KATIE MARIE

Why would you change your name to that?

I have been writing to you for a while now, you may have already picked up on the fact that I really enjoy Stephen King. I like the way he writes people, the way he builds tension and the atmosphere in his stories. Sometimes his endings don’t quite deliver after the build-up but regardless I love his stories and nothing will ever change that.

Today I am writing to you to talk about a series of books aimed at a teenage audience.

Fear Street by R L Stine, was a series that ran from 1989 – 1995, though there was a spin-off in 199 and a mini-series in 2005. A trilogy of films came out on Netflix in 2021.

Summary

I won’t go into the individual storylines of all the books but rather as an overview as there are 51 books in the original run.

If I had to describe Fear Street in a single phrase, I would say it’s the middle ground between Goosebumps and Stephen King. If Goosebumps is for kiddywinks and King is for adults then Fear Street is for teenagers.

The violence and deaths are a step up from children’s horror but clearly a step down from adult horror.

Characters

Each story is self-contained, but there are recurring characters and previous stories are sometimes mentioned. The characters are developed and fleshed out enough, even if some of them are a tad generic, I am aware that I am no longer this series’ target audience and am confident to say that teen Kate would have liked the characters and related well to them. I do enjoy the cameos and references to past events as it helps the series feel connected. The characters act believably, for teenagers lol, and as I said I think they connect well with the intended audience.

Setting

The series takes place in Shadyside and involves a group of older teens who encounter various paranormal incidents like ghosts and monsters and the occasional non-paranormal murder mystery.

The title of the series and main location of most of the stories comes from a lane in Shadyside, named for a cursed family, that changed the spelling of their name to Fear to avoid the curse but alas they were not successful. The curse came from a pair of innocents being burned as witches, a mother and daughter, the surviving father set the curse in motion.

I enjoy the reoccurring setting as the basis for the series, it really helps create an atmosphere when you’ve got so much space to do it in. The location almost feels like a character in and of itself by the end of the series.

Plot

Again I preface this with the knowledge that this is not aimed at me.

The plots are simple, well-structured and thoughtful. Many deal with events that would concern teenagers, like parties, girlfriends, prom, passing classes etc. But some deal with wider topics like The Knife which takes place in a hospital, Serial killers, and murder kitties.

The stakes are always made clear, my favourites are the mysteries, the suspense is well crafted and executed and while certain elements are a tad predictable it’s still fun.

Overall this is a really fun series, a great nostalgic vibe for those who grew up with these or goosebumps, and a great gift for the young horror reader in your life.