Tagline: Before the Cheerleaders, the Evil lived…in Sarah Fear
Back tagline: Now the terror continues….
Summary: Everybody at Shadyside High remembers when Corky Corcoran destroyed the evil spirit. The evil that attacked the cheerleaders. The evil that killed Sarah Fear one hundred years ago.
No one expected the evil to come back. No one knew that there was only way to defeat it forever. No one knew that the answer lay hidden in Sarah Fear’s grave.
Now the cheerleaders must discover the secret…before it’s too late.
First impressions: Why the hell did they use the same tagline as The Awakening Evil? The back tagline is basically the same, too! And how exactly does everybody at Shadyside High remember when Corky destroyed the evil spirit? Knowledge of the evil was limited to a select few cheerleaders, and Corky and Debra were the only ones left by the end of The New Evil.
And I have to say, for the record, even if I wasn’t aware there were six books in the Cheerleaders chronicles, I would have expected the evil to come back, because like I’ve said many times while covering this series, drowning does not defeat it. I’m curious to know what the answer in Sarah’s grave is, though.
Anyway, I’ll miss Corky, but a new batch of cheerleaders to kill off will be fun, and I guess Jane Hardy is making an appearance again too! Let’s read!
Recap
Meet the squad:
Amanda – Our new protagonist and captain of the squad.
Janine – Amanda’s chunky bestie.
Natalie – The instigator of a rivalry with Janine.
Victoria and Keesha – The last two cheerleaders who aren’t super important.
Dustin – Amanda’s boyfriend that she’s not really into.
Judd – Amanda’s not-boyfriend who she is really into.
Brandon – Janine’s boyfriend who’s competing with Luke for a spot on the starting basketball team.
Luke – Natalie’s boyfriend and the reason for her rivalry with Janine.
Part One
The book begins on the last Saturday of Christmas vacation before school’s due to start, and our new protagonist and cheerleader captain Amanda Roberts has called a practice at the school gym. Rounding out the squad is short, stocky Janine Klein, who’s also Amanda’s best friend; tiny ball of energy Keesha Wilson, who’s always mucking around; shy, serious Natalie Morris; and big-boned, spirited Victoria Hopewell.
As the girls do their warm-ups, the basketball team arrive for a practice as well, and we each girl has a boyfriend on the team except for Victoria – Keesha’s dating Andrew Collins, Janine’s with Brandon Farr, Natalie’s with Luke Stone, and Amanda is with Dustin Feld. Dustin’s super intense, though, and she’s been crushing on Judd Hunter for the past month, so it might be time to switch boyfriends!
Keesha’s slightly distracted by the basketballers because her boyfriend Andrew ‘”is so awesome looking,”‘ [Did people in the ’90s really say things like this?], and soon cheerleading coach Miss Daly arrives [Daly?! Any relation to Jennifer?]. The girls get into their routines, but they’re briefly interrupted by Luke and Brandon wrestling on the court because Luke thinks Brandon tripped him. Apparently they’re both competing to be on the starting team on Friday, and their rivalry has rubbed off on their girlfriends too, particularly Natalie.
When cheerleading practice finishes, Amanda, Janine and Victoria head to the locker room to get changed. Amanda’s been assigned a new locker since her old one has a dodgy door, and inside she finds a blue duffel bag shoved way at the back. The name tag says Corky Corcoran [Corky!], a name that sounds familiar to Amanda, and she goes on to find an old cheerleading uniform [Apparently the new ones are one-piece outfits, and based on the cover I think they’re uglier and look more dated than the OG ones] inside. There’s also a photograph of five smiling cheerleaders in the bag [I wonder which line-up of the squad we’ve got?], as well a small wooden box with a label pasted on top: ‘DO NOT OPEN. EVIL INSIDE.’ [Huh? Did something happen between The New Evil and now that we don’t know about?].
A short while later, Amanda, Janine and Victoria are having a munch at The Corner and staring at the box, trying to work out whether to open it or not. Victoria reckons it’s a joke and pulls off the lid, and inside is a stack of papers, including a letter from Corky that briefly explains her run-ins with the evil and how she beat it [So the Evil’s not in the box?]. The box and letter serve as a warning, and Corky’s letter urges whoever opens the box to destroy it and everything in it ASAP:
“You may think this is a joke,” [Amanda] read. “I wish it was. But it isn’t. The Evil lived. It killed. If it isn’t really dead, it will kill again. Destroy this box!”
