Tagline: Night time is the right time… for trouble.
Back tagline: Living on the edge…
Summary: Diane loves sneaking out in the middle of the night. Her friends do, too. They have the town all to themselves. Every night they come up with a new prank to play.
But then Diane’s boyfriend, Lenny, wants revenge on a teacher, and the pranks turn to murder. Now Diane and her friends are in too deep.
Much too deep… with no way out.
First impressions: I wonder if Diane and her friends called themselves the Night People? It sounds like they get up to a lot more fun than sitting in a bar drinking every night. This is a book I’ve heard absolutely nothing about, so I’m not sure what to expect. It sounds like a good read, but I have been tricked before! I like the photo-realism of the cover, and at first glance I thought they were in a greenhouse, but then I realised they’re in the Fear Street Cemetery. Ooky spooky! It looks like the guy is trying to pull her through the bars, but that gap is way to thin for a person to fit through lol. I wonder what she’s staring at with such surprise? Let’s find out [Note from future: We never find out because this scene never happens!]!
Recap
Roll call:
Diane – Our heroine who’s not that keen on the Night Games.
Lenny – Diane’s hot-tempered boyfriend who can’t stand Mr. Crowell.
Cassie – The best friend who’s also a bit wary of the Night Games.
Jordan – Cassie’s boyfriend who’s constantly fighting with her.
Spencer – An old friend who returns to Shadyside and initiates the Night Games.
Bryan – Diane’s ex-boyfriend who’s somewhat stalking her.
Mr. Crowell –The gang’s asshole math teacher who really has it out for Lenny.
The book begins with our first-person protagonist, Diane Browne, roaming the streets of Shadyside with her boyfriend, Lenny Boyle, and friends, Cassie Wylant and Jordan Townes. Diane considers herself ‘not as pretty as a lot of girls,’ with scraggly blonde hair and a crooked nose, and she ‘can’t really afford neat clothes.’ [She looks pretty on the cover!] She’s also sensible and easy going, a far cry from tough-looking, bad boy Lenny, who is susceptible to angry mood swings [A Shadyside boy through and through!]. Copper-haired Cassie is a super serious girl who’s always studying, and although Diane says they’re good friends, Cassie ‘keeps herself tightly wrapped up’ and never reveals what she’s really thinking. She’s dating Jordan, and they’re always fighting, so Diane really has no idea why they stay together. Jordan’s ‘good looking—and he knows it,’ so Diane has a sneaking suspicion that their fights are mostly caused by his habit of flirting with other girls [Poor Cassie].
Anyway, it’s after midnight and they’ve just come from teen dance club Red Heat. They’re currently passing the house of their math teacher, Mr. Crowell, who’s the one teacher that everyone at school hates [Every school has one!]. He seems to be especially hard on Lenny, but he’s even been awful to nerd Cassie in the past, and everyone has some sort of horrible story about him [Although these stories mainly seem to be him punishing them for things they’ve done wrong, like forcing Diane to read a love note she was trying to pass to Lenny to the whole class]. It’s Christmastime, and surprisingly, Mr. Crowell’s decked out his house in ‘the brightest, ugliest, craziest, tackiest display of Christmas lights’ they’ve ever seen:
“It’s brighter than the dance club!” Jordan declared, shaking his head. His dark eyes twinkled, too, reflecting the red glare of the lights.
“He’ll need a calculator to add up his electric bill!” I chimed in.
Everyone laughed. You see, Mr. Crowell is our math teacher. And he doesn’t allow us to bring calculators to class.
[Thanks for clearing that up, Diane, I was wondering why everyone was laughing at that lame attempt at humour] The teens can’t believe that this major grump has so much Christmas spirit, and although Lenny really wants to smash the whole display to pieces, they continue walking. Cassie and Jordan are ahead of the others, arguing as usual, and Diane takes the opportunity to talk shit about Jordan’s dancing to Lenny, snickering that he thinks he’s sooooooOo0000Oo00oO0ooo good, but ‘”works too hard at it”‘ and ‘”tries to be so cool.”‘ [Wow Diane, tell us how you really feel about him] The conversation is cut short when Diane spots a dark figure climbing out of an upstairs window of a nearby house!
They’re not witnessing a burglar flee the scene of a crime, though; it’s their old friend Spencer Jarvis who moved away almost a year ago without so much as a goodbye! [Rude] His white-blonde hair is longer and he’s more muscular and athletic than the chubby guy they last saw, but he’s the same old Spencer nonetheless. He and Diane had been really good friends back then too, although Lenny has always been a little jealous[Ugh].
Spencer insists he’d sent Diane a letter explaining why he left so suddenly, but apparently she never got it. He explains that a few weeks after his father’s store closed down, Spencer’s grandmother got sick, so the whole family was uprooted to Washington to help care for her after she had surgery. She’s doing fine now, which is why they’re back in Shadyside, and Spencer now goes to St. Ann’s, a private school [Fancy boy!].
The house he just climbed out of is his new home, and he likes to sneak out after midnight sometimes to have some adventures – ‘”I call them Night Games.”‘ [Spencer walked so the Night People could run xx] Cassie can’t even comprehend the idea of sneaking out at night because apparently she’s terrified of her parents [Strict parents suck], but what Spencer’s parents don’t know won’t hurt them [He’s a bad boy!]. Spencer expresses how much he’s missed them all and invites them to come with him now for a Night Game. Neither Diane or Cassie are the adventurous type, but the foursome agrees to join their old friend anyway:
We didn’t know it. But the Night Games had already begun for us.
And so had the terror.
