Horrific Hindsight: Fear Street: One Year Later

April 30th, 2021. I began a series of blogs based on the other successful R.L. Stine book series. One year later and as of this writing, 46 blog reviews for the series, I think it's time to lay out a thousand words or so about my thoughts on Fear Street and how my feeling have changed from the start to where I am now with the franchise. It's time to take a deep look into everything Shadyside. Let's take a Horrific Hindsight.

I started reviewing Fear Street for one major reason. I was running out of Goosebumps books to cover for the blog. An issue that is still prevalent as of late, and is a reason for more out there content with the books. And they had always piqued my interest. Also, and this is more my fault, I thought we'd be getting essentially a Goosebumps for an older audience with a heavier focus on supernatural horror and mystery. And while some books do give us some supernatural elements in ghosts, zombies and the occasional werewolf, the truth of the matter is that this wasn't really the case. Fear Street, for the majority, is about the murder mystery, mixed in with teen romance stories. So, I was a little disappointed, but not enough to stop reading and reviewing.

Fear Street, like I just stated, is about mystery and romance more than anything else. Stine had taken the things he learned with some of his earliest teen horror works and made them work with a continuing series in Fear Street. But here's the problem that really hurts Fear Street. R.L. Stine is a bad mystery writer. According to Stine, his method for writing is usually working backwards. Start with the ending idea and write around that. And it definitely shows, especially with how obvious he makes some of the clues in the book. Hell, most Scooby Doo episodes have better thought out mysteries and twists than most Fear Street books. 

As for the romance, it's there as well and the driving factor for most books. Stories involving pining for a bad person, jealousy, lust, or even the rare case of getting revenge on a bad boyfriend or girlfriend. And it usually does work well enough. But they're always safe romances. Never any sex or worry about pregnancy or touchy subjects like abortion. And speaking of, I also read some Christopher Pike while covering Fear Street and the stories feel night and day. The characters of a Christopher Pike book can't wait to fuck and the stories often build around the consequences of said fucking. Granted, in ways that seem to blame the female character for being promiscuous, which has always been the massive Achilles heel of Pike's work. But it's night and day to Fear Street where a romance issue feels like the female character wanting the boyfriend to ask her to cotillion by comparison to Pike. Nothing wrong with that mind you, but it does make Pike's works more enticing for a reader.

Characters in Fear Street are a mixture of differing mentalities. Some very basic. Some actually pretty likable. Some very unlikable. And Reva Dalby. Aside from the rare occasions, most protagonists are easily to follow and their plights are interesting enough to keep you from wanting to tap out of the book. But what sets Fear Street apart from most is that being all set in Shadyside, you see these characters in other books. You'll see Suki Thomas, Deena and Jade, Gary Brandt, Ricky Schorr, Corky Corcoran, etc. It sometimes just feels like they're in a book to reward the fans, but it's one of the strengths of Fear Street. It makes the town of Shadyside feel like more than just a setting, but a place you begin to get familiar with. The high school, the cemetery, Fear Mansion, and everyone's favorite restaurant, Pete's Pizza. Stine managed to craft a place that feels alive, which is interesting given it's a series with a lot of dead teenagers.

And of course there's where else, Fear Street itself. I think the titular street feels like an idea that Stine had all these great plans for at the beginning, and lots of crazy stuff does happen there. But you can tell, especially in latter books of the first run, that he ran out of ideas to make the street matter or to even involve it in the books in any meaningful way. Some books aren't even near that part of Shadyside and reside in other spots like a ski lodge, college or at the beach. It really by the end feels like Stine should have called the series Shadyside, as it's a more apropos take on the series itself. 

