Tagline: When the cheers turn to screams…
Back tagline: “GIVE ME A D-I-E!”
Summary: Newcomers Corky and Bobbi Corcoran want more than anything to make the cheerleading squad at Shadyside High. But as soon as the Corcoran sisters are named to the team, terrible things happen to the cheerleaders.
The horror starts with a mysterious accident near the Fear Street cemetery. Soon after, piercing screams echo through the empty school halls. And then the ghastly murders begin…
Can Corky and Bobbi stop the killer before the entire cheerleading squad is destroyed?
First impressions: An evil force terrorising a group of cheerleaders is a great concept and I’m very excited to explore this miniseries. I’ve been holding off from reading them until I had a copy of all of the books, and now that time has finally come (I’ve been waiting years)! I’ll also be reading the blurbs of each book for the first time when I read them to avoid any potential spoilers that might be there, so I’ll be going in blind every time!
Obviously Corky is short for Corcoran, but what first name does she have that’s so horrible that she chooses to go by Corky instead? Surely Corky isn’t actually better?
Anyway, the blurb is super intriguing, and I love this cover! Whose skull is on the pompom? Is the girl in front possessed? Why do the two background girls have such terrifying smiles, especially the blonde one, and who exactly are they? Let’s find out!
Recap
You know what time it is and I have the perfect gif:
Bobbi and Corky – Our two heroines who struggle to be accepted by the other girls.
Jennifer – Head cheerleader who has to step down due to a terrible accident.
Kimmy – The resident chubby girl who takes an immediate disliking to the Corcorans.
Debra – The bitchy, cold-hearted cheerleader.
Ronnie – The only freshman to make the squad.
Heather and Megan – Besties who really aren’t that relevant [yet???].
Chip – Kimmy’s ex and Bobbi’s love interest.
Part One: The Cheers
Our cheerleader saga begins with sisters Corky and Bobbi Corcoran placing a realistic-looking rubber rat outside their younger brother Sean’s bedroom door before heading down to breakfast. Sean hates rats, and the girls evidently love to terrorise him, but Bobbi seems to be the main joker of the house. 17-year-old Bobbi’s a year older than Corky, but they look like twins anyway with their blonde shoulder-length hair, green eyes and creamy skin [I’m surprised they’re not white-blonde with icy blue eyes!].
With descriptions out of the way, it’s time for the girls to complain about the breakfast Mum has lovingly made for everyone. They’re sick of poached eggs, but Mum insists because they’ll need all the energy they can get for the cheerleader tryouts this afternoon! The girls were on a championship-winning team back in Missouri, but have just moved to Shadyside and although the cheerleading team was already decided before the Corcorans arrived, they can at least audition as long as the squad agrees.
There’s some discussion about their new home being haunted, because Lisa Blume from school told Corky all the houses on Fear Street are haunted [Classic Lisa!], before a terrified scream from upstairs lets everyone know that Sean’s out of bed and has seen the fake rat. He tries to play it cool when he comes down for breakfast but Bobbi isn’t let him forget it that easily, and I don’t feel bad for him because it seems like he annoys the girls just as much as they annoy him [It hasn’t said how old he is though, but I’m gonna guess 12. Seems to be the standard age for annoying little siblings].
Soon Bobbi heads upstairs to get ready for school, but when Corky follows her a short while later, she finds her sister slumped over the railing at the top of the stairs [!!!]. It’s just another one of Bobbi’s silly pranks though, meant for Sean, because I guess she’s a 10-year-old trapped in a 17-year-old’s body [She is 100% too old for this crap].
Fast forward to the school gym later that afternoon where Jennifer Daly, the kind, beautiful, Julia Roberts-lookalike captain of Shadyside High Tigers cheerleading squad, is waiting for everyone to arrive for practice. Corky and Bobbi are sitting in the bleachers, which means they’re in perfect earshot when squad vice captain Kimmy Bass comes barging in with the other cheerleaders, insisting it’s not right and totally unfair that the Corcorans might get to try out [Fuck off, Kimmy].
Kimmy is slightly chunky [Which means she’s automatically a villain. If not the overall bad guy, she’ll definitely be some kind of antagonist], has crimped black hair and is a ball of energy, a direct contrast to Jennifer’s graceful, serene personality. Rounding out the squad is Debra Kern, a beautiful but cold girl who seldom smiles but comes alive when performing a cheer or routine; besties Heather Diehl and Megan Carman who are always together [Ooh, maybe they’re dating]; and Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Mitchell, the only freshman to make the squad.
