2021 is finally reaching its conclusion. And man it was certainly 365 days. More interesting for this blog is that we just pumped out a bunch of stuff this year. Over 160 blogs. And many of them were Fear Street books, which is a perfect segue to get us into the final blog of the year. Let's end this mess of a year with one final trip to Shadyside. And with another Super Chiller because we definitely to suffer at least once more before we start fresh. Should all acquaintance be forgot, or should we remember? Let's see with The New Year's Party.
We start the book in 1964, just five minutes before New Year's. You can tell it's the 1960s with how people say Groovy and fab and listen to the Beatles. Beth Flieischer is at her friend Karen's New Year's party, dancing with a boy named Todd, but more interested in the safety of another boy named Jeremy. She also seems concerned that there's no sign of Karen. This bothers Beth since she's Karen's her best friend, the two often talking about the Beatles and which Beatle they want to be with. So it's not just Marge that had a thing for Ringo. As Todd and Beth head upstairs, suddenly two men in ski masks burst into the house brandishing guns. They threaten everyone then grab Jeremy. But when they pull the trigger, nothing happens. Yep, this was all just a sick joke from two Shadyside seniors and Karen, who masterminded the whole prank.
Jeremy, obviously upset at thinking he was about to die, runs off with Beth following him, much to the frustration of Todd. Beth is pissed at everyone for treating Jeremy so horribly. Jeremy makes it to his car and the two drive off in the middle of a snowstorm. Despite Beth's pleas, Jeremy isn't quite ready to let this go as he continues to drive erratically. Suddenly they see a figure on the road that looks like a boy. Jeremy tries to slow down, but they end up hitting him. Beth tries to say it may have been a raccoon or something because of course Stine's fine with that. But when the cops start to arrive, she tells Jeremy to drive off. But the windshield is fogged up so they can't see, which is bad as they end up driving off a snowbank into a gorge to their deaths.
Cut to "This Year" AKA 1995. Reenie Baker arrives home to find her friends Greta Sorenson, her boyfriend Artie Hodges and their friend Ty Lanford waiting in her room. They say they have 99 problems. Oh, so this is where Kanye got that. We then go all "where's Poochie" as Reenie asks about where her boyfriend Sean is, to which Artie mentions seeing him with Sandi Burke. As they prepare to wok on trigonometry, they see something in Reenie's closet. Sean's dead body. Of course, not actually dead, it was just a prank because Stine characters just really like the idea of pretending to die. They pretend to die more than they actually die in these books. Also, in a case of cosmic irony, they did the robbery prank at Sean's work, the Burger Basket. Because that's a surefire way to keep your job. Along with other "haha, you thought I was dead" pranks.
As they head for class, we get a bit more info on Artie. How his friend Marc offered him a job working at a car plant. Artie needs the money for his little brother Davy who is suffering from some sort of kidney issue. As they arrive to Reenie's locker, she sees someone breaking into it. The girl says that she made the mistake of thinking the B9 she was given for her locker number was 89, Reenie's number. Despite that, she introduces herself as Liz and that she's new to Shadyside High. Both her and her brother P.J. who is watching them like a creepy stalker. Reenie opens her locker and gets grabbed by Ty who was in there to scare her yet again. You know, still early, but if either Ty or Sean are dead meat later I'll be down for it at this point. But Reenie won't admit to being scared by their pranks, just startled is all. Ty and Liz head to her locker when P.J. seemingly breaks out of a trance and runs to his sister, knocking Reenie over in the process.
We then get Reenie talking about Corky Corcoran. I can't escape her, can I? Corky's with Ricky Shore now. Anyway, we don't have to worry about that or if the damn spirit's back since we're more focused on Liz. Reenie has been getting along great with Liz and she notices that Ty is smitten for her. But also that P.J. seems really weird by comparison. Though Greta just thinks he's probably shy. And Greta's kind of interested him despite again being shy and weird. A stark change from Artie as they've been fighting for a bit. Speaking of Artie, he arrives with Marc Bentley in Marc's V-6. Marc and Artie offer everyone a drive in the car, and despite the girls being against it, they end up going for a ride anyway. And because Artie and Marc suck, they start driving fast and erratic and end up, where else, but on Fear Street and to the frozen lake.