[OK so the box is a warning, but like, it’s super unnecessary in the first place, right? The girls would be none the wiser about the evil if they didn’t find this box, of course now they’re gonna be intrigued] The girls aren’t sure what to think, and Victoria suggests that Corky went crazy and made up the Evil [Yes, we’re capitalising it now] to cope with all the mysterious deaths of her friends. Before they can read the rest of the papers, Dustin appears and is immediately all over Amanda, who finds it super embarrassing.
Dustin informs the girls that Luke and Brandon got into a punch on after practice, and then he decides it’s time to take Amanda home without even asking if she’s ready to leave yet [Gross]. Amanda has her own car but offers to walk him to his, because ‘now is as good a time as any to break up with him.’ [True that!] They walk around for a little bit first, but Dustin senses something’s wrong when he goes in for a pash and Amanda pulls away. She blurts out that they should just be friends, and Dustin just silently stares at her blankly for way too long before eventually storming off.
Amanda heads home and remembers the wooden box. She wants to read the rest of the papers, but can’t find the box in her bag and realises she must have left it at The Corner. The phone rings, and on the other end is a low, husky voice who claims to be the evil spirit – ‘”I didn’t drown. I’m coming for you.”‘
It’s a cheeky little devil by the name of Keesha, who’s just gotten off the phone to Janine, who told her all about the box and the Evil. Janine took it home with her and read through the other papers, which apparently contain instructions to call up the Evil [Umm, what the actual fuck, Corky? Why the hell would she leave instructions to summon the Evil? Seriously, what the hell?]. Keesha reckons they should do it because it’s not like it’ll work anyway, and if it does, an evil spirit might help the Tigers win their game Friday night! Amanda knows that evil spirits don’t work that way, but agrees to do it tomorrow night after practice.
The girls then talk about the little rivalry between Janine and Natalie. Natalie’s not easy to talk to, so Keesha suggests Amanda talk to Janine about it, even though Natalie’s the one making snide comments all the time [What do they expect Janine to do? Natalie is the problem here]. Amanda agrees, and once the phone call’s over, she heads to her older sister Adele’s room and asks her if she knew a Corky Corcoran when she was at Shadyside.
Adele confirms that there were a lot of deaths during Corky’s time as a cheerleader, including her own sister Bobbi who was scalded to death in the shower room after being locked in. None of the deaths were solved, and rumours circulated that an evil spirit had been possessing the cheerleaders to carry out the murders. Amanda asks questions about the spirit which makes Adele suspicious, but Amanda assures her she hasn’t done anything to disturb the spirit…
The next afternoon, Amanda arrives at practice determined to get rid of the box afterwards. Entering the gym, she finds Janine and Natalie getting into it on the floor. Keesha’s having no luck breaking them apart and Victoria’s standing there like a stunned mullet, watching. Amanda rushes over and snaps Victoria out of her stupor, then they pull the battlers apart.
Keesha explains that Luke, Natalie’s boyfriend, was chosen to play on Friday, while Brandon, Janine’s boyfriend, will be on the bench. And Natalie just couldn’t wait to rub it in Janine’s face, as if she’d won something herself [This rivalry is so dumb lol]. Amanda forces them to apologise and then they start practice, although she can tell Natalie and Janine are still mad. Soon, the basketball team emerges from the locker room, done with practice for the day, and Judd gives Amanda a warm smile and a wave that makes her stomach flip [Cuuuute]. As she continues her cheers, she spots Dustin sitting at the top of the bleachers, glaring at her intensely.
That night, Amanda’s walking to Victoria’s house when Dustin suddenly jumps out in front of her. He’s not happy about her googly eyes towards Judd and has decided they won’t be breaking up, [And what a controlling Shadyside teen wants, a controlling Shadyside teen gets!]. Amanda insists it has nothing to do with Judd but Dustin won’t hear it. He’s getting scarily intense, so Amanda hoofs it the rest of the way to Victoria’s and lets herself in through the unlocked door.
