Tagline: The perfect tan…or the perfect murder?
Back tagline: You could get burned….
Summary: The perfect suntan. Soaking up the rays. Fun on the beach. That’s what Claudia Walker had in mind when she accepted her friend Marla’s invitation to spend the weekend at her cliffside beach house. Little did she know that horrible accidents – fatal accidents – would occur on the beach and in the house.
But Claudia knows they’re not “accidents”. She’s sure somebody is out to get them…out to kill them. The week of “fun in the sun” has turned dark and deadly!
First impressions: The tagline makes me wish it was about a killer tanning cream. From that girl’s reaction I’m expecting bulk melodrama. Why is she just sitting there like that though? Like, wouldn’t you help your friend? At least roll her onto her back so she’s not eating sand. Oh well. Let’s read!
Recap
Roll call:
Claudia – Our protagonist who suffers from the titular sunburn.
Marla – The hostess of the week who’s acting kinda suss.
Joy – The smartest of the bunch and should have been the protagonist.
Sophie – Another friend who idolises Joy.
Daniel – The mysterious stranger who may or may not be a ghost.
Alison – Marla’s younger sister who died before the events of the book.
The book begins with our protagonist, Claudia, waking up from a nap at the beach to realise everything from her neck down is buried beneath the sand. Not only that, but the tide is coming in! We get some great lines like “I’ve been buried—buried alive!” and “I’ve got to get up. Got to get out. Or I’ll drown!” [Which sound like lyrics to a depressing song].
Even though she’s super scared and stressed about her predicament, Claudia starts thinking about how she got here in the first place to give us a little exposition [It’s like that moment in a teen movie where the main character has a voice-over like “Yep, that’s me. I guess you’re wondering how I got here”].
The previous summer, Claudia met Marla, Joy and Sophie while they attended Camp Full Moon [As campers… They would have been like, 15 years old at the very least, isn’t that too old for camp?? America is weird] and they quickly became friends. Now, a year later, Marla has invited them all to her summer mansion for a week to keep her company while her parents are away [Why can’t I know someone with a beach mansion :(]. Claudia had been having a shitty summer after her boyfriend broke up with her and the restaurant she worked at closed down, so she eagerly accepted. Claudia remembers how they had such a great time last summer, at least until….the accident!
Of course, we don’t learn what the accident is because the plot doesn’t require us to know just yet, but we do discover the only connection to Fear Street this book has is that Claudia lives there [I feel like half the Fear Street books I’ve recapped have not been set in Fear Street]. The book instead takes place in Summerhaven [Should have just made it Seahaven for some continuity. But this was written before One Evil Summer, so I guess that book should have been set in Summerhaven. Also come on, Stine, use that writer’s brain of yours and give us some more creative town names!].
Anyway, Claudia hopped off the train at Summerhaven with a dream and her cardigan to give us a description of each of her camp besties. Marla Drexell is the beautiful strawberry-blonde, Joy is “as exotic-looking as ever” with slightly slanted eyes [It’s not racist to say someone’s Asian, right? Saying she’s “as exotic-looking as ever” sounds so much worse to me], and Sophie wears glasses and looks 12 [So she’s the nerdy one who has no experience with boys I guess].
The gal pals head to Marla’s place which is on the Point and about 15 miles from Summerhaven, as Marla points out [Thanks, girl. Do I smell foreshadowing?]. They get to the massive mansion and Joy jokes that they’ll need a map to find their way around [Is this more foreshadowing or do I need to stop overthinking everything?].
We snap back to the present, which I guess is the same day they arrived but later, and we’re given the most dramatic description of someone standing in front of someone else that I’ve ever come across:
The waves are getting closer.
I’m going to drown, Claudia realised.
She opened her eyes to find herself in shadow.
The shadow of death.
It’s getting darker. Darker.
Death is closing in.
As Claudia made one last frantic struggle to free herself, the shadow rolled silently over her.
[It’s a fucking shadow, Claudia. Calm down]. This so-called “shadow of Death” is really just our love interest, [It’s not a Point Horror without a love interest!] a muscular-bodied boy who digs her out of the sand. As he helps her up to the mansion from the beach, Claudia notices that “he’s really great-looking” and just loves how nice his icy-cold skin feels against her sunburned body, figuring it’s because he was just swimming in the ocean [OK].
