The Stinal Countdown: 99 Fear Street: The Third Horror

We're into the final stretch of 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil. And it's sure been something alright. A solid first part with plenty of horror. A second part which took some weird turns and felt like the most unnecessary book ever, rife with the most awkward questionably racist content that we've seen from Stine. Maybe it's a good thing he doesn't do mysticism that much. But with one part left I can at least hope that Stine can turn this back around and give us a satisfying conclusion. I really gotta stop giving Stine the benefit of the doubt. Let's see what goes down with The Third Horror. 

This cover might be the best of the three to be quite honest. I like Cally's ghostly design, the red riding hood aesthetic is a little odd, but still works in making her feel like an evil undead entity. And another shot of the house of evil which honestly, if not for the ghosts and constant injuries wouldn't be the worst place to live in. A solid effort for the last part cover. Please don't be a bad omen for once...

99 Fear Street was a house constructed in the 1960s by a man named Jason Lurie. Unfortunately it was built on the burial ground of the victims of Simon and Angelica Fear. Lurie's family would be beheaded by the spirits and he would later hang himself. Decades later, the spirit of Lurie would sell the house to the Frasier family. However, things go bad rather quick, eventually leading to their youngest son James and his puppy Cubby vanishing into the walls of the house. And daughter Cally would be killed by the house's spirits. Now Cally haunts the house, promising to make whoever resides in it suffer, while also harboring a resentment for her twin sister Kody for surviving when she didn't.

Not long after, the McCloy family move into the house, including teen boy Brandt, who seems to have some sort of condition. Brandt tries to juggle multiple relationships while also dealing with the evil of the house, and Cally watches on, pulling scares in an attempt to get Brandt all to herself. To finally kill him so they can be together forever. However, Cally soon finds out she can't kill Brandt, because Brandt was dead the whole time. He died on the island of Mapolo and a witch doctor exchanged his life force with a drifter. The same drifter who would stalk Brandt and finally kill him. So now Cally waits for her next family and next victim. Yeah, yeah part two was something else. Oh, and James and Cubby were very much dead, their skeletons found and removed in part two so hey, I guess some continuity worth making that book exist, I guess.

Two years have passed since the events of the first book and Kody has made good on her word to return to 99 Fear Street. She thinks she sees Cally, but it's someone dressed as Cally. This being Persia Bryce, an actress who starred on a sitcom called Big Trubble when she was a kid, playing Angela Trubble, but now she's a big girl actress and a big girl snob. Curious if this is a specific reference to a sitcom child actress or not. Part of me wants to say Dana Plato, but not entirely. Anyway, the reason that Kody knows Persia is that Persia is actually playing Cally in a film adaptation of the Frasier family's experience living in 99 Fear Street. Please don't tell me this is an excuse for Stine to pad the book with the same scares. Also Kody is starring as Cally, which seems kind of an odd choice.

So we get a good look at the film industry here with Persia being a snob who treats Kody like crap and the director Bo Montgomery pretty much hoping that this film will save his career. He talks with his assistant Sam McCarthy about how this needs to be a hit and that he's not fond that he didn't get Winona Ryder, but got a nobody in Kody Frasier. As they talk, they get attacked by rats in the cellar, so countdown until Mr. Hankers shows up I guess. Kody talks with another actor, Rob Gentry, about how weird it is to be starring in a movie about her most horrific experience in the house where said horrific experience went down while also starring as her dead sister. Also Rob is playing Anthony. So good odds he isn't leaving this book with all his digits. He does mention that Persia is jealous of Kody because Persia wanted the Cally role. 

Kody mentions that since the family left 99 Fear Street, they moved to Los Angeles. Mr. Frasier was blinded after the events of the story, and Mrs. Frasier is still traumatized, which I guess makes sense given she was haunted by the voice of her son in the walls, covered in severed head blood and lost one of her daughters as well to the house. Kody went to acting school and this is her first big role, which is also the lead so oh dear. She also tells Rob that she's here to find Cally's ghost. Rob of course doesn't believe that because it's super early in the book. Kody goes to leave, but thinks she sees Cally, but thinks it's Persia. Cally is there, still being a 90s supervillain talking about her revenge that she has planned for Kody. She then has the doorknob Kody holds unable to turn, then sets spikes on the floor for Kody to drop into, but doesn't. So yeah, Cally's still bad at actually killing people. Bo asks McCarthy about the spike prop, but he's confused as there shouldn't be spike props. 

