The Bride

by D.E. Athkins

The wedding of supermodel Blaine Harrod at the Point Harbor estate of Sandhill promises to be the event of the season, much to the delight of her bridesmaid and cousin, Jamie, until the girls discover that a jealous ghost is sabotaging the festivities

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, Paranormal, Teen

158 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

D.E. Athkins (a.k.a 'Deathkins') is one of the pseudonyms used by published author Nola Thacker. Nola has also written several other books under the pseudonym Tom B.Stone.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure if I’d read this one before, but whilst re-reading this I found a certain moment during the second half of this story that instantly brought it all back to me.

Jamie has been invited to her cousin Blaine’s wedding at the big summer house in Sandhill.
There’s rumours that the old house is haunted. After a series of freak incidents during the preparations, the guests start to wonder if the ghost bride is determined to stop the wedding?

A very middling Point Horror entry, though I did enjoy the ending.

One thing I did notice though was the location of ‘Point Harbour’ being mentioned.
I’m now going to start paying more attention to these locations, as I’m starting to wonder if they all set near there.
A bit like Fear Street’s Shadyside rather than a shared universe...

[ItzSmashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

A fairly standard point horror outing, an interesting premise with a nice memorable end reveal. But it was quite low on any horror aspects and at times I thought the plot dragged a little. Would still recommend though.

Jamie is invited to her cousins wedding, but when she arrives and things start to go wrong at the rehearsal she suspects that someone..or something will stop at nothing to ruin this wedding.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of terrible in every way.

I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Paula Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad as far as D.E. Athkins goes! It's all pretty silly, but it's a fun read. The ending worked for me, because it was about the female characters supporting each other and seeking justice for their dead friend. Normally the girls in Point Horror are complete bitches to each other, so this was a refreshing change!

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one a long time ago and couldn't really remember it but it was back in middle school so I figured June...good time to read about brides, right?

It was still very good but it was also different from what I thought it was but again I am older now and this book isn't centered on teenagers.

Jamie Haroldson is invited to the wedding of her cousin, Blaine. Blaine is a supermodel and she is marrying rich and handsome Preston Alden. In their childhood, Blaine was the bad girl, the wild child but she's turned her life around and only Jamie seems to support her.

She comes to be a bridesmaid and Jamie is introduced the elite of the modeling world and the classy money relatives of the bridegroom. Blaine's other bridesmaids are models Kelly Kane and Alison Dewitt, Preston's little sister Stephanie and Preston's ex Patricia Thomas. What an interesting wedding party!

I'm not sure why he's there but Kelly's brother Drew is also staying at the hotel so I assume he came with his sister as her plus one date which seems weird for a model not being able to find a date but oh well...

Once the wedding rehearsals begin, so do the strange and frightening events...said to be work of a ghost bride. A young woman from a rich family, the one that built the very hotel where everyone is staying, made to marry a young man from money. She never made it to the altar...dying they say from a broken heart. She was in love with the gardener but her parents disapproved and paid him off to go far away so now she haunts the halls of her old family home.

Jamie doesn't believe in ghosts but soon, she can't deny it when others see the ghost bride too.

Is there truly a spirit haunting the hotel and trying to ruin Blaine's wedding...denied her own day of happiness or is a flesh and blood person behind the misfortune? This is one instance where it seems it is best to be the bridesmaid and not the bride...

We get to see some perspective of each of the characters to try and paint all of them as the suspect behind the mayhem which is pretty interesting since everyone has motive except for Jamie. Even Drew and Kelly can't be fully trusted which is really good writing if you can't even be sure about the nice ones...

The reveal is nothing short of glorious IMHO and out of the ones I have read and re-read in this case, The Bride is the best D.E. Athkins book. Longer than Sister Dearest and more original than Mirror, Mirror it is by far my favorite and I highly recommend it.

[Chelley Toy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my book club that I run on Instagram where we revisit Point Horror and other books from our childhood - @talespointhorrorbookclub

Tagline - Till death do you part….

Memorable For - Dead doves, creepy grooms and a lesson that science can assist in any situation!

Some Thoughts -

Who knew weddings could be deadly!

Jamie’s thrilled to be invited to her cousin Blaine’s wedding - after all it’s going to be the event of the year. Blaine Harrod, the gorgeous supermodel, marrying the wealthy handsome Preston Alden - it’s a fairy tale come true ...or is it? Because things start to go wrong, very wrong. Someone tries to sabotage the wedding rehearsal. And then there’s a mysterious fire...; Could the ghost of a dead bride really be trying to wreak vengeance on Blaine? Jamie’s not too sure, but it looks as though Blaine won’t live long enough to see her wedding day...