[Can the terror start soon plz xx] The group follows Spencer down the street but stop when he notices a parked car at the bottom of a driveway, its windows fogged up from the couple in the front seat making out [Sxc]. Pulling a flashlight from his pocket [I thought he was just happy to see everyone], Spencer creeps up to the car and pounds on the driver’s window, shining the light into the vehicle as he announces they’re under arrest in a booming voice. The terrified couple step out of the car and quickly realise it’s just an idiot teenager playing a prank, and Spencer cackles and takes off. Diane and the others follow close behind, but the victim just shakes his fist at them like an old man in a cartoon instead of chasing after them.
Lenny, Jordan and Spencer think the whole thing was a riot, but Diane and Cassie exchange WTF looks – ‘I mean, all we did was terrify a boy and girl for a few seconds.’ [I’m with the girls, it wasn’t that funny]. When they reach Spencer’s front yard, he suggests they meet again on Monday night for another adventure [What, that five second prank is the only Night Game for tonight? Spencer is fkn lame hahahaha]. Cassie starts to decline, but Lenny and Jordan eagerly agree [The audacity of Cassie to think she can make her own decisions when there’s men around! 😖 ]. Diane doesn’t say anything, because she still doesn’t understand what was so fun about it, and she’s also unnerved by Spencer’s howls of laughter [He legit wailed like a hyena a few times because his prank was sooOOooO0000O00O0o0o funny…] and the wild look on his face – why was he so excited, and why did scaring that couple seem give him so much pleasure? [Are you kink-shaming, Diane?]
On Monday in math, Lenny makes the mistake of audibly laughing at something Jordan says while Mr. Crowell’s writing on the blackboard. Mr. Crowell basically calls him stupid and continues pushing Lenny’s buttons, wondering why he doesn’t have anything to say for once when he usually loves to disrupt the classroom [Does Lenny really disrupt the classroom, or is this teacher just a massive dick?]. Lenny glowers in his seat, and Diane can sense one of his mood swings coming on. Mr. Crowell admits that he’s surprised Lenny even bothers with school, then turns around to continue writing his equation.
Lenny rises from his seat and knocks his desk over, then steps menacingly towards the teacher, fist raised [!!!]. Diane begs Lenny to stop, and he surprisingly listens, storming out of the classroom instead of assaulting the teacher. While Jordan and Diane clean up the mess Lenny made, Mr. Crowell resumes writing on the board as if nothing ever happened. Diane can’t stop thinking about her boyfriend for the rest of the class – it’s not fair how Mr. Crowell singles him out so much, but Lenny needs to be more careful because one more suspension means Lenny will have to change schools, thanks to Mr. Cowell getting him suspended twice already last year.
After class, Cassie shares her own concerns about Lenny and Mr. Crowell because the teacher has a heart condition and she’s worried that Lenny will give him a heart attack one of these days [Foreshadowing?]. “”Good,”‘ says Diane, and both girls laugh, so I guess Cassie doesn’t care that much. Cassie’s also not very keen to sneak out tonight, but will if everyone else is doing it [If everyone else jumped off a bridge, you better believe Cassie will follow!]. Diane’s not looking forward to it either, but at least it’ll give her a chance to talk to Lenny. It’s just some innocent fun anyway, so what could happen? [Just you wait, Diane! Just you wait…]
After midnight, Diane, Cassie, Lenny and Jordan meet up in Spencer’s front yard, and Diane warns her boyfriend that he really needs to cool his jets in math class, suggesting Mr. Crowell will ignore him if he just sits still. Lenny refuses because Crowell’s gonna get on his case no matter what, like he always does [Maybe you could try actually doing your work though, Lenny?]. Spencer climbs down from his window, excited that everyone actually came because ‘”Everyone needs some Night Games from time to time.”‘ [Do they, though?]
The gang informs Spencer of Lenny’s latest run-in with Crowell, and Spencer can relate because the teacher used to target him too. He leads them to Mr. Crowell’s home, suggesting they peek through his windows to ‘”see if he has any dirty secrets.”‘ [It’s after midnight on a weekday, won’t he be sleeping?]. Cassie reckons they’ll be seen because his yard is so damn bright, but Spencer insists they’ll be careful.
The fivesome sneaks up to the window and to my surprise, Mr. Crowell isn’t asleep and is decorating his Christmas tree [Very convenient for the plot, but in real life I swear no-one is going to be putting their tree up at fkn midnight when they’ve got work early the next day]. Again, the teens discuss how weird it is that this particular man is so into Christmas, especially when you take into consideration that he doesn’t even have a wife or kids or anything, so all the lights and decorations is purely for his own enjoyment [Maybe he just really likes Christmas! I bet he has reindeer horns and a Rudolph nose on his car too].
They get bored pretty quickly and head off, but Spencer lags behind to loudly destroy some of Mr. Crowell’s display with his giant flashlight. His eyes are wild as he rips down lights and stomps on Santas and decorations like there’s no tomorrow, ignoring his friends’ calls to stop. Before our core four can haul ass without him, the porch light flashes on and Mr. Crowell steps out on the stoop, screaming ‘”I see you!”‘
The gang hoofs it out of there, leaving the teacher screaming angrily on the porch. Diane wonders if he really did see them, and if he did, did he recognise them? [Surely he saw Spencer, since he would have still been in the front yard when Mr. Crowell came outside. Or maybe he’d destroyed all the lights before that?]. She’s terrified of the repercussions, imagining herself being arrested, having to explain everything to her parents and even being expelled from Shadyside High [Calm down, drama queen. Just throw Spencer under the bus xx].
Spencer, Lenny and Jordan are all laughing and hollering about the destruction of property, and when they arrive back at Spencer’s front yard, Spencer insists Crowell would have only seen their backs as they dashed off. Lenny chimes in that even if he did see them, he could never prove it, since as far as anyone else knows, they’re all safe and sound in bed right now. Cassie’s still angry about what Spencer did, and Diane agrees that he should have warned them about what he was going to do. Instead of acknowledging their concerns, Spencer asks if they want to sneak out again tomorrow night, but Diane makes him promise that from now on, he’ll warn them before doing anything crazy [Why are we even friends with Spencer? He sounds like a dipshit].
