Fear Street #31: Switched by R.L. Stine

Tagline: A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

Back tagline: She traded places with a killer…

Summary: There’s a little cabin in the Fear Street woods where a girl can really lose her mind. In fact, she can change it into someone else’s. That’s what happened to Nicole and Lucy. Now Lucy is in Nicole’s body, and Nicole is in Lucy’s.
What a trip!
But for Nicole, what a trap! Because Lucy is using Nicole’s body to get away with murder!

First Impressions: Possibly the most boring Fear Street cover ever. Like, it looks intense without actually being intense at all?? I don’t know. It makes them look like witches with the electricity coming from their hands. I’m really not expecting much, but I’m praying it’s good. Pray with me, please.

Recap

Roll call for the important characters:
Nicole – Our protagonist who very clearly has some mental issues.
Lucy – Nicole’s best friend who kicks off the main plot.
Kent – Lucy’s boyfriend who may or may not be in on Lucy’s plot.
Margie – Nicole’s other friend who also may or may not be working with Lucy.

OK so literally the first sentence is “My name is Nicole Darwin and I’m a loser.” [Not off to a great start, lol]. Nicole’s life is the pits at the moment and the most recent issue she’s had is that she tore a fingernail this morning.

My fingernails are long and perfect. Sometimes I polish them rose red, sometimes a lilac purple. Some of the girls tease me about them. But I think they’re pretty.
I don’t know. I just like the way they look.

[Thanks for that, Nicole]. Nicole fills us in on what else is getting her down lately, starting with her parents, who she thinks are pitiful and boring. They’re always on her case and even though she’s a senior, she has no freedom.

Next, Nicole had a biology report due today, a Friday, but she never got around to doing it. Her teacher gives her the weekend to finish it as long as it’s in by Monday, because otherwise she’ll fail the class and won’t graduate. She’s mad about it, but knows it’s her own fault.

After that, her boyfriend David, who has been acting weird lately, breaks up with her because “It’s just too much.” [It’s not explicitly stated, but Nicole obviously suffers from depression and I do feel sorry for her, but at the same time I can’t stand her because she’s so damn miserable about everything].

After school, she bumps into Lucy, her “best best best friend” since preschool [Friendship goals!] who’s also having shitty time right now [Well, misery loves company]. Lucy suggests they switch bodies and Nicole never really considers that this isn’t a real possibility [Wow, this book moves fast! We’re still in the first chapter lol. I wanted to hear more about Nicole’s beautiful, long, polished talons, hehe!]. Nicole’s really keen to trade places because Lucy’s parents are too busy fighting to pay attention to her, unlike Nicole’s overbearing parents, and Lucy has a great boyfriend, Kent, who’s so great that Nicole has often wondered what it would be like to date him [Gee, what a great friend!].

Me @ Nicole

The pair head to Fear Street, stopping by the creepy, abandoned Simon Fear mansion to insult it before journeying into the Fear Street woods. They walk until they arrive at a long, stone wall. It’s called the Changing Wall [So creative!], and Lucy learned of it from her grandfather, who told her that years and years and years ago, evil people came here to swap bodies with unwilling victims to escape their crimes [Sounds like foreshadowing to me! What crimes has Lucy been committing? Also, the blurb said it was a cabin??]. Lucy explains that all you have to do to switch bodies is climb to the top and jump over while holding hands.

“When we land, we will be switched. Your mind will be in my body. And my mind will be in your body. When people look at me, I’ll look like you and everyone will think I’m you.”

Nicole starts having second thoughts, but Lucy is super persistent [Which is a huge red flag for me], so they jump over the wall and what do you know? It actually works! They swear not to tell anyone and plan to switch back when their sick of each other’s lives. Nicole feels a little guilty because Lucy got the raw end of the deal, but Lucy knows what she was getting herself into and is totally fine with it [Another red flag, but Nicole’s too busy thinking about her new boyfriend to realise. Also, I’m gonna keep calling them by their actual names, but just remember that Nicole is in Lucy’s body and vice versa].

The girls head back to their new respective homes and Nicole is horrified to find Lucy’s parents brutally murdered in the living room, slashed to death [This book is wasting no time!]. After going into shock and repeating “Lucy. Lucy. Lucy.” for god knows how long, Nicole decides she has to tell Lucy so they can swap back and scurries off to her own house, but no-one’s home [It’s so obvious that Lucy killed them, but that seems to go straight over Nicole’s head because she’s an idiot].

Me waiting for Nicole to realise Lucy set her up

She heads to Kent’s house instead and breaks down as she explains everything. Kent seems to believe her, even calling her Nicole [He doesn’t even try to dismiss her story, so I’m kinda thinking that Nicole has more mental health issues than depression and Lucy is completely in her head? I don’t know, something just seems off]. He promises to help her and Nicole is relieved to have his support. Kent heads into the kitchen to get her some water, but Nicole overhears him on the phone telling police to hurry over in case she tries to get away [OK, surely my theory is right].