Anyway, Jennifer tells Kimmy to hush because the sisters can hear them, but Kimmy doesn’t care because ‘”It just isn’t fair.”‘ [What’s not fair is you excluding them because they’re new! They’re all-state champions, Kimmy!!] Debra agrees with Kimmy, but Jennifer believes the Corcorans will be a huge asset to the team given their cheerleading history. Miss. Green, their advisor, arrives, and she’s a take-no-bullshit kinda woman who tells the squad that as the captain, it’s Jennifer’s decision whether or not to let the sisters try out. Jennifer’s a doll, so of course she’s willing to see their moves, and the Corcorans crush their tryout.
Everyone’s super impressed except for Kimmy and Debra, who were stone-faced the whole time, and while the others practice, Miss. Green leads Jennifer and the Corcorans to her office to reveal the big news – they’re on the team! Jennifer gushes over how great they are, but Bobbi detects some jealousy there when Jennifer laments how she’s usually the star around here, ‘”But no one’s going to notice me with you two around.”‘ [Oh , please no. I don’t think this book needs any more women against other women]
When the sisters leave, Miss. Green breaks the news to Jennifer that they only have the funds for a maximum of seven cheerleaders, not eight, which means one of the OG gals will get the chop. Kimmy appears at the door while they’re discussing this, and she’s not happy to learn that freshman Ronnie is getting is being forced out. At least Ronnie gets to be the alternate, I guess [Although I’m not sure why they have the funds for seven cheerleaders and one alternate, but not eight cheerleaders… am I missing something? Do alternates genuinely not count?]?
Afterwards, Kimmy and Debra are consoling Ronnie in the locker room. They’re the last ones in here, and Kimmy’s doing her best impression of a broken record as she complains once again about the sisters trying out. Ronnie’s doesn’t car that the Corcorans are on the squad, though; she’s just pissed at Jennifer and Miss. Green for axing her from it to make room [Which is fair enough, I think].
Debra reckons being captain has gone to Jennifer’s head and wishes the Corcorans would go back from whence they came, ‘”With their long blond hair and their big eyes and phony smiles.”‘ [Is shoulder-length hair considered long?] The trio then head for the showers, where Kimmy is instantly scalded by hot water as soon as she turns the taps on [She deserves it for being a fkn maniac who steps under the shower head before the water’s even on! You have to wait for it to become a reasonable temperature, Kimmy. Everyone knows that!]. Her neck and chest are scarlet red, but she’s fine otherwise…
On Friday evening two weeks later, the cheerleading squad is boarding the small school bus en route for the Tigers’ first away game [Why aren’t they travelling with the players? Isn’t that how it usually works?]. It’s raining, but that’s not dampening the Corcorans’ moods – they’ve been practicing hard since joining the squad and have managed to win over the other cheerleaders, except for Kimmy and Debra of course, and can’t wait to perform tonight. Miss. Green is driving separately, so it’s just the squad on this bus with the driver, a young man named Simmons who’s also a custodian at school and apparently not great at either of these two jobs [So I assume the bus is gonna crash]. We also get a taste of one of the Tigers’ riveting cheers:
“Tigers are yellow,
Tigers are black.
Push ’em back, push ’em back,
Push ’em waaaaay back!”
[These gals would have absolutely thrashed the Toros and Clovers!] There’s a bit of thunder now, and one of these idiots actually screams [I hate people that do that], and the bus has to make a detour to the Corcorans’ place to collect some props Corky and Bobbi forgot to bring. Despite the heavy rain and strong wind gusts, Simmons speeds up and even opens the door to help him see better through the steamy windshield [Lol, this won’t end well]. As they approach Fear Street, Jennifer stands at the front of the bus to make some announcements, but suddenly the bus skids out of control and Simmons cries ‘”The brakes—!” so I guess they’re not working:
Staring in horror and surprise at the front, Bobbi saw Jennifer’s eyes open wide. And then as the bus jolted and spun, she watched as Jennifer flew out the open door.
Jennifer’s startled scream was drowned out by the squeal of the skidding tires.
By the crunch of metal.
By the shatter of glass.
[Jennifer flying out the door is a hilarious mental image hahaha poor girl. I hope she’s OK] The bus lands on its side and finally skids to a stop, and everyone is mostly OK. They emerge from the windows and find themselves on the grass in the Fear Street Cemetery, which would be ooky spooky. Then Corky spots Jennifer, facedown in front of a tombstone, ‘her arms stretched above her head as if she were hugging the stone.’ The group rushes over and gently roll Jennifer’s body [See what I did there? 😉 ] over to get her face out of the mud, and Bobbi notices the words etched onto the grave marker – Sarah Fear, 1875-1899 [Oooh, a bit of inspiration for the Fear Street movies!].