Claudia introduces herself along the way, but instead of doing the same he tells her to get something on her sunburn right away [I guess that’s where the super creative title of the book comes from!]. He eventually reveals his name is Daniel and claims he doesn’t live nearby or even know the Drexells. Imagine my suspicion when he knows the access code for the locked gate leading to the mansion from the beach as well as that they have a guard dog [I guess we’ve got our red herring! He’s obviously lying about his connection to the Drexells, but I wonder why].
Anyway, Claudia hurries up to the house where she confronts Marla, Joy and Sophie, who allege that they thought she was upstairs. Apparently after burying her, they went for a walk and when they got back, Marla told them that Claudia went back up to the house [I don’t wanna assume Marla’s the bad guy yet but like, why else why else would she decide that Claudia left without checking?]. Marla wants to know how Claudia got back up here in her own [It’s a weird thing to ask, which makes her even more suspicious to me. How about you apologise for leaving her to fry, bitch?], and when Claudia tries to introduce Daniel to the girls, he’s completely gone! Vanished! [Is he a g-g-g-g-g-ghost?!].
Later, as they eat dinner, Joy starts screaming bloody murder because there’s a worm in her salad. She reveals she’s had a thing about bugs and worms since last summer at camp [Please don’t drag this secret out, Stine]. Claudia realises they’re all different since the accident last summer and then pushes the accident from her mind before we find out what happened in the accident [You know, the accident from last summer].
As they continue eating, Marla presses for information about the boy who saved Claudia. She doesn’t know anyone named Daniel, and apparently that section of beach is owned by the Drexells [Is that a real thing? That’d be nice] so she’s never seen anyone else on it before, and is shocked when Claudia reveals he knew the code for the gate:
“No way. That’s impossible,” Marla insisted. Her blue eyes revealed some fear. “A strange boy knows the code to our gate? Come on, Claud. How long were you out in the sun?”
“A long time, thanks to you,” Claudia replied, surprised by her own anger.
Marla suggests Claudia hallucinated the boy [???] before realising who it must have been – “It was the Ghost Boy.” [I’m calling it right now – Marla has orchestrated some convoluted plot to get either get revenge on or get rid of the girls over whatever happened at camp. The only question now is, is Daniel in on it too, or is Marla claiming he’s a ghost to avoid suspicion?]. Marla explains how she’s seen the Ghost Boy three times on the property in the past. When her family bought the house, the real estate agent revealed a boy was murdered in the guest house 100 years ago and there’s been reported sightings of him ever since.
Claudia doesn’t believe her at first, but is finally convinced when she remembers how icy-cold Daniel’s skin was. Five seconds later, Marla reveals she was lying the whole time and there is no Ghost Boy […Well that was a waste of a chapter. At least wasn’t dragged on til the end of the book though]. After dinner, the girls watch ‘Bye Bye, Birdie’:
The girls had hooted with laughter at the funny way the fifties-style teenagers were dressed and at the hilariously sexist attitudes.
“These girls are so dumb!” Sophie had exclaimed. “They only care about pleasing boys!”
[The audacity, Stine! Part of me wants to think he’s just being incredibly meta, but I doubt it]. Later while getting ready for bed, Claudia is looking out the window when she sees a pale light in the guest house and a shadowy figure moving inside. She wonders if it’s Daniel the Ghost Boy [Girl, Marla said she was joking already] before suddenly, a hand as “cold as death” grabs her shoulder [!!!!].
It’s just Marla, because who else would it be? She came to check on Claudia before immediately dismissing her friend’s concerns about someone in the guest house, suggesting they’re just reflections from the intense spotlights installed around the house’s exterior to deter prowlers [I guess that makes sense. But still, if Claudia’s already told you someone knows the access code to the property, wouldn’t you be a little worried?], to which Claudia reluctantly agrees. Marla comments on how bad Claudia’s sunburn is, but she doesn’t sound sympathetic; “she sounded pleased.” [If it were any other book I’d say Marla is the red herring, but there’s no other potential suspect right now so she’s got to be the bad guy, right?].
Claudia wakes up the next morning and “stretched luxuriously”, whatever the hell that means. She also admires how great the house is, but feels bad for Marla , who must be so lonely with her parents away in other countries all the time [Is there any real-life truth to the cliché of a rich kids having absent parents?]. She heads downstairs and has breakfast with Marla while the other girls stay in bed:
“Joy hates getting up before noon”, Marla reminder her.