The phone’s ringing when Diane’s sneaking back into her room, and it’s her ex-boyfriend, Bryan Hedges, much to her annoyance. She broke up with him last year for Lenny, but lately Bryan’s been pestering Diane about getting back together. While flattered, Lady Di has no interest in dating Bryan anymore, and she certainly doesn’t want him calling her at 3am.
He tries to organise a date with her, but Diane’s loyal to Lenny [Yeah, Bryan! Why are you trying to get back with her now after so long, anyway?] and tells him not to call again. Before she can hang up, though, he tells her in his most menacing voice that she’ll be sorry if she continues to date Lenny. Diane doesn’t take kindly to threats from her ex and slams the phone down but it quickly starts to ring again:
I grabbed the receiver angrily and raised it to my ear.
“Bryan, I’m warning you—”
“Diane, I saw you tonight,” a whisper voice rasped.
“Bryan—stop it!” I cried.
“I saw you tonight, Diane. I know about your Night Games,” the voice whispered.
“Get off the phone, Bryan!” I cried. “You’re not funny. It’s you—right? Bryan? Bryan?”
[I think it’s Spencer being a wanker]
Last Winter
[Oooh, we’re travelling back in time now!] Spencer’s our protagonist for this flashback and it’s told in third person, to help differentiate with the first-person Diane. He’s just arrived at his uncle’s snow cabin and is waiting for Diane, Lenny, Cassie and Jordan to join him for the weekend. He’s super excited, but wishes he wasn’t the only single one in the group – apparently he’s too picky. He needs someone smart, pretty, and fun… ‘someone like Diane.’ [Oop] When she’d dumped Bryan, Spencer thought for sure he’d be her next boyfriend – they’d been friends for years, and he knows Diane liked him. But Lenny just happened to swoop in first [Maybe Lenny knows about Spencer’s feelings and that’s why he’s so jealous].
Spencer feels a pang of bitterness as Jordan’s Jeep rolls up because Spencer’s family isn’t that well off [Your uncle’s well off enough to have a snow cabin, though!]. Jordan guns the engine as he pulls into the driveway, flinging snow all over poor Spencer as Diane and Cassie giggle in the backseat [Bitches]. Lenny steps out of Jordan’s car and immediately suggests Spencer cut down on the Snickers bars because ‘”We saw your car leaning too far to the left.”‘ [Ugh, Lenny is awful. I’m #TeamSpencer now]. Spencer’s pissed about the joke because so what if he’s a little chubby? [Yaaaas, body confidence!] Who gave Lenny the right to tease him ‘”in front of Diane?”‘ [Or just in general…]
Spencer’s tried to convince Diane that Lenny’s bad news, but she didn’t want any of his advice, and the worst part is that Diane and Lenny are practically attached at the hip [Gross, they’re one of those couples 🤮 ] – Lenny wasn’t even on the guest list for this weekend! [I wonder if she actually does bring him everywhere, or he insists on tagging along? I feel like that would be on brand for Lenny]
Inside the cabin, Spencer builds a fire while the others go find their rooms [I wonder if the couples will actually sleep in the same room? They didn’t in Truth or Dare, which I thought was weird for unchaperoned teenagers], and he ends up overhearing a very interesting argument:
“Stop telling me what to do, Diane,” Lenny warned. “I didn’t want to come up here in the first place. I came along for you.”
“You didn’t have to,” Spencer heard Diane reply. “You don’t have to follow me around everywhere I go.”
“You follow me. I don’t follow you,” Lenny insisted.
[Except you literally just said you only came up here because she was going, you pleb. I hate him 😤 ] Spencer hears Jordan step in to break it up, but can’t make out the muttered words that come after it, but that’s followed by his name in Lenny’s mouth before he and Jordan laugh. Spencer and Jordan were pretty good friends before Lenny came along, so he’s pretty hurt by this [Was Bryan also a good friend before Diane dumped him? Maybe you could rekindle that friendship, Spencer].
The couples soon return to the living room and pair off onto the two green leather sofas [They sound fugly! Green leather? Especially ’90s green leather?]. They discuss what to watch on the wide-screen TV, but the power goes out before Lenny can force them all to watch hockey. As I’m sure we all suspected, Lenny’s the first to complain about this power outage [Go home, Lenny]. Spencer fetches a lantern from the kitchen and when he returns, Lenny and Diane are in the middle of an argument [Excellent].
Looking directly at Spencer, Lenny again whines that he didn’t want to come here in the first place [Ugh, I hope Lenny dies], so Diane suggests he go sit in the car instead if he’s having such a bad time [Good on you, Diane!]. And that’s exactly what Lenny does, and he can stay there as far as I’m concerned.
Soon, Jordan and Cassie start snogging on the couch, which makes Spencer feel awkward, so he decides to go get some more wood for the fire. Diane goes with him, and when they reach the shed, she confides in him about the constant fighting between her and Lenny [Dump him]. The poor girl looks so sad that Spencer drops his wood [Not a euphemism] and tenderly cups her chin as they gaze into each other’s eyes. And then he kisses her! [Oh, no wonder Lenny’s jealous then lol]
Spencer’s instantly spun around by a hand on his shoulder and greeted with a fist to the mouth from Lenny. Diane throws herself between then before more damage can be done, so Lenny just screams at him to stay away from Diane ‘”Or else you’ll be sorry!”‘ [It didn’t really say that Diane kissed him back, so I wonder if she actually does have feelings for Spencer too, or if he’d just imagined it. She was very happy to see him back in the present, so maybe there is something there]. As Lenny drags his property girlfriend back to the cabin, Spencer silently vows that he won’t let Lenny get away with treating people like this [I mean, you did kiss his girlfriend lol. But still, #TeamSpencer. Maybe the Night Games of the present is just an elaborate revenge scheme to get back at Lenny! I bet Spencer’s family didn’t move back to Shadyside, and he’s squatting in that house because it’s empty!].