Bobbi quickly realises than Jennifer’s dead, and someone in a nearby house must have seen the crash because seconds later, three ambulances and a police cruiser have arrived [I don’t think we’ve ever seen Shadyside police move so quickly!]. We find out here that Ronnie was on the bus too, which I guess makes sense but I wasn’t sure about because this is the first time she’s been mentioned [I mean I kind of assumed she was there, but she was the only girl who wasn’t name-checked during the bus ride so I was confused], and the paramedics do their thing but quickly determine Jennifer’s gone. Bobbi has to see for herself, though, and moves to Jennifer’s side again, staring at her expressionless face… ‘And Jennifer opened her eyes.’
Yes, somehow Jennifer isn’t dead [Did Sarah Fear’s spirit take over her body? I feel like it’s safe to assume this is what’s happened], and everyone rejoices as she’s taken away in the ambulance, relieved that no-one was killed after all. Kimmy angrily blames the sisters for the accident because it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the detour [Bruh, your driver was driving recklessly in terrible weather, I’m sure it would have happened somewhere on this journey] and then she storms off, not wanting to listen to Bobbi’s and Corky’s protests [Meanwhile, I’m wondering why the other girls aren’t being checked out by the paramedics].
Part Two: The Fall
It’s two weeks later again now and the cheerleaders, minus Jennifer, are leading a pep rally honouring their own bravery and survival of the bus crash. Kimmy’s feeling elated from the energy of the crowd, but her mood instantly shifts when Corky and Bobbi do their special double cartwheel move:
Ugh, she thought bitterly. What showoffs. They really make me sick. With heir blond hair and sweet, innocent faces. Always prancing around together, trying to make the rest of us look second rate. I could throw up. I really could.
[When’s she gonna start charging them rent for living in her head?] Kimmy’s expecting to be announced as the new captain of the squad [Oh sweetie, I don’t think so…] today, so she’s not about to let those bitches ruin her excitement. We get more of an insight into Kimmy’s mind here as she shivers with excited anticipation – she may not be as beautiful, tall or well built as the other girls, but she’s worked hard for this opportunity [As the vice captain, it makes sense for her to be promoted to full captain, right?]. She’d begged her parents to come witness the happy moment, ‘but, as usual, they claimed they couldn’t get away from their jobs.’ [So her bitterness towards the Corcorans stems from insecurity and a lack of love at home! I think most of us can relate].
Soon, Jennifer rolls out in a wheelchair to give a thank you speech for all the support she’s gotten, and Kimmy can’t even imagine being so brave, cheerful and accepting if she were in Jennifer’s shoes and might never walk again. Jennifer’s lucky to be alive but Kimmy just doesn’t understand – ‘how could anyone consider being crippled, perhaps for life, lucky?’ [I mean yeah, it would suck and be a huge thing to deal with, but she can still live a long, happy and successful life! Just be happy for your friend, Kimmy, damn]. After Jennifer’s speech, Miss. Green approaches the mic to announce the new captain, who she’s sure ‘”will lead the Tiger cheerleaders with the same courage and spirit that Jennifer Daly has shown.”‘ [Will it be Bobbi or Corky?!] Kimmy’s ready to burst from excitement, but literally shrieks in horror when Miss. Green calls out another name.
Kimmy’s absolutely fuming now because ‘how could she be passed over for a flashy newcomer’ like Bobbi Corcoran when Kimmy’s been on the squad for two years and Bobbi’s been here for mere weeks? How could Miss. Green and Jennifer do this to Kimmy?! How?!?!? Bobbi clearly scored the role because ‘she’s so blond and skinny and disgustingly all-American,’ – there’s absolutely no way in hell she’s a better cheerleader than Kimmy [OK, Kimmy]. Because Kimmy thinks so highly of herself, she decides everyone in the bleachers is staring at her because they know she’s been cheated and not because her sourpuss attitude is clearly visible on her face. As Bobbi begins to lead the girls into their final routine, Kimmy decides to quit and storms out of the gym, silently vowing to pay everyone back for what they’ve done to her [I kinda feel bad for her but at the same time I don’t because she’s awful lol].
Bobbi is in a very good mood for the rest of the day and everyone is congratulating her, including Cari Taylor [Who had one of the most underwhelming Fear Street adventures I’ve read so far]. As she gathers her stuff from her locker, Bobbi remembers worrying if she’d ever learn to like it at Shadyside High during her first week because ‘the kids all seemed so snobby,’ but today has eased all her worries and everything seems to be coming up Milhouse:
It was going to be a great school year, Bobbi decided. Great. Great. Great. Everything was great.
Still in her cheerleader uniform, she looked up and down the hall. Seeing that it was empty, she performed a high leap, landed, and did a cartwheel that nearly carried her into the wall.
