Tagline: Call waiting… to kill!
Back tagline: Don’t answer that phone!
Summary: “You’re not safe anywhere. I’ll get my revenge!”
Can it really be Mr. Farberson on the line? He has to still be locked up after trying to kill Jade and Deena last year. Maybe the calls are just someone’s idea of a sick joke. But who else could possibly know the things the caller knows?
Then they realize that someone is nearby, watching them, close enough to know their every move. Someone who desperately wants revenge. Someone who wants to reach out…and kill them.
First impressions: I know absolutely nothing about this plot but after reading the blurb, my first guess is that if Farberson hasn’t escaped prison somehow, and instead he’s enlisted a family member to terrorise the girls this time. Maybe he had a son with Edna that we never learned about in the first book? Oooh, maybe it’s Linda Morrison!
Anyway, this cover is basically the same as first one, except the girls are in the living room instead of Deena’s bedroom, but for whatever reason this cover bores me a lot. Maybe I like the darker style of the first book better? The artist did a good job replicating the girls’ appearances, but I feel like Jade looked better last time and Deena looks better here.
Anyway, I really enjoyed The Wrong Number so I’m hoping this is a worthy successor. Let’s find out!
Recap:
Roll call:
Deena – Our heroine who’s worried Farberson is back for revenge.
Jade – The hot best friend who’s as resourceful as last time.
Chuck – Deena’s bad-boy half-brother who’s back from college.
Teddy – Jade’s hunky piece of ass while Chuck’s been away.
Steve – An Australian student who Deena’s crushing on.
Stanley Farberson – The first book’s antagonist who may or may not be stalking Deena and Jade for revenge.
Linda Morrison – Farberson’s affair partner who’s worried he wants revenge.
The book begins with a prologue of Deena Martinson having a nightmare about almost being killed by Mr. Farberson chainsawing the tree she and Jade are hiding in. After waking up, Deena scolds herself for reliving that traumatic night one year ago over and over again and, looking in the mirror, reminds herself that Farberson’s locked up and can’t hurt her now. [Let’s hope it stays that way]
Onto the main story, and Deena and BFF Jade Smith are studying in Jade’s room. Jade, who’s wearing the bright green catsuit shown on the cover, is bored of her appearance and thinking about switching things up; should she dye her hair blonde, or start wearing blue contacts? [Do both, but make sure it’s white-blonde and icy blue; that’s Stine’s favourite combo!] Deena can’t believe that Jade wants to change her auburn locks when she’s got the most beautiful hair in school, suggesting she’s the one who should change her look so she can get a new boyfriend. She’s getting bored of Pete Goodwin [Who seemed to be dating Della by the end of The Overnight, but was hanging out with Lily Bancroft in The New Year’s Party] and admits that she wants Rob Morell back, but he’s dating cheerleader Debra Kern. [Why’d they break up in the first place?!] Jade suggests Aussie Steve Mason [An Australian in Fear Street! Love it! Although I’ve never heard of him so it’s possible he’ll never pop up again] and gives insecure Deena some tips on how to talk to boys, pointing out that she’s cute and smart and just needs some confidence in herself. [Jade’s a good friend]
Jade then gets a phone call from good-looking, Shadyside Tigers star Teddy Miller, who wants to make sure she’s going to the basketball game tomorrow night. He’s super into Jade, and Deena’s in awe at how easily talking to boys comes to her friend. Afterwards, Deena notices a letter from Chuck on Jade’s dresser; he writes to Jade every week, sometimes more often, but she doesn’t have time to reply. She liked him, but there’s not much they can do when she’s stuck in Shadyside and he’s away at college – ‘”Am I supposed to pine for him?”‘ [Not many couples seem to last one book in Shadyside]
Deena’s never cared that Jade’s always gone from boy to boy [Sounds like judgement to me, Deena], but she feels weird about it now because Chuck’s her half-brother, and Chuck and Jade are so right for each other. Chuck apparently doesn’t know that Jade’s seeing other people, [What? So you didn’t break up? He thinks you’re still together? Get in the bin, Jade] and Deena’s worried about his temper when he does find out. [He didn’t really have that much of a temper in the last book. Unless I’m remembering incorrectly… to be fair, he was in jail for a large chunk of it] The phone rings again as Jade disappears downstairs to get some snacks so Deena answers it for her, trying to imitate Jade’s sultry voice:
“Is this Jade?” the voice on the other end growled.