Safe at last, she heads to the kitchen where she finds all the other cheerleaders sitting around the table. The lights are off but there’s black candles set in a circle on the table, and Victoria excitedly tells Amanda that they’ve called up the evil spirit! It’s just a pesky fake-out though, and they haven’t started yet. But they’re about to, so sit your ass down, Amanda! Janine explains that the other papers in the box were pages from an old book detailing how to summon the Evil [Seriously, why would Corky leave the instructions for someone to find? She is smarter than that!], and Amanda insists they shouldn’t do it because everything Corky said in her letter is true [I still can’t get over the fact Corky was like “Burn this box ASAP” but also “Here’s some instructions so you can summon the Evil xx”] .
The gals just laugh at Amanda and insist nothing will happen, but if the Evil really is summoned, they can just drown it [Has nothing happened in Shadyside for a while? These girls are awfully nonchalant about summoning a murderous spirit]. Amanda decides the best thing to do is to join them so they’ll drop the whole thing when nothing happens, and soon the girls are doing a little chant while holding hands. Nothing happens at first, but then two flashes of blinding white light split the darkness and it suddenly gets chilly. Then the kitchen door bangs open and two dark figures slide into the room [!!!!].
It’s just Judd and Brandon who’ve just finished practice, and Brandon wanted to see Janine [I know it’s hard to keep track, so I’ll remind you that they’re a couple] before he dropped Judd home [So they just let themselves into the house unannounced?]. Speaking of Judd, something seems off about him – he’s gazing blankly around the room ‘as if he’d suddenly landed in a foreign country,’ and his blue eyes seem to almost be glowing [I think we’ve got our red herring!]. He then crumples to the floor and when he comes to he tells the others he’s probably just dehydrated because he sweats so much at practice. Luckily Victoria’s got a Gatorade in the fridge, and soon he’s looking back to normal and everyone can relax again:
But is it really over? Amanda wondered.
She stared at Judd. Did he faint because he was dehydrated?
Or did something else happen to him as he walked through that door?
Something evil?
We jump forward to Friday night now, and the big game is happening. Amanda feels terrible for Brandon, who’s looking miserable on the bench. She offers some comforting words to Janine, who must also be feeling bad for her boyfriend, but Janine turns to Amanda with a blank stare and declares in a low voice that she’s not worried – ‘”Brandon will play.”‘ [Another red herring? Is everyone going to be suspicious in this book? Could Miss Daly be our villain? Note from future: The shared last name is never referenced in the book, so definitely not].
Meanwhile on the court, Luke’s dribbling the ball towards the basket when he suddenly lets the ball drop. He continues running, but cuts to the right, straight towards the bleachers. He charges up a few steps before stumbling, and his head slams against the edge of the bleacher seat before he plops to the ground at Amanda’s feet:
Amanda stared down at Luke, stunned. What’s wrong with his head? Why is it so bloody? And what is that thing lying next to him?
She dropped to her knees and froze in horror. The “thing” was the top of Luke’s head. His skull. His hair. His scalp—completely torn off.
[How the hell did a bleacher do that?]
Part Two
Four days later, everyone’s at Amanda’s house minus Judd, Andrew (Keesha’s boyfriend) and Dustin after Luke’s funeral. The mood is as sombre as you’d expect, and Janine ends up apologising to Natalie for their ugly little feud that stemmed from their boyfriends’ rivalry. She can shove that apology right up her ass, though, because Natalie doesn’t believe a word of it – ‘”Luke is dead and Brandon gets his position on the team. You’re not sorry at all!”‘ She storms out and is followed by Brandon, who has decided he’s the best person to try calm Natalie down for some reason.
The other gals assure Janine that Natalie doesn’t really mean what she said; after all, her boyfriend just died. Speaking of Luke, Victoria notes that he was running down the court ‘”like he was possessed,”‘ but Keesha quickly shuts that down because it’s all just superstition. There’s no way they summoned an evil spirit, because ‘”you don’t call up evil spirits in this day and age.”‘ [Oh really, Keesha?].
