The Stinal Countdown: Fear Street: Into the Dark

Okay, so I'm concerned going into this one. That's never a good omen when talking about R.L. Stine's book in particular. This book's plot deals with a disability, in this case visual impairment. And I'm legit intrigued/worried how Stine handled this subject matter while still putting together a story around it. Well, only way to know is to find out, so let's get Into the Dark.

Cover is fine, but not the most spectacular ever. You do get enough of what the book's general concept is given our protagonist Paulette Fox wearing sunglasses and looking like she has to reach around to see where she is. And of course the addition of a staircase to make it look like she's about to meet a terrible fate. Overall, not amazing, but fine.

After a quick prologue telling us that some guy is creeping on a blind girl, we meet that blind girl, our protagonist, Paulette Fox. She was born blind, but doesn't treat it like a disability, as she manages to get by pretty well with her cane and her other senses. After being dropped off to her music class by her friend Jonathan Maddox, she steps out of the car, only to almost get hit by another. But she was rescued in the nick of time by some other guy named Brad Jones. In any other timeline I'd likely just move on from that name, but yes, I'm reminded of exactly who you're thinking of, but I don't want to dwell on it too much. Don't want to be a snob about it. Although this makes the character's voice sound like that person and oh dear.

 

Brad is a senior in Shadyside, but he's also new to the school, or so he claims. He also plays piano just like Paulette. Jonathan comes over to check on Paulette and the two leave for music class while Brad says he's busy with janitorial work. After class, Paulette rides home with Jonathan who mentions that there have been rumors around school about Brad. That Brad was arrested in his hometown of Springfield... wait. *Checks IMDB* WHAT THE HELL? Okay, that's just a creepy coincidence right? Like, if we find out this guy reviews porn I might have to put this book down early. 

So, Brad was supposedly arrested in Springfield. Something about a robbery. Paulette doesn't believe any of this as we're just on page 13, and she's already smitten with Brad as we can plainly tell. After talking on the phone with her friend Cindy Webb about the Brad rumors, Brad then calls Paulette and says that she's the one he's been looking for, before breathing heavily into the phone because this isn't setting off red flags. 

Paulette talks to Brad the next day and even feels his face, noticing a faint scar over his eye, which he claims came from falling off a tree when he was a kid. He's still creepy, but more in an awkward way instead of whatever the deal with the phone was. He also mentions that while he can't afford to play a piano in the school, he found one in the old abandoned house on, where else, Fear Street. She goes home and her normally clean room is now a mess. When Cindy arrives, she tells Paulette that her walls have been covered in red paint. Okay, I think I can solve this mystery. Quick question, has any member of the Fox family recently purchased a ventriloquist dummy?

The walls read "You'll be dead, blind girl". Cindy suggests calling the police in case the stalker is still around, but Paulette is worried about having people find out about this because, again, we're just at page 32. After getting her parents to sign a permission slip to allow her to take self-defense classes, Paulette heads home, only to hear the sounds of someone running towards her. She gets shoved into the street and almost gets hit by a car for a second time. The woman apologizes and offers her a ride home, but Brad shows up all of a sudden to help Paulette. At school, Paulette is stopped by Brad again, but this time he has no memory of meeting her earlier. Oh god, don't let this book's twist be either of the two things I think it's going to be.

Paulette visits Brad in the abandoned Fear Street house to hear him play piano. Suddenly, they hear someone upstairs. Brad goes to check, and a noise of a scuffle can be heard. Paulette goes to check, but is stopped by Jonathan who was spying on them. However, when he checks the upstairs, there's no sign of Brad. Paulette is more upset that Jonathan is spying on her, despite, you know, those rumors haven't been debunked yet. But vision impairment isn't her only blindness right now as she's blinded by love. She runs into Brad at school the next day. He doesn't explain why he left so abruptly, but says that he can't see her anymore before running off.

