Tagline: Valentine’s Day can be a killer.
Back tagline: Roses are red, corpses are blue
On Valentine’s Day, you’ll die too!
Summary: There’s someone out there, someone who kills on Valentine’s Day. Josie and Melissa are scared—especially when they receive threatening valentines. Then the murders begin. Who is sending these horrible valentines to the girls of Shadyside High?
And who will be the next to die?
First impressions: I’m really hoping for a more slashery story from this one because it’s been way too long. It certainly sounds like we’ll get a string of murders, but I’m sure we’ve all learnt not to trust these pesky lying blurbs. The cover is kind of disappointing; I feel like they could have come up with something more exciting than this. The scariest thing about it is how clean the locker is! Speaking of lockers, not sure how I feel about the yellow… They’re blue in What Holly Heard, which came out a year later, and look much better.
I’m not sure why the heart is in two pieces, but at least the bad guy knows the difference between your and you’re. I love the pink denim jacket, and this girl’s rockin’ that scrunchy! Will there be more fashion moments? Let’s find out!
Recap
Roll call:
Josie – I have nothing nice to say about her so I won’t say anything at all 😇
Rachel – Josie’s twin sister who’s injured at the beginning of the book.
Erica – Josie and Rachel’s younger sister who’s fed up with Josie’s bullshit.
Melissa – Josie’s ex-best friend.
Dave – Melissa’s boyfriend who hates Josie.
Jerry – Josie’s ex and Erica’s crush.
Luke – Rachel’s boyfriend who we love.
Steve – Josie’s new boyfriend.
Prologue – September
The prologue begins the day of some terrible, as-of-yet unknown accident, and our protagonist for now is 14-year-old Erica McClain [The main character role is shared between Erica, Josie and Melissa for this book]. She’s heading to the Shadyside Riding Club for some horseback riding with her older sisters, 16-year-old twins Josie and Rachel McClain, and Josie’s best friend Melissa Davis, who’s driving. The twins actually call themselves the ‘Un-Twins’ because they’re so different – Rachel is cool, calm and collected with long, fiery red hair and ivory skin, and is used to getting what she wants thanks to her beauty, moving easily through life ‘like a graceful, sure-footed gazelle.’ Dark-haired Josie, on the other hand, is moody, temperamental and unpredictable, and keeps her hair short to help set herself apart from her twin [OK, so cover girl isn’t Josie or Rachel. Maybe Melissa, since she apparently gets some threatening notes according to the blurb?].
The twins are pretty close, despite their differences, and Erica’s envious of their bond as well as their freedom – ‘her older sisters treated her as if she were six!’ Erica was super surprised when they’d invited her to go horseback riding today, and hopes she’ll be treated better now that she’s about to start at Shadyside High. Melissa, who lives across the road from the McClains on Fear Street [And has black hair! We’ve found our cover girl!], has always been nice to Erica, so that’s something at least.
The girls arrive at the Shadyside Riding Club, where Erica’s excitement quickly gives way to nerves as she regrets coming – she’s not much of a daredevil and is sure horse riding won’t be a pleasant experience. She hangs back a bit while Josie, Rachel and Melissa follow a worker named Chuck into the barn. Chuck’s a megahunk and Josie has her eye on him [Note from future: We’ll never see Chuck again, so don’t get attached], despite already having a boyfriend, Jerry Jenkman [Who everyone calls Jenkman…], and the fact that ‘Josie changed boyfriends nearly as often as she changed her socks’ hasn’t gone unnoticed by Erica [Normally I wouldn’t like the slut-shaming, but it sounds like Josie just uses people, so let’s shame her].
Chuck brings out four horses and asks the girls to saddle them up themselves while he heads off to help some new arrivals. Erica pretends to feel sick so she doesn’t have to ride, and although Rachel shows some concern, Josie’s annoyed and complains that Erica does this ‘”every time we do something a little fun.” [Face your fears, Erica!] Erica sticks to her guns and takes a seat on the bench, and when Rachel struggles to saddle her horse, Josie shoves her out of the way and loosens it a little [Which is probably foreshadowing something], insisting Rachel had it pulled too tight. She asks Melissa if it looks right to her now, and Melissa, who’s already on her horse outside the barn, confirms it looks OK from where she is [Uh oh]. We leave Erica behind as the trio set off, and we learn that Rachel’s opted against a helmet because she hates to wear them [Which is definitely foreshadowing]. And then it’s time for more Josie shaming:
“Give me a break!” Melissa exclaimed. “Don’t tell me you’re breaking up with Jenkman already.”