Judd arrives and tells the squad that the Tigers are going ahead with the game on Friday and will dedicate it to Luke. The girls all leave soon after, and Judd confides that he’s been feeling all mixed up since Luke’s death. Amanda offers a listening ear but he wants her kissing lips instead, and although she’s imagined kissing Judd plenty of times, this doesn’t feel right. She pries him off her and asks what’s wrong, and Judd explains that when he was staring down at Luke’s corpse Friday night, he’d suddenly felt like ‘“I was standing outside myself, staring down at him.”‘
This spooks Amanda, who remembers how he didn’t look like himself the night they tried to call up the spirit. She remembers the flashes of light right before Judd entered, and how he had a distant expression after it. This is exactly how Corky described her friends when they were possessed, and Amanda grows increasingly weary of her new love interest. She makes up a quick excuse to get him out of the house because she’s suddenly afraid of him – is Judd possessed? Did the girls really summon the Evil?
It’s Friday afternoon now, and the cheerleaders are getting ready to hype up the crowd at the pep rally before tonight’s game. No-one is in the mood for any of this after Luke’s death, but the show must go on. Amanda is especially worried about Janine, who’s been so depressed all week and hasn’t had an appetite. She’s got bags under her eyes and ‘her face looked almost thin now,’ and Amanda asks if she’ll be OK to cheer. Janine confides that she’s been struggling with Natalie’s hatred for her, and Amanda assures her that Natalie will get over it eventually.
After Amanda gives the squad a pep talk, Natalie reveals her plan to tell the principal that they called up an evil spirit because ”She needs to know.”‘ [Why? What’s the principal gonna do?] Natalie believes they really did summon the Evil because it was like some weird force made Luke throw himself onto the bleachers. Keesha still doesn’t believe the Evil is real and her and Victoria argue with Natalie while Amanda and Janine stay silent. Natalie’s made up her mind, though, and she’s going to talk to the principal right after the pep rally [I have a feeling you’re not gonna make it that far, Natalie].
The pep rally begins and the gals do a cheer that involves a back handspring and cartwheels before finishing with everyone doing the splits. Instead of cheers and applause from the crowd, though, kids are shrieking and pointing at the cheerleaders. Amanda jumps to her feet and turns to the others:
All of them were on their feet.
All except Natalie.
Natalie sat where she’d landed, in a split.
“Natalie—?” Amanda cried. Then she gasped.
Over the cries of the crowd, Amanda heard a loud crack, crack.
Natalie’s arms flew up above her head—and snapped back.
Her elbows—Amanda realized to her horror—her elbows were bending the wrong way!
And then with two more cracks, Natalie’s arms broke off and dropped to the floor.
“Ohhh!” people moaned and cried out.
Amanda uttered a sickened cry—as Natalie’s face split apart. The skin opened and her skull began to crack.
Crack… Crack…
Crack…
[Ooooh, brutal! I love it. This is the kind of stuff I was expecting in the first few books!] Everyone starts stampeding out of the gym, but Amanda spots Janine just standing there, staring at Natalie with calm expression on her face. Amanda tells herself Janine’s just in shock, but can’t help but wonder if Janine is the one who’s possessed, since both deaths have been in her favour – Brandon got the starting position after Luke’s death, and now Natalie’s dead after planning to tell the principal what they did [Natalie was also hating hardcore on Janine, and we know the host body’s enemies become the evil’s enemies! But surely Janine is too obvious]. Amanda knows Janine could never have killed them, but an evil spirit inside of her sure could have!
Then, as if she felt eyes on her, Janine stalks on over to Amanda and pulls her into the locker room, where she confesses how scared she is that they really did summon an evil spirit. Amanda realises the blank expression on her face was just fear so strong that Janine couldn’t react, and agrees with Janine that the Evil could be around, and it could be one of the cheerleaders!
Amanda remembers how Corky’s letter mentioned it all starting with Jennifer landing on Sarah Fear’s grave, and she and Janine decide to head on over to the cemetery to see if the grave has been disturbed. It doesn’t take them long to find Sarah’s tombstone in the ooky spooky cemetery, and their horrified to find that the grave is open [!!!!]. Mounds of dirt are heaped on either side of it, but not neatly, like if it had been done with shovels. Instead, ‘it’s like something burst up from the earth.’ And not only that, but inside the grave is an open coffin… and it’s empty!