Other highlights include ghostly figures coming through mirrors, doves ruining the wedding rehearsals, an unforgettable sauna experience, cars going over cliffs, a debate over pancakes and quite an awesome ending!

[Grace Chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this one so bad!!! Just LOOK at the awesome cover!! Sadly, I should have known it wasn’t meant to be a fun read, as I’ve noticed I’m not too big a fan of D.E. Athkins’ books 😅😅

Too gimmicky for my taste, with characters that didn’t make you care for them. And there were about 6 girls, all interchangeable on personality and looks, and I pretty much gave up on remembering who was who 😭😭😭

Don’t get me started on the ending. No spoilers here. But I felt scammed 😭😭

[Sharron Joy Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the wedding of the year, beautiful supermodel, Blaine and her handsome wealthy fiancé Preston, Jamie, Blaine’s cousin, is excited to attend. But, in the lead up, things start going very wrong, is there a ghost bride seeking vengeance and will Blaine survive to get married.

Another mad fun story this time the bride is in the firing line. Jamie is mesmerised by the wealth and the world of supermodels, all Blaine’s other bridesmaids are models too actually all the main wedding party are a weird mix of relationships. They are all potential suspects to be honest even the nice ones.

A bit slow in places but a great ending I thought!

[April Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love how elaborate their revenge on this man was! 🙌🙌 I thought it was going to be a stereotypical story of catty women pitted against one another and then it flipped that on its head! Also loved that no doves were actually harmed! 😂🕊️

[Kylie · Rating 1 out of 5]

That cover art is beautiful, and is sadly one of the best things about the book. According to my library records this is one of the Point Horrors I read when younger, though I had no memory of it. When reading however it did start to feel a little familiar and I even remembered the ending. I suppose this could spoil anyone's enjoyment, but I wasn't at all keen on the plot or writing.

This book is pure April Fool's Day plot wise; the ridiculously rich and glamorous group of 'friends' playing gruesome pranks until one of their number who is guilty of a covered-up death finally breaks and blabs it. This is just at a wedding with a fake ghost. As such, I find it difficult to do my usual type of mini-analysis on this book. Sure, there is a strong sense of Pres being a sexual predator, he unnerves Jamie several times and she does her best not to be alone with him. But the horror elements don't compliment that, they serve as a punishment for Pres and Jamie only stumbles on them accidently. At a long shot it could be considered a substitute for Jamie's fear/nervousness at being in such a glamorous crowd but really that only works for so long, and thanks to the resolution it's rendered moot.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm fairly convinced that I never read this book 'back in the day' - I didn't recognise any of the scenes as I read through it. I may recall the name Blaine from starting the book, or reading the blurb, but the story as it unfolded was new to me.

As I read through, there were some tragic events, but funnily enough they all turned out to be staged. So really, nothing too bad happened! And yet those were the horror elements that made the book so creepy.

This book had some intriguing moments, like the moment when we read that someone's wearing a scrunchie, and the moment where Jamie is doing aerobics with the "ladies who lycraed". haha. Classic!

This book had me guessing - I had no idea till near the end that they were setting Pres up. They're all good actors!

My notes from the read:

The Bride
First few scenes i found confusing, little snippets and I was like who? What? Where? Huh?
p.35 - Dialogue of a teen: “Super! Isn’t this all too super!”
p.36 - “warp out”
p.37 - A bitchy Patricia!
p.44 - poor doves ☹️
p.45 - “...horribly soft, horribly lifeless body ...”
p.51 - “...when Alison was witchy.” Aka bitchy
p.53 - “anorectic has-been “ ... anorectic?? [the things you learn]
p.61 - “... old movies Jamie’s mother and father liked to vid out on.”
p.66 - finally the early hand stab scene makes sense!
p.67 - eerie setting - “The heavy carpets ... was empty.”
p.75 - Blaine’s outfit, eeek. Namely the scrunchie and turtleneck
p.77 - Patricia’s outfit omg!
p.79 - "ladies who lycraed, boys who buffed"
p.81 - ew, Pres is gross!
p.112 - called cops on “car phone”
p.152 - asbestos clothes!!! Yikes!
p.153 - “you’re being in there did...”
p.?? - I was relieved that the doves didn't die (well they did, but they weren't killed in the making of this revenge) ... and that Alison didn't die.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was wild. The hottest celebrity wedding between not-so-blushing bride Blaine and rich kid Pres is happening in a hotel haunted by a ghost bride. Blaine invites our protagonist, her young cousin Jamie, along for the ride.