Nicole hates Kent now, feeling betrayed that he was trying to trick her. She bolts from the house, determined to be in her own body before talking to the police. She has no idea what to do now though, but eventually decides to freshen up at Lucy’s house before trying to find Lucy again. On the way there, she makes a plan to tell Lucy about her parents after switching back, and promises to herself that she’ll be there for her friend, the way Lucy has always been there for her [Cute, but Lucy’s the damn murderer, you idiot!].

At the house, Nicole is shocked to find that Lucy’s closet and all her drawers are completely empty. Not only that, but there’s a bloody knife stabbed into Lucy’s desk, pinning a sheet of paper there.

Squinting in the hazy light, I leaned close to the desk and read the scrawled words:
I HAD TO KILL THEM
I COULDN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE
LUCY K

Nicole’s reaction is “Oh, how cold. How cold, Lucy!” which is a weird thing to say and I can’t believe it’s taken her so long to realise Lucy set her up. Before Nicole can do anything, there’s a knock at the door, and Nicole peers out the window to see two detectives out front. Except they’re not in uniforms so she’s just assuming they’re police officers [Again, linking back to my mental health theory. She’s extremely frantic and paranoid at this point, so of course she’d assume they’re here to arrest her].

She escapes through the back door but the two men see her and give chase. Nicole manages to hide from them before venturing over to the school to get her car. She drives here, there and everywhere looking for Lucy, trying to work out why Lucy would do this to her. After what seems like hours, she finds Lucy at Pete’s Pizza, a popular Shadyside hangout, with two friends, Margie and Hannah.

The two girls are all “Hey, Nicole!” as she approaches and Nicole is mad because obviously Lucy has broken another promise and told the girls about their switch. She demands to speak to Lucy, but the girls tell Nicole Lucy was never with them, and sure enough Lucy’s completely disappeared from the table [Surely because she’s a figment of Nicole’s imagination!].

Hannah and Margie try to calm Nicole down, but she just thinks they’re conspiring against her with Lucy. Otherwise, how would they know that she was really Nicole in Lucy’s body? [OK, I’m definitely feeling sorry for Nicole by now. She’s becoming more and more unhinged and she doesn’t even know it].

Nicole runs away and when she nears her car, she sees Lucy waiting there. As she gets closer, though, it turns out to be Margie, who tries to calm her down. Nicole shoves her aside as Hannah arrives too, and Nicole jumps in the car and locks the doors. She wonders why the two girls are so frightened, so desperate to keep her here, and realises Lucy must have threatened to murder them, too [No, girl, they’re worried about your mental health and want to help you!]. She floors the accelerator and drives away, escaping her friends.

Nicole suspects that Lucy had visited Kent before the switch, otherwise he wouldn’t have believed Nicole when she first visited him. She heads over to his house again, determined to get some answers. Once there, she hears loud music coming from the den so assumes he’s home alone and sneaks into his house through the kitchen, grabbing a large knife. She plans to act crazy and frighten him into giving her information [Oh, sweetie, you ain’t acting]. She heads to the den where a gruesome scene is waiting for her.

Kent’s body lay on its back on the tile floor, arms and legs outstretched.
His head had been sliced off.
Puddles of bright red blood had streamed from the neck. The head stood upright a few feet from the body, propped against the leather couch.
The mouth was frozen open in a wide O of horror.
The blue eyes stared lifelessly up at me.

[These death scenes are great! I think this is the most graphic Fear Street we’ve had so far] As she stares in horror, one of Kent’s eyes droop down, making it look like he’s winking at her [Hahahaha gross]. She turns away and finds the two detectives peering in at her through the window. Uh oh. Now these guys also call her Nicole as they come inside, which convinces me further that Lucy isn’t real [I’m not totally sure whether the whole book has been a giant hallucination in Nicole’s mind, or if any of it is real. Did Nicole kill her own parents and block it out, and now just thinks they were Lucy’s? Or has no-one actually died because since Lucy doesn’t exist, her parents and Kent don’t either?].

Nicole escapes the two men through the basement and runs back to the Changing Wall in the Fear Street woods, where she tries to work out why Lucy has done this to her. Lucy had been such a good friend to her – she stood by Lucy, even when Lucy was mean and acting superior. And when Lucy had a car accident, It was Nicole who was by her side every day until she woke up.

Nicole finds her own wallet in a fanny pack around her waist and an idea comes to her [Why wasn’t this fanny pack mentioned before? And why would Lucy’s body be carrying Nicole’s wallet? It’s so obvious Lucy doesn’t exist and Nicole is having an episode]. She has an old school photo of Lucy in her wallet that Lucy absolutely hates. Lucy gave it to Nicole on the condition that she never show it to anyone [But like, why give it to anyone in the first place if you hate it so much??]. Nicole’s convinced that by jumping over the Changing Wall while holding the photo, she’ll switch back to her own body again [Not sure why she’s so convinced this idea she’s pulled from thin air will work, but OK].