Then the pair hears footsteps approaching and try to haul ass out of there, but Dustin appears, having followed them from the pep rally because he really needs to talk to Amanda. Amanda doesn’t want to talk right now and tells him to call her later, but Dustin insists and blocks her path [Ugh, I hate this guy]. She eventually shoves him out of the way but immediately slips on the muddy ground and topples backwards, ‘straight down into the gaping hole of Sarah Fear’s grave.’
There’s a surprisingly warm current of air flowing around her as Amanda climbs to her feet and reaches up to Janine and Dustin, who are offering their hands down to her. Just as Amanda’s fingers are brushing against Dustin’s, his hand slips away, and he and Janine seem to get further away. Their faces begin to grow smaller and smaller and fade until they’ve completely disappeared, and Amanda’s suddenly falling backwards again. Instead of landing in the coffin, she just keeps falling, and ‘all she felt was the warm air wapping her like a blanket.’ [Is this air something to do with the Evil?]
Part Three
Amanda eventually hits the ground and finds herself somehow transported back in time, now in front of a big mansion. She quickly hides behind an un-horsed carriage as two women appear, a redhead and a blonde. It’s Sarah Burns and Jane Hardy, who discuss their plan to switch identities, with a decent amount of exposition so the eavesdropping Amanda is across everything. Jane’s having reservations about the plan, but Sarah quickly convinces her it’s the best thing for both of them. Besides, it’s time to head to the station so Sarah-as-Jane can be on her way London!
The women approach Amanda’s hiding spot so they can hitch up the carriage, and in her haste to get away, Amanda bumps it. The carriage goes rolling forward and Amanda’s cover is blown, but she quickly realises the women can’t see her [How is Amanda able to interact with physical things, but not be seen? Is she just invisible? Has her knocking the carriage now changed the future somehow?]. A few minutes later, Sarah and Jane have hitched a horse to the carriage and are off to the station. Amanda doesn’t want to be left behind so she chases after them, but soon she begins feeling the warm air she felt in the grave again and is quickly swallowed up by darkness.
When the darkness clears, Amanda now finds herself on the deck of a ship that’s being tossed around by some crashing waves. The weather’s all stormy and all the passengers around her look frightened, but again no-one can see her. Soon the constant barrage of huge waves causes the ship to tilt, and as it starts capsizing, Amanda’s clinging for dear life to the railing at the high end of the ship. Next to her is Sarah, who’s cursing angrily at the sky, regretting the big switcheroo – ‘”Why did I trade places with Jane, only to die in her place?”‘
Soon they’re both underwater, and Amanda’s somehow developed telepathy because she can hear Sarah’s thoughts as she begins to drown. Sarah’s furious that she’s suffering Jane’s fate [Is it really Jane’s fate, though? Maybe Sarah’s fate was to trade places and die!], and the poor woman finally carks it. She may be lifeless, but Sarah’s eyes are filled with rage, and the water around Amanda begins to churn and bubble as it heats up – ‘Sarah’s anger is so powerful, it’s boiling the water.’ [So that’s where the Evil’s penchant for scaldings comes from!]
Amanda then notices a smell in the water [Can she breathe underwater? I’m so confused about how she’s here. Is she here in spirit? Is she physically here? Shouldn’t she be drowning too right now], ‘a foul, putrid odor that reeked of death,’ and gasps in horror as a green, snakelike liquid starts pouring from Sarah’s mouth:
Amanda shuddered with horror.
It’s Sarah’s rage. I can feel it inside the green form. Pulsing. Throbbing with life.
With hate.
With revenge.
As the green form kept rising, it reared up like a cobra, hovering over Amanda’s head.
And then it began to spread, turning the boiling water green.
Filling the water with its hatred.
Pouring out of Sarah’s corpse. Surrounding Amanda with its evil, undying rage.
Evil, Amanda realized in horror.
It’s the Evil!
