Focusing On Fear Street - The Confession

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEAR STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

Book #38 in the Fear Street Series

Published May 1996

Cover Art by Bill Schmidt

Our main heroine, Julie Carlson, comes upon the body of Al Freed in the back of an alley with an actual terrified and upset expression as if looking at a person in the distance to say "I didn't do this!"

It would be almost exactly like it is in the book if it didn't look like Al just passed out on the ground but since the way he's killed in the book is kind of gruesome I guess it works besides the fact he wears black clothing and not this khaki/plaid combo. Also, the back of the book blurb clearly states the words "killer" and "murderer" so it's not like I just ruined the whole book for you. This is a really good realistic cover and I can see more of the background art because this is what my copy looks like:

It had this sticker advertising a contest to write the sequel to The Best Friend (which I'll get to that book soon!) I don't mind that my book has it because if I got the 2008 reprint I would have been more disappointed:

A...hand...print...are you kidding me? We aren't even trying at this point! Even the 2014 version of Fear Street had just a little more thought put into it when it came to covers and someone got paid for this? Can I use that hand print to just give a big old facepalm by shoving my face at the screen?

Either one, Fry, either one



Well now that I got that out of the way and have regained consciousness...where were we? Oh yeah cover art so let's see what we have from France this time around:

Well I'd have to say that this is my least favorite French cover of a Fear Street book. It's just so dingy looking and bleak but not in a good way with that green tint that I feel kind of queasy and there is just no detail in the faces or background. So let's move on to wacky Russia and see what kind of cover they have this time around: romance novel or cobbled from another book's cover?

I kind of like the romance looking ones because they are just a complete 180 degree difference to the type of story going on. Since Julie is a brunette and Hillary (one of the other female characters) is African American, I'm going to say this blonde girl is Taylor and the boy in the background is either Al or Sandy but seeing as Sandy is described as being chubby it's most likely Al and also because the one other boy, Vincent, has long, wavy auburn hair. Despite my picky details, it's pretty and way better than the 2008 reprint and the French cover. Lastly, two German covers with the first the original and the second a reprint:

A girl coming upon an abandoned pair of roller blades in the middle of the street with a crescent moon up in the sky is kind of ominous but I like the second one better. A wallet with some money on a table as a knife blade holds down the bills is much more detailed and fresh with the shadows and...it kind of does happen in the book. Money exchanges hands between characters in kind of a subplot to the story leading up to the main incident so it works for me.

Taglines: On the front: "Sometimes the truth can kill you." and on the back: "Five close friends...one murderer." Both of them are okay I suppose but this blurb is what I'm not sure about. It tells us that one of Julie's friends confesses to killing Al they flat out use the word "he" so it is clearly either Sandy or Vincent. So a little bit of suspense is taken away by this but does it means we're in for disappointment? 

The First Line: "What would you do if one of your best friends took you aside and said he had a confession to make?"

Julie Carlson asks us the readers that very question as she recounts to us a tale that is our book. On a nice spring day, Julie and her girl friends Hillary Walker and Taylor Snook *stifled laugh* were just hanging out and talking when Al Freed showed up at Julie's door. He use to be a part of their little group of friends but has started acting like a jerk, hanging out with some tough dudes from Waynesbridge, drinking beer, smoking, selling answers to tests and just being a creep.

 

 



 

He comes in and harasses the girls into giving him money as he tosses a can of beer into the kitchen sink and gets cigarette ash all over the place and Julie's mom hates smoking after catching Julie smoking freshman year. Hillary ends up giving Al $20 to keep him from telling her parents that she bought answers for a Chemistry test from him and jeopardize her getting into college. When Julie's mom gets home, Al beats a hasty retreat and Julie's mom discovers the beer can and the still lit cigarette on the floor to which she grounds Julie making her miss a major party at Reva Dalby's home (oh Reva...I'll get to you soon enough as well!)

 

 



 

So even though it was all Al's fault for the mess, Julie suffers missing the party and hears Hillary telling her all about how Sandy Miller followed Taylor around like a little lapdog while she flirted with every other guy there. Julie thinks maybe Hillary is jealous of Taylor's looks I'm not sure but I know that Hillary has purple nails, wears large earrings and white-rimmed glasses as Julie describes her and Taylor is blonde, almost platinum with green eyes, and red lips. When the two girls get to Sandy's, he tells them that Al has been suspended for fighting.

