There are major spoilers ahead for The First Evil and The Second Evil, so proceed with caution if you’re not familiar. After Corky defeated the spirit that killed her sister for the second time and chased it out of Kimmy’s body, the Shadyside cheerleaders are back just in time for cheer camp. Yet Corky fears the evil hasn’t left them. She’s tormented by dreams of Bobbi’s ghost trying to tell her something, and cheerleader camp is soon disrupted by a series of accidents or pranks turned violent. Can Corky defeat the spirit a third time, or will she be its next victim? Trigger warnings: death, suicide attempt, drowning, injury, blood, bullying, threats, grief.
After somewhat of a sophomore slump, the Fear Street Cheerleaders comes back stronger in the third book. We’re familiar with the evil’s old tricks, but it has some new ones up its sleeve for this book. In fact, the book is much less about discovering who the spirit is hiding in than the previous one, since we know almost right away who’s being possessed. Instead, it offers an inside look at one of the characters struggling firsthand with the evil over-taking their consciousness. That combined with ghostly visits from past characters (which surely would have frightened me as a kid), and the novel provides plenty more creeps.
It also continues to expand on the history of the evil, and we’re finally given answers on how Sarah Fear originally defeated it. It’s a cool bit of Shadyside lore, and it brings a little more depth to the series. Corky is easily the strongest character in this or any Cheerleaders book, and there’s the sense that she’s come a long way throughout the series. The ending is well-plotted, and given Stine’s willingness to kill off major characters in past books, there’s no way to tell whether anyone will be left standing by the end. (All in all, a low body count though, all past books considered.) While there are two more books to the series, it’s not clear whether he meant to continue with it after this. It has a strong sense of thematic closure, all plot threads neatly wrapped up.
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