Part Four
Amanda comes to in Sarah Fear’s grave now, confused about what the hell just happened. She’s completely drenched, and as water runs over her lips from her hair, she notices it tastes salty like the ocean and realises it wasn’t a dream and she really did go back in time [OK, so she really was underwater, but how was she able to breathe? Make it make sense, Stine!].
Dustin and Janine quickly help her out of the grave and she tells them everything she’s just experienced. Dustin, of course, has no idea what the Evil is, and Janine suggests she blacked out and had a nightmare because she was only in the grave for a few seconds. They assume she’s soaking wet because there must be water in the grave, and an exasperated Amanda asks them to explain why the grave and coffin are empty, but of course neither one can.
Amanda proposes that the Evil burst from the grave after the girls called it up [But it wasn’t in the grave to begin with?!? Does the Evil just respawn in the grave every time it’s drowned or something?], but Janine isn’t sure what to think. She wants to get out of here though, so they head back to the street. Dustin hurries to his car after a quick goodbye, and Amanda’s relieved because she assumes he’s changed his mind about getting back together – ‘”That’s one way to get rid of him—make him think I’m nuts.”‘
Janine drops Amanda home, and our heroine decides to sneak in the back way so her parents won’t see how filthy she is and ask questions. There’s muddy footprints heading up the driveway that stop halfway to the back, right where her bedroom window is [!!!]. It looks like mud from the grave, and a rustling in the hedge behind her sends Amanda rushing into the kitchen through the back door.
Her mother and father are just heading out the front door, so Amanda finds herself home alone, since Adele went back to college yesterday [Adele is never seen again, so she’s kind of a pointless character. I guess she did give Amanda some more info about Corky, though]. She heads up to her room to change clothes but is hit with a foul stench as soon as she opens the door. A thin, hollow voice from inside the room urges her to come in, and Amanda’s met with a ghastly sight as she stares through the doorway:
A woman stood in the center of the room.
A dead woman. Half corpse. Half skeleton.
Tattered shreds of rotting flesh dangled from the bones of her shoulders and arms.
Strips of what had once been a long skirt hung like ribbons around her leg bones.
Only a few wisps of hair clung to her skull.
One eye was missing. The other had oozed from its socket and stuck to a jutting, shiny-white cheekbone.
Her nose was a greenish-black pulp of rotting flesh.
One foot was bare.
The other wore a rotting, high-buttoned boot.
Sarah Fear! Amanda thought in horror. It’s her corpse!
[Love this! Also, I assume it’s Sarah Fear as in Jane Hardy, because as far as we know Sarah Burns’ body was never recovered from the ocean. Has Jane come to help defeat the Evil for good? Why now, and never when Corky was battling it?] Amanda’s frozen in terror, and the ghoul tells her it’s time to trade places. Amanda gets dizzy and starts to sway forward, raising her arms to stop herself from falling, and her hands bang against her bedroom door. Her closed bedroom door. That’s right, it was all in her imagination [Damn it, Stine! That was a good scene].
Amanda enters the room, which looks the same as she’d left it this morning, and quickly begins undressing from her soiled clothing. Moving further into the room, she notices something that the bed had been blocking – a clump of mud stuck to the windowsill, and more mud beneath the window [!!!]. Amanda tracks the mud across the room and over to the dresser, where there’s a piece of paper signed by Sarah Fear that reads, ‘You and your friends have awakened a great Evil. The Evil takes pleasure in killing. You are next, Amanda.’
Amanda is even more terrified now, especially because she doesn’t know which of her friends is possessed [So you’re not worried about a walking corpse potentially hiding somewhere in your house?]. She remembers that Janine has the instructions on how to call up the Evil, so ‘maybe they tell how to get rid of it’ as well [Corky’s letter already told you you need to drown it???]. She tries to call Janine a few times but the line is busy, so she slips into some clean clothes and grabs the car keys so she can head on over there.
As she opens the front door to step outside, though, she comes face to face with Judd, who’s stopped by to check up on her. Amanda quickly notices that his sneakers are caked in mud and realises Judd is possessed, and he wrote the note upstairs! Instead of asking him why his shoes are all muddy, Amanda explains that she’s on her way to Janine’s, so he can’t come in. Judd insists on driving her because she looks so pale, and practically drags her to his car.
