Welcome back to Forever Fear Street, a revisit to the most wicked neighborhood in young-adult literature. This installment looks at the seventh and eighth books in the classic Fear Street series: Haunted and Halloween Party.

In Haunted, a neighborhood prowler is really a ghost, and an exclusive gathering turns deadly in Halloween Party.

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Fear Street #7, 1990

Cover Artwork: Bill Schmidt

The prowler was at her window… or was he?

Bill Schmidt’s first artistic contribution to the Fear Street series isn’t the stuff of nightmares. Quite the opposite, the cover for Haunted borders on comical, albeit unintentionally. The humor stems from that phantasmal prowler who’s decked out in denim and stands with one hand on his hip and with a critical expression painted on his face. Is he trying to kill Melissa, or is he giving her the once-over? Well, as it turns out, Schmidt’s illustrations isn’t the result of a miscommunication between artist and author; the un-menacing and awkward feeling from the artwork accurately captures the story within Haunted.

Breaking up the standard teen thrillers offered so far, Haunted strikes for something less shallow and more specific. It’s hardly scary, however, the conclusion is undeniably emotional. Fear Street fans don’t bring this one up as much as others, yet they should. It’s a novel that leaves some residue after reading.

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THE STORY

Melissa Dryden has become afraid, due to recent reports of a prowler lurking on Fear Street. It’s not long before she meets this intruder in person… Or so she thought. Melissa spots the denim-clad interloper in her bedroom, but upon alerting her parents, the stranger has disappeared without a trace.

In time, Melissa comes face to face with not only her uninvited guest again, but also the truth of his situation; Paul is a ghost. And he’s come here to kill his killer.

Paul, a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks, has no real recollection of his life before now, yet he insists that Melissa killed him. To prove him wrong, Melissa then helps the spirit find the real culprit as well as prove her innocence. It’s only during her investigation that Melissa learns Paul isn’t dead; she runs into him outside a club, and he doesn’t even recognize her.

Melissa speculates Paul, the ghost, must have come from the future, which explains why the live Paul is unaware. The closer she gets to the flesh-and-blood Paul, though, the more Melissa realizes how dangerous he is to both her and himself.

Finally, when her parents are out of town, Melissa defends herself as the corporeal Paul breaks into her house one night, and she shoots him dead with her father’s new gun. The spectral Paul, who had grown to care about Melissa and vice versa, forgives Melissa before fading away.

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After my pointing out the lack of the supernatural in the series, again and again, Fear Street delivers a true tale of the uncanny. There is no explaining away or grounding what happened here, as Haunted is upfront about its events. It’s also as Twilight Zone as these books ever got.

What stood out here, at least more so than the main story, were the supporting and minor details. Fear Street isn’t the run-down neighborhood you would expect, despite its ill reputation, high death toll, and presumably not-great property values. Melissa’s family is well off, and they’d rather live on Fear Street than in the wealthy section of Shadyside called North Hills. So Haunted is the first installment to point out the class diversity of the series’ namesake. In future books, mind you, impoverished characters do reside on Fear Street, and not just in Old Village like Paul does, er, did.

Class is one theme of Haunted that can’t be ignored because it’s such a driving motivation for Paul and his subsequent actions. When first meeting Melissa, the spirit of Paul is initially hostile and resentful, mainly due to the protagonist’s higher income bracket. His living counterpart is far less kind, seeing as his feeling of inadequacy is what led to him breaking into Melissa’s house later. And it’s not like Melissa is obnoxious about her background either; when a fellow rich friend of hers rags on a poor person, Melissa is offended and even comes to that stranger’s defense. It’s this defining moment that makes ghost Paul see Melissa for who she really is, and it paves the way for that gut-punch of an ending.

Another interesting matter was Melissa’s attraction to (ghost) Paul. It’s not in the vein of any great, overwhelming star-crossed-loves, but there’s no denying the chemistry between them. For Melissa is written to be frigid, although the reason why has nothing to do with religion or any societal pressure to stay “pure”. She is noticeably underweight and self-conscious about it; her insecurity comes out whenever her father calls her “Skinny Bones”, whenever she’s around other girls her age, and especially when her boyfriend Buddy cops a feel. It’s almost as if Melissa is repulsed by herself, or how she believes others see her. And whenever Paul makes a crack about Melissa being a spoiled rich girl, it’s a reminder that money can’t buy everything. In particular, a teenager’s healthy self-esteem. Nevertheless, the fact that Paul has an expiration date on himself makes this scenario more depressing. The Paul who Melissa could actually be attracted to, maybe even date, is neither here nor there after fate comes a-calling. The Paul who Melissa shot wouldn’t even get the chance to change.

This is an atypical Fear Street, and in this instance, that’s welcome. There’s more to chew on here, both good and less-good, and the title is fitting. Just not in the way we’ve come to expect with a series that is slowly but surely embracing the supernatural. ■

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BODY COUNT

1. Paul
Shot dead by Melissa.

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QUOTAGE

“I won’t forget you. I won’t ever forget you. Don’t feel guilty for killing me. Don’t ever feel guilty. You were the only one who ever cared about me. The only one…”
– Ghost Paul to Melissa before he moves on.