[Hahahaha Bobbi’s so cute] Heading outside, Bobbi recalls that Kimmy never congratulated her and realises how bad Kimmy must feel, deciding she’d ‘better call or something’ [The sentiment is nice, Bobbi, but Kimmy is definitely going to accuse you of gloating and rubbing it in her face]. Then a handsome boy interrupts her thoughts to congratulate her – it’s Charles ‘Chip’ Chasner, quarterback of the Tigers [This might just be my Australian ignorance, because school sports here is nothing compared to in the US, but does every sports team at a school typically have the same team name? Like, the basketball team, football team and cheerleaders at Shadyside High are all called the Tigers. That’s weird to me. Although maybe this early in the series (This came out in 1992, three years after the series started) the basketball team was still the Cougars, as established in The New Girl, but seemingly retconned by the time Cat came out in 1997].
Anyway, Chip has never said a word to Bobbi before despite being friendly with the other cheerleaders, but it’s immediately clear they’ve both noticed each other from afar. They bond over the fact that their parents work a lot, but Chip’s personality immediately shifts when he mentions that his dad may be living vicariously through him:
“That can be a lot of pressure,” Bobbi said thoughtfully.
Chip’s expression hardened. “I can handle it,” he said softly.
“I just meant—” Bobbi started, surprised by his abrupt answer.
“Are you going out with anybody or anything?” Chip interrupted.
[Something ain’t quite right about Chip! Besides the fact that he goes by Chip, I mean…] They’re both single, so he asks her to join him for pizza after Friday night’s game: ‘”You know. Hang out with some other guys.”‘ Hanging out with a bunch of football players isn’t my idea of a good time, but it sounds almost as great as the word ‘great’ to Bobbi, so she accepts. Chip then demands she wait for him outside the stadium locker room after the game and hurries off for practice without even waiting for a reply [OK, I don’t like him lol]. Bobbi can’t believe how amazing this day is, with ‘so many good things happening at once,’ [I’ve only counted two good things, Bobbi, what am I missing?], but then her next thought is that she’ll probably be hit by a bus on her way home [OK, that came out of nowhere lol].
On Thursday evening, Bobbi heads over to Jennifer’s house in North Hills [Richie Rich!] for a study date. They’ve gotten close after the accident because Bobbi visited her every day in the hospital, ‘unlike some of the other girls, who wanted to shut the accident out of their minds and forget it ever happened.’ [I bet this is a dig at Kimmy! Fair enough to everyone for wanting to forget about it but like, poor Jennifer! Showed her who her real friends are, I guess] Jennifer has managed to convince Kimmy to come back to the squad, much to Bobbi’s relief, who apologises if she’s what’s caused the former besties to drift apart. Jennifer assures her that that’s not the case and warns her that Kimmy might turn the other girls against her.
Bobbi mentions Chip asking her out for tomorrow night, and Jennifer is horrified because Chip is Kimmy’s boyfriend [And Jennifer’s had a crush on him since third grade, too!]! At least, he was Kimmy’s boyfriend until a few weeks ago, when he dumped her out of the blue after two years. Now Kimmy’s gonna think he dumped her for Bobbi! Whatever will Bobbi do?!?
Friday afternoon is the last cheer practice before the big game tonight, and it’s not going very well. That bitch Kimmy has done a pretty good job turning the other girls against their new captain, and Bobbi’s really struggling to lead them. Afterwards, Bobbi tells Corky to head home without her while she goes to her locker to collect her things. She walks through the empty, dimly lit halls, and is startled by a sudden crash behind her. Within seconds, all of the lockers are repeatedly slamming open and shut, as if by invisible hands, and a terrified Bobbi runs further down the hall in horror. And then, over the crashing lockers, she hears a girl screaming over and over again!
She turns a corner, expecting to find whoever’s in such agony, but the hall is empty, and the lockers have suddenly all stopped slamming now too [Was it the spirit of Sarah Fear?!?]. Bobbi cautiously collects her stuff from her locker and then runs home to tell Corky about the incident. Corky reckons Bobbi imagined it because she’s so exhausted from all the pressure she’s under and nervous about tonight’s game, but then the closet door starts opening by itself… but it’s just Sean being annoying, and a tickle fight ensues.
It’s time for the game now, and any signs of the shitty practice earlier are gone because all the cheerleaders giving it their all. On the field, Chip isn’t doing too well – whenever he gets the ball, he seems to simply freeze until he’s tackled by the other team. The girls line up for an encouraging cheer, but Kimmy remains behind the players’ bench, staring onto the field ‘with the strangest expression on her face.’ [I smell a red herring! Surely Sarah Fear possessed Jennifer, not Kimmy]
During the next play, Chip completely freezes with the ball and ends up being tackled by several opposing players at once. As the rival players climb up and move away, Chip remains sprawled out on his back, unmoving [!!!!]. He ends up being taken away in a stretcher, and although she can’t stop wondering if he’s OK, Bobbi continues with the cheers. Word gets around that Chip’s most likely concussed and is fine now, but he doesn’t come back out and Shadyside ends up losing 21-6.