As they turn onto Janine’s street, they see Janine’s car backing out of the driveway, with Brandon in the passenger seat. Judd follows them, assuming they’re going for a bite to eat, but instead Janine parks on Fear Street, and heads into the cemetery with Brandon [Why are they going there? Is one (or both) of them possessed?]. Judd seems reluctant to let Amanda follow, but she still thinks he’s possessed so jumps out of the car and dashes into the cemetery without waiting for him. She eventually finds Janine and Brandon at Sarah Fear’s grave, where she tells them about the note and explains that Judd is possessed by the Evil.
Then Judd arrives, and he’s heard everything Amanda’s just said! He’s not happy and steps menacingly closer, but Brandon steps in to help… and his eyes are glowing ‘an eerie, supernatural green that radiated evil.’ [Ugh, it’s Brandon? Really? I thought that would just be too obvious hahaha]. Amanda scolds herself for not realising sooner, and Brandon tells the girls he must send them to their graves. And Amanda, you’re up first! Judd leaps on Brandon’s back so the girls can get away, but they’re way too slow and Brandon’s able to toss him into a tree, knocking the would-be hero out [I’m assuming. Surely he’s not dead].
Brandon shoves Janine aside and goes after Amanda, who’s slipping and sliding in the mud, unable to get away. Janine tries to attack him from behind, but Brandon catches her and lifts her into the air. Amanda spots a thick, fallen branch and stars whacking Brandon with it over and over again, causing him to drop Janine. Amanda proposes that if they push him into the grave, the Evil might be sent back in time, and Brandon ends up toppling into the open coffin, unconscious. The lid is stuck in the muddy earth, though, and as the girls are trying to pry it loose, a woman appears a few feet from the grave. Not just any woman, though; she’s half corpse, half skeleton, just like the one Amanda imagined in her room! Amanda’s not sure if it’s the real Sarah Burns or Jane Hardy [Again, not sure why she’d think it would be Sarah Burns’ body when her body was likely never recovered], but she can’t think about that now because the ghoul is staggering towards her!
The girls start to flee, but Amanda remembers Judd and refuses to leave him behind. As they’re hurrying over to him, a howl of rage fills the air and Brandon leaps out of the grave. The corpse seems horrified that the Evil is still around [Not sure why, because it must have been her who left the note in Amanda’s room, right? Also, was she really about to attack the girls, or??] and starts attacking Brandon, and Amanda realises the ghoul is Jane Hardy. Jane and Brandon sustain lots of injuries in their fight, and Amanda decides to help Jane out by ploughing into Brandon. He’s knocked into the grave again, but he grabs Amanda’s wrist as he goes down and takes her with him.
Part Five
[Damn, how many parts does this book need?!] Amanda finds herself back on the deck of the ship right before it sinks and nearby, a redheaded woman is fighting with a brunette – it’s Jane and Sarah, in their original, young bodies [But Sarah is a blonde? Even the first time Amanda went back in time Sarah had blonde hair. How is it suddenly brown?! And also, how the fuck did Jane get here?]! Brandon’s also here, passed out by the railing, and his injuries are gone, so Amanda knows he’s really himself again because the Evil hasn’t been born yet. The other passengers don’t seem to notice the women as they start to get physical, with Jane determined to commit a murder-suicide via drowning to stop the Evil once and for all [I guess this plan might work, because with Jane also dying here the Evil can’t be born from Sarah’s hatred… but like, Sarah would definitely still be filled with pure rage at dying so young, so it seems like a potentially flawed plan to me. And still, how the fuck is Jane even here?!?! Like, how did she get here? The corpse didn’t jump into the coffin as far as we know? And if we’ve really gone back in time, who’s on honeymoon right now with Thomas Fear?! This ending is dumb]
Sarah starts banging on again about how Jane was destined to die here, not her, and tries to kill Jane first [OK, but Sarah’s gonna die either way, right? And Jane’s plan is to kill them both, so like, what are they even fighting about? Like, Sarah drowns here no matter what, would Jane pulling her under the water really make a difference?]. As they continue to struggle for the upper hand, Amanda rouses Brandon, who has absolutely no idea what’s happening. Amanda explains that the ship is sinking but there’s no reason to be afraid because she’s been through this before and ‘”I don’t think our bodies are really here.”‘ [Then why were you drenched in sea water when you got back to the ’90s the first time, Amanda? God, this ending is making me mad hahaha]