“Why shouldn’t she?” Rachel said. “She’s been going with him for nearly a month.”
[Hahaha Rachel is great] Josie reckons Rachel’s just jealous of all the guys she knows, since Rachel and her boyfriend Luke Hoskins ‘”are like some old married couple.”‘ They’ve been together since freshman year, which slutty Josie thinks is boring. Melissa pipes up to insist her boyfriend of one month, Dave Kinley, isn’t boring, and Josie can’t believe her best friend is still dating one of her rejects! ‘”You have so many rejects, Josie. It’s impossible not to!”‘ replies Melissa [Hahahahahaha Rachel and Melissa are killing me!], but instead of joining in the laughter, Josie insists that Melissa will dump him because he’s so immature.
Melissa thinks Josie and Dave just don’t get along because they’re both so similar – ‘Dave could be as moody and childish and unpredictable as Josie.’ They can both be cruel too, and Josie was a massive ass when she broke up with him, because although she’s sensitive and caring when she wants to be, when it comes to guys, Josie doesn’t care who she hurts [It’s confirmed, Josie sucks!].
The girls have almost circled back to the stables when Rachel’s horse, which has been a bit of a speed demon this whole time, refuses to slow down. A dog suddenly appears out of nowhere, causing the speeding horse to rear up in alarm. Rachel’s saddle flies off as a result, and the poor girl hits the ground with the sickening crack that Stine is so fond of. Melissa shouts at Josie to go get help for the facedown, unmoving Rachel, but all Josie can do is shriek over and over again, ‘”She landed on her head!”‘ [I feel like people only ever land on their heads in Shadyside]
Part One – The Following February
It’s five months later now, and Melissa’s just woken up from a recurring nightmare about riding a speeding horse that won’t stop [Yeehaw! 🤠 ]. Her mum had heard her tossing about, and through the ensuing conversation we learn that Rachel is alive and Melissa visits her whenever she can. Unfortunately, Rachel’s not much of a talker and instead ‘”just stares a lot.”‘
“Sometimes Rachel seems pretty good,” Melissa continued thoughtfully. “Sometimes I think she understands what I’m saying. But then other times, I’m not sure. I mean, sometimes when I visit her, she talks crazy. She doesn’t make any sense at all. And sometimes … sometimes I don’t think she even knows who I am.”
[Aww, poor Rachel] We also learn that Melissa and Josie aren’t really friends anymore, which Melissa believes is because Josie blames her for Rachel’s accident [Why lol? Josie put the saddle on Rachel’s horse, so if anything, Josie’s to blame. I hate her].
We cut to Josie now, I’m assuming later that morning, and she’s at home with her boyfriend, Steve Barron, who’s pushing a snowball into her face [How…romantic?]. Josie’s little white terrier, Muggy, comes into the den to bark at Steve, who questions why Josie hasn’t stepped on Muggy yet and ‘”put it out of its misery,”‘ which, for some reason, is not a red flag for Josie. The couple then make out, with Josie staring into Steve’s eyes because ‘she didn’t like to close her eyes. She liked to watch.’ [And he must also have his eyes open for her to stare into them. This is so weird lol].
Josie thinks about how cute Steve’s all-American looks are, with his blue eyes and wavy blonde hair, and realises she’s been dating him since dumping Jerry after Rachel’s accident. Five months is a long time, at least for Josie [Which she openly admits, so at least she’s self-aware!], and she wonders how he’s managed to keep her interest for so long – ‘Is it because you bring snowballs into the house?” [I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there, Josie!] After the snogfest, Josie notices a square envelope addressed to her amongst the pile of mail on the hall table. It’s a valentine, but someone’s crossed out the printed words and left their own message for her:
“Violets are blue,
Rosed are red.
On Valentine’s Day
Josie will be dead.”
