Focusing On Fear Street - The Boy Next Door

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEART STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

 

Book #39 in the original Fear Street Series

Published June 1996

Cover Art by Bill Schmidt

 

 

We see out titular boy next door, Scott Collins, looking upward into Crystal Thomas' room and looks can be deceiving because he doesn't look to threatening here. It says in the book that Crystal and her older sister Melinda look alike but that Melinda wears glasses but as it looks like this girl is getting ready for bed it could be Melinda but I'm not sure. The detail of the tree and the house is spectacular and my copy again has one of those stickers advertising to write The Best Friend 2 so I get some of my cover art hidden. For this blog I actually found the key art for this book by Bill Schmidt!

 

 

That's some really beautiful art right there! As always, Germany has some equally beautiful cover art for their editions and it hardly ever disappoints with its detail and even minimalistic focus so let's check it out:

 

 

A hand reaches out to grab a hold of a young woman's ankle, her foot in an open toed-high heel with a splatter of blood on the stairs. The ankle grabbing is something done in the book but I can't remember any blood being on the steps but I like that touch to add more to the thriller atmosphere and the suspense. So simple but gets the point of the story across. I don't really get a lot of countries popping up when it comes to cover art so I was surprised to find one from Italy!

 

 

The boy has almost a Terminator vibe and I like how he has both hands around the hilt of the knife he's holding. The double imagery of the screaming girl is nice as well and sort of reminds me of all those Italian horror films...it's very nice. Another country that I am sort of enjoying lately is finding Russian covers with their very romance against thriller juxtaposition so let's take a look.

 

 

Well this is a little less romantic than the last few Russian covers with Scott looking very creepy holding that huge knife! I suppose the girl in the foreground is supposed to be Crystal with her red tinted hair and her expression on the phone is slightly concerned. I like how it's also a mash-up of realistic in the forefront and illustration in the background (at least I think) and has a more appropriate cover. Lastly, the French cover which was disappointing last time so let's see if it can be redeemed this time:

 

 

I guess I just have trouble appreciating the artwork of these French covers when half of them use this yellow or green or blue tint that just makes me a little nauseated. The detail of the stuff in the background is wonderful and the glint on the knife blade is excellent but the color just makes Scott's face look like he has jaundice. He's also suppose to be good-looking and even though the shadowing is nice, his face just looks so sickly.

 

Taglines: On the front we have: "They were flirting-with death." and on the back: "This guy's got killer looks..." which are pretty good I must admit. The blurb on the back has the biggest mistake calling one of the girls in the book Lauren and not Lynne! I wonder how that got by someone and if they ever corrected that on other printings? Besides that, it gives us a good idea about the plot and is not too filled with any spoilers.

 

The First Line: "I stared into my girlfriend's open grave."

 

The prologue wastes no time in letting us know that we will get some first-person perspective from our titular boy next door as he let's know just what happened to poor Dana Potter. They went next door to the neighbor's house to swim in their pool but it had been drained and Dana dove in first...cracking her skull. It wasn't until she died that he screamed for help and the remorse he feels is for how it was her fault that he had to kill her. If she hadn't started to dress in short skirts, hadn't started painting her face with make-up and behaving so wild...her blood wouldn't be on his hands.

 

So in the first chapter, we meet Crystal Thomas talking on the phone to her best friend Lynne Palmer as she is trying on one of the new lipsticks that she bought at the mall. They talk about how they can't find a boyfriend even though Lynne has all the guys at Shadyside High trying to ask her out which brings them around to talking about Crystal's new neighbors as they finally arrive, Crystal peeking out the window. She tells Lynne the parents are good-looking and their son isn't half bad either as she sees him enter the house and take the bedroom right across from hers! He catches her staring at Crystal is mortified but not as much as he is in more of a disgusted manner at seeing the girl across the street in a low cut leotard under her jeans with red lipstick smeared on her lips...spying on him!

 



 

The next day or maybe a few days later, Lynne comes over to discuss Scott (know that they know his name so do we the readers) joining the football team and how every girl is wondering just who he will ask out. Crystal's sister Melinda wanders into the kitchen and it's clear that she and Lynne don't get along really well and that she might be at little jealous of how much closer Crystal seems to Lynne. When Lynne asks Melinda if she has talked to Scott (Crystal has only said like half a dozen words to him and Lynne probably not at all) Melinda says she has English with Scott and that he's nice but keeps to himself. It's very clear that Melinda thinks Scott is good-looking but Crystal knows how shy her sister can be around guys, always reading classic literature and wearing baggy tops over her jeans. Lynne decides that the girls should have a contest to see who can go out with Scott first with the only rules being they can't mess each other up on purpose and must be happy for whoever comes out victorious.

 



 

At lunch, Lynne sits herself down at the football players' lunch table, squeezing in between Scott and a boy named Jake Roberts, who is friends with her and Crystal and has a huge crush for Lynne. Lynne flirts with Scott like crazy and invites him to a party but he declines and Crystal can't help but be internally pleased but also wishes she could be as forward as her friend even though she and Scott exchange a few words. An opportunity presents itself for Crystal to go and talk with Scott when the mailman drops a magazine of his father's at her house by mistake and she decides to return it. Before that we get a little preview of just how messed up Scott is when he kills the dog of a woman who lives down the way :( The dog apparently had to die because the woman wears short shorts and makes kissing noises every time Scott passes by embarrassing him...and that's not nice.

 

Killing DOGS is what's not nice, SCOTT!



 

So Crystal comes over with the magazine and is a little disappointed that Jake is over there hanging out with his new buddy Scott but Scott invites Crystal to join them in his room to visit for awhile. When a knock comes to the front door, Scott comes back with Lynne in some skin-tight skating clothes with the excuse that she came looking for Jake and she's a little surprised to find Crystal on Scott's bed. When Scott tells them that he has homework and chores to do, Jake carries Lynne out of the room over his shoulder like a caveman which is pretty funny, leaving Crystal with Scott. Crystal tries to get Scott to kiss her but chickens out and awkwardly leaves and we learn that Scott was not amused. He accuses her of invading his room like a disease, probably stealing the magazine as an excuse to come over, feeling sick by her perfume and dreading that she would have kissed him with that cheap lipstick and have its taste on his mouth. With no outlet, Scott stabs the back of his hand with a pair of scissors!

 



 

A few days later, Lynne shows up at Scott's house with some Cokes and chips as Crystal comes home to see Scott arrive with Jake. He politely lets them in and while Jake watches football highlights, Crystal asks Scott if he had a girlfriend back home and when he says no it turns to why he hasn't asked anyone at Shadyside out. Scott doesn't answer and Crystal can understand what her sister Melinda meant about Scott being a little sad when they talked last. She thinks it's a little rude when Lynne tries to pressure him about the girlfriend thing, thinking Scott probably has a broken heart, and soon he tells Crystal, Jake and Lynne that they have to leave again. Lynne makes an excuse about forgetting her backpack (she really did but it's so obvious she has another motive) and later reveals to Crystal that she went back and kissed Scott. Crystal's is not happy but neither is Scott, brushing his teeth, using mouthwash and scalding hot water to try and get the feeling of Lynne's lips off his skin.

 

 

Scott is now set on making sure Lynne pays for being such a bad, bad girl and almost gets the chance but gets interrupted by a man asking for directions while he and Lynne are parked up on a ridge. When a week goes by and no word from Scott, Lynne starts to become depressed and driving Crystal crazy so the girls do a prank call to Scott's house but Scott recognizes Lynne's voice and says he's sorry but football practice keeps him busy and turns her down when she asks if he wants to do something. We get an interesting look at what it's like in the Collins home when we learn that the girls' call disturbed dinner and Scott's mother isn't happy with how persistent this Lynne girl has been calling the house. She can't have her son going out with a girl who just doesn't know how to behave...maybe Scott shouldn't have given her any indication that he cared. Mother's angry and that just won't do...

 



 

 

When Crystal discovers (WARNING SPOILER!) Lynne has killed herself by turning on the car in the closed garage and leaving a suicide note behind, she is devastated and has no idea Scott is behind it. Now that Scott has gotten rid of another bad girl he can focus on finding the right girl...a girl like Melinda Thomas...a good girl. She's so sweet and kind taking care of her sister in this terrible time but Scott had to do what needed to be done...now he can have a normal life with  the perfect girlfriend. Too bad Crystal can't keep her opinions to herself and decides Melinda needs a little help to keep Scott interested, unknowing that her advice may just make her sister the next victim of the boy next door...

 

Body Count: It was so hard to try and not spoil it but...Two. Two dead bodies...oh and one poor little doggie :( .

 

 

 

MY TAKE: The Boy Next Door is actually a pretty good read. You already know that at least one of the lead girls is probably going to be one of Scott's victims and well, it's obviously not going to be Crystal because the protagonist almost always survives. I like how it switches to Scott's perspective at times so we can find out how deranged he is and the little moment with his mom gives us insight as to how maybe some of these parents are the reason the kids in Shadyside are the way they are. When we get to the last few chapters, it's pretty intense despite going so fast to wrap things up and the ending is one of those Ha-ha sitcom endings but it lets us know what happens to our villain instead of leaving it open-ended even if it is a throw away and you might miss it line. All in all...I would recommend it.

 

THE SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

 

Jake asks Lynne if she would like to go and see the new Jim Carrey movie with him after Scott has them leave his house the first time and you know what...there really was a Jim Carrey movie this time!

 



 

If this wasn't going to be an actual fluke there are a few other movies I could possibly suggest:

 

 



 

Also, a few musical favorites just because you know I love my music:

 

 

 

NEXT BLOG: Get those lips ready for a real Killer's Kiss...





 





 







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...

 



Focusing On Fear Street: The Perfect Date

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEAR STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

 

 

Book #37 in the Fear Street Series

Published April 1996

Cover Art by Bill Schmidt

 

 

A foggy night, a couple in the moonlight...both of them look so happy except for the girl holding a knife in her hands! Fun Fact: the young man who posed for this illustration is R.L. Stine's son, Matt. Handsome looking guy but Brady in the book has curly hair so just that one little detail and the rest is perfect. Rosha looks like she does in the book, the details of the lighting reflecting the moonlight and even though it's simple it's nice looking. The 2008 reprint cover however...

 

 

This is just boring! Again with that negative filter and a rose...just no real thought put into it. I've seen those covers with just one object in focus and they look so much better than this! There is another cover that I found which is either a US or UK edition with a much better cover than this one.

It's pretty nice looking with Brady and Rosha on a date as a girl with a scarred face follows behind them just like in the book. It's detailed and has more movement than the last cover and even the original cover. I could find many other countries except for Germany and Russia so I'll leave the German editions for last since I can always count on them to be spectacular. Let's see what Russia has to offer:

More illustrated than photorealistic but Brady does have curly hair and there is a girl with scars on her face that looks more like the girl described in the book. It's a little plain and would look better if we had more focus on Rosha than the scarred girl but it's okay. Looks more like a teen romance novel but I guess it works. The next two are of course German artwork: the first is the original and the second is from a bind-up/omnibus in which The Perfect Date is included (the other story is one of the Silent Night books).

A raven ( I'm going with raven...it's more haunting) sitting on a headstone in a cemetery with a rose under its talons as more soar in the sunset. It's okay and eerie but I like the second one better because it fits with the story more. The ground is covered in ice and snow with a broken sled and a rose covered in frost with a trail of blood upon the snow. It's beautiful and chilling (no pun intended) at the same time and probably my favorite.

Taglines: On the front: "Dream date...or nightmare?" It's okay I guess. On the back: "Perfect...perfectly evil." As good as the one on the front and the blurb has the basic plot and no spoilers. Speaking of not spoiling anything, we can actually start with the prologue's first line.

The First Line: "Brady Karlin squinted his brown eyes against the sun's glare and let out a long, piercing whistle." 

Brady and his girlfriend Sharon Noles are out enjoying the three feet of snow dumped on Shadyside by going sledding. Sharon wants to go down the kiddie hill but Brady insists that they go down Miller Hill which is much more steep like a ski slope with trees and thorny bushes. Out of the three male protagonists as a lead character so far (Cory from The New Girl and Bobby from Double Date) Brady is in-between. He's got the right mix of Cory's stupidity and Bobby's jerkiness. As you can imagine the worst happens and Sharon's face ends up being mangled by the thorns and the metal sled runners, dying from the blood loss. That's just the prologue so we are in for a good story right?



The following winter, we join Brady at Pete's Pizza with his best friend, Jon Davis. The other boy is anxious to know what Brady found about a girl named Lisa that he likes and of course, Lisa likes Brady instead. They never mention the girl's last name but if it's the only Lisa I know of from these Fear Street books then it may be Cory Brooks' ex Lisa Blume and she must have a thing for curly-haired boys.

Brady tries to convince Jon that maybe he should hook up with the girl at the pizza counter but when Jon says she's not his type, Brady says he'll totally go out with her. Jon can't believe Brady would want any other girl when he already has a girlfriend, Allie. It's pretty clear that Jon is jealous of all the attention Brady seems to get from other girls and of course, he's a better guy than Brady because the jerky guy always needs a friend who is more noble. When a girl enters the pizza joint and sits down, Brady most certainly falls head over heels for her. Jon admits the blonde girl is nice looking but Brady insists that she's perfect and goes over to talk to her despite Jon's doubts and of course, mentioning Allie.

Brady sits down and introduces himself and the girl tells him her name is Rosha Nelson. Brady is a complete smitten mess and Rosha goes on about how it has to be fate with them meeting and everything seems to go well until Rosha spills her scalding hot coffee on Brady's hand! Brady plays it off as nothing and agrees to gout with Rosha on Saturday...totally gone and I have to say that I love when we have teenage boys as the main character in these Fear Street books.

Brady blows off Allie the next day at school with lame excuses about having to babysit a non-existent cousin on Saturday instead of going with her to the basketball game and having to study just so he can think about Rosha...wow...he's just so obsessed with her to some rather jerky levels. So Saturday arrives and Brady meets Rosha at the mall but then they go to Waynesbridge to see a movie so Brady won't run into any of Allie's friends ( that sounds more realistic for the boys I knew in high school...cowards). While heading to the car, Brady sees a girl with a horribly scarred face watching him and Rosha, which creeps him out, and can't imagine why she's staring at him so intently. What scares a teenage boy more is having his date ask if she can drive his father's car.

 

 

Brady borrowed his dad's car to impress Rosha but knows his father would kill him if anything happens to it but Brady, being a dumb and stupid boy in love, lets her. Rosha is a speed demon behind the wheel and in the winter weather, she hits a patch of ice and crashes the car into a parked car, smashing the windshield and knocking Brady out. When he comes to, Rosha is begging him to switch places as she doesn't have a driver's license and Brady well...what do you think he does? When the police show up, Rosha is gone and they take Brady to the emergency room.



The next day, Brady heads over to Allie's with Jon so that the group can study together as planned and of course, Allie is concerned with a dozen questions. Brady can't stand lying to Allie but still can't get up the nerve to just break things off with her as he is still on Rosha mode and has Jon try to distract Allie but then just ends up bailing. When Brady gets home, the police officer who came upon his accident arrives with the purse Rosha was carrying the night of the date, wedged up under the seat of the wrecked car. Brady lies saying it was his girlfriend's and tries to use it to find Rosha but the purse is completely empty! So Brady decides to call EVERYONE NAMED NELSON in the phone book to try and find Rosha as Allie calls to check up on him and then another girl calls telling Brady to stay away from Rosha!

 

 

This strange call doesn't stop Brady from going to stakeout St. Ann's, the private school Rosha said she went to trying to find her where he almost beats up a boy when he tells Brady he doesn't know any Rosha and Brady thinks he's lying! When Brady does come across Rosha and admits all the stuff he's done to try and find her at first she angrily tells Brady he's weird but then she acts like it's the sweetest thing and asks him to take her dancing this upcoming Saturday and they make out in his car.

 

 

So Brady again has to break off another date with Allie and then tells Jon about the girl with the scarred face who he saw at St. Ann's after receiving another call from her and then believing he sees her outside the weight room at school after he almost chokes to death dropping the weights on himself. Jon says it probably unnerves him because of what happened to Sharon and Brady finally puts those pieces together but can't help but still be all about Rosha. Too bad he's not putting all the pieces together fast enough because what happens next is going to cause Brady's world to crumble down beyond repair...

 



Body Count: In all fairness, beyond the definite death of Sharon in the prologue, I'm going to say that honestly there is no way I can tell you anything else this time...

Cameo Time!: Again more of a mention but the second date Brady breaks off with Allie is going to an ice-skating party held by Mei Kamata from What Holly Heard.

My Take: The Perfect Date is one of those Fear Streets that have a plot that seems very mundane when you think about it and read it for awhile. When it gets to the last few chapters, however, it gets absolutely bonkers! The first time I read it, I could almost tell where it was going but then it went even beyond that at the actual epilogue! We don't get a sitcom ending or even a sad, bittersweet end but an ending worthy of something right out of The Twilight Zone or even Tales From The Crypt. It's slow at first but worth the reading...a Top 10 recommendation!

 

 

THE SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

Brady offers to take Rosha out to see a Brad Pitt flick and they end up watching some sort of horror movie with a happy ending instead. I don't know if it is the same film but Brad Pitt didn't do any horror film with a happy ending that I know of. If they needed to go and see a scary movie around this time, I know the perfect and only film worth seeing at this point in time.

 

 

 

 

There's also a lot of mentioning about going dancing and listening to music so here's a few selections that sound good to me: 

 

 

 

NEXT BLOG: Will you be ready to hear The Confession ?











Focusing On Fear Street: Secret Admirer

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEAR STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

 

Book# 36 in the Fear Street Series

Published March 1996

Cover Art by Bill Schmidt

 

 

Not the best quality but it's what I could find for the original cover art. So again more photo realistic with our main character Selena looking up into the mirror with another lackluster "scared" expression as she sees the message scrawled on the mirror in lipstick while holding a makeup brush. Looking at my own copy I like the detail of her hair and the back of her low dipping blouse or maybe leotard/bodysuit but that expression...wow! I think she kind of looks like Jane Krakowski BTW.

 

This was one of the Fear Street titles that got a revamped issue with a new cover:

 

 

It's a photo negative gift box splattered with blood? Ooh...so scary...are we just not even trying anymore? At least the other ones at this time tried to be creative (if very badly) but this one is just so lame. Let's go to a country that at least is trying to give effort...like France!

 

 

A dressing table with a mirror, a bloody gift box with the picture of the sun and a terrified/confused Selena. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be Selena's room or backstage with maybe a prop door in the background but at least this is better effort that the previous cover art. Selena's face is still not conveying horror but that uncertain emotion is enough to work. So let's see what Brazil/Portugal can offer us (it's always something cool):

 

 

Stage lights, a ladder leading up to the catwalk, a bouquet of roses (dead or alive can't tell but both are book accurate), a dead rat, tattered curtains and Selena holding a note in her hand. I love the distrustful look on her face but what is going on with her hair? I like the warm colors and the spotlights focused on her so this has to be my favorite so far.

 

Next up with always some great covers: Germany!

 

 

A broken mirror with a smear of blood and dead roses resting on top of a letter with either a rose petal or a sun sticker? It's still a very moody atmosphere and very detailed as always but gets the point across. I'd say this is my third favorite after the Portuguese cover then the original US cover.

 

Last but not least is that grab bag of either good or bad covers...Russia!

 

So I see dead, black roses and a blonde girl who I suppose is Selena. Behind her is a full moon (Selena means moon) which is also the nickname her friend Jake calls her as a childhood callback. I'm not sure who the guy is suppose to be but it's either aforementioned friend Jake or another guy named Eddy as the only other male character Danny is blond. Still even if this may be from something unrelated it's nice looking so I'll tie it for fourth place with the French cover

Taglines: On the front: "Someone loves her to death." Short, simple...I like it. On the back: "Her number-one fan" it's sort of lackluster but leads into a nice blurb of what we can expect inside without too many spoilers of all the crazy things this fanboy has in store for Selena.

So again I'm going straight to the first chapter for the first line and skipping the prologue. It's mostly one of many notes that will be written to Selena from her secret admirer who addresses themselves as "The Sun" in contrast to her name (which is very clever IMHO).

The First Line: "He'll never hurt you again...I promise he'll never hurt you again"

This is actually the last line of a play uttered by our main character, Selena Goodrich. She is one of Shadyside High's star actresses since she has lost weight and ditched the glasses and pretty much gotten the lead in every production the last two years. Her friends since childhood, Katy Jensen and Jake Jacoby, are in drama too with Katy more behind the scenes and Jake more into character roles but her friend Alison Pearson is no slouch either in the acting department even though Selena always gets lead roles. The next play the drama teacher, Mr. Riordan, has planned is the staple of any Shakespeare high school production: Romeo & Juliet.

 

 



 

Selena is psyched to be able to perform Juliet when the teacher lets it slip that a drama coach from Northwestern University will be at the play and Selena hopes to get a scholarship to the school. Things have been tough since Selena's father died and her mother works so hard to make ends meet that Selena needs the scholarship if she wants to pursue her dream of being an actress but her mind turns to other things when she finds a bouquet of dead roses in her drama locker and a note from someone who calls themselves "The Sun" signing the creepy note with a sticker of the sun. Katy thinks it is again creepy but Selena treats it as a joke that might be Jake's work with his warped sense of humor or even a joke by her ex-boyfriend Danny Morris, who always annoys Selena every chance he gets.

 



 

The girls are followed to the cast party at Mr. Riordan's house and Katy thinks she and Selena are being followed by her stalker but it's just Danny being obnoxious. Things start to go better when Katy points out a "major babe" who we soon find out is Eddy Martin, a second year drama major from nearby Waynesbridge Junior College who will be an intern during the spring play tryouts of Romeo & Juliet. Eddy immediately takes an interest in Selena that makes her both tongue-tied and embarrassed but not as much as Danny when he pulls a prank that bruises her ego. Waiting for Katy to leave with her, Danny tries to talk to Selena again and ends up getting in a fight with Jake, who can't stand Danny even more than Selena. Danny leaves with a bloody nose and Jake apologizes to Selena for fighting with Danny but promises he won't let Danny get the lead as Romeo.

 



 

That surprises Selena the next day at try-outs when Jake does indeed go out for the role against Danny and when he snaps at her, Selena can't understand why her friend is being so strange. Selena doesn't have time for that when the wardrobe cabinet falls on top of Alison, nearly crushing her to death but she survives luckily! When Selena finds a sun sticker on the dresser and realizes Alison was sitting where Selena always rehearses her lines she knows the accident was meant for her and she begins to believe that Katy's stalker theory may be right. So things seem to have a good and bad theme going on when Eddy calls to ask Selena out on a date but then she finds a dead rat on her back porch with another calling card from The Sun admitting that Selena was supposed to be the one hurt to take her out from doing the spring play.

 

Selena has no intention of quitting the play, despite Katy thinking she should, and not even Danny winning the part of Romeo is enough to scare her off but when the lights fall on the stage almost crushing her and Katy getting hurt pushing her out of the way...Selena starts to become even more paranoid. On her date with Eddy, Selena learns he has been crushing on her for a long time and she tells him about her stalker to try and ease her worries. That doesn't last long when a car almost mows Selena down and Eddy claims he was trying to push her out of the way even though they were walking on the wrong side of the tunnel. Selena dismisses the thought of Eddy trying to hurt her when a bouquet of live red roses appear at her house the next day but they end up being bundled with some poison ivy leaves, which Selena is extremely allergic too...The Sun strikes again!

 

 



 

Now at the end of her rope, Selena's ready to find out who is behind all of this and what she finds out next will only make the situation worse as it leads to what could be her final curtain call if The Sun is able to black out this shining star...permanently.

 



 

Body Count: One fatality and again it's pretty sad. All deaths are sad but some characters in these Fear Street stories are pretty awful people so it's even more heartbreaking when nice characters get caught in the crossfire. If that kind of spoils it for you I'm sorry but you can get the point I'm trying to get across.

 

Cameo Time!: Again more of a mention but Simone Perry from The Prom Queen had a lead in a production in which Selena replaced her according to Eddy. Good call back but it may not have been for the one going on in that book but slightly after it maybe?

 

My Take: Secret Admirer is an okay book. It has a good amount of suspects for who "The Sun" truly is and you may spot who quite early on from a throw away line. Selena's an okay heroine and the plot sounds like many other books with an obsessed stalker and accidents so it's not particularly unique and it has one of those cheesy endings despite a good amount of action beforehand which just grinds to a halt.

 

THE SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

 

 

For their date, Eddy takes Selena to a Chinese movie in Waynesbridge being shown at the college. I'm not really one for foreign films but it makes for a much more interesting date I guess. They also listen to jazz music in Eddy's car and Selena begins to enjoy it. Again, not really into Jazz but jazz elements can find their way into a song and I may like it. For me, there are some different movies and music that this point in time had to offer I would much rather enjoy!

 

 

 

 

NEXT BLOG: Is there really such a thing as The Perfect Date? Answer: Not on Fear Street...