This Winter
Back to our darling Diane, who’s at Pete’s Pizza with Cassie after school on Tuesday, totally regretting letting Cassie order the Vegetarian Surprise pizza to share. I’m not sure what the surprise is, but Diane’s picking off chunks of uncooked carrot every few seconds, so maybe it’s that. Diane can’t stop thinking about Bryan, and tells Cassie all about last night’s call and how he threatened her if she kept dating Lenny, and that he knew about the Night Games [You don’t know for sure that Bryan was the second caller, Diane].
Cassie wants to know how Bryan could possibly know about the Night Games [Maybe he’s stalking Diane?! Why else would he think to call her at 3am], but Diane suddenly doesn’t have time to worry about Bryan [But you literally brought him up because you can’t stop thinking about him?] because she’s worried about Lenny [Make up your damn mind, Diane]. Lenny’s just so angry all the time, and she’s scared he’ll do something really bad. Diane knows he’s a good guy [Is he, though?] and just thinks people need to give him a break.
The girls talk about Spencer next, and how different he is from last year. Cassie notes that ‘”he used to be … well … sort of a wimp,'” but now he’s confident, so self-assured. Diane admits he’s a lot more fun now, but his unpredictability is kind of scary. Lenny suddenly staggers into the restaurant, lurching towards them as his right hand drips with blood!
The bleeding hand is apparently Crowell’s fault, because Lenny punched his locker after finding out Mr. Crowell told the coach Lenny was failing algebra, which got him kicked off the basketball team [None of these things sound like Mr. Crowell’s fault, Lenny. Also, this guy really came all the way to Pete’s Pizza dripping blood everywhere instead of bandaging it up at school or something…]. Lenny refuses to let Crowell ruin his life [Take some accountability for your own action lol. You punched the locker, and your grades are what got you kicked off the team. Maybe you could actually try doing some classwork] and shoots down Diane’s suggestion to simply talk to the teacher, because Lenny’s sure that Crowell wants him thrown out of school. Jordan arrives next and asks if they’re sneaking out for some more Night Games tonight, which gives Lenny an idea:
“Yes. Tonight,” he said thoughtfully. “We’re sneaking out after midnight. And tonight … no smashed lights or decorations. Tonight we’re really going to get Mr. Crowell.”
[Is this the prank that will turn to murder? I kind of hope Lenny dies and not Mr. Crowell lol] Diane takes the opportunity now to explain to us readers why she, the most sensible one of the group, allowed herself to get caught up in the Night Games and Lenny’s revenge plan. It basically boils down to the freedom of being the only ones out at night after midnight and not having to answer to anyone [So just like in the Fear Street Nights trilogy, no adult is awake or out and about after midnight in Shadyside?].
Another factor is Spencer and his ability ‘to make you follow him with just a smile or a word.’ [Are you trying to shift blame now too, Diane?] Everyone’s drawn to his confidence, and besides, he just wants to have adventures, you know? At least, that’s what Diane thought… ‘until the night Lenny insisted we return to Mr. Crowell’s house.’
Diane’s first to arrive in Spencer’s yard, followed by Cassie and Jordan, who seemed to have been arguing as usual [I wish we could hear their arguments instead of just being told they’re arguing], and then Lenny, who immediately complains that Spencer is late [Bruh, you literally just got here. If I was Spencer, I also wouldn’t make an appearance til all of you were present]. Cassie’s wants to go home because it’s so cold, but Lenny’s in one of his moods tonight and insists they have to wait for Spencer.
Spencer finally appears from the side of the house, explaining he’d fallen asleep [OK], and Lenny quickly tells him he wants to go back to Crowell’s place and do some damage. Cassie and Spencer protest that Night Games are all about having fun, not seeking revenge, but Lenny is all like ‘”Hey, I know you and I didn’t always get along”‘ to Spencer and insists it’s all in the past now and they’re friends now, right? Spencer glances at the girls and heads to the street without answering the question [I hope Spencer’s got a plan to fuck Lenny over hehe].
The gang arrives at Crowell’s house and are surprised to find that the Christmas lights are turned off, and inside the house is dark, too. Lenny reckons this is weird because ‘”Crowell usually stays up late,”‘ [Why do you know that, Lenny?], but they soon realise he’s not home when they see no car in the open garage. Spencer announces that it’s Lenny’s lucky night and slides open an unlocked window to climb inside [Now this is an adventure!].
Cassie thinks it’s a bad idea, but Diane’s too excited by the craziness to be sensible right now and they all follow Spencer through the window. Lenny stupidly flicks the light on, but Spencer slaps it back down and yells at him because what if a neighbour sees, or Crowell gets home and sees a light on? [Yeah, you fkn idiot] Lenny’s keen to trash the place, but Spencer has a much better idea, and they get to work moving things around so Crowell will know someone’s been here but ‘”won’t have any real reason to call the police.”‘
As the others start rearranging things in the living room, Diane wanders through the house and finds herself in a bedroom where there’s a dark figure on the bed – ‘A man’s body. Mr. Crowell’s body. Stretched—unmoving—on the bed.’ My first thought would be that Crowell’s just sleeping, but Diane thinks he’s dead… Luckily Spencer appears and points out that it’s just a pair of pyjamas spread out on the bed [Are you fucking kidding me, Diane].
