Format: E-Galley, 298 pages
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
The second new book in the re-launch of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, which sold 80 million copies around the world, making it one of the bestselling young adult series of all time.
R.L. Stine's hugely successful young adult horror series Fear Street is back after almost 2 decades. Fear Street is a worldwide phenomenon and helped to kick off the young adult craze which is still going strong today. In the second new book in this series, Don't Stay Up Late, Stine explores the unbridled terror of a damaged young lady sent on a doomed babysitting job.
Ever since a car accident killed her father and put Lisa and her mother into the hospital, Lisa can't think straight. She's plagued by nightmares and hallucinations that force her to relive the accident over and over again in vivid detail. When Lisa finds out that a neighbor is looking for a babysitter for her young son, she takes the job immediately, eager to keep busy and shake these disturbing images from her head.
But what promised to be an easy gig turns terrifying when Lisa begins to question exactly who — or what — she is babysitting. R.L. Stine makes his triumphant return to Shadyside in the new Fear Street book Don't Stay Up Late.
Don't Stay Up Late is the second installment in R.L. Stine's Fear Street Relaunch. 20 years since the original series was published, St. Martin's Griffin is Re-releasing the Fear Street series to a whole new generation of young adult, horror aficionados. Welcome to Shadyside, a town of nightmares, shadows, monsters, and genuine terror just waiting around every corner. It is a place that 16-year old Lisa Brook now calls home.
Lisa's world was shred apart by a car accident that killed her father, left her mother with a broken arm, and caused Lisa to have deep, dark nightmares, and wide awake hallucinations. Sent to a psychiatrist for help in dealing with her issues, Lisa agrees to take a babysitting job for the Doctor's neighbor, Brenda Hart. Lisa hasn't a clue about what she is walking into, or why she was chosen to babysit a boy that is cute as a button, and adorable as a new born baby.
Lisa doesn't understand the role that Fear Street has played on the lives of those who live in Shadyside. She doesn't understand the rumors and stories that have been handed down, especially from her new friends Isaac, Nate, and Saralynn, may have some truth to them. All she knows is that she is being offered a good deal of money to babysit and ensure that Harry does his homework, and doesn't stay up late at night. And, it is her chance to redeem herself and forgive herself for the accident that killed her father.
Got to love an author who follows in the steps of Wes Craven and Steven King. I haven't read the original Fear Street series, but I'm glad to see St. Martin's re-release this series. In fact, I do have the third installment, The Lost Girl, on my Kindle just waiting for me to get to it. I enjoyed this story, but I didn't jump all over the place when it ended. I was more stunned than anything else.
There is a whole lot to be said about Lisa and the way she behaves throughout this story. She's traumatized by the accident. She throws self pity fits perhaps one too many times. Yes, there might be some truth to her blaming herself for the accident, but nobody actually blamed her. She faces challenges and stands alone in the face of some really bizarre scenes. She really can't trust anyone. Not her best friends. Not her mother. Not even the police.
Perhaps I have been saturated by horror movies over the past 40 years. That would probably explain why I wasn't scared. Not once. I saw some predictable situations, and followed the book to the end to see if I was right in my deductions. There is no sex or love triangles in this book. There is kissing, but that is the extent of romance.
Awww R.L Stine! I haven't read something by ages. This series sounds interesting. I might have to check it out. Sorry that it wasn't all that scary though.
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