“And Sophie loves doing whatever Joy does,” Claudia added with a smile.
[If someone ever tries to tell me R.L. Stine stories have no character development, I’ll show them this]. After breakfast, Marla and Claudia play tennis on the property’s court to pass the time. Despite their skills being neck and neck at camp, Claudia is shocked to discover Marla is terrible at the game now. Marla says she’s just out of practice, but Claudia suspects she’s upset with the girls here, since they haven’t seen each other since camp last year when Marla’s sister died [Oooh, this book just got more interesting]. Unfortunately that’s all the backstory we get at this stage because Marla is positively fuming and refuses to speak about Alison, storming off in a huff.
When Claudia heads back to the house, she finds the girls having some breakfast. It’s not even 11:00 yet so I’m not sure why Joy and Sophie are awake, but oh well. They make plans to go to the beach again for the day, with Claudia taking a giant umbrella and slathering herself in lotion to protect her killer sunburn [Good idea, hun xx]. As they approach the back gate, Sophie goes to open it and is electrocuted [!!!!] with such a force she’s shot backwards.
She’s fine though, just a little shocked [Sorry I had to] and Marla is confused because the electricity is supposed to automatically turn off during the day [Does it even make sense for the gate itself to be electric, and not just the fence? More specifically, the gate handle? I don’t have much experience with electric fences but that seems weird to me. Also, if the electricity is automated on a day-night cycle, surely Marla is the only one who knows how to change it lol].
Sophie shrugs it off and the friends continue down to the beach [Uhh, go to a hospital???]. Once set up, Joy starts brushing her hair which is apparently one of her main personality traits, as Claudia remembers she brushed her hair at every opportunity back at camp last year [More character development! Stine’s on a roll!]. Claudia also notices that Marla‘s skin is super pale even though she’d told them she’d been at the beach house all summer [So who’s got the “perfect tan” mentioned in the tagline? And who will be the victim of “the perfect murder”?]. Eventually, the girls notice two boys coming out of the ocean:
Claudia raised her hand to her mouth to cover a startled gasp.
One of the boys, she saw, was Daniel. Daniel, the Ghost Boy.
Except it’s not Daniel and Claudia’s just a fucking idiot.
Marla wants to get rid of them, but the other girls think they’re sxc so don’t have a problem when they come over to say hi. They admit they got caught in a riptide and warn the girls they could get pulled out beyond the Point if they get caught in one themselves. Marla practically tells them to fuck off, because it’s her private beach after all, but the boys are equally as obnoxious:
“Don’t you think you should go now?” Marla asked, frowning unpleasantly.
“Depends on what you have for lunch,” the blond boy told her. He slid the cooler over and lifted the lid.
His friend held to hand out to Claudia. “I’m Carl, this is Dean, and thanks for inviting us to lunch.”
Me if I was one of these girls[I loathe these boys already]. Marla returns shortly after to warn the boys one more time to leave. Dean and Carl were hoping the girls would invite them up to the house to party though, but Marla’s not having a bar of it. Dean’s playful attitude quickly turns sinister, which scares Claudia a little [Can’t believe she’s not frothing at the mouth right now; she is a Fear Street girl after all]. Dean apparently slaps Marla [!!!!!], but it’s just Claudia being an unreliable narrator again, because he only slapped at a horsefly on her shoulder. At least, that’s what he says as he apologises for doing it too hard [Stine, write better male characters plz]. Dean randomly tells Marla his dad used to work for her dad and then the two boys scurry off [OK].
The girls head back to the house and later in Claudia’s room, Joy, Sophie and Claudia bitch about Marla. They think she’s acting weird and was way too intense with the boys for no reason [Granted she was rude first, but they were wankers and I wouldn’t want them around either]. Joy and Sophie reveal that after their walk yesterday, they wanted to go back to the beach to make sure Claudia wasn’t still buried, but Marla wouldn’t let them, insisting Claudia had already gone back to the house. Claudia ignores this giant red flag, instead deciding that Marla was just confused [What the fuck, Claudia? You’re an idiot]. Joy and Sophie also think it’s weird that Marla hasn’t mentioned Alison, since they’re finding it so hard to keep it all bottled up [OK I reckon Marla is really Alison, who didn’t actually die. Were they twins though? How come they don’t recognise her? And where’s the real Marla?].