As they head back to the living room, headlights fill the front window as Mr. Crowell arrives home [Oh shit]. The group makes a mad dash to the window they entered in, Spencer helping himself to a CD player, but somehow the window is now shut and won’t open no matter how hard they push [Which of you fkn idiots closed it?]. They quickly run to the kitchen and escape out the back door, and as they run through the darkness, Diane isn’t sure if she’s hearing Mr. Crowell shouting after them or a dog howling at the moon [Those would be two very different and distinct sounds, Diane]. The group holler and hoot in celebration as they make their way back to Spencer’s yard, and Diane will never forget the sight of Spencer running with the CD player with a ‘crazy expression of excitement, of triumph’ on his face.
Climbing into bed shortly after [I can’t believe how short these adventures are], Diane’s too wired to sleep, so calls Cassie instead. She also can’t sleep, and the two girls discuss how tonight had been fun but Spencer went too far, as usual. They agree that it’s like he has to one-up them, and he doesn’t seem satisfied ‘”unless he does something really dangerous'” [I wouldn’t exactly call smashing some Christmas decorations dangerous, but OK]. At least Lenny got his revenge, though!
Diane immediately gets another call after Cassie’s call ends, and it’s the same harsh, whispery voice that she continues to assume is Bryan [But we know better, don’t we?]. The mysterious voice saw what happened tonight and knows all about the revenge and stolen property, and promises Diane that she’ll pay for what she did [I still think it’s Spencer. Maybe he’ll frame Lenny so he can finally get the girl!]
In math the next day, Mr. Crowell spends a lot of time staring at Diane, Cassie, Lenny and Jordan. It’s almost like he’s toying with them, even telling Cassie ‘”I nearly caught you,”‘ when he calls on her to answer something because she’s not paying attention. When class is over, clumsy Diane drops her books as everyone races out of the classroom. Thankfully, Mr. Crowell is there to help her pick it all up and asks her to stay a few minutes so they can talk.
The poor girl nearly has a heart attack, but he’s super friendly and just wants to make sure she’s going OK on her mid-term project because she chose a difficult topic. He tells her she’s s a good student and if she has any questions, she can always come to him [Why so friendly all of a sudden? Could he maybe not be as bad as everyone thinks? It kinda seems like these teens are heavily exaggerating things and he’s only an asshole when people are doing something wrong lol].
The others are waiting at her locker when she arrives, and Diane advises them against any more Night Games, worried that even if Crowell doesn’t know anything now, he might find out [Maybe just stop targeting him in the Night Games?]. Cassie agrees because she doesn’t even find it fun anymore, but the boys basically call them wimps, so Diane tells them about the phone call last night:
I’m not sure why I did it. But I turned my gaze toward Jordan.
He frowned. And then he blushed.
Weird. Jordan blushing? He never blushes.
He glanced away.
[Oooh, is Jordan behind the calls? Does he have a crush on Diane too?]. The voice had sounded familiar, but Diane can’t figure out who it was and has no idea why someone would threaten her, much to Lenny’s annoyance. Lenny agrees to stop with the Night Games, but Jordan just scoffs at them all, insisting they’re overreacting. He doesn’t want Spencer to think they’re all wimps, but Cassie snaps at him to grow up because who cares what Spencer thinks when ‘”we’re the ones who have to face Crowell every day.”‘ Jordan finally agrees, and they head over to Spencer’s house after school to break the news, but there’s no answer at the door [Because no-one lives there, I bet!].
Later that night as Diane’s walking home from Cassie’s after a study date, she has the sense that she’s being watched. Then Bryan suddenly grabs her from the bushes, explaining he saw her go to Cassie’s earlier and has been waiting ‘”out here in the snow all night just to see you.”‘ [That was your choice, Bryan. Take a damn hint].
He follows Diane as she tries to walk off, insisting she deserves better than hotheaded Lenny, who’ll get her mixed up in something baaaaaaaaaad. ‘”I know what I’m talking about,”‘ says Bryan, but unless you’re elaborating, buddy, I don’t want to hear it and clearly neither does Diane.
His words make her wonder if he’s been watching the Night Games from afar, though, so she tells him she’s had enough of his threatening phone calls. He doesn’t have any idea what she’s talking about, claiming to have only called that one time, but she thinks he’s lying and tells him to stay away from her. He grabs her menacingly as she tries to run off again, hurting her arm with his tight grip, but finally lets go when a car drives past. Once again, Diane orders him to just leave her alone, and he runs off down the block.
Diane’s parents are out when she arrives home, and she’s looking forward to a few relaxing hours to herself, but Lenny’s soon banging on the door because he’s got other plans. He’s super upset and explains that Mr. Crowell called his parents to tell them why Lenny was kicked off the basketball team. According to Lenny’s dad, Crowell did it to help him learn responsibility [Which sounds accurate, but it doesn’t seem like it’s helping 😤 ].
Lenny’s mad because Crowell should have given him a chance to talk to his parents first [You had a whole day???], and now they won’t listen to any of his excuses [Good]. He also confesses to having horrible fantasies where he beats up Mr. Crowell, and even on the way here, he imagine running him down with his car:
I swallowed hard.
That didn’t sound like Lenny. Yes, he definitely had a bad temper. But would he really beat up a teacher? No way.
[Ummmmm, no Diane, that sounds exactly like Lenny, what the fuck are you talking about? He was literally on his way over to punch Crowell in class the other day before you calmed him down?????? This girl’s an idiot]
Diane suggests once again he try to talk to Mr. Crowell, but Lenny just scowls at her. Not knowing what else to do, she kisses him [Oh god, Diane]. She feels him trembling as he kisses back, and her heart aches for him. She can’t do anything, though, ‘except be the one who accepted him the way he is.’ [This is gross. Who ordered the cheese?].
