Books on Tape: R.L. Stine's Ghosts of Fear Street Pilot

Welcome to yet another new blog. I've been wanting to find a way to talk about more media outside of just books, and given that books are a medium that is most focused on here, why not merge the two ideas? So this is the inaugural "Books on Tape" blog. Blogs based on the film or TV adaptations of books. And given that it's hot to talk about right now, it seems a perfect time to talk about Fear Street. Ghosts of Fear Street that is! Though the new Netflix trilogy will be something I wish to tackle. 

In 1995, R.L. Stine's hit book series Goosebumps was adapted into a live action series. This proved to be a massive success for Fox Kids as it would be their highest rated program for the four seasons it aired. ABC, and in turn Disney, had tried previously to get into the kids horror genre. Twice actually. This included the short-lived cartoon Nightmare Ned, and Bone Chillers, a live action adaptation of the Betsy Haynes book series. 

In 1998, they tried once more, this time collaborating with Stine to adapt yet another of Stine's book series', the Ghosts of Fear Street series. These were the kid friendly books written in a Goosebumps style, but by other authors. Stine just had his name on the cover. A pilot episode premiered in 1998 on ABC. So, how did this fare? Let's see for ourselves. 

STORY

So before we get to the pilot proper, the first thing we have to talk about is this fever dream of an intro. Like, it's just a bunch of CG skeletons dancing. It has no bearing on the actual story, but it definitely exists and it's just a frigging treat to behold. Why does this exist? Well, I have my theory. Remember Ally McBeal? Probably not if my audience skews super young, but hear me out.

Well one of the most famous scenes from the show featured the titular character dancing with a CGI baby. This dancing baby was actually one of the earliest viral memes on the internet, dating back to 1996. And in the middle of the CGI boom and the notoriety of the Ally McBeal scene, there were definite attempts to copy the dancing CGI creature craze. 

Again, that's my own speculation, but maybe one shouldn't try to explain greatness like this. Just let it happen and enjoy the splendor. Sadly, this is the end of our dancing skeleton adventure. It's time for the pilot itself.

We open our story in 1972 as a kid named PJ is heading to his friend Fred's house. Seems Fred's not been in school recently, so all of his friends came over to join him. When PJ arrives however, the house is filled with webs. He enters Fred's house (dubbed by the narrator as the "Triple Double Dare House") and seems to not notice the people who are covered in webs.

Until he notices this rather disturbing scene. 

PJ tries to leave, but gets caught by Fred, who says that his science project got a little out of hand. He says that he should have listened to the TV shows that say "do not try this at home." PJ runs, only for Fred to shoot webs out of his armpits (I think), covering PJ up like a webbed mummy. . 

So then, this nice piece of pure nightmare fuel happens as Fred goes full bug head. He then grabs a straw before we're interrupted. So, this episode is based around a book in the series called The Bugman Lives! Haven't had a chance to read that one for the blog yet, but I've always been a little intrigued. Also, yeah, pretty impressive looking freaky bug head, showing that there would at least have been some budget for a full series. 

We then cut to reality as we learn this is actually a story written by an author named PJ Murphy, the author of the Ghosts of Fear Street books in this dimension. Not Stine since Stine didn't actually write those books, so props to not lying. PJ's kids, Kit, Joe and Mickey all find the story to be pretty lame, particularly with its devastating straw weapon. PJ's wife, Anne, tells the kids that their grandfather is moving in from them. And it'll be better than where he used to live, which is, of course, Fear Street.

Oh wow, they dragged Red Buttons into this? We cut to the Shadyside Bed and Breakfast, a hotel/curio shop run by Grandpa. The Murphy family arrive  and they all get along pretty well, with some reminders from Grandpa of Grandma's recent passing. He did hope to pass along the Bed and Breakfast, but that seems unlikely. Grandpa also tells the kids that the hotel was owned by their great Uncle Simon Fier, and mentions the house fire of 1901, which at least ties into the continuity of proper Fear Street. So points for that. Grandpa mentions that Simon had conducted an experiment to contact the spirit world, which caused him to disappear and the house to catch fire.

Before the parents go in to interrupt Grandpa's tales, we do see that Fear Street has a really bad CGI bat problem. Mickey, the youngest of the kids, says that he hears a dog under the table, but nobody else sees it, so it must be ghost dog. But still, no one believes him because 90s TV Pilot Family. 

Kit and Joe walk around Fear Street and find the same house mentioned in their dad's story. But, of course, Kit doesn't believe her dad's stories, so the two go inside to check it out. 

They get stopped by a girl holding a rather creepy looking spider puppet who then introduces herself as Christina, or Cricket as she's normally called. They look inside and the house is a bug museum of sorts, filled with different kids of insects and arachnids. 

Her talk of bugs really turns Kit on, which they ain't saying Kit might be LGBT, especially in 1998, but there are vibes. SUPER VIBES. Joe is creeped out and begins to leave, though Kit stays with Cricket, remaining entranced by all the bug talk.

Joe wanders into the kitchen and runs into The Bugman who transforms into his full fly form and shoots webs. And when I say fly form, that seems to be more or less a full parody of the film itself as the Bugman has a human hand and a bug hand. Joe runs back to the bed and breakfast where his parents are in a bit of an argument. Anne isn't a fan of all the horror stuff and worries that PJ will end up taking the Bed and Breakfast, therefore continuing things into a weekly series of fright filled misadventures. Yeah, good luck with that.

After Joe steals the car battery to go bug zapping, he's stopped by his dad and things get set straight. Turns out that the Bugman is Fred, PJ's old friend, and he's generally not that bad a guy or bug. He just tends to go all insect when he's startled. Meanwhile, Cricket and Kitt get along even more as they're "we can't say lesbians in 1998, yes, even after Ellen, so we'll say they're like soul sisters." He tells the kids that generally, Fear Street's not that bad a place to live. Sure there's a bunch of paranormal activity and such, but it's a fine place to live. Especially for a weekly series of fright filled misadventures. YEAH. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.

So in the end, it turns out that, surprise, the family are going to move into the bed and breakfast after all and take over. And we end with Mickey being licked in 90s CGI fashion by Spooky the ghost dog. 

CONCLUSION

So, as mentioned, this premiered in 1998 on ABC, but unfortunately for any hopes of a continuation, it scored among the lowest ratings in network history. It's unsure if that was the cause of poor advertising (the likeliest reason) or hitting in 1998 when the kids horror boom had far since waned. But, given what we got, I don't think it's a total loss. By the looks of the pilot, the show would kind of be an Eerie Indiana style show where each week deals with a different paranormal creature centered around Fear Street with the same cast of characters. And what we got wasn't bad, I liked the effects on the Bugman, but ultimately everything else just felt flat and lacking. 

The reason for that is mainly because this was a pilot and as such, the episode has to cram a lot into a half hour. Build up Fear Street, the family, the other characters like Cricket and Bugman, but not have enough time to make it into a compelling half hour of television. Could it have improved if given a full series? Maybe. But I don't feel that losing this was a big loss either. It at least makes for an interesting 90s curio. 

A curio with one hell of an intro at least. R.L. Stine's Ghosts of Fear Street: The Pilot gets a B-.