After skipping the first couple of pages, which were quite frankly confusing and made no sense at all (until I got to the climax) I enjoyed reading about this bonkers wedding where anything that could go wrong does go wrong. I'm pretty sure I read this as a teen, because I remember never having heard of anyone having doves at their wedding before until I read this. And those dead doves really stuck in my mind! Yuck!

This book epitomises alot of what Point Horror stands for; loads of characters, add those characters managing to do bizarre things without any proper explanation, and throw in an unfulfilled supernatural set up. Definitely grab this book for a good example of the genre!

D E Athkins also has the best author bio I've read. She believes there's much more to the world than meets the eye, as what else are cats looking for all the time?!

[Gayle (OutsmartYourShelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seventeen-year-old Jamie is invited to the event of the year, her cousin - famous model Blaine Harrod - is marrying a rich handsome fiance, Preston Alden. The weekend promises fabulous parties for Jamie and the chance to hang out with the rich and famous. At the wedding rehearsal something goes wrong, and other things start to happen, including rumours of the ghost bride, a spirit there to take revenge for being thwarted in love. Suddenly everyone is in danger.

This turned out to be a surprise in just how readable it is. It's not as cliche as some of the other books in the Point Horror series, and the plot is rather fun. Don't expect too much and you'll definitely be entertained.

[Migs Camacho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as a self imposed homework for a podcast I listen to and I'm so glad I did! I somehow missed this YA Point horror when I was growing up and thought it was going to be a struggle to get through at this stage in my life lol but the premise was great and the resolution was amazinggg!
This would actually make for a REALLY good movie, specially if amped up with a bit more violence. I do recommend reading:)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one more than I expected.
Jamie has been invited to the wedding of her cousin, Blaine, a famous model, at a country house estate. However, the apparition of a ghostly bride alongside strange events and deathly accidents combine to scupper the wedding.
The twist at the end really surprised me, a very unusual ending to a Point Horror story, which made a pleasant change.

[Destiny Pifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to find this book on Ebay because the price for it can sometimes shoot up to $100. I was excited to read it as it had me thinking their was a supernatural tale. Well instead I found myself so confused by all the different characters. Then the ending came and was a bit of a letdown. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this when I was younger and loved it.

Recently re-read this again and can see why it's written for tweens lol.

The story was kind of boring, characters were dull and the ending was just too fabricated and silly.

Don't think I'll re-re-read it.

[Micki Lou Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is everything you would expect from a teen 'horror' story. It's really good for a palette cleanser between bigger stories or heavier stories but its not something that I would read a lot of. A favourite from my teen years so was nice to revisit and a good start to my spooky TBR for October.

[Julie Sveen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this back in ‘02 or ‘03 and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. Finally found it again with the help of Reddit, and thoroughly enjoyed the reread! It’s not one for the aged by any means, but it’s super fun and a quick read - and nostalgic as all hell - for me at least.

[Maninder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book interesting, good read. Book had moments where I felt curious to know what’s going to happen next but definitely ending could have been more dramatic.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was super weird, and the ending was just ridiculous.

[Emma ( Mrsbreads ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book and read it in one sitting I couldn’t put it down such a great revenge story.

[Georgina Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I genuinely don't know how to rate this book, it was an easy read but lacked any real story, like what actually happened? Not enough back story and then twist, reveal, over...

[Kirsty Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Renee Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic! That ending! I did not see that coming at all!
Parts were a bit slow and dragged on but I'm glad I pushed through.
Epic.

[Anna Domańska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly female driven and very female positive book. I somehow missed this when it was "current release" in my youth, my library must not have had a copy.

Very unusual storyline and twist for a book aimed at (1990s) teens. Recommended for nostalgia but you'll be able to pass it onto your child or niece/nephew as well as it has aged well and has managed to avoid any "slang" or "current" trend references that would have dated it.

[Claude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posi-tute-ly amazingness!! M-Tear knows how these books work, the culprit is always the person that is the most innocent or a minor character.

So this book, with its variety of character, had M-Tear crazy puzzled. Quite frankly, she thought that pretty much everyone had been guilty at some stage - everyone from the main character Jamie, to one of the desk employees!

All in all, this is a really good book that will; very literally, have you guessing until the very end.

[Kaye Sellars · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. The ending was such a shrug off as though nothing that came before it really mattered. Lots of build up and then no pay off.

I would have preferred the ghost was real but even though this was all a prank, there were so many loose ends. The story was shallow and rushed. I couldn't care about Jamie, Blaine, Pres or that chick's dead sister. I really tried but they weren't given any personalities.

Very frustrating.

[Shamiza S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The starting just grabbed me it really made me wonder

[Steff S (The Bookish Owl) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a lot of the characters I found un-likeable. Jamie, Drew and Stephanie seemed the only nice ones, everyone else was really bitchy and rude.