With Persia in her trailer being unwilling to act until she gets a fruit basket, the crew set up for the garbage disposal scene. Boy I sure hope they at least let Anthony's family know that they're going to reenact his fand being deformed. Rob goes to put his hand in, but hesitates given he read the script. McCarthy goes to show him how it's done, only for some force to push Kody into the disposal switch and for the disposal to go off. So McCarthy gets his hand shredded and is going to lose all his fingers. Bo mentions that he knew of the stories of Shadyside and Fear Street, but he's not ready to believe Kody's stories of 99 Fear Street being haunted. If anything he blames her for turning McCarthy's hand into hamburger. As everyone tries to get their head back in place, Kody spots Mr. Lurie on the set and starts to remember that he was the one who sold the Frasiers the house.

Persia tries to get Kody to quit, but Kody refuses, which causes Persia to start to attack her. But she brushes it off as trying to get in character. She didn't really try to hurt Kody. I mean what in this book so far would have ever given that idea? After being kissed by Rob, which even Kody is unsure about whether this is genuine love or him being an actor, Kody heads to her trailer where she hears knocking sounds outside. However, there's nobody there. This then leads to her heading to 99 Fear Street where inside she finds Mrs. Nordstrom cleaning the blood from the sink. Mrs. Nordstrom actually has lines in this book, but it's for added exposition about what happened last book with the McCloys. Kody searches the house some more before being sent away by a security guard who also asks for an autograph. I guess if the movie bombs at least he has the autograph of the lead actress?

Kody heads to the set the next day and talks with Rob about the planned horror shots that will be worked on, which gives Stine a chance to play Mr. Educator about production booms. Bo has an extra named Joanna take the shots since Persia is still in makeup. However, the boom moves so fast that the camera ends up smashing right into Joanna's face, cracking her skull in the process. They notice that the bolts on the camera boom were loosened, and after the security guy mentions Kody being in the house the other night, Bo assumes she did it and that the camera was supposed to film Persia so given the fight the other day, Bo thinks that this was planned to happen to Persia, despite Kody again being confused. Kody then finds some props, including Cally's head, but Bo says they're just props. Kody is shaken, all while Cally is again lurking and going mwahaha. 

The next day, Kody hears the tapping noise again, but this time it's Rob outside. She kisses him as Persia shows up to tell them that Joanna died from the whole camera thing and also low-key accuses Kody. At set, Kody spots Mr. Hankers heading down to the attic and remembers that he was the exterminator, though doesn't note the shit job he does of actually getting rid of the rats. Bo mentions that they're doing the scene in the attic, but because this is a movie, the events don't match what happened as this is where the green slime scene will happen, also Anthony's there. Is this a subtle dig at how inaccurate most biopics are? Stine, you rascal. After going out with Rob to River Ridge and making out, Kody returns to the house where she hears Cally's voice calling her to the basement. However, when she gets down there, she finds Bo instead. He still is suspicious of her, but Kody is a bit more concerned when she sees boxes of explosives in the basement. It's part of Bo's big finale where he blows the house up. Yeah, that's not gonna piss off the spirits or anything, especially one specific spirit.

Kody begins to tell Bo about her sister when she gets attacked by a giant rat. After fighting it off, Bo tells her that he's at his wit's end and if one more thing happens on set, he may have to fire Kody. Firing the person who actually experienced the events of the movie. That's Hollywood for you. Also Cally is still gleefully planning her revenge. There's like 60+ pages, could you stop being a cartoon villain and actually get to the fireworks factory? Though given the explosives, we may get there eventually. They shoot the slime scene the next day with Rob again kissing Kody, only for the door to slam in the attic and the machine that shoots the slime to start going haywire. Rob and Kody get covered in the hot green goo and try to escape, only for the door to be locked. The room fills with the slime until Kody breaks the window and tries to escape on the roof. Rob almost drowns in the foul liquid but Kody saves him in time. How the hell is it that this book has a more harrowing green slime moment than most of Monster Blood? 

So, Rob's injured but not dead, Bo's a mess, but the film is still set to go on. Persia even suggests that she and Kody should do the knife scene but have them fight over the knife before it stabs Mr. Frasier. That should totally end up fine, right? That night, Kody again hears Cally calling to her. She finally sees Cally who then turns into a shadow and surrounds Kody. The next day, Kody ends up stabbing Persia with a real knife to the hand, then smashes a light over Bo's head. Yeah, this isn't Kody, but Cally pretending to be Kody. Hey, at least she's doing something more than bwahaha. Kody escapes from being attacked by more rats in the basement, but then sees Lurie and Hankers and Nordstrom feeding the rats. Yeah, if you haven't guessed, Hankers and Nordstrom were the victims of the Fears all along. And they have been controlling Cally this whole time. Kody sees Cally, who says that she pretty much destroyed Kody's life with what she did to everyone and tells her to leave. 

