NNtG: Ghosts of Fear Street #26: Go To Your Tomb—Right Now!

It's time to cover some more Ghosts of Fear Street. Been a while. But given we're so very close to the end of the series (if you're going chronologically maybe not, but blog-wise there's maybe like four more after this for me to talk about) maybe that's part of why I've hesitated so long to finish up these books. That and I didn't have access to certain books, like the one we're covering today. It's honestly the book I'm a bit intrigued by and at the same time sounds the least interesting in terms of a book itself. But usually that's a sign I'll be intrigued by book's end. I already fear the worst. It's time to Go To Your Tomb—Right Now!

Another reason I just keep neglecting this one is honestly the cover's kind of bland. It's definitely a tomb, so the book's not lying to you. I do like the little touch of the welcome mat, the visage of Luana on the door and the ominous red lighting of the tomb itself, inviting the reader in. It's a good art piece, but given we've gotten better horror and even better comedy from other Ghosts covers, it becomes forgettable in the grand scheme.

Jack Meyers is having a bad time at school. More so that everyone at his school kind of suck. Save for his friend Connor, everyone else just gives him a lot of shit. Jacks' also superstitious. Likely because he lives on, where else, Fear Street. He often has things to help with his good luck, including a spider ring. Things begin to be bad for him when during lunch, he trips and accidentally spills his meatloaf on his teacher Mr. Lincoln. Well, in fairness to Jack, it's not the worst thing to be shot at a man named Lincoln. Then, he thinks he hears his meatloaf talking to him, only for it to be bullies Penny Morris and Mike and Roy Burger. Yes, the same Mike and Roy Burger from Three Evil Wishes. Both books were written by Carolyn Crimi, so that makes a bit more sense. But it's neat to see continuity in this series as it feels far rarer to see characters from other books make reappearances. It's way more common in Fear Street proper. The Burger brothers and Penny mock him for being an easy mark and leave. More concerning to Jack is that Brittany Carson was there and he has a crush on her. He wishes he was invisible, to which Connor says he IS invisible. No, wait, it's all just a joke. I'm starting to see why this kid is easily bullied.

After more bad news with a pop quiz that goes bad for Jack, he and Connor head home. He promises revenge on Penny and the Burger brothers, which given this is a 1997 book isn't as concerning a threat as it would be years later. The two decide to cut through Fear Street Cemetery where they run into an old mausoleum. After a quick chapter stinger where a dog runs past and scares Jack, the two are about to leave when the two notice the mausoleum door has a girl's face on it, along with engravings that say that she can be set free if someone were to kiss the face on the door. Connor dares Jack to do it, and Jack ultimately goes through with it, noting that the lips felt warm. As the two make their leave, they hear a girl's voice and a ghost soon appears to them. She introduces herself as Luana, and she's from a time a long, long time ago, when people made stone carvings of corpses for some weirdo to French. 

Luana's family were servants to an evil sorcerer. Luana just so happened to be reading one of his spell books which made the sorcerer so angry that he imprisoned her in this tomb. She needs their help to return her to her own time. Connor thinks it's all bunk, but Luana promises to show them that she's telling the truth. Since Jack wanted to be invisible so badly, he says that if she can make him and Connor invisible then he'll help her. She promises that in the morning both will indeed be invisible and that by sundown they'll be visible again. The next morning, sure enough, he's John Cena. You can't see him! He messes with his bully older sister Carrie by pretending that an old antique doll of hers is alive, which does the trick in really messing her up. He heads to Connor's and finds out his parents are a bit paranoid since someone's calling for Connor, but they can't see anyone. He soon runs into Connor, literally, since both are invisible. There's a neat touch to the invisibility in that it affects what the wearer is wearing and if you take off the clothes, they're visible again, and anything new you put on becomes invisible. Neat idea to be honest. 

But now Jack realizes that he can use this newfound invisibility to get revenge on Penny and the Burger Brothers. With Penny, both he and Connor enter her room and mess with her TV, stereo and dresser drawers, while also leaving a message asking if she believes in ghosts. With the Burgers, they change the absentee lists from mentioning their names to the Burgers instead. They then head to the washroom and cover the Burgers in toilet paper which is enough to give them a haunt. They then head to the teacher's lounge where they sneak some food and manage to cause Mr. Lincoln to have food spilled on him again. They then continue their transparent frivolity at the pool. But they soon begin to notice that the sun has gone down and they're still invisible. They'll be invisible forever! No, wait, they turn visible again just as two pool workers catch them in their underwear which yeah THAT's concerning. 

