5 comments about Fear Hall: The Conclusion (Fear Street, No. 47).

1. I started reading the Fear Street series recently as a throwback and remembered how much I enjoyed them as a teen. Now in my thirties, they're cheesy but great books to kick back on a lazy day and enjoy. And even the cheesiness of some of the stories is a thrill to read.
   
   The Fear Hall 2-part series is by far the best of the Fear Street books I have read thus far. The story left me chilled and I could not put it down. Whether new to Fear Street or grew up on them as I have, I recommend this the Fear Hall books. The story about troubled Hope and her three friends and viciously jealous boyfriend is quite a tale with a big twist. With the usual murder and mayhem we learn more about Hope and what exactly is going on and who who friends are...or not. The ending, which I'll spare you is gripping in a sad sense. Other than a bout of animal abuse (which pops up now and then in the books and does bother me) Fear Hall is an excellent read.



2. Hope Mathis has fled Fear Hall. Hope really is the killer. She just imagined that her boyfriend was the murderer. Hope hides in an abandoned sorority house to keep herself away from the police. The ending is sad. Why is the ending sad? Buy this book.



3. this book was ok but the first half was really boring so if yoou like a good book all the way thorough then you shouldnt read this one.



4. Though, this book isn't as good as the first part, it's still a good read.In the conclusion Hope and her "friends" are forced out of Fear hall and into a abandon house where "they" are hiding out. In the process, Hope meets a new guy,Chris who isn't very interesting in my opinion, and "Darryl" still can't stop killing. It ended really sad, but I wish R.L. Stine had of written it that Hope went to a mental hospital or something like that. I mean he got the readers to love Hope in the first book and in this one make everything seem like her fault, although it really wasn't since she didn't know what she was doing. The issue of Muliple Personality Disorder, was obviously not researched very well by the author. If you want a more mature and more researched book about MPD I highly recommend "Tell Me Your Dreams" by Sidney Sheldon, it's kinda like this one but it's for more mature readers.



5. I have been a R.L. Stine fan since '95 and I have to say that this was his best book ever. I love the new format he uses to introduce each character and how it kept me guessing the whole time. I would definetly recommend Fear Hall to anyone who is looking for a suspenseful, murder mystery with plenty of twists.

5 comments about The Demonata #1: Lord Loss: Book 1 in the Demonata series.

1. This book is an excellent book. It's a very enjoyable read. If you like Cirque Du Freak, then you'll probably love this series too.



2. After really disliking Cirque du Freak I picked up a cool looking book called Lord Loss. Come to find out, they are written by the same person. I read the first few pages, and almost had to stop reading the book. Spoiled brat male teenager gets caught smoking at school, finds out his sister told on him, and decides to get back at her. Does he embarrass her in front of her friends? Does he go through her room? Maybe he writes on her with lipstick when she is sleeping? No! He pulls the guts out of rats and sticks them in her bath towel! How mature. To top it off the male teenager says things like BAWring and there are exclamation points at the end of every other sentence. Everything I didn't like about Cirque du Freak all in the first few pages of Lord Loss.
   
   So why the 3 star rating? Well, thankfully our immature teenager grows up very quickly after his stint in the loony bin. He is even using big words (which seems completely out of character). The story takes a different turn after the beginning and is actually pretty interesting. It could have been better if the main character learned some spells and spent his time doing something other than watching TV, but oh well. Also, I'm not a fan of the writing style. Most of it is short choppy sentences. There is no flow, which makes everything seem like a summary. Example: "Night. It's cold. I look out the window. Quiet. Back to bed. Morning. Eat breakfast. Watch tv." I understand that it is supposed to add a sense of danger and excitement, but I was more irritated that anything else. I would have enjoyed Lord Loss more if it wasn't told in first person, if the main character was a bit older, and there were more details. I think that younger readers would enjoy it because the main character wouldn't irritate them as much as he irritated me. It's not creepy or scary to me at all, but I guess I don't really scare easily. The initial description of Lord Loss was the freakiest thing in the novel, and probably the most enjoyable. A decent and easy read, but more cons than pros.



3. Lord Loss by Darren Shan was an incredible read! It was about a boy named Grubbs and how his life changes over night, he sneaks out after being at his aunt's house for hours and goes home to find that his whole family is slaughtered by demons with little time to escape before the demons rip him to shreds just as the rest of his dear family.
   He rushes to the door from which he entered and flew through the doggie door flap and escaped from a demon named Lord Loss and his familiars, and he really flew and hit a fence and later people called him crazy because he said demons killed his family and no one believed, Well almost everyone his uncle knows he's telling the truth because he has seen them before. It was his Uncle Dervish knew a lot about demons and those kinds of things and he also knows about magic and put a protective spell on the house so demons can't get in. Grubbs meets a new friend named Bull-E (yes he spells it that way) and they like to run around a place called Carcery Vale like to explore the place since Grubbs is new to the area and all. He didn't go to school its mid term so what's the point? He missed out on too much to know what is happening it would be kinda pointless. So he gets to stay home watch TV. Sounds fun but then one night Bull-E brings up werewolves and says he thinks Dervish is one but he can control it because Lycanthropy (or for those who don't know what that means its being a werewolf) runs in the family but doesn't strike all of the members of the family it randomly takes control of someone, Somewhere in your teens it hits you, once you turn 18 then your fine and you wont turn into one at all but for the unlucky few that do there are options Option 1; summon a demon a demon (Lord Loss) find a partner and play a game of chess on 5 different boards at the same time and the other fights off two demon familiars. Option 2; kill the family member affected by lycanthropy. Option 3; you call in the lambs and they kill the werewolf. That's all im telling you... get the book and read!! I give it 10 out of 10!!! The thing I like about this book is it's well written and it brings me into a new cool world every time I read it. The theme of this book is getting courage to fight demons to protect the ones you love....and yourself. The conflict is basically Grubbs beating on the demons for revenge of his family's death and facing your fears to do so which if you think about is really hard to do for a lot of people.