[That’s a beautiful poem] Steve thinks it’s just someone having a laugh, but Josie’s disgusted and immediately assumes Jerry Jenkman is responsible because he’s always pestering her and staring at her at school, like she’s supposed to feel bad about breaking up with him or something [I mean it wouldn’t hurt to feel a little bad, but I guess you were only dating for a month, so he should have moved on by now]. She decides to take Steve’s advice and pretend she never saw it, and then before she can do anything else, ‘pale white hands reached out from behind her, wrapped themselves around her throat, and started to choke her.’ [!!!]
It’s just Rachel being a cheeky little devil, so Josie hollers angrily up the stairs for Erica, who’s supposed to be watching her. Erica scurries down with Luke, who’s tall and lanky and sounds pretty cute. Apparently he’s here all the time because he’s just as devoted to Rachel now as he was before her accident, ‘even though she seldom responded to him in any normal way.’ [Is he maybe sneaking around with Erica?]
Erica grows angry when she learns Josie’s about to head to the mall instead of taking over Rachel duties, like she’d promised. Josie’s barely spent any time with Rachel since the accident [Ew, I hate Josie] and the family can’t afford help during the week, meaning poor Erica’s quality of life is severely suffering because she’s always watching Rachel after school [Rachel goes to a special school during the day, which is probably why the family can’t afford proper care. Poor Erica though]. Meanwhile Rachel, who’s been nonstop requesting to have her hair brushed, becomes distracted by the mail and finds the valentine super funny when Erica reads it out loud.
Then Josie and Steve leave for the mall, and Rachel goes back to asking Erica to brush her hair, ‘as if she had never made the request before.’ [Obviously this is a very specific injury that may not be super realistic (or maybe it is, who knows?) but I’m finding it very believable. Kudos, Stine.] Erica finally relents and as they all head upstairs to Rachel’s room, Luke is absolutely fuming about Josie, insisting she needs to pull her weight with Rachel – ‘”She was responsible, after all, for Rachel’s accident,”‘ since she fastened Rachel’s saddle.
Erica has never seen Luke so frighteningly angry and had no idea he resents Josie so much, making her wonder why he comes around so much. Why hasn’t he just found a new girlfriend instead, especially because it’s not like Rachel even remembers him most of the time? [Stop your negativity, Erica! Luke is a saint and we love him!] And then she has a chilling thought – Luke comes around so much because he wants revenge on Josie, and he sent the valentine [I will not tolerate this slander, Erica! 😡]
After school on Wednesday, Josie’s heading for The Corner, a cool teen hangout nearby, when she spots Erica chasing after her. Being the total asshole that she is, Josie thinks about how Erica’s not as pretty as her or Rachel and could stand to lose a few kilos [Omfg, I cannot stand this girl! I hope she dies and Rachel miraculously recovers] Jenkman also approaches Josie, but she completely ignores his polite attempts at conversation and he eventually storms off angrily [Maybe Jenkman sent the valentine! Is that too obvious though?]. Anyway, Erica needs Josie to watch Rachel this afternoon so she can try out for the drama club, but Josie stays true to herself and has no intention of doing anything for anyone else. It’s all too much for Erica, who blurts out that the accident was Josie’s fault before she can stop herself. And then Josie’s hit in the back of the head by a snowball from a nearby snowball fight [It’s what she deserves 😈 ].
The culprit is Dave, Melissa’s boyfriend, who’s unable to contain amusement as he explains his hand slipped [Hahahaha good save], while Melissa’s clearly embarrassed next to him and avoids Josie’s gaze. Josie promises Erica she’ll watch Rachel tomorrow and heads off to The Corner, pretending not to hear Erica’s protests [Someone throw another snowball at her, please!]. Defeated, Erica surrenders to the fact she won’t be going to the tryouts. but not before she spots Jenkman hiding behind a tree, staring after Josie with a weird expression on his face…
We then jump to Melissa, who demands to know why Dave threw that snowball as soon as the McClains are out of sight. Dave, who’s ‘not exactly handsome’ but has a winning smile and a great sense of humour, explains that he just hates her, that’s all, but Melissa accuses him of still having feelings for Josie and wanting her attention. Dave gets very defensive, insisting Josie’s been on his case ever since he dumped her, which surprises Melissa because Josie told everyone she dumped him [I wonder who’s lying?].