As the ship continues to list, Amanda watches Jane pin down Sarah, who’s protesting about not having a chance to live [You had plenty of chances in the last five damn books, but you chose to murder each time instead of living! This is your own fault, bitch]. A big wave crashes over the deck, sending the two women overboard, and as Sarah struggles in the water, Jane pops up and drags her under again by her hair, and neither of them resurface [I don’t get how Jane is physically there and can drown, but Amanda and Brandon somehow aren’t and can’t?]. Amanda continues to watch the water, just in case [Why is the boat taking so long to sink this time], but her eyes grow tired and she ends up drifting off to sleep…
Amanda wakes up sometime later in a hospital bed with Janine by her side, who explains Amanda and Brandon were found in an unused part of the cemetery [So the OG timeline of this whole fkn series never happened?!], both unconscious and soaking wet. No-one knows why they were there or what happened to them, and Amanda reminds Janine of the Evil:
Janine stared at her, her round face full of confusion. “The…the what?”
“The Evil!” Amanda repeated. “I thought it was inside Judd, but it wasn’t. It was inside Brandon all the time. It killed Luke and Natalie. We were all at Sarah Fear’s grave, fighting the Evil. Remember?”
Janine bit her lip. “Amanda, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
[Ugh, I do not like this ending] Janine’s never heard of Sarah Fear or the mystery box Amanda claims to have found in the locker, and Luke and Natalie are perfectly fine, so she reckons Amanda just had some horrible dreams while unconscious. Amanda’s not convinced and asks to see Brandon, who recovered quickly but apparently doesn’t remember what happened. He’s waiting outside, so Janine disappears and sends him in to see Amanda, where he confirms that he remembers everything about being on the ship and seeing the women drown. The Evil drowned with them, and Natalie and Luke are still alive because Sarah and Jane are resting peacefully:
Brandon took her hand. “But we can’t rest peacefully—can we, Amanda?” He leaned closer, and his eyes glowed bright green. Such an evil, unnatural green.
“No. We can’t rest,” Amanda agreed, squeezing his hand. She pulled herself up. And stared back at him, her eyes glowing green, as bright and evil as his.
She felt the Evil pulsing inside her. Throbbing…throbbing so powerfully. Sarah and Jane drowned. But the Evil didn’t drown with them…
“We can’t rest,” Amanda repeated, squeezing Brandon’s hand tighter, tighter. “You and I have so much work to do!”
[???????? OK, I need to take a moment to try make sense of this crap… so Jane somehow also went back in time and onto the ship, and drowned with Sarah (Seriously, how did she fkn get there?!). I’m assuming the Evil was still born because rather than being fuelled by Jane’s survival due to the identity swap, Sarah was now pissed purely about dying so young. And when Amanda and presumably Brandon fell asleep on the ship, the Evil surfaced and jumped into their bodies. Ugh I am not impressed with this nonsense!]
Final thoughts
This one was shaping up to be my new favourite Cheerleader book, but it really fell flat at the end there and became an underwhelming conclusion to the series. I liked the new group of characters, and the deaths were pretty cool, but there was also a lot here that didn’t make sense, especially at the end here, which I won’t go back into because I just ranted about it above.
But a huge problem I have is why the fuck would Corky leave instructions on summoning the Evil? Like, it doesn’t make sense at all. The Corky we followed for four books would never do that. Also, how was Jane Hardy even resurrected as a corpse? The whole time travel thing was so fkn stupid too.
Also it’s weird that Stine would include a character with the last name Daly, but not give them any connection to Jennifer Daly, who’s death kicked off Corky’s battle with the Evil in the first place. In his defence, though, I guess he’s written so many characters that it’s hard to keep track. I also never found out Corky’s real name, which I’m mad about. I refuse to believe her parents named her Corky. It has to be a nickname, right?
Oh well. 26 coffin time machines out of 41!