The two return home with Jack talking to Connor about how they have to repay Luana now given she did hold up her end of the bargain and all. Connor says to just forget about her, though the sound of Luana's voice in the wind makes it a bit hard for Jack to do so. At school, he continues to be haunted by her in the washroom and in the cafeteria. Connor is still not down to helping him out, but Jack decides to head to Fear Street Cemetery to at least try to get this ethereal monkey off his back. He is once again met by Luana who tells him that he needs to go into the mausoleum and retrieve a tiny golden fly and give it to her as she is unable to retrieve it herself. Jack, both being an easy enough mark to fall into this trap, and also sort of forced to do so lest he be haunted for the rest of his days, decides to do so. She also turns him invisible again so he'll have better luck in not attracting anything that lurks below. Jack heads into the depths of the mausoleum and sees that it's a giant maze filled with rats and other creatures. But worst of all is that he gets lost super easily. Oh, and he also runs into two ten foot tall cockroaches. That might also be a concern.

Jack tries to avoid the giant roaches, but then runs into the gold fly. However, it's not so tiny. It's gigantic, actually. Also he becomes visible again. As the giant fly is about to eat him, it runs away at the sight of Jack's lucky spider ring. Not so lucky, however, is that he then transforms into a giant spider. The giant fly then attacks him again, only for him to overpower the fly and defeat it, causing it to shrink and be much easier to collect. He heads off, only to be encountered by the roaches again. He tries the spider-transformation but it turns out that's a one-time thing I guess. He manages to tear apart their legs and feelers in what, honestly, is a pretty badass moment in this book. Jack finally makes it out and gives Luana the fly, only for her to throw the fly away as that was never the real reason for sending him down there. In actuality it was to have him waste the powers of his spider ring because in actuality, Jack is Jacobus, the son of the sorcerer who imprisoned her. Wait, what? Also, that HAS to be a Tim Jacobus reference, I call bullshit if it wasn't.

Jacobus, according to Luana, was actually a pretty awful kid who treated Luana like trash and didn't actually try to learn any magic from his sorcerer father. That's why the sorcerer was concerned about Luana as she was able to learn magic and could actually be powerful if he didn't try to stop her. To protect Jacobus, he sent him to the future and in the process it erased his memory of everything. Why he sent him to the same place that the tomb was was kind of a big error on his part, but still the thought was there I guess. He then transforms back into Jacobus, with his memories intact. However, Luana pushes him into the tomb, trapping him forever.

Some time passes and Penny and Brittany pass through the cemetery. They spot the mausoleum with Jack's face now on the door instead, asking for a kiss to be freed. Penny dares Brittany, but she chooses not to and they leave. Okay, that actually made me laugh. This kid can't catch a fucking break. 

So, guess what? A book with a cover I was mid on ends up being a book I really liked in the end. You know the saying. Book by it's cover and all that. It's definitely a book that feels like the inevitable twist was something more thought up on the fly as we do spend half a book being essentially what if Let's Get Invisible! wasn't just in an attic for most of the book. And the invisible stuff, while leading to some fun scenes in the book, does feel like the biggest case of filler I've seen in a book. A definite case of having the actual mausoleum plot not be meaty enough for over 100 pages. And thus we really don't pick up the pace on the plot until over halfway through the story. But what I like about this book so much is that it's a case where we get a swerve that actually catches the reader off guard and yet still works. A case where we've been following the villain this entire time. 

In any other story, Luana would be the villain. That she was actually evil and that the sorcerer was trying to stop her from attaining power by locking her in the mausoleum. Standard swerve that anyone could see coming from a mile away. But turning the tables on Jack and having it be revealed that he's actually a really horrible kid whose horrid actions to Luana were a key reason in her wanting the power to begin with makes for something that feels unique. So when he gets defeated in the end, you don't really feel bad for him, even if he as Jack Meyers was a better person overall than who he was as Jacobus. It's still moot because there really isn't a fair reason for Luana to trust him on his word. So it turns a situation that in any other context would be horrifying and sad to really cathartic. You could also argue that the whole situation is a tad too much in the Night in Terror Tower camp, what with the time travel and memory loss and all that, but it still feels fresh enough to not feel like a take on that idea. 

Jack is a solid protagonist up until the twist. You do actually feel bad for his plight, so it actually does work when the rug is pulled and the revelation that he's actually the villain happens. Connor works as a decent best friend role who does disappear. Penny and the Burgers are okay side-villains who matter less once the invisibility plot disappears. Brittany is the love interest who really never was, and would be superfluous clay if not for the ending. I like Luana. She feels like a threat to Jack and honestly could have killed him at any time, even before the book puts more focus on the spider ring macguffin. And you at least feel satisfied that she does get her revenge. Granted, she also decides to protect him while he's trapped in the tomb, so I guess she's not just willing to let him suffer completely. So that's neat I guess.

Overall, I really liked this one. The first half has some fun moments but does feel like a case of an entirely different book by the time we really get into the tomb plot. And when we get to the tomb plot, it does actually provide some decent action and horror. And you can take the plot twist either way. It's too out of nowhere and feels like an asspull or it kind of works and elevates the book in all of the right ways. I stand more on the latter end. Carolyn Crimi did not miss when it came to Ghosts of Fear Street. In the end, it's an easy recommend. A book that actually isn't as "see-through" as it's made out to be. Go To Your Tomb—Right Now! gets an A-.