4. I have to say that I was a little disappointed. After seeing the trailer for the Vampire's Assistant I went out to pick up the first in the series of Cirque Du Freak. I love vampire stories and horror novels, in general. And I'm intrigued by the sprouting of young reader novels crossing over into the adult mainstream. I tore through Cirque Du Freak in one night. Loved it. Very well written and I became an immediate fan of Darren Shan (author). Excited to get the next in the series, I thought I would give the Demonata series a try, even though the Amazon reviews were not quite as favorable as his first series, but still quite high. I don't care for gore books but I liked the premise of what the series promised.
   
   Cirque De Freak was a perfectly crafted novel. The characters were well developed, there was a great sense of mystery set up from the beginning, the plot, everything was perfectly crafted. It was as if Darren (author) knew from the beginning where the story was going and how it would branch off into sequels. Demonata does not share these qualities. I almost felt as if it was cranked out or a story that sat on his shelf until the Cirque success. First, Grubbs was a poor set up. My first thoughts was that he was mentally disturbed or that there would be some later pay off of him being somehow connected to the demon world. There is nothing normal about a teen boy cutting up rat guts and putting them in his sister's towel so she would get them all over herself. If my child did that I would put him in therapy. How that was handled as a normal teen boy prank was just weird or an obvious attempt at gratuitous gore. I liked Darren, the hero from Cirque immediately. I did not like Grubbs and so, was never sympathetic to his plight.
   
   The story never followed any particular flow or time line of events. It was more like things just sort of happened all over the place just to happen. It was more like a cobbled together story of events. There was never any build or payoff. I felt more like the author was writing this book in order to get through it or to finish another book series. Cirque, I felt engrossed, I felt curious, I felt tension, I felt like I was seeing things through the eyes of a teen boy and what he would feel during those situations. It had a sense of realism that that could happen somewhere in some small town. Demonata just felt like a story. I never got involved in it.
   
   I admire the author, but I find this a weak series. I found the intro to the second novel in the back of this book more intriguing than the first book. But I feel that this series had such a week start, that I'm not particularly interested in discovering more about Lord Loss. Oh, and the names of Artery and Vein for demon lackies was pretty unoriginal. The ending - sappy. I would have preferred if he would have ended it with the darker twist rather than continuing into a lighthearted, lame twist.



5. This book was absolutely brilliant! It had a nice, steady pace at the beginning and middle parts of the story, and then at the end it reveals lots of twists and hardcore action.
   A must-read!

5 comments about Rats.

1. Ugh, I read this book about 8 years ago and I look for it everywhere and haven't been able to find it til now. It was so gross but I still remember how intrigued I was when I was reading it. I read it in one sitting and its what really got me interested in reading. Kept me up for days... Love it!!



2. I purchased this book for my 11 year old son who does not like to read. He couldn't believe I bought this book for him. He says it is so disgustingly interesting. He told me to give it five stars.



3. Just finished reading this book after picking it up at my local library. I've been a big fan of Zindel's books after reading Raptor, Reef of Death, etc. This was definitely an entertaining tale of smart, mutant rats that break free and try to take over NYC. If you are looking for a relatively fast read with a fast-paced plot, this book is for you. However, I think Zindel's other books were a bit better; the ending seemed a little too...simple...but still a great read.



4. Everything was fine in Staten Island. Leroy Sabiesiak was doing the usual drugging, and shooting the rats. One day he takes it too far when he drugs the mother rat and shoots her, and then he shoots the entire nest of baby rats. Then the rats get angry and start eating him alive. Sarah, Michael, and Surfer the Rat need to find a way to demolish the rats. Rats are coming out of drains from pools, toilets, and hot tubs, and appearing in people's cars. They have problems with the neighbors who cannot speak much English, and an infant who is still in a crib. How will they get rid of them.
   Rats is a gory, skin crawling book, once I read the first paragraph I couldn't put it down. I recommend this book to any young adult that likes to read gory books. I think that Rats is a well planned out book, and there is a cliffhanger at the end of any chapter. When I read this book, I feel like I am sitting there helplessly watching people be devoured by the rats.



5. The city of New York is closing its biggest dump. The people who run the dump, including the father of fifteen-year-old Sarah and ten-year-old Michael, are paving over the entire dump. They will be making that spot into a city park, and the dumping of garbage there will stop. Sarah is worried when they start paving the dump, which is right next to her home. There are dangerous gasses given off by rotting garbage that could cause explosions or something just as deadly. Her father, though, reassures her that everything will be fine.
   