“Who is this?” Deena asked, her heart pounding.
“This is your wrong number, Jade,” the deep voice rasped.
“Huh? My what?”
“This is your wrong number. I’m coming to disconnect your line. Real soon.”
[What if Chuck and his alleged temper is our bad guy now and he’s mad that Jade’s seeing other guys?] Jade returns and Deena tells her about the caller, who sounded like Mr. Farberson. Jade isn’t so sure, reminding Deena that Farberson was sentenced to 20 years and won’t be up for parole in years. They both admit to having nightmares about what happened last year, and Jade remembers fondly the sexy phone calls they’d make to the boys at school. She suggests tonight’s call was just some jerk from school trying to scare them, since everyone in Shadyside knows what happened with Farberson.
Later that night as she’s drifting off to sleep, Deena gets her own call from the raspy voice, who tells her he’s an old friend she hasn’t seen in a while, and he’s after revenge [Stine isn’t giving the voice pronouns, but Deena was referring to him as a male earlier so let’s go with that].
After algebra the next day, Deena almost bumps into resident Australian Steve Mason. She decides to take Jade’s advice and strikes up a conversation to show her interest, but she quickly bombs when she asks how he’s enjoying the cold weather here:
“It’s not bad, actually,” he said. “Different from Sydney.” He smiled at her.
“Who’s Sydney?” Deena joked.
She expected him to laugh, but he didn’t.
Does he think I don’t know that Sydney is a city in Australia? Deena wondered, feeling her face grow red.
“Well, have a nice day,” she finished lamely. What a bomb! she thought unhappily, hurrying away.
“Yeah. Bye now,” she heard him call after her.
[Oof, tough luck, Deena] On their walk over to Jade’s place after school, the girls discuss their creepy calls last night and decide the best way to deal with whoever’s trying to scare them is to not be scared. [OK, we’ll see how that goes] Deena woefully explains her encounter with Steve, and Jade encourages her to ask him about something next time and not make any jokes about Sydney. During their walk-and-talk, a battered green Oldsmobile draws alongside the girls, its tinted windows too dark to see who’s inside. Jade had pointed the same car out earlier as it cruised by for the second time, so the girls are understandably worried as it keeps pace with their footsteps. Jade stops abruptly, mimicked by the car, and when the door begins to open, they flee between two houses and run all the way to the safety of Jade’s house and wonder if the driver was the same person who had called them.
The next day, Friday, [21 pages in and Stine’s screwed up his own timeline again. When Teddy called Jade the night before last, she mentioned the Friday night basketball game being tomorrow night. Then it was a new school day when Deena talked to Steve and she got stalked by the car with Jade, with no mention of the basketball game, and now it’s another new day, apparently Friday. Did no-one proofread in the ’90s?!] Deena wanders the halls of Shadyside High in search of Steve, hoping to talk to him again. She finally catches a glimpse of him heading into the science lab, walking closely and laughing with Bree Wade, and scolds herself for ever thinking she could go after a boy the way Jade does.
After school, Deena and Jade catch the bus to Mattewan High for the basketball game. [Yep, Stine messed up!] They’re early thanks to horny Jade’s fondness for watching the team warm up, which also allows them to get good seats, as Lisa Blume points out while walking past with a big bag of popcorn. As the room fills up and the game begins, Deena scans the crowds for Steve, but it doesn’t look like he came. She does, however, spot a man wearing an orange hunting cap slouched in the shadows next to the Mattewan side’s bleachers. She can’t see his face because his cap’s pulled down too far, but there’s something strange and familiar about him. Of course, when she tries to point him out to Jade, the man is gone.
Deena quickly forgets about the strange man and focuses on the the game, but while Corky and her fellow cheerleaders lead the crowd into a cheer during a time-out, Deena notices the man in the hunting cap again, this time standing on the Shadyside side. He appears to be staring at the floor rather than watching what’s going on on the court, but then Deena’s distracted by the game again when it starts back up. Gary Brandt ends up scoring the match-winning point and as Deena celebrates with Jade, she spots Orange Cap slipping out the door. Despite never seeing his face, she can’t help but feel like she knows the mysterious stranger, but why can’t she remember? ‘Was he someone she didn’t want to remember?’ [Seems like a bit of a stretch considering you haven’t seen his face, the most recognisable feature of a person. It’s probably Chuck anyway, but not sure why he’s hiding his face lol. Maybe trying to see what Jade’s up to?]