Bobbi hits the showers and changes into a green turtleneck sweater and a black skirt over green tights [I’m into it!], then waits outside the boys’ locker room, unsure if Chip’s even still around. He eventually comes out but is supposed to go straight home because of his concussion, so a disappointed Bobbi offers to drive him. He’s kind of spaced out as they walk to the car, but that doesn’t stop Bobbi from bombarding him with question after question about what happened.
Chip reveals that he’d felt paralysed several times on the field. He’d wanted to throw the ball each time, but he suddenly had no control – ‘”I didn’t freeze. I just wasn’t there. I mean, I was and I wasn’t. I knew where I was, but I couldn’t move.”‘ [Did Sarah Fear-as-Jennifer do something? Was Sarah Fear even a witch?] He’s admits to being scared about what happened, and then immediately pulls Bobbi in for a kiss. And I’m not joking when I say immediately; it’s literally the next sentence! His lips are hard and dry against Bobbi’s and she almost pulls away, but decides to return his kiss because ‘he seemed so needy, so frightened,’ [Gee, Bobbi, is that all it takes?] as he trembles all over. The kissing stops just as suddenly as it began and Chip apologises, seemingly embarrassed, before Bobbi drives him home.
At practice on Monday afternoon, Kimmy immediately confronts Bobbi in front of everyone, letting her know that Chip is her boyfriend. Bobbi’s had a bad day so isn’t in the mood for Kimmy’s shit. Kimmy’s clearly just trying to embarrass her in front of anyone, so Bobbi simply replies that Chip was the one who asked Bobbi out, not the other way around. A hair-pulling catfight ensues until Jennifer appears out of nowhere, begging them to stop. Miss. Green also hurries out of her little office and orders Bobbi and Kimmy to apologise to each other if they don’t want to be suspended from the team. Both girls do although really, Bobbi didn’t do anything wrong. It’s a bad time for a fallout between these two, because they’re starting a new routine today where Kimmy’ll jump off Corky’s shoulders and land in Bobbi’s arms [Drop her, Bobbi!].
After a quick demonstration where Bobbi lands in Miss. Green’s arms, Kimmy’s ready to give it a go and climbs onto Corky’s shoulders. ‘”Shouldn’t she go on a diet first?”‘ quips Debra, which is weird because she and Kimmy are very buddy-buddy, and even more weird when she insists Ronnie made her say it because they’re practically a trio [Not that I agree with how Debra’s gone about it, but doesn’t she have a point? It was made pretty clear earlier in the book that Kimmy’s the heaviest girl, so why would she be the one to jump off another girl’s shoulders and into someone’s arms? Bobbi and Corky did this stunt last year on their old team, so shouldn’t they be the ones to do it for the Tigers’ routine?]. Anyway, Bobbi braces herself as Corky counts down to the jump, but realises something is terribly wrong when she can’t lift her arms:
I can’t move. I can’t move anything.
She could feel beads of cold sweat running down her forehead.
Stop! Bobbi thought. You’ve got to stop this! Hold everything! Please, just stop!
But to her horror, she couldn’t speak out. She couldn’t make a sound.
She seems to be having an out of body experience, watching herself standing there, completely unmoving as Kimmy prepares to take off. She silently begs Kimmy to notice that something’s wrong, but Kimmy’s oblivious and leaps. She lands hard on her elbows and knees [Sounds like this jump would have gone wrong anyway because she was supposed to land in Bobbi’s arms in a sitting position, not on all fours lol] with a sickening crack, ‘and then a heavy thud as her forehead smashed against the floor.’
Somehow, Kimmy is fine other than a broken wrist and she quickly accuses Bobbi of letting her fall on purpose as Megan and Heather [Forgot they existed lol] run off to call an ambulance. Debra and Ronnie agree with her, with the latter accusing Bobbo of attempted murder [Hahahaha]. Bobbi tries to explain what happened but it’s no use so she runs away from the accusations, out into the dreary afternoon and straight into Chip. She tells him about her own paralytic experience and he reveals he’s on his way to get some tests done because his doctor thinks it might be some kind of muscle thing [I think it’s some kind of supernatural thing]. He suggests she consult her doctor about it too before heading off.
Bobbi visits Jennifer that night and explains that what happened to her earlier today had also happened to Chip, and ‘Jennifer’s eyes flared for a brief second when Bobbi mentioned Chip’s name.’ [My current theory remains that something ooky spooky happened when Jennifer landed on Sarah Fear’s grave, and Jennifer’s our bad guy. I’m just not sure if she’s possessed by Sarah’s spirit, or there’s something more going on. Jennifer was at the football game and at the practice during both paralytic episodes, so maybe she (or Sarah Fear as her) used her newfound powers for evil as some sort of revenge against Chip, Kimmy and Bobbi. She’s had a crush on Chip since the third grade, after all, so it must hurt that he’s dated both of her friends instead]. Bobbi had tried to phone Chip earlier so they could talk about it what happened but there was no answer, and Jennifer admits that she isn’t sure what to believe.