   The dump is almost paved over when the rats start to appear. They are crawling out of toilets in Sarah's neighborhood. They swim by the dozens up through pool filter systems and crawl into cracks in houses. These rats are vicious, too, tearing apart the people who try to stop or to kill them. Sarah and Michael seem to have been spared because they have a pet rat, Surfer, who makes high-pitched chattering noises whenever the dump rats come near them.
   
   Soon the rats are out of control. There seem to be millions of them, and they are smart. They are ambushing those who try to stop them. They have a plan and they have the power of communication. Sarah has done a great deal of research on rats because of her attachment to Surfer, and she thinks she might be able to help the people who are trying to get rid of the rats.
   
   This book was fast-paced and exciting. I liked that Sarah was a strong character who was able to help herself and the entire city. I never felt like I got to know the characters very well, though. Most of them were only briefly in the story and then gone. The story was overly gruesome, too, with rats eating people alive. A final problem I had with the book was that the end seemed a little too simple. Everything was better all of a sudden, but it didn't seem like enough had changed to make it so.

5 comments about The Secret Bedroom (Fear Street, No. 13).

1. Lea Carson is new to Shadyside, new to school and she doesn't want to believe it at first, she may be the newest victim of Fear Street. Lea hears weird sounds from a place above her bedroom. Lea sees a sealed up door so she opens it and discovers the secret bedroom...



2. This book is about a girl who lives in an old house, and there is a secret bedroom in which odd things happen (I won't tell you exactly what happens because I don't want to ruin it for you). But I will say that the things that happen are interesting and wants to keep you reading until you find out what exactly is going on.
   
   The ending was very satisfying. We found out the "why's" and "how's" and all questions and curiosities were answered. I wish I could say more, but I don't want to spoil it.
   
   This is a "teen horror", and I am an adult. I feel this book was entertaining and interesting enough for a child, teen, or an adult. This book is one of my favorite R.L. Stine books (that I am so crazy over, no matter how old I get).



3. Lea just moved to Shadyside. She moved to a house on Fear Street. But she has had a bad start at Shadyside high. During her first week she spilled chilly on Marci's white sweater. Marci is very popular at Shadyside. Lea had made an instant enemy of Marci just for tripping and spilling chilly. Lea did make one friend, Deena. Deena was fairly popular but really nice so she was glad to be Lea's friend. When Lea started cleaning up her mess of chilly a guy started helping her. He said his name was Don. Then he asked her out on a date. Lea was surprised and said yes. She went to sit down and told Deena. Deena said it was a joke because Don had been with Marci for a long time. Lea wasn't sure it was a joke she knew Don was asking her out. Deena told her just to watch out for Marci. When Lea moved into her house it was a major fix-upper. In the attic there was a boarded up bedroom that seemed to be a secret. The dealer said there was a scary story for each house on Fear Street. She said that the scary story for the bedroom was that there was a murder there. On the night Don was supposed to pick Lea up for the date he didn't come. So Lea called him. His mom picked up and said he was over at Marci's. So Lea called Marci without thinking and Marci picked up. Lea asked for Don and Marci laughed. She asked if Lea actually thought Don was going to go out with her. She said that she dared Don to ask Lea out but Don was hers. Lea was upset and Deena was right. As Lea started to go to sleep she heard stomps over her head coming from the bedroom in the attic. She decided to check it out. She went up to the attic and tried to pry the boards but then a waterfall of blood came through the top and flowed to the ground. Lea ran to the front room and called the police than her friend Deena. Deena convinced her it was a dream and came over to her house. They checked out the attic and nothing was there. There was no blood at all. Lea was confused; it couldn't be a dream it seemed too real. When the police got to her house Lea told them it was just a dream. Deena left and Lea just sat confused. The next day Marci was telling everyone about Lea actually thinking Don wanted to go out with her. Lea was very upset. When she got home she just lay down in her bed but she heard talking noises and footsteps above her again. She went up to the bedroom and tried to open it again. But then large gigantic spikes came out of it. Lea was scared to death. She ran downstairs and realized it was just a dream. The next day the noise annoyed her so much she decided to go up there and open it up so she went up there and pried it loose to find a girl about her age in a pretty room. But then Lea realized that the girl was floating and with very pale color... It was a ghost. The ghost says her name is Catherine. The problem is that Catherine wants to come back to life and the only way to do that would be to take over Lea's body and Catherine won't stop until she gets that...



4. The Secret Bedroom is definitely a book worth reading. The suspense is incredible and you just want to keep reading! I remember my mom used to come into my room and tell me to go to sleep because it would be 11:30 and I'd still be reading. Although this book lacks a real story and doesn't have that good of an ending, it is still a very creepy and spooky book. I got shivers. If you like a good scare, read this book! The only thing I didn't like about this book was the ending- you'll never guess it, but when it comes the story just falls. No more scares, no more turns, but still a good book!



5. Contrary to most opinions, I believe this book to be an R.L. Stine masterpiece! It's been a while since I've read it, but I do remember it scared me so bad, I had trouble driving the next day, and almost got in accident. It's my favorite Fear Street book besides "Dead End". I also found out that R.L. Stine came up with the idea for this book while writing the "The Baby-sitter". Observe what Jenny says while her imagination runs wild on page 2 of "Baby-sitter":

   "Maybe the house is haunted. There's the ghost of a young girl trapped in the attic, and I accidentally let her out, and she inhabits my body and I'm not the same person anymore."

   No point to this brief lesson, just an interesting thing.