After celebrating at Pete’s Pizza, Teddy drops the girls off at Jade’s, where Deena’s staying for the night. He walks them to the door and starts making out with Jade while Deena stands there awkwardly, eager to get inside. Teddy eventually leaves and when Jade gushes about how cool he is as the girls head upstairs, Deena reluctantly tells her that it seems like she’s just using Teddy to amuse herself till Chuck comes back. [I think it’s OK as long as Teddy knows it’s nothing serious, but I guess Jade probably hasn’t told him that] Jade thinks Deena’s just jealous, but they’re interrupted by a constant tapping coming from the window before they can really get into it. The curtains are closed so they can’t see out, and Deena thinks someone’s trying to break in. Big brave Jade shuts the light off and yanks the curtains apart, and both girls scream when they see a man wearing an orange hunting cap staring in at them. [Ooky spooky!]
It’s just Chuck, and the girls quickly open the window for him. He hugs each girl and gives Jade a kiss, then laughs about how scared they were. Apparently ringing the doorbell is boring and ‘”You know I don’t like to do things the boring way.” Chuck reveals he’s dropped out of college because some professors were getting on his case, admitting it was a mistake to even go; he wants to be a filmmaker, but at college, you can’t just take film courses; you have to do math and history and all that irrelevant stuff as well. [Really?!? Is that how college is in the US?! At Australian universities our classes are tailored to whatever career you’re interested in] His plan is to scrounge up some money and head to LA, where the films are. Deena’s not impressed and is worried what their father will think, but Chuck doesn’t care because it’s his life, not Dad’s. [Amen. College is not the be-all and end-all of success]
Chuck then confronts Jade about ignoring his letters, but she explains she’s never been one for writing, but she does think about him a lot. He asks if she was thinking about him while kissing that other guy tonight [Hahaha snap], but Jade laughs it off, saying she was just congratulating him for winning the game. Chuck wants to know who else she’s been congratulating while he’s been away, [Lol, drag her] and Jade insists she’s just been killing time with other boys while waiting for his return. Chuck seems to believe her, and then heads off so the girls can get some sleep. Jade’s super glad he’s back, but Deena isn’t sure how to feel because Chuck is always so much trouble. As the girls drift off to sleep, the raspy voice calls and asks if they remember hiding in the closet. No-one else knows about the closet except Farberson, so Deena thinks it must be him. The voice tells them to think of how scared they were that night, ‘”because you’re going to be more scared—real soon.”‘
Deena arrives home Saturday morning to her parents yelling at Chuck about dropping out of college. Mr. Martinson decides that while Chuck’s here, he’ll obey a curfews, do chores, and get a job to help out with expenses. Chuck angrily refuses to let Dad run his life and declares he’ll be going to LA at the end of the week, ‘”and you’ll never see me again!”‘ Chuck storms out of the house, and Mr. Martinson angrily declares that Chuck’s gone too far. [Omfg I can’t deal with these attitudes towards college, lol. College is not for everyone and it shouldn’t be expected to be. Team Chuck on this one. I went to uni and have done absolutely nothing with my degree hahahaha]
Chuck still hasn’t returned by late afternoon and after failing to get hold of Jade over the phone throughout the day, Deena drives over to her place and finds Chuck there. He’s been trying to convince Jade to come to LA with him but she’s hesitant, wanting to finish school first. He points out that she’d be safer in LA, and Deena realises she told him about the phone calls. Chuck suggests Farberson told someone the details of what happened, [It’s probably Linda Morrison stalking them, tbh] and again encourages Jade to come to LA. She’s given a reprieve when the doorbell rings, and Jade returns with a bunch of letters from the mailman. [Why’d he ring the bell? You don’t have a letter box?] One letter captures her interest and when she tears it open, they’re all horrified to see a drawing of a chainsaw splattered with red marker to look like blood, with ‘YOUR TURN NEXT’ written at the bottom of the page.