They leave the car and check out the lake. Suddenly, Marc slips and falls off the hill leading to the pond. Reenie ends up falling over as well as the ice beneath her breaks. She almost drowns in the ice, but is saved in time. Also, Marc's safe because this was yet another fake death. Okay Bob, the gimmick's wearing thin. Reenie's not happy about this, especially blaming Artie for putting her life in danger like that. At school, Greta tries to get together with P.J., but Artie ends up catching them this time. But Sean diffuses anything from happening for now.
As Reenie heads home, she's joined by Liz, who is wearing a blouse despite it being winter. They talk about Greta and P.J. to which Liz says that this is his first relationship and she doesn't want it to go bad. Reenie leaves and gets picked up by Artie in Marc's V-6. He apologizes for the whole mess the previous day when they end up getting hit by a van. The driver being P.J. who ran a stop sign. Artie's upset and ready to take it out on him, but Reenie tries to cool things down. The next day we learn that Artie is still pretty much ready to kill P.J. for wrecking Marc's car. They then turn their attention over to holding a Christmas party at Reenie's.
As Reenie thinks about the party, Sandi Burke leads them to the gym where Artie's been injured. He was lifting weights and P.J. spotted for him, only for P.J. to panic and drop the weight on Artie's neck. He's not dead, but now really ready to murder P.J. He tries to attack P.J., but Greta and the coach stop him in time. Some time passes and Artie's in better spirits, training with Marc instead of going to the school gym to train. We get back to invites for the party. Including Deena Martinson, Corky, Gary Brandt. I got worried they'd invite you-know-who, but she's not named. Artie suggests P.J. as he and Marc have a surprise for him. They'll get Sandi to kiss him and then, because these kids have no originality, Sandi will pretend to die, which will humiliate P.J. And, despite the fact that they'll tell P.J. about the jokes AFTER this goes down, the rest are cool with it. Boy, can't see this going wrong.
So, we cut to the Christmas Party in this book called New Year's Party (I know, still early). They don't see any sign of P.J. or Sandi. They ask Liz who was told by P.J. that he wasn't coming to the party. They then mention he's coming to the party with Sandi, then tell Liz about the prank about to be played on her brother. Liz runs off just as P.J. and Sandi arrive. They dance and Sandi plants the kiss and then collapses on the ground. Artie and Marc check on her and they say that this is no joke. Sandi's dead. Of course, it's still a joke and she's not dead. But P.J. straight up has a heart attack and straight up dies. So yeah, kiss of death was an apt term for it.
Time to travel back to 1965. Beth and Jeremy seemed to have survived the plunge, but are in a bad way. They also decide to check on the boy, but they notice that there's no footprints around them. They try to get the attention of oncoming cars and trucks, but everyone just passes by them without acknowledging them. The two return to the car and find two bodies inside. Their bodies. Forget the "seemed to survive" part because they're dead. Jeremy panics and tries to get back in his body, but no luck. Suddenly the area goes all black and they succumb to the darkness.
Cut back to 1995 and the party. And P.J. looking pretty damn dead right now. They try CPR, but no such luck. Now everyone's in a panic and decide to hide P.J.'s body in the basement before anyone can find out. But Reenie is the one who says that they have to call the cops and say that it was an accident. A prank gone too far. When they go to get P.J.'s body however, it's missing. Everyone suspects that P.J. pulled a fast one on them. That he gave them a taste of their own medicine. The cops arrive and also don't find any body. Reenie gets a call from Liz who is in a panic saying that P.J. never came home. At first Reenie suspects this is a joke, but then begins to realize maybe not so much.
The next day at school, there's still no sign of P.J. When Reenie spots Liz, she sees she's in hysterics. Ty and Liz leave to look for P.J. while Reenie goes to to English class. However, the principal shows up to tell Reenie that the cops want to speak to her. Detective Frazier and the cops were made aware of the pranks the kids have been pulling. He then mentions that P.J.'s jacket was found in Fear Street Woods and he's gone missing. Greta is also ready to break up with Artie after everything, but is worried how he'll react. Artie takes them to Marc's only to discover Marc's body sprawled on the hood of his car with his neck snapped.