5 comments about Dreadful Sorry (Time Travel Mysteries).

1. These are my daughter's words: When my friend gave me a bunch of hand-me-downs, I found this book in the bag. The next night, I cracked open the first page and was immediately hooked. I finished it in three days (due to a bust schedule)and declare it as my favorite book ever. When my mother read it, she said that she wished it never ended. If you like budding romance, reincarnation, ghosts of a village, and history repeating itself, then this book will satisfy your hunger-and leave you begging for more.



2. Molly has always had a crippling fear of the water. So in order to escape summer swim lessons and Jared, a boy who tossed her into a pool, she visits her father for a couple of months in Maine. She starts experiencing flash backs about a girl named Clementine, who died almost a century ago. This is poor summery but it fits the book- unremarkable and not the least bit mysterious. The plot twists were predictable, the story was cliché, and there was nothing remotely spooky about this book. I felt like I was reading one of the junior mysteries from third grade. I was expecting some big mysterious thrilling story and instead I got a dull book about a girl having flash backs of events that happened almost a hundred years ago.
   
   The characters aren't bad. Molly has some depth and Clementine could have been interesting had we known more about her. I kept getting the feeling that I was supposed to pity her but she came off as a bitch would put every body else in danger so she could go to school that I found it impossible to feel sorry for the girl. There were hundreds of other ways she could have left the town and gone to college, and instead she decides to use and step on as many people as she possibly can; the main one being Hob.
   
   Which brings me to something that really bugged me- how could Hob not be the least bit suspicious when Clementine randomly starts returning his love. She's done nothing but ignore him before so why the sudden change of heart? Did this not strike him as a little odd?
   
   Another thing that bugged me while I was reading this is all the unanswered questions like why Molly? Why was she the one receiving the visions and not somebody else? Why was Jared receiving the visions from Hob?
   
   I don't recommend the book. It's dull and there's very little element of mystery in it. The decent characters and writing can't make up for the predictible plot, lack of suspense, and boring story.



3. This was a purchased Library Book The condition was not the best, it was still readable. I enjoyed the book and wanted a copy for my personal library.



4. This was a gift for my granddaughter. She had read it before and wanted a copy to keep. She says it's a very good story.



5. Read this one a few years earlier, still as amazing as ever. It's not my favorite of Kathryn Reiss's books, but they're all so ridiculously good! Mystery with every bit of suspenseful goodness, history, and a touch of romance and psychological thriller, all in one great book. Not sure how she does it, but she does. Reiss' stories are always full of the randomest [and BEST] plot twists, never predictable and never repeated. You really can't listen to the "Clementine" song the same way ever again after reading this book. [Not to mention, I finally learned that the phrase 'lost and gone forever' was from that song, fancy that!]
   As for characters, Molly's mom is an idiot. Molly was kind of annoying, but not nearly as annoying as Clementine. Molly definitely had it right about that girl being the epitome of spoiled. Then you've got Hob and Jared. I felt like there was little [or pretty much NO] difference between the two characters, which bothered me, but not too much, cause they both worked in their respective stories. I wish we'd seen more of Ms. Wilkins and Abner, they seemed like they had more to tell. Paulette and the baby were a good twist and that storyline had me horribly worried until the very end [didn't want history repeating itself there!]. Molly's dad was also highly underdeveloped, with a lot of potential.
   Overall, I give it 4.5/5 stars. There were some descriptive bits that bugged me, because they were the kind that seemed to be inserted just for the sake of having description instead of adding to the story, and they were overly rambly fluffy blahness.

5 comments about Thirteen.

1. I'm 28 and I still have my original copy of this book. I love almost all of the stories in it, and have read them again and again. Each story deals with horror, whether supernatural or true human evil and insanity. If you haven't read this gem, make it your next purchase. There's something in here for every horror fan, child or adult!



2. The book Thirteen is not just one story. There are 13 short extremely scary stories. They are a variety of horrifying events. For example there is this one story called The Doll. This story was the scariest to me. It was about a girl who found a doll in her attic and she thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. So she brought it down to her room and kept it there. But ever since then strange things started happening. The doll would move its head without anyone touching it, and it also caused nightmares. These nightmares would come true. In the dream it would always have someone get hurt or die. And you wouldn't see that it's the doll. You would just see a little girl and hear gigiling. If you like scary stories then i highly recommend this book to you. It's an amazing book that will make you want to scream with fear!!!!!



3. this was the funniest book ever! i am such a freak ha ha ha ha. might as well not read this one eh? i was laughing so much durring ths story i think i made skidds on the lone hiway ( if ya know what i mean eh? ) this is one sad storry. hey i think i have homework.



4. This is a collection of mostly very good stories. I like The Hacker and the Collect Call chapters the best. I gave it four out of five because there is one or two stories that bore me and I couldn't finish it. One was something like the Gutilici or something. Lucianda was a little interesting but also nothing special.

   Pick it up if you like horror books but aren't sure you're ready for Stephen King/John Saul horror!