Lenny’s finally starting to relax when there’s another knock at the front door – this time it’s Cassie, who quickly presents a note she’d found in her bag and reads it out loud – ‘”I know about your Night Games. You’re going to be the loser.”‘ None of them recognise the handwriting, but Lenny quickly decides Mr. Crowell is behind it – he gets his kicks by torturing them, so it makes the most sense [No, it’s Spencer].
Cassie completely disagrees, insisting Crowell would have called the police and got them in real trouble if he did see them [That definitely makes sense]. Diane agrees with Cassie and puts forward her own suspect, Bryan, explaining that he’s been following her and acting really strange. Cassie proposes that Spencer is behind the notes because of how warped his sense of humour seems to be now [She’s got a point, because he was practically orgasming after scaring the couple in the car and smashing Crowell’s Christmas display. I think she’s got the right guy, but wrong motive though!]. Lenny argues that the Night Games were Spencer’s idea and it doesn’t make sense that he’d try to stop them when he loves them so much [It’s clearly all part of his plan to get revenge for last winter lol]. And then I found a typo:
“No one said it had to make sense,” I answered. “We haven’t seen Spencer in a year. He could have gone through all kinds of changes during that time.”
“He does seem really … different,” I agreed.
See? She’s agreeing with herself. I’m assuming Cassie was supposed to say that first line? Anyway, there’s another knock at the door, and this time it’s my main suspect himself, Spencer! He’s got a note too, in the same handwriting as Cassie’s one, but with a different message:
‘”Night Games can be dangerous,” he said quietly. “Sometimes people die.”
[I wish someone would!]
Last Winter
It’s the morning after Spencer kissed Diane, and he rolls out of bed and stumbles to the kitchen [Hot chocolate is his cup of ambition] before settling down on the deck with his warm beverage. Cassie and Diane appear and invite Spencer to come play in the snow with them, and soon the trio is frolicking about and making snow angels. Lenny and Jordan show up, and Lenny looks as pissed as ever. He suggests they have a snowball fight – Lenny and Jordan against Diane, Cassie and Spencer. Spencer has a feeling Lenny’s planning something cruel and grows more angry that he’s even here in the first place. He starts packing some snowballs, and then melts them with his hands to form a layer of ice before pitching it at Lenny. It misses and smacks Jordan in the side of his head, so Spencer hurls another one which catches Lenny in the mouth and draws blood.
Lenny and Jordan are pissed and call Spencer out for using ice balls, but he insists he didn’t mean to and they probably just froze on their own. Lenny and Jordan aren’t buying it and get their revenge by burying Spencer in the snow. Deeper and deeper they bury him, his mouth filling with the stuff every time he tries to take a breath. Diane orders them to stop, but Lenny continues to laugh and pile on more snow, insisting it’s just a joke. Spencer can do nothing but lay there as the weight of the snow crushes him, his body aching from trying to push back.
Lenny decides they should all head back to Shadyside, and although Diane doesn’t want to leave him here, Jordan convinces her Spencer is just pretending he can’t escape. Their voices quickly fade away, and Spencer hears Jordan’s Jeep start up [Wow, they’re actually leaving him?!]. He tries with all his might to free himself, but the poor boy remains trapped in the suffocating whiteness:
Come back, he wailed silently.
I can’t move. I can’t breathe.
I’m so cold.
Diane, please. You’re not going to leave me here to die.
You’re not going to leave me.
Are you?
[OK so Spencer definitely died here, and his spirit has come back to seek revenge on his former friends. Love it! Although if they haven’t see him since this happened, surely they would have suspected that something went wrong? Are they really that stupid? And surely they would have heard he was missing through his family or something, right? Spencer’s definitely our bad guy, but I’m not sure why he’s trying to warn Diane away from Lenny and the Night Games. Does he want to grant her mercy since she didn’t want to leave him buried?]
This Winter
It’s Thursday now and Diane’s in the school cafeteria with Cassie, Lenny and Jordan. They’ve all got the heebie jeebies because of the notes, and Diane laments that they should have told Spencer last night that they weren’t participating in the Night Games anymore. Diane silently works through the suspect list as they eat – only Lenny would ever believe Mr. Crowell is responsible, so he’s out [I feel like that’s not a good enough reason to cross him off, though], and Spencer also got a note, so it can’t be him [Ever heard of a lie, Diane?]. That only leaves Bryan, but why? And what will he do next? [Nothing, because Spencer is our bad guy]
Lenny’s finally agreed to talk to Mr. Crowell, so Diane waits outside the classroom after school while Lenny goes in. Diane plans to eavesdrop [Mood], but there’s no need because Lenny and Crowell were screaming at each other ‘loud enough for the whole school to hear.’ [How professional of Mr. Crowell] Diane’s worried that Lenny might lose control and punch the teacher [But that doesn’t sound like Lenny, remember, Diane?], but before she can barge in to break it up, Lenny yanks open the door and storms down the hall without so much as a glance at his girlfriend.
Diane catches up to him outside the gym, where they can see the basketball team practicing through the open doors, which will only piss Lenny off more [Good]. Lenny explains that Mr. Crowell ‘”said I would never change”‘ and called Lenny a loser [Well, he got you there, Lenny!]
Jordan jogs over from the basketball court and a chill sweeps through Diane’s body as the boys exchange a look – Diane’s never seen them ‘so grim, So determined. So angry.’ She asks what they’re planning to do, and Lenny informs here there’ll be one more Night Game to visit Mr. Crowell’s house one last time.
They meet in Spencer’s yard again after midnight, and once again Spencer is late. He doesn’t say anything when he arrives, and just leads them silently off into the night. He’s just as solemn as the rest of them and looks as determined as Lenny, so he must have something special planned for tonight!