Horror and mystery are important to make these types of books work. Some do a really good job with the elements and build them up well enough. But most just become formulaic over time. Similar deaths similar motivations, similar set ups. Again going back to my statement of Stine being a bad mystery writer. Sometimes he has some unique ideas, but you'll usually get much of the same. The whispery phone calls, the threatening notes and, of course, Stine's favorite, the animal murder. He loves to kill animals. Let's be honest, if he could with Goosebumps, there'd be a whole pile of animal corpses in those books too. At least he got to kill Petey, I guess? Must have really satisfied him. And the motives are usually similar. Jealousy, failing relationships, unrequited love, straight up gaslighting, or just some good old fashioned poor mental health. 

So, I've come off pretty negative so far, and I think that's by design. Getting the real issues of the books out of the way first before I accentuate the positives. And there are things to be positive about. When you get a really good Fear Street book, it usually sticks with me. And as things have gone by, I think I've found the stories I like. Ones where the mystery is around mind games and deception, where the twists feel like they tie in to the big reveal at the end, but also gets a twist where even the villain gets screwed. It's why the book I surprisingly loved the most was The Rich Girl. It doesn't buck any trends, and it's as predictable as most books are, but I think how it ultimately built to being a plot about driving a girl so insane that she ends up committed while also ending with the villains failing to win in the end is the kind of stuff I like. Making the shoe drop in a right way. 

With 46 books finished, I have my favorites and least favorites. To which I've covered in my Best and Worst books I've read in 2021 blogs. Pretty much would be repeating myself by covering them again, but I'll actually go one better this time and do a ranking from least favorite to most favorite of the Fear Street Books to reveal just where we are at this juncture. 

#46. SILENT NIGHT 3
#45: SILENT NIGHT 2
#44: THE FACE
#43: WHO KILLED THE HOMECOMING QUEEN? 
#42: NIGHT GAMES
#41: SUNBURN
#40: INTO THE DARK
#39: CHEERLEADERS: THE NEW EVIL
#38: DOUBLE DATE
#37: FINAL GRADE
#36: COLLEGE WEEKEND
#35: SKI WEEKEND
#34: CHEERLEADERS: THE EVIL LIVES! 
#33: THE WRONG NUMBER
#32: FIRST DATE
#31: THE CONFESSION
#30: SWITCHED
#29: BROKEN HEARTS
#28: WHAT HOLLY HEARD
#27: BAD DREAMS
#26: HALLOWEEN PARTY
#25: THE SURPRISE PARTY
#24: THE OVERNIGHT
#23: MISSING
#22: THE PERFECT DATE
#21: THE DARE
#20: THE FIRE GAME
#19: (WOOOO!) PARTY SUMMER
#18: THE CHEATER
#17: THE NEW GIRL
#16: CHEERLEADERS: THE SECOND EVIL
#15: THE SECRET
#14: WRONG NUMBER 2
#13: THE NEW YEAR'S PARTY
#12: SILENT NIGHT
#11: THE BETRAYAL
#10: KILLER'S KISS
#09: TRUTH OR DARE
#08: THE SLEEPWALKER
#07: HIGH TIDE
#06: THE SECRET BEDROOM
#05: BAD MOONLIGHT
#04: CHEERLEADERS: THE THIRD EVIL
#03: THE BURNING
#02: CHEERLEADERS: THE FIRST EVIL
#01: THE RICH GIRL

So now with one full year under my belt, what is my final assessment on Fear Street? I like it. I like it a lot actually. Not enough to kick Goosebumps out of bed for it, my heart will always be with Goosebumps more. But for Stine's take on teen friendly horror, as well as his world building, it's still satisfactory. I feel like reading them broadened my opinion on the man, for both good and bad reasons, but mostly out of a place of positivity. And I still have plenty more to cover. From other side series, other sagas, revivals and even the Netflix film trilogy, which I do intend to talk about eventually. There's still a lot left to mine from this series and I'm excited to do so. I may end up getting a formulaic work more often than not, but when Stine lands a winner, it makes this all worth it. Even if it means having to go through a dozen evil twin and love-crazed maniac plots to get to the promised land.