5. Well, technically, there are 14 short stories, since Christopher Pike's contains two parts, set at the beginning and end of "Thirteen." The first part ("Collect Call I") is about two girls who drive home after a party, except they get into an accident and one of them dies. Then the remaining girl starts receiving messages on her answering machine from the dead girl. The second part ("Collect Call II: The Black Walker") begins some time after the fatal accident, when the remaining girl starts dating the mysterious Bobby Walker--only to be reunited with the other dead girl. Now, I'm a big Christopher Pike fan, but I didn't think this two-part short story was his best work; in fact, these two stories are somewhat weaker compared to some of the other 12 stories shown below (if you'd rather not know what they're about, just skip the following three paragraphs and read the last paragraph--don't worry; I didn't give away the endings):

   "Lucinda" by Lael Littke -- A 16-year-old girl and her older brother return to their hometown to investigate the six-year-old death of his girlfriend. As explained in Littke's bio at the end of this book, the location for this story was based on real events--of "a real town that was moved when the nearby river was damned and the valley flooded." I really liked the original setting; it gives the whole story a remote, ghost town quality--and even an Atlantis feel when the town had been under water. >> "The Guiccioli Miniature" by Jay Bennett -- Set in Venice, Italy, a young college student is approached by a poor painter to buy one of his copies of the Guiccioli miniature. This 8-paged story is not your typical horror fare; it kind of sticks out because of its more "intelligent" horror and open ending. >> "Blood Kiss" by D.E. Athkins -- Elizabeth and her two girl friends fall for the new boy who everybody thinks is a vampire. This story has a lighter, more humorous mood than the rest. >> "A Little Taste of Death" by Patricia Windsor -- A 15-year-old girl reads an eerie ad in the newspaper that requests she contact someone about a 10-year-old event. This one was okay, but leaves a few questions unanswered. Restates the obvious: Never take candy from a stranger.

   "The Doll" by Carol Ellis -- After moving in to her family's new home, 16-year-old Abby finds a doll in the attic that tries to harm Abby's friends and family. >> "House of Horrors" by J.B. Stamper -- While working as a guide at the House of Horrors, Mark is invited to an after-hours party in the wax museum. This was another good one; it vaguely reminded me of the movie "Waxworks," though it was based on Stamper's experience at a famous wax museum in London. Readers will certainly be able to relate to Mark's claustrophobia. >> "Where the Deer Are" by Caroline B. Cooney -- Walking to school one day with her four friends, Tiffany has a premonition that Nature (which consists of the nearby deer, woods, and cliff known as Dead Kid Curve) has decided to claim one of them after 25 years. But who will it be? This one has a Nature vs. Human theme, and reminded me a little of Cooney's Losing Christina trilogy, with the paranoia, isolation, and her darker, more spare writing. Definitely one of the weirder ones. >> "The Spell" by R.L. Stine -- A young girl's boyfriend gets interested in hypnotism and uses his new talent to get even with his friends who had teased him about it. I'm not a big Stine fan, but this one was good. The ending--though left open--was effectively scary.

   "Dedicated to the One I Love" by Diane Hoh -- One by one, three friends hear a radio dedication to them, made by their two-timing (or, in this case, three-timeing) ex-boyfriend Richie--and one by one, each girl has a tragic accident. This one gets better as you read; there's a twist halfway through it. >> "Hacker" by Sinclair Smith -- A young student becomes a serial killer's next victim when she starts receiving messages from him on her class computer. This one was rather disappointing because of how easy it is to guess the killer; there aren't very many characters in it. >> "Deathflash" by A. Bates -- As mentioned in Bates' bio, this one is about good vs. evil--about a young girl who fears a soul-consuming creature is after her. >> "The Boy Next Door" by Ellen Emerson White -- A young girl working in an ice cream parlor (during winter, of all times) is robbed and threatened by one of her childhood friends. This is another favorite of mine; it's very suspenseful and has a great ending.

   As shown above, the majority of stories in "Thirteen" involve ghosts, the supernatural, curses and superstitions, vampires, murderous dolls, scary wax museums, hypnotism, and--what horror anthology wouldn't be complete without--serial killers. Some of these stories are bloody, but even notorious gore writers like R.L. Stine are able to tame it a bit. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on your taste of horror, I guess. But no matter what your level of horror is, "Thirteen" is definitely worth owning, especially if you're a fan of one or more of the authors in this book.

5 comments about Killer's Kiss (Fear Street, No. 42).

1. Synopsis: Delia Easton and Karina Frye have always been competing with one another since they were kids, on clothes, grades and friends, and now over Vincent Milano. What they don't realize is that Vincent, a boy who they both like, is secretly dating both of them and enjoying it. Needless to say, Karina finds out about Vincent and Delia, and thinks that Delia was trying to steal Vincent from her.
   
   Later, Karina sees Delia in the gym and starts strangling her and threatens to kill her. Afterward, Delia feels like Karina is up to something, especially when she sees Karina talking with Stewart Andrews - her stiffest competition for the Conklin Award, besides Karina. Delia's worst nightmare comes true when she opens her guitar case on the stage during the award show, only to find her strings in her guitar cut, and a decomposing rat jammed inside the guitar hole. Her troubles are far from over, and when she gets a second chance to show her talent, someone ruins her painting at the show. Delia realizes that Karina is dangerous and wants to see her fail in everything important to her. Can Delia stop Karina from stealing her boyfriend, her future, her life?
   
   Review: I enjoyed reading this book. It had a classic Fear Street storyline, strange characters, gruesome incidents, and lots of twists. One of the main reasons why I enjoyed it was to see Vincent get exactly what he deserved for being a disgusting character dating all those girls. Some moments in this book were gross to read, like when Delia sees a decomposing rat in her guitar case.
   