Dave questions why she’s even defending Josie when she dumped Melissa too, and Melissa laments how unfair it is that Josie blames her for Rachel’s accident just because she asked Melissa to check if she’d fastened Rachel’s saddle correctly [This might just be how Melissa’s interpreted the situation, because Josie hasn’t confirmed this opinion yet. I wouldn’t put it past her though…]. Melissa’s also heard from Luke how awful Josie is to Rachel, and Dave suggests they form an anti-Josie club [Count me in!], reminding Melissa how Josie was likely behind his sudden dismissal from the job he’d had lined up at one of Josie’s father’s hardware stores over Christmas [Ugh. Josie’s like the discounted $1 version of Reva Dalby, except she has no redeeming qualities].
Melissa thinks he’s just being paranoid because Josie had no reason to lose him the job [Does she need one?], and then they start playfighting in the snow to lighten the mood. They’re interrupted by a loud crash, curtesy of Jerry Jenkman throwing a snowball through a a second floor classroom window. He then walks away with a big grin on his face, and Melissa points out that the weirdo is another candidate for the anti-Josie club, to which Dave bitterly replies, ‘”Who isn’t?”‘ [Literally, who likes Josie at this point?]
Josie arrives home shortly before 6pm that night, and we learn a few things bout the McClains’ home life – Mum works long hours at a phone company and Dad’s always on the road, checking the numerous chains of his hardware store, so the girls are left on their own a lot. There’s also intercoms all through the house in case Rachel needs anything while she’s in her room, where she spends most of her time [With Erica watching her, I assume?]. Luke enters the den and informs Josie how upset Erica is about missing the tryouts, calling Josie incredibly selfish for trying to ruin Erica’s life like she ruined Rachel’s [Oop]:
Something inside Josie snapped. “I haven’t ruined anybody’s life!” she screamed. “I haven’t! You know what your problem is, Luke? It’s real simple. You’re a loser. You’re a total loser. You come here every day, acting so good, so superior, pretending to be such a hero, so much better than everyone else. But you’re just hiding. You’re hiding behind Rachel because you’re too big a loser to face the real world!”
[One, you have definitely ruined Rachel’s life and you are definitely ruining Erica’s. Two, Luke’s here every day because he actually cares about Rachel, which is more than we can say for you!]
The words cut deep for my darling Luke, who furiously snatches up a letter opener and lunges at Josie [Don’t do it, Luke! She’s not worth the jail time!]. He barely manages to stop himself from hurting Josie and stabs the knife into the table instead, then storms out of the house, concerned by his own outburst. Through the intercom, Erica asks Josie to come upstairs because Rachel’s asking for her, but as usual, Josie refuses. She’s frazzled by her confrontation with Luke and has a big realisation:
Everyone’s mad, Josie thought. Everyone’s mad at me.
And what have I done?
Nothing.
[Yeah, bitch, that’s the whole point! You’ve done nothing!] Sifting through the mail, Josie finds another heart-shaped valentine addressed to her with another threatening message:
This Valentine’s Day
No memories to save.
The only flowers for you
Will be on your grave.
Realising her predicted death will occur on Saturday, Josie tries to convince herself it’s just a joke while I continue to wait eagerly for the prophecy to be fulfilled. That night, Josie wakes up to Rachel pleading for her to come to her room over the intercom, but when Josie gets there, Rachel’s very much asleep. This happens once more, with Rachel seemingly unmoved since the first time Josie came to investigate, and as Josie settles back into bed, she hears soft laughter coming over the intercom [Ooky spooky! It’s probably Erica getting her revenge, which I am completely OK with].
The next afternoon, Erica’s brushing Rachel’s hair, once again pissed because Josie’s reneged on her promise to look after Rachel today, which forced Erica to cancel the special tryout the drama teacher agreed to hold for her today. When Erica tells her Josie’s not coming to see her, Rachel suggests ‘”Josie doesn’t like me anymore,”‘ before declaring that she hates Josie, which is her new mantra for the next few minutes. Erica rushes off to answer the phone and is pleasantly surprised to hear Jenkman on the other end of the line. Her excitement soon turns to disappointment, as is so customary for poor Erica, when she realises he’s calling for her shithead sister after he asks if Josie got the valentines he’d sent [What’s the bet the ones he’s referring to are just normal ones that haven’t been mentioned at all?].