Deena is satisfied that Farberson isn’t responsible, since prison mail is censored and there’s no way he’d be allowed to send this, but Chuck reasons he could have gotten out somehow. Instead of contacting the police or the jail itself to find out if Farberson’s still locked up, Chuck convinces the girls the only way to find out is to go to Farberson’s old house to check if it’s empty, [Chuck, you’re an idiot] promising to just drive past and not enter.
The house is so rundown it’s like no-one’s ever lived in it, but Deena quickly notices a flickering light in an upstairs window. Despite his promise, Chuck wants to check it out and hurries over to the porch, which is when the girls notice that the light has moved; it’s downstairs now! The girls open the car doors and scream out to Chuck, with Deena staying by the car while Jade rushes over to him. They seem to be arguing as Deena notices the light’s flickering from behind the house now. She then hears an engine roaring to life that seems to also be coming from behind the house, and Chuck attempts to check it out while Jade tries to pull him back to the car. Jade wins the struggle but as they’re hurrying back, she slips over in the snow, injuring her ankle. Chuck helps her up just as a car comes rolling out from behind the house with its headlights off, picking up speed as it approaches Chuck and Jade, who are frozen in place with fear. [Lol, idiots]
Eventually they start moving and scramble into the car, and a chase ensues as Deena speeds through the streets to get away. The other car, which gets no description so I have no idea if it’s the Oldsmobile from the other day, finally gets its headlights on and attempts to bump the teens off the road, eventually driving side by side with them as a pickup truck appears coming in the other direction, straight towards them. It’s the attacker’s car that ends up colliding with the truck and Deena sees both vehicles nose to nose as the drivers step out through the rearview mirror. Instead of turning back to see who the heck was chasing them, Deena continues on back to Jade’s, relieved to have gotten away. [Deena, go fkn back and check it out, you idiot! The book could probably end right here if you were smart]
In the safety of Jade’s living room, Chuck shuts down the girls’ ideas to tell the police or their parents about what’s going on, insisting they’ll get in trouble for going back to the house. [Chuck, hurry up and fuck off to LA] Deena reveals that it was a blonde-haired woman driving the other car, prompting Jade to suggest it was Linda Morrison, Stanley Farberson’s secret girlfriend! from the first book. Deena points out that it’s a man behind the creepy phone calls, but Jade argues that anyone can disguise their voice; she’s even read about a gadget that can make someone sound like the opposite gender. ‘”But why would Farberson’s girlfriend call us? Why would she do any of those things?”‘ Deena asks, as if revenge isn’t the obvious motive, [Got a brain between those ears, Deena?] and it’s decided they’ll pay Linda a visit tomorrow to show that they’re not afraid of her. [You seemed pretty afraid tonight!]
Deena wakes up the next day to a screaming match between Chuck and her father, ending when Chuck storms out of the house once again. Jade rocks up a short time later, looking very businessy and adult, under the guise of collecting Deena to help with a business party her mum is throwing. Deena changes into a more mature outfit, but Jade waits till they’re in the car to explain her plan; she’d driven by Linda’s house earlier and saw a ‘FOR SALE BY OWNER’ sign out front, then posed as a real estate agent over the phone to convince Linda she can find her a buyer. They’d then arranged for Jade to come by today to examine the property, and Jade got some wigs from her mother’s beauty shop so they won’t be recognised. [Yeah, disguises will show her you’re not scared!] They give themselves a makeover in a gas station bathroom then head over to Linda’s, who Deena notices has gained some weight since last year and looks older.
Posing as Louise Smith and her associate Darlene Mathers, Jade and Deena are led into the living room, where papers and magazines are piled everywhere and a thick layer of dust covers the windowsills. Through Jade’s questioning, we learn that Linda only put the sign up a few days ago and wants to move out as soon as possible. Jade wonders why she’s in such a hurry to leave, which makes Linda suspicious and demand to see a business card. To Deena’s surprise, Jade actually presents one (later revealed to belong to Jade’s Aunt) and hands it over to Linda, who then heads to the back of the house so the girls can take measurements of the room. The girls start sifting through all the papers as soon as she’s gone, and Jade finds two house keys labelled ‘Farberson’ in the bottom of a desk drawer while Deena discovers a page with a diagram of the Farberson house.