   Similar to other Fear Street books, Stine manages to give an unexpected twist in the end to shock the readers, but when he does this, I find loopholes in the storyline that don't make sense. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending of this book, but it just made think of a few incidents that didn't add up. For example, at the Conklin Award, after the incident, Delia sees Karina speak with Sarah and they both walk out together, although no explanation is provided for this. I just feel like if Stine had given more details towards the end of the book to cover every mysterious incident that took place, I would have enjoyed this book more.
   
   Anyway, other than that, this is a good Fear Street book to read, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes the series.



2. Delia and Karina are competing against each other for everything. Their newest price is Vincent.
   
   One of very few Fear Street disappointments. No surprises here unfortunately. It was just boring...



3. Killer's Kiss is an easy to read fast flowing storyline that although a little predictable it has enough twists that keep the reader questioning what they think is going on is actually what is. R.L. Stine has written a substantial number of books marketed at children, young adults and adults and the publishing company has decided to place Killer's Kiss in the Young Adult category. Whilst some of Stine's childrens' fiction is a bit basic for adults or specifically written to only appeal to a specific age market this is not so with Killer's Kiss. Killer's Kiss is a simple and easy to read book but contains enough storyline substance that those who read most of their books from the adult fiction novel level won't still enjoy this. It also doesn't use teenage specific vocabulary (which would date the book extremely fast if it did) meaning those who are no longer teens can still follow it as well and in ten years time the next generation of young adults will still enjoy it as well.
   
   Killer's Kiss is the story of a the self centred huge egod popular highschool boy (Vincent) and the affect his desire to manipulate two former best friends into believing he is dating each of them exclusively and convincing them the other is just jealous and delusional. Delia and Karina (the two girls) have been competing against each other their whole lives with Delia usually being pipped at the post by Karina. Delia has had enough of this and won't have what she believes to be her current boyfriend stolen from her. Karina has also had enough of what she believes to be Delia wanting everything she has. Throw in a talent contest and you've got an unhealthy competition that's deadly serious!



4. My 8 year old grandson checked this book out of the elementary school library. Needless to say, the title made me suspicious as to the content. After I read it, his parents notified the school. It has now been removed. This type of book may be o.k. for adults, if they like this sort of story; however, it should not be allowed in schools. Wonder where kids are getting the ideas to shoot up classrooms and malls? Check out the books they're reading......



5. Although I thought this book would be kind of wack it turned out 2 be a great book. And the ending is so shocking. This was one of my first fear street books and know I read a book of Fear street almost everyday. This book is surprising and u wont let it down until your finish it. A thriller

5 comments about Fall into Darkness.

1. At ten, I was a voracious reader who often complained about the mystery books geared for kids my age. I usually figured the endings out very early on, which deflates the entire story, no matter how well developed the characters are.
   
   I had an uncle with a similar passion for books; we often read together. He was a huge fan of mystery, especially Stephen King, and he harbored a hope that Christopher Pike would help prepare me for King's work when I was older. He found out about Christopher Pike from one of our public librarians and, that winter, when a bad case of strep throat kept me home from school, he promptly went to the bookstore and purchased this book.
   
   I fell in love with the author immediately - because I couldn't guess the ending to this book. I was so blown away that I immediately spent most of my allowance on purchasing other books by Pike.



2. I have never read Christopher Pike, so I don't know if all of his books are this stupid, but this is by far the worst book I've ever read!!!!!!! First, there's this really sweet Chad kid, but by the end of the book, he gets a personality transplant...I don't know if I read the same book as you, but if I did, whoever put "best ending ever" as their title has some serious issues. How is "can't stop pushing your friends off these cliffs, can you bitch" a good ending? Other people I know at all different age ranges agree with me that this book is totally weird. I mean sure, if you love blood and gore and skipped over the seriously stupid plot and just read the disgusting parts, maybe you might have found it ok...that is if you were in an excellent mood, it was your birthday, and you just won $1,000,000,000, but even then, it would still be stretching it to call it "ok". If you are thinking of reading this book, 1 word for you: DON'T! You will hate it! Don't condemn yourself to it! Its disgusting and stupid!If you want a good book to read, read the Twilight series, but NOT Fall into Darkness. Honestly. I suffered through reading it, and right now I am trying to save you from going through such torture. You people say that it was some work of art how he kept changing the plot, but wake up and smell the roses, everyone. Its a bad book by a bad author who kept contradicting himself. I don't know about you, but I think you should be able to pick up a random book with an interesting sounding back without having to read that!!! Christopher Pike should be thanking me profusely that I even gave it one star, and not zero. If I could be sure that the computer wouldn't just assume I forgot to rate it and wouldn't show the zero stars, I definatly would have given it a zero. But since I didn't put a zero on the stars, here it is for you now. A big, fat, ZERO!
   If you don't think that is the dumbest thing on earth, you seriously need to see a doctor.
   ...So, last warning, everyone. Unless you are an insane creepy person like the other people who wrote positive reviews of this book, trust me you don't want to read Fall into Darkness. As for Christopher Pike, I'm sorry, but I'll never read another of your books...and I think maybe you should consider taking Fall into Darkness off the market.



3. All right, this book really sucked. It started out as good for me but eventually, I got bored with the plot and it was really easy to figure out who the killer was.