We the jump slightly back in time to earlier that same day during a math exam, which Dave is super stressed about [And amongst the students is Donald Metcalf from the wrestling team, who I think is maybe supposed to be David Metcalf from The New Girl? It might be another Ricky Schorr/Ricky Shore moment and Stine can’t keep up with his own characters… or Maybe David has a brother?]. Shortly after it starts, Josie, who sits in front of Dave in class, approaches the teacher, and since she’s in the front row, Melissa can hear every word very clearly – Josie wants to change seats because ‘”Dave Kinley is copying off my paper.”‘ [Oh no, Dave, what have you done?]
The teacher asks Dave to stay behind for a chat after class, and when he meets Melissa outside a few minutes later, he’s furious that Josie turned him in [Why wouldn’t she? She doesn’t like you?]. The teacher is giving him a zero for the test, which counts for half the grade and will have dire consequences for Dave, who’ll not only be kicked off the wrestling team but will also lose his wrestling scholarship and thus won’t be able to go to college [I think giving him a zero for the whole test is a bit unfair. Like yeah, definitely punish him for cheating, but they had only been doing the test for a few minutes before Josie changed seats, so surely they can change give him a zero for the first few questions or something? But on the other hand – actions, meet consequences!].
Josie comes waltzing past at this exact moment, so Dave confronts her about turning him in [Again, why wouldn’t she? I’m sure anyone else would also have dobbed him in too. I hate to say it, but I’m taking Josie’s side on this one], and Josie coldly tells him that she really didn’t have a choice since he was basically breathing down her neck he was leaning over that far [And the teacher didn’t notice this?]. She then hurries off, leaving Dave sputtering with rage about her wrecking his life.
That evening, Josie’s studying in her room when she hears Rachel calling for her over the intercom. Josie can’t take this tonight, so she flees the house and ends up ice skating at the Shadyside Indoor Rink with Steve, where she confides in Steve about her struggles at home:
“I–I feel so guilty about Rachel,” Josie continued. “Every time I see Rachel I feel guilty. Every time I see that sweet smile, that childish expression. Every time I brush her hair. Every time I talk to her. Every time I realize that Rachel will always be like a child, that Rachel will never grow up. Never have a family. Never have a real life. Every time I see her, so beautiful, so—helpless. It just makes me want to cry, Steve. I feel so guilty. So helpless too.”
I think we all could have guessed Josie’s behaviour stemmed from guilt, and I almost start to feel sympathetic for her until she starts slandering Erica:
“Erica makes it even worse,” Josie interrupted. “All Erica does is try to make me feel guilty. Guilty about not spending time with Rachel. Guilty about not spending more time with her. Guilty about not taking care of Rachel. But I just can’t bear it, Steve. Why can’t Erica give me some space? I mean, she must realize that I feel guilty enough already.”
[Bitch you’ve been having space for a fkn year!!!! Erica doesn’t try to make you feel guilty, you feel guilty because you know you know you’re being a selfish cow! Your guilt doesn’t exempt you from your responsibilities, no matter how hard it is for you. It’s time for Erica to have some space and live her own life for once!] Steve is clearly uncomfortable listening to this but Josie continues to lament that no-one understands how hard it is for her [Which is Josie’s own fault because instead of expressing her feelings, she’s just a bitch to everyone?], and then she pulls out the latest valentine from her back pocket to show Steve, who reads it out loud:
“Who’s sending these cards?
Don’t bother to wonder.
On Valentine’s Day
You’ll be six feet under.”
She’s still sure Jenkman’s behind the cards, but Steve reckons it’s just a stupid joke and Jenkman isn’t a murderer. Josie then thinks she sees someone watching them from behind the food stand, and the pair head off instead of going over to confront who Josie suspects is Jenkman. When she arrives home, Josie steps in something sticky in the kitchen. She examines the dark red puddle on the floor and initially thinks it’s cranberry juice [Josie, please] before there’s waaaaaaay too much of it. She follows the trail of the sticky puddles to the open back door where poor Muggy is dead in the kitchen, the letter opener from the den buried in his stomach [😭].