It’s definitely proof that Linda’s interested in the place, but Deena wants to check out her car to see if it’s the one from last night. Linda suddenly reappears, revealing she called the real estate and was told Louise is on vacation. She also recognises the girls from their meddling last year and demands to know what’s going on. Jade coolly turns the tables on her with a few questions of her own – why has Linda been making those phone calls to them, and why did she try to run them down last night?
Linda knows nothing about the phone calls and didn’t realise it was them last night; she’d just gotten scared when she saw a random car sitting on the curb. The car she had was a borrowed one and she couldn’t figure out how to get the headlights on at first, which explains why she almost ran down Jade and Chuck, but not why she was playing bumper cars with them. [Deena even picks up on this, but doesn’t bother to say anything for some reason??????]
Linda tearfully explains she was just trying to protect herself because Stanley and his lawyer are working on an appeal and he’ll be out by the end of the month if he can prove the police didn’t follow the law perfectly. [The incompetent Shadyside police strike again!] He apparently blames Linda for everything, so she’s convinced he’ll come after her the moment he’s out of prison. She also explains the reason she was at his house last night – he’d hidden a bunch of money he stole from the restaurant somewhere in the house and wanted Linda to keep it somewhere safe, but Linda was never able to find it, despite looking for months. [So he didn’t tell her where he hid it?? That seems dumb] Stanley didn’t believe Linda when she told him and accused her of stealing the money instead, threatening her over the phone to come up with the cash by the time he’s out or he’ll kill her. [Do prison guards not screen phone calls from prison or anything like that?] Last night was her final attempt to find the money, and now she plans to move far away from Shadyside never speak to Farberson again, wishing the girls luck if he ever does get out.
Later that evening over pizza at Jade’s house, the girls have filled Chuck in on today’s antics and he theorises that Linda lied that the money isn’t in the house anymore. He thinks she just doesn’t want anyone else to find it, and only brought it up in the first place to see if the girls knew anything about it. Chuck reckons the three of them are entitled to it after everything they went through last year, and while Jade agrees, voice of reason Deena isn’t so sure about keeping stolen money for themselves. Chuck decides to head over to the Farberson house, but Jade and Deena are hesitant to return so soon after last night’s adventure. Chuck doesn’t need their permission or their help, though, and hurries out of the house, with the girls chasing after him so they can talk about it some more. Jade tries to stop him but he pushes her aside just as Deena spots a man in black standing under a streetlight, who jumps out and grabs Chuck in a chokehold as he walks past.
It turns out to be Teddy, who has Chuck on the ground before Deena even recognises him. Jade manages to pull Teddy off of Chuck, and Teddy explains he saw Jade screaming and running after him and thought she was in trouble when Chuck shoved her aside. Chuck suddenly jumps up and starts swinging, and there’s a bit of back and forth punching until Teddy eventually moves aside as Chuck launches at him. Chuck ends up stumbling, hitting his head on the curb as he falls, and blood quickly pools around him.
By this point, neighbours have come out to see what the commotion is, and soon the police and an ambulance rock up. Chuck’s taken to hospital while the other three explain the boys were just messing about playfully before Chuck fell. Afterwards, Teddy explains he only came to talk to Jade, who’s seemed too busy to see or talk to him lately, and Jade looks genuinely sad as she explains her history with Chuck and that she’s seeing him again. [He’s literally leaving in a few days, Jade, keep your options open] Teddy is understanding, but the disappointment is noticeable as he slumps away into the darkness. [Poor Teddy]
A short time later, Deena’s heading to the hospital with her parents, who are as unimpressed as ever with Chuck’s behaviour. Jade’s waiting in the lobby for them and takes Deena to Chuck’s room while the adults fill out some paperwork. Chuck’s injuries aren’t serious, but his head is bandaged and his left eye is bruised and swollen from the fight. ‘”Happy Halloween!”‘ jokes Jade, but Chuck tells her not to make him laugh because ‘”I have chapped lips!”‘ [???]