The girls study for a while, but Bobbi can’t stop thinking about the incident and it’s a little after 11pm when Bobbi finally heads off. As she’s climbing into the car, Bobbi glances back at Jennifer’s house and notices that behind the closed curtains of the living room window, Jennifer’s shadow is ‘pacing back and forth.’ It has to be Jennifer walking about because her parents are out! A confused Bobbi heads back up to the house wondering why Jennifer would fake paralysis, but Jennifer’s back in her wheelchair when she comes to the door [Was it Sarah Fear’s spirit pacing back and forth, or actually Jennifer’s body? Jennifer being haunted could be a cool idea].
Bobbi lies about forgetting her gloves before fake-realising she didn’t bring them in the first place, then heads home, concerned that she’s cracking up. Once home, she bursts into the bedroom she shares with Corky and shakes her sister awake, explaining that she thinks she saw Jennifer walking around via her shadow. Corky’s a rational gal and is really worried about her sister, especially after all the other weird things Bobbi’s claimed have happened lately, and suggests they go tell Mum and Dad so they can get Bobbi some help. Bobbi’s furious and calls Corky a traitor before ordering her to never talk to her again. Corky’s also pissed now and struggles to get back to sleep, thinking about how much she hates Bobbi [That is a very strong word for a very small argument, Corky]:
Corky might have been more sympathetic. She might have been more understanding. More caring. More believing.
But Corky had no way of knowing that this was the last night she would ever spend with her sister.
[So Bobbi’s going to die? But I like Bobbi! Although I really thought Corky was going to be the main protagonist since her name came first in the blurb. The first few chapters also seemed more Corky-centric , too. But I guess Bobbi sets up the whole storyline! I also think it would have been better if we weren’t told Bobbi’s going to die tomorrow. Would have made much more of an impact if it was a surprise!]
Part Three: The Evil
The next afternoon Bobbi tries to get the girls to warm up, but the rest of the cheerleaders linger against the wall, talking amongst themselves. Corky’s not there because she had to stay late for one of her classes, but Jennifer’s watching from the sidelines, as usual. Bobbi urges the girls to join her, but Kimmy insists they wait for Miss. Green, smugly informing Bobbi that the advisor ‘”has something to say to you.”‘ [Uh oh, Bobbi’s getting axed from the team]. When Miss. Green finally arrives, she cancels practice and leads Bobbi into her office where she sympathetically explains that Bobbi will need to step down from the squad because the girls have lost confidence in their captain – ‘”Whether it’s true or not, they believe that you deliberately didn’t catch Kimmy yesterday.”‘
An upset Bobbi decides a shower will make her feel better and heads for the locker room. She thinks she hears someone else in the room several times, but gets no answer when she calls out so assumes she’s imagining things. She’s just about to turn on the water when the shower room doors slam closed behind her. I’d haul ass out of there at this point, but Bobbi turns on the water instead and is immediately sprayed with scalding water, just like Kimmy was earlier in the book [Seriously, why are these idiots standing under the shower head when they turn the water on?!? Surely I’m not the only one that thinks this is weird lol].
She dodges away, but all the shower heads are spraying out scalding water now! Bobbi tries to escape the shower room but the doors won’t budge, and since the drain appears to be clogged or something, the hot water is rising rapidly, burning her feet [What? How small is this shower room? And how many damn shower heads are there?]. The air is thick with steam that burns her lungs as Bobbi hops back to the wall of shower heads and turns some of the knobs [Not sure why she didn’t try this at the start of this ordeal?], but to her horror the water doesn’t slow or get colder:
The water was up over her ankles. Why wouldn’t it drain? She danced wildly, a dance of unbearable pain.
“Help me! I can’t—breathe!”
The rush of water became a roar.
She closed her eyes and covered her ears.
The roar didn’t go away.
The pain didn’t go away.
The roar grew louder.
Then all was silence.
[This is a great death scene! I wish it didn’t happen to Bobbi though! Poor girl didn’t deserve any of this crap 😢 ] Corky arrives in the gym a short while later and goes searching for everyone when she finds it empty, because practice shouldn’t be over yet. She pokes her head into the locker room but finds that empty too, and is just about to leave when she hears rushing water. Realising someone’s taking a shower, she makes her way through the locker room, noticing Bobbi’s clothes on one of the benches. She also finds Kimmy’s megaphone pendant, which has been constantly falling off throughout the book because of a loose clasp, on the floor and pockets it, intending to return it to Kimmy next time they cross paths [I don’t know how Stine expects us to believe Kimmy’s behind everything lol].