Later that night, they head to the boardwalk for some carnival rides where they bump into Dean and Carl [Ugh, not these losers again]. Joy and Sophie immediately attach themselves to the boys and they all decide to go ride the dodgem cars, but Claudia opts out to stroll along the boardwalk with her cotton candy instead. After a while, she turns around to find her friends, and that’s when she notices Daniel staring at her from the dark and literally says out loud “the Ghost Boy!” because she’s a fucking idiot [Why does she keep calling him that when Marla told her she was lying straight away? This girl is killing me]. Naturally, he’s all like “”Wtf” and Claudia just gets more stupid:
Impulsively, she grabbed his hand and squeezed. The hand was cold.
As cold as yesterday on the beach, she thought, surprised.
As cold as death. The thought creeped into her mind.
“No, you’re real,” she told him, letting go quickly.
[You’ve already had physical contact when he helped you out of the sand, you pleb!]. They decide to ride the Ferris Wheel together and she asks him a lot of questions, but he answers none of them seriously, acting like he really is a ghost [You’re like 16, grow up lol]. Eventually, he moves in really close to her:
“Have you ever been all alone in the dark with a ghost before?” he asked, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Have you ever been this close to a ghost, Claudia?”
Is he going to kiss me? Claudia wondered.
Do I want him to?
Yes.
[Well, she’s definitely a Fear Street girl]. She’s disappointed when he doesn’t kiss her, so she kisses him first, and decides for what feels like the 4686786498776th time that he’s not a ghost, this time because “his lips are warm” [He’s not a fucking ghost, Claudia, move on]. The Ferris Wheel stops to let people on while they’re at the top, and because Daniel’s an idiot as well he stands up and pretends to grab at the moon [Seriously, how old is this guy?], and Claudia watches helplessly he “went sailing over the safety bar and fell head first to his death”.
Guess what though? He didn’t fall, Claudia is just flashing back to Alison’s death at camp [This book is pissing me off with all these immediate contradictions].
Anyway, it turns out Alison was “a world-class brat” who would always tell on the girls when they did naughty stuff at camp, but was also desperate to be part of their friend group. After interrupting a game of truth or dare and being called “fish face” by Marla [You can do better than that, Marla], who is only one year older, Alison is faced with an ultimatum by her sister – either tell the truth about their mother catching her making out with Marla’s boyfriend one night [Ew, why would you want your sister’s sloppy seconds?], or take the dare and walk across Grizzly Gorge later tonight. Alison calls Marla a “filthy liar”, denying anything happened with Marla’s boyfriend, but she’s obviously lying because she chooses to take the dare despite her phobia of heights.
That night, the four girls sneak out to meet Alison at the gorge. Marla is quickly busted by a counsellor while the other three hide. Realising Alison is probably at the gorge already, Claudia, Joy and Sophie continue on to get her. They try to convince Alison not to do the dare, but she’s determined and starts walking across the log that bridges the gap over the gorge [Hi, I’m Alison Drexell, welcome to ‘Jackass’!].
Halfway over, Alison’s overcome with fear. Claudia encourages her to sit, turn and scoot back, but they soon hear the counsellors coming through the woods, searching for them. Joy, Sophie and Claudia run for it, and Claudia is soo00ooOO0oOo sure that Alison is right behind them [God knows why because she was struggling to make it back over the log]:
She didn’t hear the hard crack as Alison dropped into the boulder-strewn river, the splash as she was tossed into the rushing water.
She honestly believed Alison was right behind her.
And so she ran from the counselor’s lights, ran through the dark woods.
Ran through the cold black shadows…
Ran…
[Well, that was underwhelming]. Claudia snaps back to the present, dazed, as the Ferris Wheel reaches the bottom. She catches up to the girls, only to realise Daniel has vanished once again before she can introduce him [Dude, come on. Why doesn’t she notice him walking off? Why does he keep doing it without saying bye? This is so stupid].
In bed that night, Claudia thinks about how she still knows absolutely nothing about Daniel except his first name [And yet she’s all over him! You know what they say, you can take the girl out of Fear Street…]. As soon as she falls asleep, she’s woken by Joy’s bloodcurdling screams. Claudia follows the sound to Joy’s room, closely followed by Sophie and Marla, to find that Joy has three leeches on her arm [And you know how Joy has a thing about bugs!].