Chuck tells Jade that he now he believes her that there’s nothing going on with Teddy, then confesses to being behind the scary phone calls; he’d learned Jade was seeing someone from a Shadyside friend while he was away and went ballistic, deciding to scare her as revenge. [Red flag, Jade!] He thought it would be too obvious if he just threatened Jade, so he called Deena as well so they’d think Farberson is back. It had been Chuck in the green car following them that one time, too; a friend from the city had given him a ride from the airport, but the girls ran off before he could reveal himself. He also sent Jade that note with the bleeding chainsaw, admitting his goal was to scare Jade so bad that she’d jump at the chance to come to LA with him. [You manipulative piece of shit] Jade wouldn’t even cross the street with him right now and will think about accepting his apology. [Go back to Teddy, Jade]
In study hall the next day, Steve approaches Deena for a chat, much to her surprise. He invites her to a party his cousin is throwing on Friday night and promises to call her later after she eagerly accepts. Later that night, they spend an hour on the phone talking about anything and everything, and Deena’s so happy afterwards she dances around her room. [Hahaha bless] She tries to call Jade but there’s no answer, so she heads to the living room to do some homework.
She’s got the place to herself because her parents are both working late, so she turns on the TV for company. The news starts shortly after, and besides a huge storm in Shadyside happening right now, the top story is the release of a notorious Shadyside murderer – ‘”Because crucial evidence was found to be inadmissible, Stanley Farberson was set free earlier this evening.”‘ [Surely the girls would have had to have been kept in the loop about this? Like, he tried to murder them. Actually, why was there no attempted murder charge?]
Deena’s shitting bricks now and is even more terrified when the phone rings, but it’s just Jade, who reveals she had gone to visit Chuck at the hospital, but he’d checked himself out against medical advice. [Greedy boy] He’d left a message on her answering machine saying he’s going over to Farberson’s house to look for the money. Jade can’t believe he’d go over there while still injured, especially in this major storm, but Deena informs her of their much bigger problem.
Jade is just as horrified to learn that Farberson’s out, and since the prison is only a few hours away, it won’t take him too long to reach Shadyside. He won’t hesitate to kill Chuck if he catches him in the house, and the girls realise with dread they have to go over there themselves to get Chuck out before Farberson arrives. [And there’s also the possibility he’s already home; we don’t know how long ago he was released, just that it was earlier this evening. Suspense!]
The girls meet up on a bus to Fear Street convincing themselves Farberson couldn’t have reached Shadyside yet in this big storm. The front door of the house is locked but the back door is wide open, so in they go, and the house is even messier than it was last year, likely due to Linda turning the place upside down while searching for the money. Chuck’s nowhere to be found down here, and as the girls climb the stairs they wonder why they can’t hear him moving around up there. Jade calls out to him but there’s no reply, and after finding no trace of him in any of the ransacked rooms on the second floor, they decide he probably changed his mind about coming here and is at home, safe and warm. Chuck would never do something as responsible as that, though, and as they’re about to leave Farberson’s bedroom, Jade finds a hospital ID bracelet on the floor with his name on it. Deena also spots several dark stains on the floor over by the closet – blood!
They investigate the closet again and this time find chuck regaining consciousness, hidden under a pile of clothes. Turns out he’d found the money in a metal box under the floorboards, but the last thing he remembers is hearing a noise when he pulled it out – ‘”Someone must have hit me and taken it.”‘ The girls help Chuck to his feet as he explains how he hitched a ride from the hospital and found the back door unlocked. Since Linda had seemingly checked everywhere in the house, Chuck decided she probably didn’t think to check the floor and began searching room by room for any floorboards that were loose or didn’t match the others. He ended up finding two mismatched ones in the closet, which is where he found the box filled with $100 and $500 notes. [I didn’t know $500 notes were a thing. That’s crazy]
Deena realises Farberson must have arrived already and fills Chuck in about his release. Chuck’s still a bit dizzy, so Jade supports him as they head downstairs. As they reach the kitchen, they spot Farberson about to enter through the back door and are forced to hide behind the counter. Chuck quickly ushers the girls through a door behind them, finding themselves at the top of the basement stairs. Farberson’s footsteps disappear into another room but instead of making a run for the back door, Chuck leads the girls down to the basement, hoping to find a way out there. [This should be their last escape plan; they don’t even know if there’s a way out!]
They spot a window above a pile of cartons, and idiot Chuck accidentally drops a carton as he’s pulling it down from the top. Deena frets that Farberson may have heard it while Chuck realises the window is painted shut and way too small for any of them to fit through. Chuck reasons that Farberson is probably upstairs by now so all they need to do sneak back up to the kitchen and make a run for the door. [That should have been your first plan! God] Of course, as they’re making their way up the basement stairs, the door flings open and Farberson smiles unpleasantly at his welcome home party.