Kody refuses and tries to reason with her sister, saying that she was under the spell of the three spirits. The trio arrive as Cally tells Kody to leave. The three then show their true form as giant rats. Okay, I guess so. Kody makes a run for it as a wave of rats attack her. She manages to escape as the house catches fire and explodes. A little while after, Kody is still with Rob. Nobody really knows what happened at the house that day and Kody managed to not see jail time, rather therapy. They then get a video from McCarthy. A taping of the explosion of 99 Fear Street. As the two watch the tape, they spot the figure of a young woman in the house waving, with Kody realizing it's Cally saying goodbye. 

I'm mixed on this one. Not to the level of mixed as part two, but there's definitely a feeling I get coming out of this that it feels less like the third chapter to a trilogy and more of a quota sequel. Though, I do like the idea of the finale being about filming a movie about 99 Fear Street in 99 Fear Street. Even going right down to the very obvious Amityville Horror inspiration that comes from doing this type of plot. That being said, it does feel like the oddest way to bring Kody back into the story with her just coincidentally becoming the lead actress for the film. I mean she could have done anything with the film and it could have worked, but this felt like it was just there for more drama with Persia and not much else. And when we get to the finale, it does feel rushed. Like Stine needed to finally get a reason for Nordstrom and Hankers to exist in the story. So make them be evil rat ghost things? I mean it's less questionably offensive than the last book involving witch doctors. 

Kody is less frustrating here, mostly being stuck in situations she didn't cause and having to find her sister, who still feels like less of an interesting villain. Especially when the reveal comes that Cally was under the rat ghost's control the entire time. It does work to justify Cally a little, making her less of the central villain of the whole piece, but it also just makes her feel like the least interesting villain we may have ever had in any Fear Street book and that's saying something. I also really worried there would be some Stine-like twist where Cally was alive and Kody was dead the whole time. He would have tried that, don't give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone else sort of just exists for body count or tension, with Rob being the love interest as well. Nobody really felt too superfluous, even Joanna who was literally just in the book to take a camera to the skull and die. 

So as a third part, does it fix my issues with the trilogy? A little. But much like last book, you could have divorced this entirely from the first book, had it be about filming a horror movie in a haunted house where deadly things happen, and not connect Kody or Cally or anything from the first book, and you would lose nothing. And that's the biggest problem here with 99 Fear Street. It peaked in its first book. And while it tried to get that spark back in the conclusion, it wasn't enough to keep this corpse warm. As it stands, I'll give The Third Horror a B. 

This might be the weakest of the Stine trilogies I've read so far. Like I said, it started super strong with that first book. I really loved how the book built the horror and just how dangerous and depressing it got. Things like James and Cubby being lost inside the house, Anthony's hand being mutilated, and the finale with Cally. It may be one of Stine's best books in terms of eliciting a real horror vibe to the story, even if it does get bogged down by wheel spinning and Cally being stupid and inviting Anthony inside. And I just really like little nods to the Fear family and their actions which have affected Shadyside and Fear Street in particular. it's why the Fear Street Saga books played so strongly to my sensibilities. It didn't hurt that setting the books in a myriad of time periods helped keep it fresh.

And then the second book happened and it's here where I feel like I knew that Stine had a big idea for these books, but not any way to really keep them progressing to a full on trilogy. So you get a middle part that feels like filler and only mildly pays off some stuff from the first book, namely James and Cubby. But like I said in that review, you could make that book its own story, divorced from 99 Fear Street and it would have been fine. There's really nothing about that central plot that felt like it needed to be a part of this story. And while the third part was fine and the gimmick of filming the movie was decent, it also felt like this trilogy at its last gasps, unable to really keep a compelling plot going to its ultimate finale. 

Honestly, this should have just been a Super Chiller. You could just have Kody come back as an adult, again not as an actress on a set, and have her try to make good on her word by coming back to the house and confronting Cally. You could still have the payoff of Hankers and Nordstrom work, you could have it be that somehow Cally destroys the house with whatever ghostly powers she has, and just end on that somber enough note. Stine's work can get super shaky when he expands on something and this is no exception. But as a Super Chiller that's better condensed to be a 200+ page book, maybe it could have all worked to make for a better standalone book experience. Instead of three books that are barely connected to one another, lacking the oomph of a strong second or third act. 

So yeah. This one kind of let me down overall. There are some great ideas in it, and again, a solid first part, but the overall package doesn't feel like a trilogy where those great ideas could build towards a satisfying conclusion, but rather a trilogy of stories Stine had ideas for, but instead of making them standalone, he shoddily patched them together into a freakish chimera. And that's a real shame because the idea of this house of evil could have made for a strong trilogy rife with lots of Fear Street lore. But all that potential ultimately feels like that of Simon and Angelica's victims: buried underneath a pretty house. We still have a couple more trilogies to go with Fear Street so hopefully I'll be more satisfied, but for now, this is definitely the most disappointing of the trilogies that I've experienced. Still not as bad as Silent Night's trilogy if you were to ask.