That night, before she goes to bed, she goes by her window and feels someone forcefully grabbing her. Her parents arrive just as the assailant vanishes, leaving his ring on the floor. So now Paulette is even more paranoid, believing that someone must be after her, since, you know, the paint on the walls. She thinks it's Brad's ring, but she doesn't tell her parents because of course she doesn't. The next day, she learns from Cindy and Jonathan that Brad has quit school. As they talk at a pizza place, suddenly a robber shows up and threatens to shoot if he doesn't get his money. Paulette struggles to get her money when Jonathan ends up shot. Not dead, but wounded. Suddenly, the robber is tackled to the ground and unmasked. It's Brad Jones. He manages to escape. However, when cops ask about it, Paulette is confused as the robber sounded nothing like Brad. So despite, you know, her friend almost dying, she's more concerned that Brad is being set up.

So, despite everything seeming to point to Brad as the culprit, Paulette still doesn't believe it to be so, so she visits the school with Cindy later that night as Brad was also working as a custodian. They don't find Brad, but do find some newspaper clippings that seem to make it obvious that Brad was the culprit. Brad was once an honor roll student who was arrested for armed robbery and break-ins. He was eventually released on good behavior and ended up in Shadyside. Paulette even starts to believe it was Brad. That night however, she gets a call from Brad who says that he's innocent. He just can't actually tell her what's going on. 

After her parents leave, Paulette notices noises in the backyard. She runs inside and gets a hold of Cindy, who doesn't see anything. They see a news report on TV saying that the police believe Brad was the robber, but Paulette doesn't believe it. After Cindy leaves, the phone rings again and it's Brad who reveals to Paulette that he has a twin brother. Still 30 some pages left and this is going to be what I think it is? Oh dear. His twin brother is named Ed, and he was the one responsible for the thefts in Springfield as well as the armed robbery. He tells her to come to his house on Fear Street and, like the gullible fool she is, she decides to.

She arrives and sees Brad hurt, having struggled with Ed. He says that Ed hid the money in the house somewhere and they have to get it. They then hear a noise. Someone coming in. It's Ed. As he heads to the room, he gets knocked over the head and tied up. The tied up Ed then says that he's Brad, and the untied one is Ed robber. She checks the face of the untied twin and sure enough finds no scar over the eye. Yes, it was Ed the whole time. He was the one who painted her walls, snuck in her room and tried to attack her and shoved her into traffic. He did them all out of jealousy because Paulette fell for Brad instead of him.

Ed tries to subdue Paulette before filling the room with gas. She manages to trick Ed into thinking she's really into him and leading her to the stolen money. She manages to then break his flashlight, leaving him in the dark. As he chases after her, he ends up crashing into the old rotten staircase and falling to his death. Paulette manages to save Brad in time as someone comes to ask them if they're okay. Brad says that for once, he's coming out of the dark.

So evil twins are to Fear Street what werewolves are to Goosebumps, I take it? I mean, this is our third book so far where the twist is an evil twin. Hell, our last book, Sunburn, was just that. And once again Stine makes this too obvious. Although my biggest concern was that this would be a multiple personality thing and be even more poorly handled. Thankfully that's not the case, but it what we get isn't any help. Into the Dark is just okay. Not amazing, but okay. Paulette's blindness is an interesting addition to a character, but also feels like a gimmick for the purpose of the story other than really feeling like a story about a blind girl having to deal with a pair of twins. And as such feels like it's only here so that we can get the reveal of which twin has the scar. 

I will say that Stine handled blindness well enough, not treating it like the end all be all, and giving us a character in Paulette who can handle herself well despite her disability. So it's at least respectful enough. Could have been a lot worse. In fact her only flaw is really her naivety, though in this case, it was warranted as we learn Brad's not the evil one. Other than that, the book is super paint-by-numbers, even for a Fear Street book and really doesn't have that much to really talk about. I just really hope that the more I go into Fear Street, the more this isn't the norm. I mean, Stine's got to have better ideas than constant evil twins, right?

Right?

Into the Dark gets a C+.