Corky’s surprised to find the shower room doors closed because she didn’t even know they could close [Do you know how doors work, Corky?], so she grabs the handles and pulls. They swing open easily and a tidal wave of hot water washes over her legs. She can’t hear running water anymore and peers through the thick steam into the room, .spotting Bobbi sprawled out facedown under the shower heads, her entire body ‘as red as a lobster.’ Corky rushes over but sadly realises her sister is dead [I’m just as devastated, Corky].
We jump forward to two weeks after Bobbi’s funeral as Corky makes her way through the Fear Street Cemetery one night. She stops by the first row of tombstones, recognising the one on the end. It’s Sarah Fear’s, which she remembers is where Jennifer landed after the bus crash, and the four stones behind Sarah’s all have the same death year, 1899, although the names have been worn off these ones. Corky wonders if Sarah’s family all died at the same time, as if people can’t die in the same year without it being related, and then continues on to Bobbi’s grave which she’s visited nearly every day.
She talks to Bobbi during these visits to help her cope, and we learn Kimmy has officially been named captain of the squad now. Everyone’s super happy about it, especially Kimmy – ‘”The news sure made her wrist get better in a hurry.”‘ [Hahahaha] Corky couldn’t care less and just wishes Bobbi were still here. She’s extremely remorseful about their fight the night before Bobbi’s death and is desperate to know what actually happened in the shower room:
“Why didn’t you open the door and come out? The police say you had some kind of seizure and died instantly. I was glad you didn’t suffer, but I just can’t understand it. Why? How did it happen? You weren’t sick. You were in great shape. What happened, Bobbi? What happened?”
Digging into her pocket for a tissue, Corky finds Kimmy’s megaphone pendant because I guess she either hasn’t worn these jeans or hasn’t put her hand in this pocket for two weeks. With this clue in her pretty little hand, Corky realises Kimmy was at the scene of the crime [Or it fell off while the girls were getting changed earlier?]. No-one had more motive than Kimmy, so she rushes over to Kimmy’s house to accuse her of murder. Debra and Ronnie are there too, and they back up Kimmy’s claims that she’d given the pendant to Jennifer a month ago because she’d gotten sick of the clasp coming loose all the time and Jennifer has always liked it. Corky’s more confused than ever now, because what reason would Jennifer have to go into the locker room anymore? She has to know the truth, so she dashes from the house and speeds on over to Jennifer’s place.
The lights are out, but Corky spots Jennifer’s car driving away from the house and is flabbergasted to see Jennifer behind the wheel [!!!]. Confused, Corky follows her, wondering what the hell is going on – how is Jennifer driving, and could she really have had something to do with Bobbi’s death, even though they had become such close friends? Jennifer eventually pulls over near the Fear Street Cemetery and Bobbi can’t believe her eyes when she Jennifer step out of the car and walks into the woods. Bobbi was right; she had seen Jennifer walking back and forth in front of the window after all! Corky makes her way over to where Jennifer disappeared and hides behind a tree. Peering into the cemetery, she spots Jennifer doing some kind of dance among the tombstones:
Her arms over her head, her legs—those legs everyone believed to be paralyzed—twirled and kicked. A silent, cheerless tango.
She was wearing her cheerleader costume. The short skirt flew up as she spun. Her dark hair flew behind her as if alive.
Jennifer’s got the pennant the cheerleaders made for her after the accident in her hand too, waving it about as she twirls wildly in the moonlight. Corky realises she’s dancing around Sarah Fear’s tombstone, ‘her eyes closed, a strange, tranquil smile on her face.’ [Imagine seeing some someone twirling and bucking around a tombstone in the middle of the night?! Terrifying] Bobbi can’t take it any longer and steps forward into the graveyard, demanding to know what the hell Jennifer is doing.
“I’m not Jennifer,” the other girl replies before waving a hand above her head. To Corky’s surprise, grass flies off Sarah Fear’s grave and the dirt begins to rise ‘like a dark curtain,’ swirling around the two girls in a raging wind and trapping them in the centre of a dirt tornado [Dirtnado?]. Then a husky voice, a voice Corky’s never heard before, comes out of Jennifer’s mouth and reveals that Jennifer died weeks ago in the bus crash [!!!]. The husky voice laments that she waited for so long, until Jennifer came along:
“Buried for so long,” the voice continued. “Buried down there for a hundred years with Sarah Fear. Waiting. Waiting.”
“You’re—You’re Sarah Fear?” Corky stammered, staring into the angry, glowing eyes.
“Not anymore,” came the reply.