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Fear Street #8, 1990

Cover Artwork: Bill Schmidt

There is going to be an uninvited guest at this Halloween party on Fear Street…

We’re now back to our regularly scheduled goings-on in Fear Street. As in, Halloween Party gives us the usual teen-murder business we’ve become accustomed to reading. And after the heavier Haunted, I didn’t mind something a little “lighter”. What looked to be a rehash of Surprise Party, only now set against a Halloween backdrop, ends up being a tad loonier.

As with horror movies, Halloween settings aren’t as common as you’d think in Fear Street, and that’s because, like horror, these books don’t ever need any special reason or time of season to get creepy. Largely, Halloween Party feels more like an April Fool’s story, on account of the near-exasperating amount of pranks leading up to the bona fide death. And by then, is it worth the wait? Yes, for the most part.

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THE STORY

Terry and girlfriend Niki are among the nine (and only nine) guests invited to the Halloween party hosted by new Shadyside High student Justine Cameron. The others include Niki’s ex Alex, David, Ricky, Les, Trisha, Murphy and Angela. On top of the suspiciously small guest list, the event is being held in the ominous Cameron mansion in Fear Street’s woods and beyond the cemetery.

Before even reaching the party, a prank war has been initiated by Terry and his former friend Alex. It’s the jocks versus the nerds. This pranking extends to Justine’s party, which entails a few fake deaths to keep everyone on their toes. In time, though, real danger appears when two non-invited guests, the drunken Bobby and Marty, show up on motorcycles and assault the partygoers, including Justine’s uncle Philip. Bobby and Marty are sent on their way, but not without them threatening to return.

Despite this major hiccup, Justine won’t let the party end or anyone leave. And that’s when a real dead body materializes; Les is found, by Terry, with a knife in his chest. Niki has also gone missing after she stepped away from the festivities to search for clues about Justine. It was during her inquiry that she discovered an intriguing photo of Justine — she’s with an older man who Niki guesses is her sweetheart — as well as prescription bottles for an Enid Cameron, not Justine. Most important among her findings was a newspaper clipping that shows Justine/Enid’s parents were killed in a car accident some years ago, and the party responsible was Les’ father.

As David leaves to find help, the other seven guests become trapped inside a sealed room that Justine/Enid soon sets on fire and fills with the recorded sounds of car crashes. Niki manages to slip away to the basement and, with help from Uncle Philip, free the others from what could have been their fiery grave.

Uncle Philip reveals how the enduring bitterness from his brother’s wrongful death passed on to his niece, who is really nearly thirty years old, and how their scheme went too far; he wanted to just scare everyone, not kill them.

As for why Justine/Enid invited Terry, Niki, Alex, et al to the party, their parents were also involved in the car accident, except they were merely passengers. Even so, this vengeance was always about the sins of the parents and there was never any room for reasoning.

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It’s obvious why the victims are handed invitations, so you spend most of this book waiting for the whys to come out. And once they do, they are screaming. We have a certified nutjob with Justine/Enid Cameron, who’s an adult posing as a teenager. She gave up her whole life, including a career and a boyfriend, to plan this revenge. So unlike Surprise Party, the antagonist here is actively malicious and not simply covering her bases.

Similar to Missing, and maybe The Wrong Number as well, Halloween Party has male and female main characters. Of course, Niki eventually overshadows Terry and goes on to save the day. Terry is not all that likable or compelling, so the switch worked out. And speaking of Niki, she’s the first protag with a physical disability. The convenience of flawless lip-reading could trigger an eyeroll, but the book does effectively bring up how a deaf person would “hear” music and how that process could give Niki an advantage in the fire/auditory chaos scene.

The thread between these early installments is needled in as past characters, such as Lisa Blume, have cameos. The biggest return is from Ricky Schorr, who even begins to divulge the events of The Overnight before stopping himself.

Halloween Party is the first genuine And Then There Were None-esque entry of Fear Street. If not for Les being picked off, I would dub this book “And Then There Were Nine”. Nevertheless, at least there is one legitimate murder. Those fake-outs, a signature of Stine’s style, were growingly annoying.

As foreseeable as the outcome was in the outset, Halloween Party still managed to catch me off guard with its deranged execution. Justine/Enid is a memorable villain who did not go gently; she ran back into that burning mansion at the end! Considering how Justine/Enid was hauled away alive, and strapped to a gurney in true wacko fashion, I’m shocked a sequel wasn’t ever made. ■

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BODY COUNT

1. Les
Stabbed to death by Justine/Enid.

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QUOTAGE

“It’s always Halloween on Fear Street.”
– Niki to Terry at the end.

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See you next time on Fear Street — it’s where your worst nightmares live.