The girls manage to pull them off her and Joy swears they weren’t there when she went to bed, because every night she pulls back the covers to check for bugs and worms, because remember, she’s got a thing about bugs [Have I mentioned that yet?] so someone must have come in while she was sleeping and put them on her [That pesky Marla/Alison!]. Sophie asks Marla how leeches got into the room, but Marla doesn’t know [Or at least pretends not to…] and heads downstairs to ask Alfred if he knows anything about it.
While she’s gone, Joy confesses that she thinks Marla blames them for the accident and has invited them here to torture them. Claudia and Sophie reject this, Even though it was Marla’s fault they left Claudia buried in the sand and it was Marla who asked Sophie to open the electric gate [They’re both dumb and I wish Joy was the protagonist instead of Claudia].
Marla returns and says Alfred has no idea how the leeches got into Joy’s bed [I mean, why would he though?], and after calming Joy down they all go to bed again. Claudia’s thirsty though and “a glass of cold water from the refrigerator would help a lot”, [That’s specific], so she heads down to the kitchen. She notices a dim light on over the counter and a figure hiding in the shadows by the pantry [!!!]. It’s Daniel the Ghost Boy [If Claudia insists on calling him that, I will too] and as she calls out to him, he silently slips back against the wall and disappears into the shadows [Why is this guy so fkn weird lol].
Again, Claudia can’t decide if he’s a ghost or not, concluding [For now] that he’s not because she’s touched and kissed him. Alfred appears, apparently also thirsty, and Claudia explains how she saw Daniel in the kitchen. Alfred says it’s impossible because the electric gate is on and the guard dog is out, so no-one would have been able to get in without anyone knowing. Marla even changed the code for the electric gate earlier that night [Probably to keep them all in!]. Claudia tells Alfred how she thought she saw him in the guest house the previous night too, but Alfred reckons that’s also impossible because he cleans it every week and nothing was out of the ordinary when he cleaned it today [Is Alfred in on this whole thing as well?].
The next day, Claudia tells the girls about seeing Daniel in the kitchen, and they all wonder if he was the one who put the leeches on Joy’s arm since he was in the house. Then they go water-skiing, with Sophie eager to go first, even though she hated water-skiing back at camp. She explains that her relationship with water changed “ever since I found out I was a Pisces and water was my sign” [OK, how do you go 16 years without knowing your star sign? Also, imagine forcing yourself to like water sports just because of your star sign…].
Anyway, Sophie goes down quickly, and as the others search for her from the boat, only one ski pops up. They finally spot Sophie, but she’s caught in a riptide [Oh, no!]. And it’s taking her out to sea! [Oh, no, again!]. And Marla says the boat has stalled and she can’t get it to start! [Oh, no, a third time!]. Without thinking or wearing a life jacket [Which Sophie isn’t wearing either I guess?] Claudia jumps into the water and swims over to friend, also getting caught in the riptide [Hahahahaha].
Just as all seems lost and Claudia’s about to drown, the two girls are pulled to safety by Dean and Carl [Marla/Alison won’t like that!] in a boat of their own before heading back to the dock. Marla and Joy arrive soon after and Marla gives an excuse about the engine flooding or something [Yeah right, Marla!].
The boys leave to return their borrowed boat [They stole it!], and Marla asks Sophie what happened. Sophie has no idea – one minute she was skiing and the next she was down, still holding onto the bar. Claudia checks the tow rope and it’s clearly been cut since the break is so smooth. She suggests that someone cut through it just enough to make it snap from a little bit of tension. Marla suggests that Daniel the Ghost Boy [!!!] cut it, or maybe even Carl and Dean so they could be heroes. After all, it’s a big coincidence that they showed up to save the girls [True, but I think they’re just stalking them]. That’s when Joy admits she invited the boys, but then Sophie complains about being hungry so they return to the house before Marla can make a fuss.
Later, Joy tries to convince Sophie and Claudia that Marla has brought them here to torture them, or maybe even kill them! Her friends disagree even though all evidence points to Marla being behind the accidents [Honestly, they deserve to die at this point. Except for Joy, obviously]. They want to know why Marla would be trying to kill them and Joy reckons that “Marla must know that Alison’s death wasn’t an accident” [The plot thickens!].