4. Sharon is accused of killing her best friend Ann. Three witnesses heard everything, though they didn't see it. They heard Ann scream at Sharon, and then they heard her fall over the edge of a cliff. Her body has not been found, but they know she must be dead and the only logical conclusion is that Sharon killed her. But Sharon knows she didn't do it. So why did Ann scream like that? Did she commit suicide? Or was it revenge?
   
   This is the basic premise, though by chapter two, you know what's going on. The book isn't about the question of why Ann did what she did. It's about a friendship gone wrong. It's about grief. It's about loss. It's about revenge. But mainly it's about obsession and how it destroys.
   
   This book is a bit of a retread of Gimme a Kiss. That being said, I think it's a good story in its own right. I think Pike took the basic premise of GAK and improved on it.
   There might be parts of the story that strain at credibility, but nothing that would really take away from the pleasure of reading it.
   
   As for the characters, I did feel invested in them. Sharon had a lot of personality. I also enjoyed reading Ann's point of view. Ann is a bitter, nasty person but I really felt for her. She seemed so lonely and I felt so sorry for her. She was a more sympathetic character than Jane in Gimme a Kiss.
   The bottom line is that it's a good read if you're 13 and into these kinds of books.
   
   The one thing I felt was lacking was more depth in regards to some of the major characters. I felt like I never got a sense of who Jerry was when he was alive. Well, not enough of a sense of him. I didn't really know much about what his relationship was like with Ann before he died, and therefore, whether or not she blamed herself for his death. Even though he wasn't technically in the book, his was a constant presence. So I wanted to know more about him. That's about all I can think of.



5. This is the first Pike book I've ever read. And this book is a must read. I enjoyed it very much. Once you start reading this, you wont be able to put it down. There is a surprise waiting on every page you turn (: The murderer was the last person I thought it would be. This book is very exciting and leaves you wondering. There is a huge twist at the end. The end was okay for me. But I didn't find the end very satisfying. But overall, the book was very good. For any fans of Pike, this is a must read. Hope you enjoy (:

5 comments about Survival of the Fittest (Charmed).

1. Charmed is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Of course, I've watched it for years -- over and over again! I love everything about it. The clothes, the hair the relationships -- they all make Charmed one of the great girl mind-candy shows of all time!
   
   I've put off really getting into the books, because I didn't want the Charmed experience ruined for me. Not to fear! Survival of the Fittest is a truly fun read, and Jeff Mariotte was able to take me back into that world of magical sisters in a way that almost rivaled the show's impact. The theme of the exercise program taking over people's minds was really fun.
   
   This is a very quick read that Charmed fans will enjoy.



2. Actually this book would only have gotten 3 stars if not for the fact Jeff wrote another book 'Mirror Image', and this one exceeded the previous by a very wide margin. The demon is frightening enough and the plot is thick enough. Jeff learnt to plant little deaths throughout the story and hence increased the intrigue. A problem is that Piper's powers were not used much here, and hence it lacks the punch that it could have if all powers were utilised here. The exercise-based storyline is also a bit, weird. I feel that it was tacky. An amendment could be that Meg Winship was a talk show host (like Opran Winfrey) and her show was a conduit of some sort. The viewers get hooked and they finally chant the spell to open the portal, rather than DANCE it open. Still, big improvement.



3. San Francisco has become host to a rash of UFO sightings. The Charmed ones might be needed to help an abductee but two of them can't take the problem seriously. Abductees seem to come back unharmed and with a new attitude towards exercising (they just can't stop).
   
   Maybe something is up after all. But before the trio can marshal their powers, Piper becomes an exercise nut as well. Will the power of three be broken? What is really behind the health craze? What horrors might be released into our world? All these questions and more will be answered before the book is done.
   
   This one was not too bad but the author has a little trouble with scale and setting. Why rent out the Presidio for a "secret" seminar when the city is full of meeting rooms more than big enough? Can you really be a national sensation with only about a thousand followers? Other details also seem to defy reality and logic. But it is still a fairly entertaining story and one of the better Charmed book plots.



4. this was a great book. i especially liked this book out of the charmed book series. i'm a big fan of the show and of the books.



5. This book was pretty good, well written. I was a little nervous reading it, I thought it might be stupid, but it was able to pull me in within the first few lines. All in all it's a good book! I couldn't put it down. If you really like Charmed, you'll really like this book. Daryl makes an appearance in the book, so if you like him, you'll be happy. It'll make you think twice about exercising though. :)

5 comments about Remember Me 2: The Return.

1. This is my first review, so please excuse me. I have to say approached this book with reserved reservations. Almost every review i read said that it was and ok book, but not the best. I must say i both agree and disagree with them. I think the book is good, really good. But I'm partial to the first book, the original. Remember Me 2 is by no means as good as the first, but I've read worse. Almost half the book is devoted to the story of Jean Rodrigues. Then Shari Cooper comes into play and so the story of her life continues. The rest of the book is devoted to the back and forth story of Shari/Jean and the afterlife of Shari. Overall, I think the book is worth reading. And as long as you are patient, it's very rewarding as well. I hope you read and enjoy it as much as I did.