Mr. Crowell’s home is dark again with no car visible, so Lenny creeps right up to the window they used last time and slides it open. Diane’s worried that Crowell could be waiting for them, but Lenny doesn’t care, and actually hopes Crowell is home [Lenny’s such a hard dude lol]. Diane’s nervous because none of the other Night Games have started out with this much anger, but follows the others inside anyway [And Cassie seems to have no qualms either, for once!]. The moon peeks out from behind a cloud as they stand in the living room and bathes them in an eerie light through the window, glinting off a metal object in Lenny’s hand… a gun! Diane and Cassie are hysterical, but Lenny raises the object and points, and the two idiots realise it’s a fucking can of spray paint [For fuck’s sake, Diane 😠 ].
Diane begs Lenny not to use the can, but he’s cosplaying as an artist tonight and starts sprays thick paint everywhere. Diane flees into the hallway because he’s going way too far for her liking, and apparently Cassie’s in the hallway already even though she was just huddling with Diane in the living room thinking the spray can was a gun…
Anyway, Diane insists they need to leave asap, but Cassie wants to know where the guys are. Diane realises she can’t hear Lenny’s spray can anymore [It’s been like five seconds, wtf is happening], so the panicking girls make their way through the house [How many entry points are there to the living room? Surely the guys would have had to pass the girls to leave it?]. Hearing excited whispers down the hall, the girls head towards the bedroom and are briefly attacked by a coat hanging on a coat tree which they stumble into [Idiots].
Lenny can be heard inside the bedroom, so the girls let themselves in and flick on the light, where they find the guys staring at something on the floor – Mr. Crowell sprawled on his back, unblinking and unmoving. They’re not pyjamas this time, he’s really dead [!!!!].
Diane bends down to inspect the corpse, noticing the grimace of pain on his face and how one hand is reaching for his glasses, which lay shattered near his head. Lenny suddenly walks in [Even though Diane heard Lenny’s voice in here when she was outside the door? What?] and sees the body as Diane struggles not to vomit. ‘Who could have done this? Who hated Mr. Crowell enough to kill him?’ she wonders [Gee, I fucking wonder. I mean, obviously Lenny didn’t do it, but realistically he should be the number one suspect]. Diane’s thoughts run wild as she remembers Lenny’s intense hatred for the teacher, and how he admitted to fantasising about killing Crowell, but tries to convince herself Lenny couldn’t do something like that [I’m sure Spencer could though!].
They decide to flee the house and head for the window in the living room, but Lenny refuses to leave until he finds the spray can – apparently the dipstick tossed it somewhere in the dark, and he doesn’t want the police to find the can with his fingerprints all over it [But like, if Crowell was alive, he could have taken the can to the police and they would have had his fingerprints anyway? Lenny’s an idiot]. Jordan eventually finds it and they escape through the window and run all the way to Diane’s home instead of Spencer’s for some reason, and then everyone splits off back to their own homes.
As Diane’s about to sneak inside, she hears brakes squealing and ducks into a bush as a car roars by. It’s a blue Toyota, and Diane doesn’t see the driver, but she recognises that it’s Bryan’s car. Is he spying on her and her friends? [He just wants to talk, Diane, remember?] Diane pushes the thought from her mind and heads to bed, where she tosses and turns all night, regretting the most recent Night Game. What if someone saw them? What if the person who knows about their Night Games goes to the police? The police will never believe the teens aren’t guilty of murder.
Cassie calls at 7am with news about Mr. Crowell – he was found dead this morning by his housekeeper, and the police think he died of a heart attack. Diane’s relieved because this means they don’t think someone killed him, but Cassie quickly bursts that bubble – ‘”The police think an intruder broke in and scared Mr. Crowell to death.”‘ [Is scaring someone to death a chargeable offence? Like, could it be classed as murder?] Both girls wonder if he really did die from fright when he heard them break in [I guess he could have been alive and well at the time, and his car was just in his garage or something? There was no mention of the garage last night, Diane just mentioned the driveway was empty], and Diane decides to skip school today because she’s far too anxious.
She doesn’t hear from any of her friends that day, which makes her more nervous, but she assumes everyone’s just as stressed as she is and needs time to think. Diane’s parents are off to see a play tonight, so Diane settles down on the couch for a relaxing movie night, which is interrupted by a knock at the door before the opening credits are over. She’s content with being alone for the night so she doesn’t answer at first, but the pounding continues as if whoever it is wants to break the door down!
The knocking stops as soon as she reaches the door and after peeking through a window, she sees that the porch is empty. She opens the door, just to make sure no-one actually is around [That’s just asking for trouble, Di], but all she finds is a rolled up sheet of paper propped against the porch railing that reads ‘YOU DIE NEXT’ in red spray paint, which is apparently the same colour Lenny used to graffiti Crowell’s place.
Lenny and Cassie soon rock up with the exact same spray-painted notes, and Lenny asks if they recognise the writing at all [Which I think is a stupid question, because it’s not like writing with a can is the same as actual handwriting, you know? Why would they match?]. Neither girl does, but Diane mentions Bryan driving by last night when she got home. The trio want to know if Jordan got a note too, but his mother told Cassie he was at a friend’s place working on a science project when she called earlier, but didn’t say who.
Apparently the best way to find him is to drive around town looking for him [What a tremendous waste of time], and they finally spot his car outside The Corner, a hangout spot near school. Inside, they find Jordan sharing a plate of greasy fries with none other than Bryan [Wait, is Jordan our bad guy? Surely not].