We then get another flashback to that fateful night that completely contradicts what Claudia made us believe last time [Apparently we can’t trust anything this dickhead says. I guess she blocked the truth from her mind out of guilt, but still]. Turns out the girls were a little more bitchy that night than we were led to believe, encouraging Alison to hurry up and cross. Alison was scared about falling and asked for help, but the girls heard the counsellors coming and ran off:
Was Alison running too? Was she following them back to the bunks?
Claudia didn’t bother to check.
As she ran, her sneakers crunched loudly over twigs and dry leaves. So loudly that she could barely hear Alison’s high-pitched squeal; “Help me!” And she didn’t hear the sound of Alison’s body hitting the rocks, or the splash of the water swallowing her up.
[Wooooooow, Claudia]. They told Marla they thought Alison was behind them and they eventually started to believe it themselves because it “offered a much nicer version of themselves” [These girls deserve all this torture tbh].
Claudia and Sophie agree with Joy that Marla is dangerous now, and Claudia calls her mum to come pick them up. She can’t get there for another two days though, so they’ll have to wait until then [Get them, Marla!]. Nek minnut they notice Marla in the doorway, but have no idea how long she’d been standing there or if she heard anything. Then the chapter ends with Marla just offering them a chocolate [Hahahahaha OK].
The next day, it’s Alfred’s day off and the girls all split up and do their own thing because they’re idiots. Like, Claudia’s really like “Splitting up is a good idea” [It’s really not a good idea at all! You think your friend is trying to kill you, why the fuck would you split up?!]. While jogging along the beach, which is apparently also a bird sanctuary, Claudia thinks she sees Marla running up ahead at one point, but gets no response when she calls out to her, so assumes it’s someone else and forgets about it. Shortly after, she realises something is wrong:
Forgetting the girl, Claudia searched the trees for birds.
None in sight.
And no chirps or whistles.
Why would all the birds have suddenly vanished?
Why?
She could think of only one answer.
And the answer made a cold chill run down her back despite the heat of the sun.
Something had frightened the birds away.
A predator.
There must be a predator—a large one—nearby.
Seconds later, Claudia’s guess was confirmed by a low growl directly behind her.
[This is just such a weird realisation to make hahaha. Like, I guess it makes sense, but honestly what teenager immediate thinks there’s a predator around because there’s no birds making noise?]. It’s an Irish wolfhound, which just so happens to be the same breed as Marla’s oft-mentioned but not-yet-seen guard dog for the house. The dog chases her into the ocean and chomps down on her ankle. She manages to pry him off, but the dog won’t stop lunging at her, forcing her to swim further out.
And then guess what happens? That’s right, due to Claudia’s bleeding wound, a fucking shark appears, because of course it fucking does [Did Marla/Alison somehow set this up too?]. Remembering sharks are attracted to movement, she slows her swimming down and makes her escape, even though she’s exhausted. Lucky for her, she’s swam right into a riptide that takes her further from the shark, which then turns its attention to the hound:
As Claudia gaped in horror, a geyser of blood boiled up from beneath the water. The foamy crest of a wave turned pink. The metallic smell of blood floated out over the tossing waves.
[…]
Claudia shut her eyes.
But she opened them wide when something coarse bumped against her.
Treading water, Claudia goggled at the disgusting object.
She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
What is it?
What is it?
She didn’t want to look at it—but she couldn’t pull her eyes away.
She soon realised that it was a hair-covered chunk of meat.
Part of the dog.
The water all around her was black with blood.
[Honestly, was not expecting that! I don’t usually like animals being killed in these books but this dog deserved it, so it’s all good. It paints a pretty gruesome picture too, which I love.Not sure why the water is black though….] Unable to escape the riptide and with the shark hopefully satisfied enough to leave her alone, an exhausted Claudia passes out, eventually washing up on the beach where Marla finds her [The scene from the cover! Or an incorrect version of it]. It starts to storm and as Marla helps Claudia back to the house, Claudia realises it really was Marla she saw on the beach earlier, and that Marla must have released the wolfhound in an attempt to kill her [Sic ’em, Rex].