With a pistol in hand, Farberson orders the trio back down the stairs. He stands a few steps above them as they reach the bottom before aiming the gun at Deena, demanding to know where the money is. He’s nice enough to offer them freedom if they just hand it over, and Chuck admits he came here looking for the money but doesn’t have it. [Strangely, he doesn’t mention that he was knocked out after finding the stash and whoever it was stole it???] Farberson doesn’t have time for their games and orders Deena over to the workbench to fetch some rope. She’s then forced to tie Chuck’s hands together, then his feet. She tries to leave the rope loose, but that earns her a backhand to the face so she corrects her mistake. She then tied Jade up before Farberson ties up Deena the same way. He gives them a final chance to tell him where the money is, and again they just insist they don’t have it instead of explaining that someone else was in the house and took the money.
Farberson fetches his trusty chainsaw from the other side of the basement as Chuck continues to insist he looked for the money but didn’t find it. [Seriously, why aren’t you telling the truth right now?] Farberson decides Deena will be his first victim and taunts her with the chainsaw, demanding to know where the money is or else he’ll cut her. The chainsaw is inches away from Deena’s shoulder when Chuck finally decides to tell the truth, confessing he was knocked out cold after finding the box of money. Farberson doesn’t believe his story, but even if it is true, ‘”I don’t have my money. But I do have you—exactly where I want you.”‘ These pesky teens have been nothing but trouble for him, and Deena realises he’s prioritising revenge now as he hovers over her with the chainsaw once more.
To everyone’s surprise, Linda Morrison appears at the top of the basement stairs, aiming a pistol at Farberson. She orders him to drop the chainsaw and ‘”move away from my friends,”‘ [Friends?], and although he turns it off, he doesn’t put it down. He backs away as she comes down the stairs towards him, promising to shoot him if he doesn’t obey. Farberson argues, then pleads, with her as she counts to five, but eventually starts lowering the chainsaw. It’s a fake-out though, and he tugs the chainsaw’s rope to get it started and lunges towards her:
Deena gasped as she saw Farberson stumble.
He fell over a carton.
The saw slipped out of his grasp and clattered onto the concrete floor.
He shot out his hands. His eyes wild.
He grabbed at air.
And fell onto the roaring saw.
The shrill whine of the cutting teeth drowned out Farberson’s scream.
The whirring chain cut through his chest. Deena turned away sickened.
Then silence.
A heavy, cold silence.
[I bet their “friend” Linda’s gonna turn on them now, lol] Linda can’t believe Farberson’s dead, then stupidly reveals she came back to kill him anyway, and now has to figure out what to do with the teens. [Wow, some friend you are, Linda] The teens assure her they know it was Farberson’s own fault, but Linda thinks no-one will believe that – ‘”Besides, if he hadn’t killed himself, I would have shot him—and he knew it.”‘ [OK, but these three didn’t know that? You’re literally fucking yourself over here, you idiot. Also, why would no-one believe he fell on his own chainsaw? There’s three other people here to confirm it. Even if the police didn’t believe it, there’s literally no evidence to say she murdered him. Linda’s fkn stupid] She’d come here after learning Farberson was released, knowing he’d come for the money, and planned to shoot him when he found the goods. Linda confirms she’d knocked Chuck out and taken the money, which is now in her pocket alongside a plane ticket to someplace far away. She initially fled, but returned to kill Farberson so she wouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life worrying he’d find her. Despite their promises not to tell anyone, Linda doesn’t want to take any chances and quickly gets to work gathering up a pile of rags so she can burn the place down with the teens inside. They try to stall her, asking if she knew about the money before Edna Farberson was murdered, and we get a big reveal that I wasn’t expecting:
Linda snickers. “Did I know?” she exclaimed. “The whole thing was my idea. Remember, I was the bookkeeper at Stanley’s restaurant. I got him to steal money from the restaurant and then I got him to kill his wife.” She shook her head. “He was stupid. He did everything I told him.”
I don’t believe this, Deena thought. Linda Morrison was actually responsible for everything that had happened last year.