Diane is super suss about the pair being together, despite Jordan’s insistence that they’re lab partners in chemistry, and whips out the newest note, accusing Jordan of being behind it since he was the one who found the spray paint can last night. Jordan admits to sending them, which of course is a classic cliffhanger ending, but he’s just being sarcastic and informs the group that Spencer grabbed the spray can off him before they all ran home. The others apologise for their mistake, and then they all head to Spencer’s to confront him, minus Bryan who isn’t interested in being dragged into this debacle [So you’re willingly turning down time with Diane? OK].
I guess they’ve never been to Spencer’s house during the day, because Diane now notices how deserted and shabby it looks [Because Spencer’s a squatter!]. There’s no answer at the door, so they climb through the window and discover that the house is completely empty and freezing cold, with no power either. Not only that, but Spencer sprawled out facedown on the floor, ‘his head twisted to one side.’ He’s dead!
Cassie’s sure the murderer will come after the rest of them too, but Lenny is against calling the police because they’ll have to explain everything and will likely be charged with Crowell’s murder [I feel like they could leave everything about Crowell out and just say they found Spencer’s body?]. There’s no sign of Spencer’s family either, which confuses them even more, and fact that there’s no obvious cause of death on Spencer’s body doesn’t help:
“M-maybe he’s only unconscious,” Jordan stammered. “We didn’t check for a pulse or anything.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped. “Of course he’s dead.”
“You’re right, Diane,” whispered a raspy voice.
“Huh?” I gasped and turned in time to see Spencer roll over and slowly sit up.
A strangled scream stuck in my throat.
Spencer’s blank eyes stared into mine.
“I’m dead,” he whispered. “You’re right, Diane. I’m really dead.”
He floats off the floor and hovers around as he reveals they caused his death by burying him in the snow. His skin is suddenly all decayed now and he absolutely stinks [What, so he’s actually a living corpse and not a ghost? Dead bodies don’t float though. Also, I get that he’s slimmer than last year because he’s an emaciated corpse, but I’m sure it said he’s hair is longer now too? Does hair grow when you’re dead?], and he reveals that it took him a long time to realise what had happened, but his hatred for his friends has kept him in Shadyside [But he wasn’t in Shadyside when he died? And why has he waited a whole year to get revenge?]. He admits to scaring Mr. Crowell to death as part of his plan to toy with his friends, which he’s had so much fun doing! But the game’s over now and it’s time for them to die, and since Diane was his favourite, she’s up first [You save the best for last, Spencer, not first]!
The ghoul floats over to Diane and wraps his bony hands around her throat, squeezing tighter and tighter. She’s unable to fight him off and I have no idea what Cassie, Lennie and Jordan are doing, but they’re definitely not doing anything to help poor Diane. Diane runs out of air and slips into ‘a comforting sea of black,’ but then hears her own voice commanding her to hold on.
With her last bit of strength, she wraps her arms around Spencer, ignoring the putrid stench and his cold skin, and hugs him as hard as she can. He releases his grip on her throat in surprise as she tells him how much she’s always liked him. Realising what she’s doing, Cassie, Lenny and Jordan approach and wrap their arms around Spencer too, and they tell him how they love him and have missed him so much.
Spencer orders them to get away because ‘”I need my hatred to keep me here!”‘ but love triumphs over hate and he melts like snow into a glistening puddle on the floor [This is fkn stupid but I kinda love it hahaha]. And then the puddle vanishes and Cassie, Lenny and Jordan start celebrating. Diane would love to join in, but she just feels so cold [Omg] and the book ends as ‘in that instant—that cold, cold moment—I realized I was dead.’ [I love this!]:
Spencer had killed me. Spencer had strangled me.
My friends celebrated happily—and I was dead.
It’s not fair, I thought bitterly, watching them dance and hug each other. Why should they be alive while I am dead?
Lenny came over, flashing his wide grin. He hugged me, and I felt only cold.
Bitter cold.
A few minutes ago, he stood here and watched Spencer kill me. All three of them stood and watched me die.
They didn’t move. They didn’t help.
And now they wanted to celebrate.
I stared at Lenny. I let him hug me, but I didn’t feel a thing.
Should I tell them? I wondered?
Should I tell them that I’m dead now?
Or should I wait—and play some games of my own?
[I think this might be my favourite ending ever!]
Final thoughts
I think I was expecting more from this book, but it was still enjoyable. The main storyline felt real for the most part, up until the end at least, and Diane felt like a real person, too, which is always nice. We need to talk about last winter, though – how the fuck do you leave someone buried in snow and not think even give it a second thought when you never see them again? They just all thought he moved away right after they buried him, without saying goodbye? What about Spencer’s family, did they not even realise he was missing? Were the authorities not alerted? Poor Spencer having literally no-one that cares about him.
I’m annoyed that the cover never happened. They never even went to the damn cemetery! Why can’t we have cover art that’s relevant to the book? Speaking of relevance, I don’t even remember Fear Street ever being mentioned in this book! Usually, the series’ namesake gets a passing message at the very least, but not here. I may have just skipped over it somehow, but I’m pretty sure there was no Fear Street reference.
While I may forget this book in the near-future, I’ll always remember it’s ending – this is the gloomiest conclusion I’ve seen so far, which was completely unexpected and not at all what we’re used to. Most books end with a “funny” little comment from one of the characters, or some conclusive realisation, and occasionally we get an ending where the protagonist’s fate is left subjectively ambiguous. Here, however, Diane is confirmed dead, and I love that she’s instantly resentful of her friends for standing by and watching her die. Will she get her own revenge? I’d like to think yes.
This was a quick easy read, and there was nothing overwhelmingly bad about it, it just wasn’t as exciting as the cover and blurb lead me to believe [Note to self: Stop being fooled by generic blurbs that you already know won’t be entirely accurate].
Unfortunately, the rest of the book wasn’t as great as the ending, so 40 premature burials in the snow out of 74!