She jumps off the Changing Wall, but unsurprisingly it doesn’t work. She ends up sleeping there and the next day, goes back to her own house to get changed and eat. On the way, she checks a newspaper, expecting to see the murders all over it, but there’s no mention at all. Maybe no-one knows Lucy’s parents are dead yet, but the detectives saw her near Kent’s body, so she’s super confused [Ok, Kent and Lucy’s parents aren’t real]. She waits for her parents to leave, noticing they look distraught and dishevelled, but forces the worry out of her mind because she can’t do anything about it until she’s back in her own body again.

Upstairs, Lucy freshens up and decides she’ll head to school to find Margie or Hannah, because they must be in on Lucy’s plan. She takes her small stash of money and away she goes. There’s officers at the front and back entrances of the school, so she waits for them to leave before sneaking in and hiding in a closet in the girls’ changing rooms. She knows Margie has gym fourth period, so she waits till then [Where’s a Game Boy when you need one?].

Finally, fourth period rolls around and Margie conveniently has leg cramps, so waits in the locker room while the other girls head out. Nicole reveals herself and demands to know where Lucy is, but someone comes in to check on Margie and Nicole has to hide again. When she exits the closet this time, Nicole finds Margie sprawled on the floor:

Not a leg cramp this time.
I saw the puddle of blood widening around her. Saw that her head had been crushed in. Her skull cracked. Her cheek bashed in. One eye smashed shut.
Saw the shot put on the floor beside her. The blood-smeared shot put.

Lucy has killed again! [I’m sure Margie is a real person, but I think she just left the room and Nicole is hallucinating her dead body. Otherwise she would have heard the attack, surely? Or else Nicole killed her and blocked it out…]. Nicole escapes the school without being seen and heads back to the Changing Wall where she sleeps once more.

Upon waking, Nicole works out that maybe Lucy went to visit her grandma in Conklin [Which is coincidentally the last name of the characters in One Evil Summer!]. Even though Lucy would look like Nicole, Grandma Carla wouldn’t find it weird because she’s like a grandmother to Nicole, too. Nicole buys a bus ticket to Conklin and is soon on her way.

Grandma Carla is surprised to see her, even more surprised when Nicole asks “where’s Nicole?” because, of course, she’s in Lucy’s body [But not really, lol]. After Grandma Carla heads into the kitchen to fetch some lunch, snoopy Nicole overhears her on the phone calling for help. Nicole’s tired of running though, so confronts her grandmother instead.

After a brief struggle with Grandma Carla, Nicole hears a car approaching and runs from the house searching for a place to hide. She settles on the Barn, where she finds Lucy inside. Except the girl in Nicole’s body claims her name is Nancy and Lucy made her swap bodies too. Nicole eventually falls for it, and “Nancy” laughs, revealing she was lying and it is Lucy [That was a waste of a chapter. Stine’s probably just filling pages to reach a word count].

Lucy then escapes outside with Nicole chasing close behind, but Nicole is suddenly tackled by… Kent[!!!] ,who’s not dead [Yep, it was hallucination]! He promises he’s here to help her and Nicole watches as Lucy hurries to the nearby well and climbs inside, holding on to the edge. But then Lucy starts losing her grip and begs Nicole to help her. “Let her drown,” says Kent [Brutal lol], but Nicole manages to slip from his grasp and runs to the well. She’s too late to save Lucy, though, who falls to the bottom of the well and drowns, still in Nicole’s body.

Kent comforts Nicole and as they head back to the house, Lucy suddenly appears from the bushes, wet but alive. Lucy lunges for Kent and rips his head from his shoulders [Hahaha wtf?? I’m assuming this is another hallucination?]. Then the two detectives that had been following Nicole pull up along with Lucy’s parents, Kent, and Nicole’s own parents, and they all swarm the poor girl while Nicole’s mother informs Grandma Carla of what’s been going on.

Lucy was real, but died three years ago in a car crash and ever since, Nicole has been seeing horrible deaths in her mind, imagining Lucy is still alive and even identity problems, believing herself to be Lucy. The detectives are actually hospital workers trying to help Nicole. She’s been fine for almost a year though, but it would seem she’s relapsed [I bet it was her boyfriend breaking up with her that did caused it!].

Anyway, the final chapter takes place six months later and Nicole is feeling completely fine. She’s still in the hospital but thinks the doctors will let her out soon, since she now realises that all the murders were in her head and she’s been feeling so positive lately. But she reckons what has helped her recovery the most has been the daily visits from Lucy [Oof].

Final thoughts

I haven’t read this one before and If I’d read it when I was a kid, I don’t think I would have appreciated the whole mental health angle. It was super obvious that everything was in Nicole’s head, so reading it with that in mind made it a lot more enjoyable than I otherwise would have thought, because it’s easier to see why Nicole was making some of the decisions she was making. Even though I hated Nicole at the start, I know she was just trying to make sense of her depression and I was feeling really sorry for her by the end of the book.

It was scary in the sense that Nicole was having a psychotic breakdown and genuinely believed what she was seeing, so it had a more mature aspect compared to many other Fear Streets where the conflicts are more teen angst-related . Was it the best depiction of a mental breakdown? Definitely not, but this book came out 25 years ago and society as a whole has a completely different perspective than it would have back then, so I’m not going to fault it for that.

4 winking severed heads out of 9!