Back at the house while Marla gathers first aid stuff, Claudia finds Sophie and tells her to start packing because they need to leave right this minute. Joy’s in town with one of the boys though, and won’t be back until dinner, so they’re gonna have to wait for her [Get some action, Joy! You deserve it xx].
When Joy finally returns home, the girls pack their things and get ready to leave as the storm continues to intensify. Their plan is to order Marla to drive them to the train station [Omfg I can’t with these girls. She’s trying to kill you, why the fuck would she willingly help you escape??]. Marla’s nowhere to be found though anyway, and while searching for her outside, they pass a shed that has a horrible smell emanating from it. Upon further inspection, Marla’s decomposing body falls out [We are approaching the climax, people!]:
Before Claudia could turn away and cover her face, she saw that Marla’s skin was purple. Her eyes had sunk deep into her skull. Her jaws were frozen open in a permanent scream of terror.
[Love this for her. If there’s one thing Stine does well, it’s describe dead bodies]. It’s obvious she’s been dead for a while but none of the girls are smart enough to realise this, so they run back to the house to call the police. But guess what? The phone line is dead [Who didn’t see that coming?].
The trio gather some coats and umbrellas and exit the house, only to realise the electric fence is turned on. Claudia suggests the control panel might be near the back gate that leads down to the beach, where the access code for the gate is, so that’s where they head. As the walk past the guest house, they’re shocked when Marla steps out of the shadows, holding a gun [Hello, Alison!].
Turns out I’ve been right all along and the Marla they’ve been hanging out with is really Alison [Who must look exactly like Marla even though I don’t think it was ever pointed out? I guess they haven’t seen Marla in a year, but really how much could she have changed? Surely not enough to mistake her sister for her]. Let’s get that bad guy monologue!
That fateful night at camp as Alison fell from the log, she saw Marla watching from the woods, smiling [How’d she manage to escape the counsellor that caught her?]. Alison was rescued by a random family and faked having amnesia because she really hates her own family and didn’t want to go back to them [So the family that found her never reported that they found a random girl half-dead in a ravine to the police? Come on]. Her anger kept building up, so she decided Marla needed to die.
She came to the house last week and overheard Marla telling Alfred that she invited the girls up for the week. Then she killed Marla and hid her body in the shed, and Alfred never noticed the switch because he’s so nearsighted [Because of plot reasons, you know?]. Now it’s time for the others to die, and Claudia’s first!
Just as Alison’ s about to shoot, Daniel the Ghost Boy appears [Yes, he’s still being called that in the book] and tackles her to the ground. Alison tries to escape, running for the gate. The others try to warn her that the electricity is on, but Alison reckons she knows better and is quickly electrocuted as she tries to open it.
Daniel reveals he’s Alfred’s son and is on a break from college, so Alfred was letting him stay in the guest house without Marla or her parents knowing, because they wouldn’t approve [Sneaky, sneaky]. He has been being so mysterious because he didn’t want anyone to find out and get his dad in trouble [Fair enough, but like, you can still say goodbye instead of disappearing or slinking into the shadows when you’ve been seen? This guy’s as dumb as Claudia].
Then he asks Claudia if she still thinks he’s a ghost [We’re really beating a dead horse here], and she kisses him just to make sure [You’ve already kissed him, you know he’s real! Must be that classic Fear Street libido taking over]. The storm has eased a bit by now, and the book ends with the survivors heading back inside the house in the hopes that the phones are working again.
Final thoughts
This was an absolute roller-coaster and I’m not really sure how to feel. On one hand it was like a cheesy, 90s, overdramatic soap opera, which is right up my alley, but on the other hand Claudia was just such an idiot that it made the book a bit of a struggle. Even though Claudia was the protagonist, she felt like more of a side character to me. If Joy was the main character, it would have created more suspense and a sense of urgency because she had guessed what was happening pretty early on and was trying to convince the others, which seems like more of a Point Horror heroine thing to do.
Dean and Carl were pointless characters, too, and there was literally no reason for Dean to point out that his dad used to work for Marla’s dad because there was no payoff. I get that he was a red herring, but at the same time, he didn’t have that much of an impact on the story to really be considered a suspect anyway?
Ultimately, I have mixed feelings about this one. I guess it was more good than bad and had a more interesting plot than some of the other books I’ve recapped, so 11 Ghost Boys out of 20!