[Based on that super weird wording I think we can assume this spirit isn’t Sarah Fear. Maybe this spirit had taken over Sarah’s body and had been trapped when Sarah died? That’s the only way I can make sense of the language used here. I’m gonna keep calling it Jennifer though, because that’s what Stine’s doing] ‘”I’m alive inside Jennifer, and Jennifer’s enemies will pay,”‘ says Jennifer, and I’m just as confused as Corky is about why she and Bobbi were Jennifer’s enemies. The explanation doesn’t really help either, because apparently it’s because the sisters’ faces, bodies and lives were perfect [So did Jennifer secretly hate them or like, is the spirit the one that resented them?].
Jennifer admits to being responsible for the paralysis stuff and Bobbi’s death before pointing Corky toward her new home; Sarah Fear’s grave! As Corky watches, more dirt joins the swirling funnel from the hole until a coffin lid is exposed. The lid then lifts to reveal a rotting skeleton inside covered in wiggling white worms. Corky suddenly hears voices Kimmy’s, Debra’s and Ronnie’s voice on the other side of the dirtnado and realises they must have followed her. Then before she knows it, Jennifer’s shoved Corky into the worm-ridden coffin.
Years of cheerleading practice kicks in and on reflex, Corky lands on her feet and springs back up out of the grave as the dirt funnel begins to drop back down into the hole. Jennifer hasn’t noticed, busy preparing to face the other three cheerleaders, so Corky pounces on her and attempts to throw her into the coffin. Jennifer’s strong though, so Corky can only wrestle her over to the grave inch by inch. Then Jennifer opens her mouth wide to let out a wind that stinks of death, decay and ‘all that is foul,’ blowing it right into poor Corky’s face, suffocating her in its stench.
Although weakened by the bad breath, the memory of Bobbi renews Corky’s strength and she somehow manages to manoeuvre her way onto Jennifer’s back to strangle her from behind [I really don’t understand how she manages it, but she does!]. The breath is blowing into the open grave now, and Corky can feel Jennifer’s growing lighter and lighter as the evil pours into the coffin until at last the evil spirit has abandoned Jennifer’s body [Ayyy, did it again!]. The coffin lid slams shut, once again trapping the spirit with Sarah Fear’s skeleton, and the dirt continues to rain down until it fills the hole and the coffin is buried once more [I’m kind of confused about this dirtnado thing, because the dirt has been falling into the grave since Corky sprang out of it. Wouldn’t the coffin have been filled with dirt by this point, and the hole already re-covered? Who needs logic, aye Stine?].
Kimmy, Debra and Ronnie have seen the whole desperate battle [Really? The whole thing? Or just the end as the dirtnado was collapsing?], and now all four girls watch Jennifer’s body [And again!] rapidly decomposes until it’s just bones. Two policemen show up, having been alerted to something fishy going on by a Fear Street resident, and then we cut to the police station where the girls have been questioned by the police for hours. Jennifer’s parents have also been summoned and are demanding answers, ‘but there were no reasonable answers, no logical answers.’ The police don’t seem to believe the girls’ story, but they’re finally allowed to go home after it’s eventually dismissed as another Fear Street mystery.
Corky settles into bed as soon as she gets home, sad about the loss of her sister but happy about banishing the evil, and the book ends with her discovering the maroon and white pennant they’d gifted Jennifer in her bed [Ooky spooky!].
Final thoughts
This was a lot less hectic than I was expecting, but it’s a good start! Definitely needed some more deaths. I was expecting more of a slasher vibe, with the cheerleaders being picked off one by one after somehow releasing an evil force, but maybe we’ll see more of that in the next few books. I’m slightly disappointed, but it was still a fun read because I really liked the characters. Bobbi was a great heroine and I was sad when she died, so hopefully Corky fares better in the next book. I’m dying to know her first name though! Hopefully some of the others will die though, and maybe Megan and Heather will become fully developed characters instead of the empty shells they currently are [I choose to believe they’re secretly dating and that’s why they’re inseparable!]. There were some really great scenes in there, like Bobbi’s death and Jennifer dancing around the grave, so I hope we get some more stuff like that, too.
Of course, I do have a few unanswered questions – was the evil spirit hanging around before the bus crash? I guess Kimmy being scalded by the tap can be put down to her own stupidity, but the bus seemingly crashed because there was something wrong with the brakes. Was that just a coincidence? Also, why was possessed Jennifer pretending to be in a wheelchair? To seem more unassuming? What other benefit could there have been?
I’m still very curious about the naming process of high school sports teams, so would love any insight anyone can provide! The way Kimmy and Bobbi just turned on the shower water while standing directly under it still annoys me, too. Seriously, who does that?! Also, what girls do we think are on the cover?! I feel like none of them really match the description of the girls that well, so I’m clueless.
Anyway, it’s a promising start to the Cheerleaders saga, so 58 deaths by scalding out of 80!