The kids soon run into Sandi who mentions that she thinks that Liz knows more than she's saying about where P.J. ended up. Reenie stops in the Burger Basket to find Sean, but after leaving the ladies room she finds Sandi's body in a trash can. Neck snapped the same way as Marc's. Greta and the others begin to suspect that P.J. is responsible. He's out to get revenge on everyone who pulled the prank on him at the party. Reenie talks to Liz, who won't forgive them for what they did to P.J. When she gets home, Reenie gets an invitation to a New Year's Eve party held by Liz. Which, you know, isn't concerning at all I'm sure.
The day of the party arrives and the kids head to Liz's party. It seems to be just them, mainly as there's another party going on elsewhere. Liz lets them in, but is still not talking to them, especially Reenie. The kids notice a yearbook from 1965 since it's been a while since we mentioned 1965. They ask about P.J. and there's still no answer then. She raises a toast the departed, but can't finish what she's saying. She instead reveals the obvious. She's going to kill them all. The next chapter is called "Reenie Dies First", which means she doesn't die because Stine's chapter titles are always bad. Liz does try to stab Reenie, but gets tackled by Sean.
Sean tells her to let them go, and Liz agrees to. but, of course, she then tries to stab Sean. Suddenly P.J. arrives and tells Liz that he wants in on killing the others. Liz goes to stab Sean, but slips and ends up stabbing herself in the chest. However, there's no blood on Liz at all. Liz laughs and then shows the others the yearbook and see the page with the words "In Memoriam for Elizabeth and Philip Jeremy Fleischer". Yep, they're Beth and Jeremy. They died because some awful kids played a prank on them and thirty years later the same thing happened again. Now this time, they'll get the last laugh.
Before they can kill the others, Ty steps in front of them and reveals that they got the story wrong. They weren't the ones brought back for revenge, he was. He was the boy they ran over. Liz still thinks they hit a raccoon despite the fact that Ty literally just told her what happened. The three ghosts start attacking one another as the clock strikes midnight. On the final gong, the three ghosts vanish. The others are confused about what happened but Sean says Happy New Year to end this book. Here's to another year of likely still playing the dead game and not learning anything.
Reenie's a decent protagonist. Not really the most dynamic, but is far from the worst person in her circle of friends. That mainly comes from Artie, who they too soften by book's end. Once the actual murders begin. Greta and Sean just exist as does Ty, but in his case that minor existence works for the twist, which while they made the rest pretty obvious, I was caught off guard with Ty being the killed kid. Though, granted, that was definitely an accident, even if Liz really just wanted to commit a hit and run. The ending's kind of mediocre though. A real Ghost Camp feel where the ghosts just swirl around and vanish. And nothing else happens, no added twist. Not even a pun or a "That's All, Folks!" We just end. Huh.
Overall, The New Year's Party is pretty good. Far from perfect, far from the most original, feels like it just loses something at the very end, but is otherwise a solid Fear Street book. The Super Chillers always come off concerning. It's more of Stine having to write a story and that can be questionable. But sometimes he can do fine, especially when it's not just a cribbing of poor mental health, hypnosis, evil twins or Reva Dalby. Overall, a solid recommend. Though given P.J. and Liz have been dead since 1965, there's a good chance she finally met John Lennon at least. The New Year's Party gets an A-.
It Was Acceptable in the 60s: The Beatles, "She Loves You", Sexual attraction to all four Beatles, Chubby Checker, "Do the Twist", Groovy, Fab, Roy Orbison, "Pretty Woman", Mustang V-8
It Was Acceptable in the 90s: Vogue Magazine, CD Players, CDs, Addams Family References
And with that, I think we can finally close the book on 2021 and this blog's stellar year. If you read most of the blogs or just a couple, I thank you for following along. I didn't think initially that this would be a blog topic I'd enjoy making, but after this past year and the positivity I've been given for it, it makes me more than ready for what 2022 has to offer. And given we're in for more of the same but somehow worse with the real world, maybe there's plenty of time and plenty of books to talk about. Thank you all for going on this weird ride with me and I hope you have a great new year.
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