 

 

I couldn't resist hearing the name Taylor to put this up here ;)



 

For a minute nothing goes on except Julie gushing to us how much of a crush she has on Vincent Freedman and how he just treats like a friend until Al shows up on Sandy's porch, drunk and banging on the door. Against better judgement, Sandy lets him in and Al begins to give him a hard time and embarrass him in front of Taylor that the two boys start fighting and then Hillary gets involved with the fighting. It's not really exactly fighting just Al trying to push her down but Hillary doesn't budge literally until Al leaves, complaining how he just wanted one lousy beer. Several days later, Julie heads over to Vincent's in a cute outfit to do their chemistry project and she finds him stressing out in the driveway.

 

Julie asks him what's wrong and he says he let Al take out his mom's car but not willingly. You see Vincent got a speeding ticket and Al just happened to see it happen. He told Vincent not to worry and tore up the ticket and well Al now has his own way to blackmail Vincent whenever he needs something just as he did to Hillary. Al brings the car back and it is completely totaled with the hood, fender, bumper and driver's side door mangled! Vincent loses his cool and Al just runs off as Julie tries to calm down Vincent who is ready to draw blood.

 

So Vincent is now permanently grounded all summer by his parents that he won't be able to do a camp counselor job he got and work in his dad's shop to pay for the damages. Julie learns this after asking Vince to go rollerblading with the group at the skating rink so she goes with Sandy, Taylor and Hillary and let's them in on the bad news. Soon, Julie is at the rink alone as Sandy and Taylor slink off to make out and Hillary leaves to go to a party in Waynesbridge but when she finally leaves...Julie makes the gruesome discovery of Al's body in the back alley. Strangled to death with the laces of a pair of rollerblades, one shoved hard into his mouth that it is standing up!

 

 



 

Julie tells the police she didn't kill Al and when Officer Reed asks if Al had any enemies Julie mentions the new friends of his from Waynesbridge and can't help but confess that all of her own friends had enough reason to hate Al, herself included, but none of them would ever do such a horrible thing. Poor Julie, so naïve because at Sandy's house after the funeral he has a confession of his own...he killed Al. The others are shocked, Taylor hysterically so, but Hillary is more angry at Sandy for telling his friends and now they know and are in it just as deep. Sandy can't understand...he did it for all of them because Al was ruining their lives...his friends should be happy!

 

Now that all of them know what Sandy has done, Taylor's staying by his side but Hillary wants to go to the police and Julie and Vincent are caught in the middle...what will they do? Sandy's harmless and Al was a bully there's no way he could possibly kill again...right? 

 

Body Count: Good old Al and maybe...one more for the road?

 

Cameo Time!: A mention of Bobby Newkirk from Double Date being one of the guys Taylor was flirting with at Reva's party. Also, Deena Martinson and Jade Smith from The Wrong Number arm-wrestling at a lunch table. Not really a cameo but something the book mentions is...Graduation! Apparently, the seniors of Shadyside do matriculate as Julie mentions the class has 300 students! This is the first time I ever remember anything about actual graduating outside the Fear Street Seniors which focuses on a graduating group of students. Just something worth mentioning if you happen to miss it!

 

My Take: The Confession has a promising start but you know that Al is going to die and you have to learn half-way through the book who did it. Everything after that is basically fallout and paranoia which leads to more of an anti-climax IMHO. The twist is said to be obvious by the character who figures it out and I'm thinking more "No not really" unless you think really hard about what happens before that. Also, the ending tries to be weird but is more hilarious in my opinion but not in a good way. The description of Al's body is pretty good and memorable but the second half of the book falls flat... you can read it but you may be disappointed.

 

THE SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

 

Julie and Hillary are going to see the new Keanu Reeves movie but alas...no Keanu movie could I find being released right at this time (I go by publication month in case anyone was curious as to how I determine what goes into the "time capsule") I know you want to make it more interesting using a big name actor but there are some pretty good movies from this time that would be interesting to see:

 

 

 

 

There was also some pretty good music too which should be played at the party Reva threw in between the two bands she booked! Some personal favorites:

 

 



 

 

 

NEXT BLOG: Every girl is just dying to date The Boy Next Door...