[Farberson was probably too stupid to realise he was being manipulated. We love a smart woman! And this twist doesn’t even create any plot holes that I can think of. Great work, Stine!] Linda pulls a lighter from her pocket, lights a short stub of a candle from the workbench and places it in the middle of some gas-soaked rags before heading upstairs, ignoring the teens’ frightened pleas. They try to think of a plan to save themselves, but there’s not much they can do with their ankles bound and their hands tied behind their backs. [Umm, put your legs through your arms so your hands are now in front, then untie each other. Duh? Or push the corpse aside and use the chainsaw’s blade] It’s too risky to shuffle over to the candle to blow it out, so Chuck attempts to cut his ropes with an old twisted piece of metal he finds on the ground. Deena tries to help, but the metal isn’t sharp enough. Meanwhile, the candle’s burnt so low that it’s light is partially hidden by the rags surrounding it!
Jade shuffles her way over to Farberson and pushes him aside with her feet, then turns around and starts rubbing her ropes against the chainsaw. She quickly frees herself and then sets to work on Chuck, but Deena urges her to blow out the candle first. [Yeah, dumbass. Or move the rags out of the way] The rags are alight before Jade reaches the candle, though, so she resumes freeing Chuck and then they both untie Deena as the fire begins to spread. They scurry up the stairs, and use their combined shoulders to bust through the locked door [That pesky Linda!] and manage to escape the house moments before it erupts into flames.
We jump forward six months now and and surprisingly, Chuck has settled down in Shadyside to take film classes at the nearby Madison College. As recommended by one of his teachers, he’s watching an old Hitchcock film, and Jade, Deena and Steve have all joined him. [I guess Deena and Steve are a thing now] Now, we’ve seen characters say some pretty stupid shit before, but Deena hands down takes the cake when she asks Steve, ‘”Do they have American movies you can rent in Australia?”‘ And she’s not making a joke either, this is a genuine question.
Steve jokes that they do, ‘”But they add kangaroos to all the movies!”‘ and I wouldn’t be surprised if Deena believes it. Anyway, we learn that after Linda Morrison’s trial, [The idiot really fucked herself over there. Like, all she had to do was not explain her actions to the teens?? Dumbass] Farberson’s insurance company gave Deena, Chuck and Jade a reward, which is what Chuck’s using to pay for college.
After the movie, Chuck announces he’ll make a film about the Farberson murders one day, and Jade is incredulous because ‘”No one would believe it,”‘ as if every single film needs the audience to believe it’s a true story that happened exactly as it’s portrayed. [Seriously, Jade, what’s your point?] Deena hasn’t really told Steve much about their history with Farberson other than it all started with a prank phone call. Chuck suggests they make a funny call for old times’ sake, which Deena furiously shoots down. Chuck insists he was joking, and the book ends with Deena wondering if he really is joking or not, because he’s got a mischievous smile on his face.
Final thoughts
This was actually a pretty good sequel, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m glad it wasn’t a repeat of the first book and instead expanded on its story in a way that didn’t feel contrived or unrealistic. Although I think Farberson stalking them for real could have made a good story, I’m glad Stine went a different route, one that was less predictable. I feel like this wasn’t as dark as the original, but it was still a good little mystery and a super easy read, so I’d recommend it for sure. I did noticed that the back cover boasts, “You’re not safe anywhere. I’ll get my revenge!” as if it’s a direct quote, but it’s not actually anywhere in the book. Weird.
Looking back, it felt like not much really happened until the end, but I was still entertained because Deena and Jade continued to be enjoyable characters. Chuck, on the other hand, was significantly worse. Why would he deliberately try to scare the girls after everything they’d been through? Jade needs to axe him real quick. Although Linda was an absolute idiot in the final chapters, I loved that she turned out to be behind everything; it’s not a huge leap to believe that she was the mastermind of the first book’s events, and it also didn’t present any plot holes either, which is nice.
I’m not really sure why Stine decided to ditch Rob Morrow in favour of a new love interest for Deena; maybe he just couldn’t come up with a way to include him in the story or something? Still, it’s not like Steve was that relevant either. I wonder if there’s a Fear Street that doesn’t involve a love interest for the protagonist? I can’t think of one I’ve recapped off the top of my head.
This is definitely worth a read, so 111 antagonists that fuck themselves over out of 142.