2. I was really looking forward to this book because of how much I enjoyed the origonal... but quickly learned that this was an unworthy sequel.
   The back description said that the Shari Cooper would return, from death, into a body not her own. These beings are called Wanderers, but she is attacked by creatures that have a special hatred toward Wanderers.
   Shari Cooper did not return into another body until the last 20 pages of the book. In fact, she was barely in the book that was supposed to revolve around her.
   There were no creatures that she falls into conflict with. There was no conflict at all... or a plot for that matter. After reading this painfully boring novel, I thought to myself, "What was the point of this?"
   It was very uneventful... boring if you will, which is shocking for a Pike book because I had never read one I didnt like before "Rememebr Me 2".
   Pike's usually so brilliant but this sequel did not live up to its origonal. It was as if he had no real ideas to put Shari through a second time. I probably wont read the 3rd one, and cant see why anyone would want to after reading this horrible piece of fiction.



3. A good and supernatural book!It makes me wonder what dead is like...Nigel..



4. Like all Christopher Pike books, this is another amazing one added to it. The moment when Jimmy realized that his sister came back to life was amazing, and when Lenny realized who he was before he nearly killed Shari. This book didn't have so much a deep meaning or conclusion, but it's the perfect book LEADING to book three.



5. WARNING: This reveiw tells parts of the end, since it was written for school!
   
   Remember Me 2: The Return by Christopher Pike was an okay book. Wait, I take that back. It was not bad, or anything, but it was not okay. Why don't we settle on unpleasant?
   Jean Rodrigues had just gotten pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. She had just told him when she fell off a balcony and the baby died. She would've died too-except now Shari Cooper is assuming the position of Wanderer in her body.
   Shari's job now is to help the world somehow, in a human's body-particularly Jean's. In this case, it is her job to write books inspiring and helping others.
   And here is where the problem ensues. (In the book itself.) We have the basis, correct. But where is the actual plot? The rest of the book is almost an unorganized, boring journal entry, lacking plot and excitement. It drabs on to say that Jean meets a patient in the hospital (who later dies) for whom she writes a story. Then, ofcourse, the reader wonders what the story is about, so Christopher Pike makes me wish I never asked, by putting in the entire story. Around fifteen pages.
   To make things more complicated, the story is completely weird and a tad psychotic. It is about a writer and how one day she discovers how she has a troll for a muse who likes women, money, and long phone calls. She is then forced to give her muse most of her money until she goes to a local author and gets him to solve her problem by presenting it to him in the way of a story-line. So she seduces the troll-muse (content not suitable for children under the age of thirteen (in other words, not exactly pleasant to read)) and locks him in the closet. The end.
   Then Shari goes on to put to rest the wonders of her friends and family. (Like her house cleaner, for example, (her real mother) who she let know that Shari really loved her as a mother and knew who she was)
   Okay. Analysis time! Put on your seat-belt, because it is time for my trademark rant. The exits are at the top of the page incase you decide to click the "back" button in exhaustion!
   (deep breath)
   Even though this book was at my reading level, written by Christopher Pike, a sequel to an awesome book, and liked by most, I still can't understand why the publisher published it. Maybe because Christoper Pike signed a book-deal?
   Okay. It would appeal to the majority of today's teen population as an okay book. I say that mainly because there were a majority of characters who were buff Hispanic gang members who smoked pot and drunk. And were essentially "good for nothing" as some would put it. However, I think I am the only one (that I know of) to go that far. Most would say Pike accurately depicted the inner-city atomosphere. Which might be true, but I found it as though he was going by some huge stereotype. Another reason most would like it is because it has the whole "go for hope", "there is such thing as a heaven", "if you do well in this life you get to go back and do good for human kind" message. Maybe most teenagers need to believe that, or they do already, and so this book can relate to their beliefs (therefore they like it). Does it make a difference that I don't believe such things? Maybe. Hehe, look at me, as I am ranting on and on here I realized another major reason why I don't like this book:
   Religious content.
   Okay, so Christopher is not (to my knowledge) a die-hard religious freak preaching to others who god is and whatnot. But, he did go a bit over-board with the whole god-afterlife thing. Even though in this book god was... well, not what most people believe, you still had to read about three chapters of Shari asking some super-natural from heaven questions about it. That was a little much for me.
   To go back to the whole plot-thing:
   This book also had so many different plots and chapters dealing with so many people it didn't work, it was too overwhelming. This might have worked if it was some novel where you needed to know everything, otherwise you wouldn't get anything, but not here, where knowing too much could lead your brain to nearly explode and, therefore, take away from the main enjoyment of even reading the book.
   As I am sitting here typing this, I realize that maybe Christopher Pike wanted to kind of do an epilogue on Shari and whatnot. But then his publisher told him it had to be around three hundred pages and be an actual story, resulting in a hodge-podge of an epilogue and Christopher Pike's interpretation of the afterlife and Shari's struggle with it. This will remain a mystery forever to those not Christopher Pike or his editor, and so we can only infer.
   I admit, this book did nicely sum up Shari's life and whatnot. It answered some questions that I had at the end of the first book. But I still would've been better-off if I hadn't read it and left those things to my imagination.
   I think if I don't end this soon it will never end.
   So I will end with these last few sentences:
   All in all, this book didn't really "click" for me. It was a bit lovey-dovey, without a real plot, and dull. An unpleasant read. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, simply because I didn't like it, but I'm not saying others would hate it. Some people may have loved it, that's just how I felt.
   (whew)