't think it's that great, especially if you try to take it too seriously.
Three cousins are playing a computer game when one of them inexplicably gets sucked into the video game, and must beat the game in order to escape. His cousins still in the real world are the ones controlling him and helping him along the way.
They encounter various threats in the game with the ultimate goal of defeating Vlad - a Dracula-clone as the main villain.
Off the bat you have to put your disbelief aside and just ride along with this one - there's little in the way of how/why explanations for anything that happens. It's also very corny and perhaps even a bit cringy at times with some of the humor it tries to implement - but I did also find myself amused at how weird and ridiculous some of it was.
There's some good scenes within the video game, one particularly dark and disturbing one involving a butcher shop - but most of it is pretty light fare and the final showdown with Vlad rather tame and disappointing.
There is a fun little twist ending that makes me wish the twist had arrived sooner, perhaps, and maybe the story could have followed up that?
Overall this was kind of a dumb fun type of kids horror book for me. One of the more entertaining of the Deadtime Stories that I've read but it's quite messy and not one to take too seriously, sadly.
Recommended for fans of this genre just don't go in expecting too much.
August 31, 2021
Deadtime Stories time again, and I picked this one because I just had to. I love me some 90's tech horror, so I had to see how this series handles it. The answer is...fine? I'm conflicted, as I rather enjoy most of it, but it has some annoying flaws.
Roy is heading back home with his cousins Danny and Ernest after Roy's uncle's fourth wedding. Danny is Roy's best friend, while Ernest is not. They find him annoying because be messes things up a lot. Regardless, Ernest has to stay with them overnight. They hop on Roy's computer, where they get a message from a chatroom. It's a horror chat room and this user named Vlad has been bugging everyone. This message is from him and after getting it, Ernest is sucked into this weird computer game based around Vlad.
Vlad is an evil vampire and the game has his castle and all this creepy stuff. They are in control of Ernest as they have to find a way into Vlad's castle to defeat him. That's our premise. So first off, the idea of them controlling Ernest is neat. I kinda wish it was his POV, as the idea of someone controlling you is creepy.
They do have fun with the premise, it's very much like a 90's computer game. They had to get items to exchange for other items, and it captures that pretty well. It could have been one of those "Throw some random shit in there" stories and it can argued as one, but the set pieces actually blend into each other. There's more proper "because of this, this happens" rather than "and then".
The writing is better than average, with a few creepy moments. But there are the problems. It does drag, and start to get a bit tiring, feeling a touch repetitive. The twist is fine, but could have been tweaked to make more sense. But my main problem is the characters. They aren't the worst but their banter gets annoying. Ernest is intentionally annoying but that doesn't make his whining more fun, and them crapping on him is equally annoying.
They don't really grow too much either, I expected them to grow closer and that is slightly implied but not quite enough. That could have been stronger, actually show signs they are appreciating Ernest more or whatever. Oh and there's some fart humor, with one part that made go "Really?!".
So it's a mixed bag. Starts off annoying, gets mainly fun with the ideas and action, but gets a tad tiring and has annoying characters and annoying. I'd rate it as Decent, as it has enough fun and cool things going for it. I'd rank it above the other decent ones as yes, it has more annoying bits but better pacing and action.
Deadtime remains the most...okay of all the ripoff series, easily the least interesting most of the time. That's not bad but compared to the others, it could be better. Still, I had enough fun here.
SIDE NOTES:
There's an Uncle Al, and if that wasn't enough, later on there's a Billy. Yes, really.
There's a G word woman. ....Yeah, at least it's brief but blah.
Next time, some Strange Matter, yay. And before that, back to Animorphs, woo hoo. See ya then.
Roy is heading back home with his cousins Danny and Ernest after Roy's uncle's fourth wedding. Danny is Roy's best friend, while Ernest is not. They find him annoying because be messes things up a lot. Regardless, Ernest has to stay with them overnight. They hop on Roy's computer, where they get a message from a chatroom. It's a horror chat room and this user named Vlad has been bugging everyone. This message is from him and after getting it, Ernest is sucked into this weird computer game based around Vlad.
Vlad is an evil vampire and the game has his castle and all this creepy stuff. They are in control of Ernest as they have to find a way into Vlad's castle to defeat him. That's our premise. So first off, the idea of them controlling Ernest is neat. I kinda wish it was his POV, as the idea of someone controlling you is creepy.
They do have fun with the premise, it's very much like a 90's computer game. They had to get items to exchange for other items, and it captures that pretty well. It could have been one of those "Throw some random shit in there" stories and it can argued as one, but the set pieces actually blend into each other. There's more proper "because of this, this happens" rather than "and then".
The writing is better than average, with a few creepy moments. But there are the problems. It does drag, and start to get a bit tiring, feeling a touch repetitive. The twist is fine, but could have been tweaked to make more sense. But my main problem is the characters. They aren't the worst but their banter gets annoying. Ernest is intentionally annoying but that doesn't make his whining more fun, and them crapping on him is equally annoying.
They don't really grow too much either, I expected them to grow closer and that is slightly implied but not quite enough. That could have been stronger, actually show signs they are appreciating Ernest more or whatever. Oh and there's some fart humor, with one part that made go "Really?!".
So it's a mixed bag. Starts off annoying, gets mainly fun with the ideas and action, but gets a tad tiring and has annoying characters and annoying. I'd rate it as Decent, as it has enough fun and cool things going for it. I'd rank it above the other decent ones as yes, it has more annoying bits but better pacing and action.
Deadtime remains the most...okay of all the ripoff series, easily the least interesting most of the time. That's not bad but compared to the others, it could be better. Still, I had enough fun here.
SIDE NOTES:
There's an Uncle Al, and if that wasn't enough, later on there's a Billy. Yes, really.
There's a G word woman. ....Yeah, at least it's brief but blah.
Next time, some Strange Matter, yay. And before that, back to Animorphs, woo hoo. See ya then.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews