Focusing On Fear Street - Cat

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEAR STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

 

Book # 45 of the original Fear Street series

Published May 1997

Cover Art by Bill Schmidt

 

 

This cover is about the closest that an original cover by Bill Schmidt has gotten to rivaling the German cover art with its simplistic yet effective style. A woman with cat-like eyes holds a very mean looking cat with the same green eyes against a reddish-brown background with the book title in that same green. The feline and the cat-like woman look realistic but it also looks like a movie poster and even if there is nothing in the background the detail is wonderful so I like it. Sadly, only Germany has any different take on the cover art because other countries trying their hand would be interesting. The first is the original and the second is from an omnibus collection of Cat with Bad Moonlight but it fits better for the first title more.

 

 

 

The eyes of a cat peak out of the darkness with scratches on the door and a small puddle of blood on the ground while in the second, a black cat is on the stone wall of a cemetery looking like a staple of Halloween. Black cats are bad luck to some but the cat in the book is silver-gray with a black diamond on its forehead but the stereotype is fine for the atmosphere and the detail of both covers is gorgeous!

 

Taglines: On the front is "C-A-T spells murder" Oh my goodness this has to be the cheesiest one yet! because it's just so *erupts in laughter* On the back is "The cat came back..." I like it because it reminds me of the best thing ever:

 



 

Back to business now with the blurb. It gets the point of the story across to us and well it does sound interesting.

 

The First Line: "I never liked cats."

 

 

 

The prologue is being narrated by our main character, Martin "Marty" Harper. He tells us that he is allergic to cats and also confesses that it's mostly because they look so evil when they stare at you...he's just not a cat person. He may not like them but he admits that he never meant to kill that cat and we find ourselves getting a flashback to how this whole mess began.

 

I always thought the woman on the cover looked like actress Melinda Clarke...anyone agree?



 

A cat found its way into the gym at Shadyside High and has been staying under the bleachers, people giving it food and water and of course, the girls of the school love it. The ones who don't are the basketball team as the feline disrupts their practices by running out on to the court and tripping the players...it happens so often chasing the cat is part of practice in itself. On this particular day, Marty and his two friends, Dwayne Clark and Barry Allen, are being ridden pretty hard by their coach and I guess it's just being tough. Marty knows that he and his buddies are the best players on the team since they've been playing basketball since they were kids and he admits it's kind of hard not to get a big ego because of it.

 

Marty describes Barry as looking like "Superman on TV"...sounds good to me. Love Dean Cain ;)



 

Gayle Edgerton and Riki Crawford, two girls who are friends of Marty's, come by the gym to do a story on the "Three Musketeers" as the guys are called for the school paper. Gayle is the reporter and Riki the photographer, who just so happens to have gone out with Marty a few times and is still hung up on him, but they get interrupted when the cat shows up. The guys chase it for awhile until it disappears but when it shows up again, it trips Marty and he lands on his knee...badly

 

Dwayne wears Hawaiian shirts for good luck...Tommy Bahama or Hilfiger?



 

The nurse says it's just a sprain but Coach Griffin benches Marty to keep him from screwing up the leg even more and Marty is not happy. He told his friends he already had a basketball scholarship but he may have jumped the gun as another person is being considered as well but if he can't play, Marty knows he might not get it...and it's all that darn cat's fault.

 

This Darn Cat was the worst cat of 1997 IMHO



 

When he sees it, all Marty can see is red and the guys give chase again to trap the cat on the bleachers which makes Marty's knee even more painful as he grabs the cat. This is not a nice kitty it bites and scratches at Marty but I have to admit it might just be out of fear but the blood in his eyes and his knee buckling almost causes Marty to fall. Reaching out to grab Dwayne's hand, Marty lets go of the cat to see it tumble down the bleachers and fall on the ground with a sickening crack.

 

 

Art credit Casey Weldon



 

Gayle and Riki accuse Marty of throwing the cat off the bleachers with real intent to kill it but Marty admits it was just an accident. Barry and Dwayne are not as remorseful and have no tact saying that the cat was just a nuisance but Gayle is not amused...she is steaming mad. Riki is more shocked but still not happy with what Marty has done even when he pleads with her and Marty seems truly sorry even if he was angry with the cat. Barry and Dwayne say more awful things about the dead cat that send Gayle over the edge and it makes Marty angry how she won't even listen to him.

 



 

The next day, Marty arrives to school and gets hateful glares from a lot of girls and even one student's mom and his female homeroom teacher! Gayle works fast at getting the news about Marty killing the cat all around town that even Dwayne's little sister won't talk to him and it just so happens that Gayle is president of the Animal Rights Club at school. She also has put up a poster about a rally to stop cruelty to animals with not only pictures of said abuse but also one of MARTY for his killing of the cat.

 



 

Now Gayle says she saw what she saw with her own eyes but apparently not as I for one truly think Marty didn't do it on purpose. Even if the story is from his point of view, it was either drop the cat or both the cat and Marty could have fallen and DIED. Not all cats land on their feet but neither do most humans and the cat could have survived in that scenario but Marty most certainly would not have.

 

Back to the story from my little tangent, so...

 

Coach Griffin approaches Marty about the incident, listens to Marty's side of the story, and tells him that if he wants to play in next week's game he will have to go Student Court because basically the Animal Rights Club is putting him on trial for the cat's murder. Marty knows that if word gets to the school where he's hoping to get the scholarship from he most certainly will not get it and agrees.

 

The next day, Barry and Dwayne actually stand up for Marty (better than the other day) as witnesses and none of the boys are treating this as a joke but Gayle says that Marty was part of the teasing and that they even swung it around. I have no idea what this chick's problem is but Dwayne only held the cat's dead body by the tail and then they tossed it in a garbage can...they didn't skin it and throw the pelt at you!

 

After deliberating for fifteen minutes, the jury finds Marty not guilty of murdering the cat but guilty of cruelty to animals. His sentence is to do thirty hours of community service at the animal shelter which seems fair considering even if all he did was chase it with the intent of taking it to the shelter but fate went a little differently. Marty, on the other hand, even tells Coach Griffin that he was cruel to the cat and deserves to serve the full thirty hours when he says he'll try to get Marty's sentence reduced so he can rest up his knee.

 

It's mentioned several times that Marty has a dog named Teddy who is a Shar Pei so here you go!



 

For awhile, things go back to normal as if nothing ever happened except for Gayle and Riki being kind of jerky to Marty still. Riki's attitude is more towards Marty being flirty towards other girls and learning from Gayle that Marty lied about a date he broke off with Riki claiming he was sick. Okay so that might actually be the only jerky thing Marty has intentionally done but he doesn't deserve all this hate. When Marty begins his community service at the animal shelter is when things actually start to get kind of weird. The animals at the shelter start barking and hissing around Marty and well earlier he thought he saw the dead cat back underneath the bleachers and Barry did get attacked and scratched by a similar looking cat but that couldn't be possible...could it?

 

Marty keeps seeing cats following him...hearing them hiss on the phone late at night and long evil yowls...is he cracking up or did a cat just walk over his grave?

 

 



 

 

Body Count: Cats have nine lives...two humans lose their own.

 

 

MY TAKE: Cat is a really good Fear Street book...probably one of my favorites. It has a likeable male lead character in Marty, some actually good red herrings once you pay attention, and those twists...wow! The actual twist reveal is pretty easy to spot by some throw away lines but it is presented with something actually outside of the box that you don't really see in Fear Street books as most are actually more murder-mystery stories. The ending is again something out of Twilight Zone or Tales From The Crypt which is purr-fectly fine with me... I recommend you check this one me-out.

 

 

THE SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

 

 

Seems Marty is a real ladies man and that he likes going out to the movies...many good choices this certain time of year!

 

 

 

Did you get my last little joke with the final movie? See the actress was in the 1982 remake of Cat People...so you know...it's funny.

 

 

Okay then so how about some music?

 

 



 

 

NEXT BLOG: We're going to dial it backward a little bit and talk about the first sequel to a Fear Street book that wasn't a Super Chiller or part of a trilogy. Time to call back for Wrong Number 2 

 

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 Mind Reader

Hello Everyone...I'm back!

 

I know it has been a long time but I have been busy what with my self-publishing and many works in progress as well as just laziness and my attention deficit disorder trying to handle so many things I want to do.

 

 

 

In any case, I am still wanting to blog about the Fear Street books I own since the 3 movies are definitely a go with casting news and the synopsis for what we can expect. I've been listening to some podcasts talking about the Fear Street books and as much as I would love to do something like that it would suck to do it by myself. Also, not a lot of funds on this end and personally, I like blogging to get all my ideas out and my personal take on each book. So I hope you are ready to join me back on Fear Street with the next book I read in chronological order.

 

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEAR STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

 

Book #26

Published November 1994

Cover Art: Bill Schmidt

 

 

This doesn't exactly happen in the book but the ghostly figure looking down at our protagonist Ellie Anderson is in our story in some visions that she has. She doesn't look too horrified but scared enough at what she is seeing. I always liked Bill Schmidt's talent in these covers since I can't draw for beans but sometimes the girls don't look like high school students...they look older like college students or even moms. This doesn't show it much but on my copy it is much more noticeable. As always I have found that the German covers never let me down so what does it look like for this one?

 

 

 

 

A knife in the woods? Well the trees are very detailed and the knife as well and one does play a part in the story. There are also woods so...good for that. Probably not my favorite of the bunch or even the German covers so far. Let's see what the French cover is like:

 

 

 

 

A man with a knife shrouded in shadow going after a girl in the woods who I assume is Ellie. I guess it's okay with its ominous colors but it looks like standard slasher fare. Lastly, the cover for the book in Brazil:

 

 

 

These are never a disappointment...such warm colors that draw your eye! A bloody knife looming over Ellie's head, a figure in a window, a shadow looming behind, a bony skeletal hand reaching out, Ellie grabbing her head to clear the visions from her mind and I think blood dripping down in the upper right hand corner? This is my second favorite after the original US print.







 

 Taglines: On the front we have "Seeing too much is murder" and on the back we have "A bony hand beckons from a shallow grave..." The first is more the actually tag line while the second is more of a lead in to the blurb on the back. Personally I thin both work fine and the blurb on the back tells us what's going on without spoiling much of the plot. Intriguing enough that I want to read it...

 

The First Line: "Hi Sarah." Ellie Anderson greeted her best friend and slid onto a stool at the counter of Alma's Coffee Shop.

 

The Sarah in question is Sarah Wilkins and they engage in the normal girl talk, making fun of the jocks and their girlfriends who are her only customers in the burger joint (coffee shop but caters to high school kids...I'm calling it a burger joint.) The two girls are best buds with single dads and Ellie and her father have only recently moved back into Shadyside for Ellie's senior year. Ellie was born in Shadyside but her father left town with her when she was a toddler but is finally back in good old Shadyside thanks to his sales job and Sarah is the only friend Ellie has connected with.

 

A good-looking guy then enters the place and sits behind Ellie, staring at her with his dark eyes, and even though Ellie is drawn to him, Sarah goes to get his order and do a little flirting. Ellie is shocked that Sarah got his name: Brian Tanner and even though Ellie is shy this time...it's different. She literally bolts out the doors but it isn't embarrassment it's almost...straight up fear.

 

Ellie returns home and takes her black Lab (oh no...doggies in these books sometimes don't have good odds!) named Chaz out for a walk where he chases a squirrel to drag her towards the infamous Fear Street woods...but her mind keeps turning back to Brian. Ellie knows she shouldn't be thinking about a boyfriend after she broke up with her boyfriend Tommy last year...it was complicated. Ellie confronted Tommy and her best friend Janine about kissing behind her back all because...she saw it...in a vision.

 



 

Yep, Ellie is a psychic. As a kid, she could have fun with it until the day she saw her dog Jake get hit by a car in one of her visions (see what I mean about dogs in these books?) and then tried not to have them but when she gets around people she can see things and get feelings. So it becomes no walk in the park when Chaz finds a bone...a human bone and leads Ellie to where the remains of a human hand are rising out of the ground where her dog has been digging. Stopping a car filled with the same jocks Sarah and Ellie were innocently mocking, they take her to the police station to report the discovery and the main police officer in charge is Sarah's father, Lieutenant Wilkins, who doesn't treat Ellie like she is crazy.

 

Heading back to the woods, the rest of the body is discovered which pulls in a crowd to watch...Brian Tanner among them as well as Sarah. Brian soon disappears and when a swatch of red fabric is found, Sarah faints. The next day at school, Sarah isn't there and Ellie learns that her friend had an older sister, Melinda, who went missing wearing a red sweatshirt. Ellie tries contacting her at home but the phone keeps ringing and while at the library working, Ellie runs into Brian looking for a book on weapons. They flirt but when Ellie gets a vision of a bloody knife, she runs off and Brian calls after her...by name which she had yet to tell him. 

 

Heading to Sarah's job to see if she is there, Ellie runs into Brian again to flirt until Sarah's dad shows up to tell the owner that Sarah is going to miss work for awhile staying with her aunt and he leaves without a word. Ellie soon has to tell her dad that she found the body in the woods once it makes the paper and Mr. Anderson is not happy.

 

In his anger, he lets it slip that Ellie's mother was killed when she was little and the vision of the bloody knife comes back to haunt her. At her job, Ellie checks the microfiche (so 90s and old school before the Internet) and finds out that her mother was stabbed to death and she was the only witness sitting in her stroller. All of this with the body and finding out about her mother's murder leaves Ellie on edge and soon, she finds that Sarah is still at home completely devastated because it was her sister Melinda's body found in the woods. Her father lied about the non-existent aunt and has gone completely gung-ho in trying to find Melinda's old boyfriend, Brett Hawkins, believing he might have murdered his daughter. Sarah is being neglected by this discovery and Ellie tries her best to comfort her friend but finds Brian taking an interest in her to fill the void.

 

 

Brian's hair is described like this in the book...sounds so hot!!



 

Brian asks her out to a canoe date on Fear Lake to Fear Island along with Chaz and the two of them share a kiss (so romantic!) Things start turning less romantic when Brian pulls out a knife from their picnic basket to slice her an apple and the knife is the same one Ellie has been seeing in her visions! It freaks her out and once they leave, Ellie falls into the lake, Brian jumps in to save her, accidentally almost pulls her down grabbing her leg as he almost drowns and then Brian mutters the name Melinda while unconscious when Ellie kisses his cheek!

 

How does Brian know the deceased Melinda Wilkins? Why is Ellie all of a sudden having her visions again? Why is she seeing such horrible things?

 

 

 



The Mind Reader is a pretty good Fear Street novel. It is more a murder mystery-thriller than straight up horror but the paranormal visions of our protagonist Ellie bring in those horror elements. Some of the plot is easy to figure out what all the character connections and motives are with a couple of really good twists.

 

Body Count: Melinda Wilkins' dead body is what drives most of the plot and the death of Ellie's mother, Louise, happen prior to the actual story. No one dies in the story proper so no death toll on this one.

 

Cameo Time!: Again a cast of pretty straightforward characters...no special guests this time around.

 

 

SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

 

 

I'm thinking that maybe Ellie and Brian should have gone on a movie date instead of the lake but that's just me or maybe gone dancing at the club. Music at the time was the best ever...

 

 



 

NEXT BLOG: Anybody up for a little game of...Truth Or Dare? 





 

 

Focusing On Fear Street: One Evil Summer

WELCOME TO FOCUSING ON FEAR STREET WITH THERESTHEGIRL

Book # 25 of the Fear Street Series

Published July 1994

Cover Art by Bill Schmidt

The cover may not be very big here but we have our main antagonist Chrissy Minor laughing evilly in her room as she holds a cat that is not very happy to be there. A moon at night and a lighthouse in the setting of Seahaven which is not in Shadyside but our protagonist Amanda Conklin lives on the titular street. I also like how an evil wind is blowing the curtains of the room and the teal coloring is nice with the popping yellow title. I found a couple of German versions with some nice artwork as always from either an original or a reprint or an omnibus edition:

Of course summer settings with a dark foreboding tone. The top is a little brighter but one simple spilled drink tells us danger is afoot. The second one has the bright hue of sunset but it's ominous with abandoned beach gear and a spooky lighthouse in the distance. The only other cover I could find was for the Brazilian/Portuguese edition and well I just love it! Check this out:

This actually does happen in the book! The blonde Chrissy is giving a smack down to brunette Amanda in the ocean with a speedboat and the cliffs in the background. Yes Chrissy is floating so this is not just a touch of awesome added to the cover. The sky in the background is just full of evil with those stormy tones! And for you male readers, hey a little skin from the ladies in some bared midriffs! This has to be my favorite even more than the original!

Taglines: On the front we have "Chrissy is perfect-perfectly evil." and on the back we have "Help! Wanted". The front is definitely better than the back and the little plot blurb will have you intrigued enough to read what's inside.

The First Line: "Amanda Conklin rolled over in bed. She opened her eyes and stretched slowly."

Not exactly gripping but we are introduced to our main character and we learn this isn't the beginning of the story. The first chapter tells us that Amanda is a juvenile detention center because apparently it's believed that she murdered someone but Amanda knows the real reason why she is there and we get the backstory as the main set up of the plot. So the Conklin family is heading off to Seahaven for the summer which is great except that Amanda sucks at algebra and has to attend summer school! I didn't know you could to summer school while on vacation I mean I had to come in on Saturdays for math workshops when I was in school but I could do that at the beach? Damn, I kind of want to live in this universe!

Amanda isn't the only one bummed because now her mother has to find a helper/nanny/babysitter to watch her eight year old brother Kyle and her three year old sister Merry because she can't. Apparently even going on vacation they plan on working a little and going out to dinner cocktail parties or something. So they arrive at the beach house to drop off their belongings but discover they need some food so Amanda's parents and her siblings go off into the town while Amanda stays behind to put their pet birds, Salt and Pepper, and their family cat, Mr. Jinx, out of their cages into their summer surroundings. A knock comes to the door where a pretty blonde girl named Chrissy Minor has come to answer Mrs. Conklin's ad and Amanda tells her not to leave as she tries to get her parents back home as Chrissy says she has another interview to get to. Amanda reaches them in time but she already has a bad feeling about Chrissy because the cat does not seem to like Chrissy.

Mr. Jinx hisses and reacts in fear at the girl and Amanda then sees unbeknown to Chrissy the girl hissing back in just the same aggressive fashion at the cat. Also, the birds don't chirp or sing around her either almost huddling together in a trance of fear. So this is a big red flag to me because animals are a very good judge of character and the flag goes even more haywire when Amanda's mother can't reach Chrissy's references and decides to hire her anyway. Amanda calls Mom out on this and gets a lecture about being just as irresponsible for failing algebra and putting her parents in the situation for help in the first place...harsh!

Of course Chrissy gets the job and the family falls in love with her but Amanda is still wary because of the animals and the fact that they still can't reach the other families that Chrissy has worked for. When she heads to summer school things look up for Amanda as there is a very cute guy in the class named Dave Malone who gets to be her partner. Being a local, Amanda asks Dave about Chrissy and he says he doesn't know anyone by that name or any other of the names that Chrissy gave for her aunt and her cousin. Later that day, while the family is playing badminton, a car almost kills Kyle and Merry as it lurches up onto the lawn! The driver says he couldn't control the speed as if the vehicle had a mind of its own and poor Mr. Jinx is the only casualty, which devastates Amanda. She thinks she sees an evil smile of satisfaction on Chrissy's face at the cat's death and later in the evening, Amanda swears she sees Chrissy floating off the floor in her room!

Her parents think Amanda is just stressed at the death of her pet and that maybe she thinks Chrissy is taking her place but Amanda is sure that there is something off and evil about Chrissy. The girl has old newspaper clippings about the death of her parents by carbon monoxide poisoning and how her twin sister Lilith is in a coma...what is she hiding? Amanda calls back to Shadyside to ask her friend Suzi if she can look up some more information than Amanda can find in the small town of Seahaven and she agrees while Amanda seems to be developing a summer romance with Dave. She tells him about Chrissy and he doesn't think she is crazy at all, they go out to a shed on an island where Dave and his brothers have taken over an old hunters' cabin. They kiss and Amanda has to hold on to his waist as they take a wave runner to and back and it's so sweet that Amanda has someone on her side. Dave also says he has a way that might get Chrissy out of the house by placing a hunting knife in her drawers that will have her parents kicking the girl out once they see it.

Getting back to the house, Chrissy throws herself at Dave and he uses this to distract her while Amanda can plant the knife but things take a turn to the weird and horrible as blood sprays out of the knife, all over Amanda and Chrissy's clothing and then the birds are found with their throats slit! So now basically Amanda's parents think their daughter is going crazy, killing the birds and trying to frame Chrissy for it along with everything else and send her to a shrink. Good Lord Amanda just can not get a break! Amanda knows that Chrissy has something sinister up her sleeve and that her family is in danger but what can she do when no one believes her? Is she really going crazy with jealousy or are her instincts right? Why is Chrissy out to get the Conklin family and when will her charade finally stop?

This was a very hard Fear Street not to spoil for those who haven't read it and it is a very suspenseful story with supernatural elements. Think of it as a combination of Jennifer's Body and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle with some of the same plot points here and there but not exactly like the first and teenage rehash of the latter. You know how The Best Friend is like Single White Female? Go with that! The ending is okay I suppose but I think a good twist might have made it a little better be it a downer ending or not. There is also a little bit of maybe inspiration from the Lois Duncan novel Summer of Fear and not anything outright plagiarized so in a nutshell a good read. When it comes to characters, I'm not too fond of Amanda's parents and we don't get a lot of time focusing on her younger brother and sister so I'm neutral on them.

I know the parents aren't really that bad but they don't really do anything in my honest opinion to deserve any praise. Chrissy is our villain but she just seems like a normal mean girl, alpha bitch so I don't really love her or hate her knowing her motives and back story either way. The only characters I like are Amanda and Dave because you are suppose to identify and feel for Amanda and well Dave, he is the only one who believes Amanda. They have chemistry and even if you think it is far fetched for him not to believe this girl he doesn't know is crackers, I still like him anyway.

Body Count: Well we have one dead kitty cat and two murdered birds :( Animal violence in books I don't get but it's just another way to kick Amanda when she is down. As for human fatalities, one definite and two maybes with two of them completely out of left field and totally unnecessary. After The Thrill Club, this is another Fear Street novel where a character death made me kind of sad so if I just gave away an unintentional spoiler...sorry :(

Cameo Time!: Blink and you'll miss it but Carter Phillips from The Cheater calls Amanda with some bad news. (Shutting my mouth as to why...)

SHADYSIDE HIGH TIME CAPSULE

Not to sound cheesy but it depends on what your taste in movies and music is whether you will agree this was one evil summer for both forms of media! In the book, Amanda is said to be wearing a red and black Pearl Jam t-shirt. She's got good taste in music I'll give her that so maybe there are some other songs to enjoy in the same vein:

There's also some stuff that I like:

One I just can't resist putting here:

And a song that truly is evil (middle school dances were evil too!) and terrifying:

When it comes to movies, they mention a totally fictional horror film called Blood Surfer. Sounds interesting but I can think of some better films to watch:

Before I finish, there is a movie from this time that was so evil it made one of the greatest movie critics go berserk:

NEXT TIME, NEXT BLOG: Might take a break from Fear Street with my next idea or maybe not. I guess only The Mind Reader would know for sure...wouldn't you like to know?