Her screams bring Erica and Rachel to the kitchen, where Rachel stares at the corpse with an evil smile on her face and states ‘”There’s the puppy”‘ several times. Erica takes her back upstairs away from the grisly sight, leaving a distraught to Josie to wonder ‘who came into my house and murdered my dog?’ [I’m actually surprised she thinks someone entered through the back door and murdered the dog instead of suspecting Rachel could be responsible, especially after that evil smile!] and why did Rachel seem so happy?
Over to Melissa, who’d visited the McClains’ earlier where she noticed how resentful Erica was getting about Josie barely being home. Melissa tried to call Dave when she returned home, but he wasn’t home and his mother didn’t know where he’d gone. She tries calling again now, despite it being 11:30 at night [And on a school night?!] and when he answers, she demands to know where he’d been because she was worried about him. He admits he’d been driving around aimlessly all night, depressed about Josie ruining his life and being kicked off the wrestling team. When Melissa protests that Josie isn’t to blame since he’s the one who cheated, Dave doesn’t feel like talking anymore and hangs up. Melissa then notices a police care outside the McClains’ house and a short while later, two policemen exit the house looking grim…
Back at the McClains’, Josie’s in Erica’s room as they try to work out who killed Muggy. The dog can’t have been a casualty of a robbery because nothing was taken from the house, so Josie reckons the death was intentional, and her number one suspect is Jenkman. Erica argues against that idea, revealing Jenkman had sent two funny valentines signed ‘Secret Admirer.’ She explains the phone call from him the other day and insists he isn’t a liar, but Josie think’s Erica’s bias because she has a crush on him. Erica reckons Luke is behind the creepy valentines and Muggy’s death, and even though he was two seconds away from stabbing her the other day, Josie insists Luke’s too much of a wimp to murder a dog.
Mrs. McClain then appears at the door and asks Josie to go brush Rachel’s hair for a bit, hoping she’ll have better luck encouraging Rachel to go to sleep. Josie reluctantly obliges and shortly after, Rachel tells her ‘”Somebody really hates you,”‘ while giggling. Josie seems super shocked, but I’m not sure why because at this point it’d be more of a surprise if somebody likes Josie!
After school on Friday, Erica tags along with Josie to Greetings, a new card shop near The Corner, so Josie can find a valentine for Steve [A whole shop dedicated to cards?! Surely that’s a slow business]. A car backfires on the walk over and Josie immediately thinks she’s been shot [God, I wish], then explains to Erica how jumpy she’s been since Muggy’s murder last night, especially with all the threats she’s been getting.
Shortly after, while Josie browses the store, Erica spots Jenkman perusing some cards. He seems embarrassed but approaches her anyway, but quickly notices Josie and heads over to her instead. as Erica tries to strike up a conversation. Erica doesn’t wanna miss this train wreck so follows him back to her sister, who immediately accuses Jenkman of sending the nasty valentines and spying on her at the skating rink. She tells him to get a life and hurries out of the store, and after noticing that Jenkman ‘looks angry enough to kill,’ Erica wonders if he is behind the menacing valentines after all.
It’s finally Valentine’s Day now, and Josie’s greeting Steve at the door with a loving kiss that night. ‘His lips were hot and dry’ and he smells like peppermint, which doesn’t turn me on at all, but Josie seems into it. She demands a present as she bring him inside [Patience and manners, you little shit], but they’re distracted by the departing Luke, who’s sad that Rachel didn’t seem to recognise him or appreciate the box of chocolates he’d gifted her. He thinks something’s troubling her tonight, but she wouldn’t say what and after he’s gone, Steve tells Josie that he can’t decide ‘”if Luke is a great guy for sticking with Rachel. Or if there’s something wrong with him.”‘ [Wow, Steve. Just wow]
Josie doesn’t want to talk about Rachel tonight and demands her present again, but Steve ignores her and asks if they’re still going ice skating tonight. It’s the day Josie’s supposed to die, though, so she’s not too keen on leaving the house, especially after yet another creepy valentine:
“Roses are black,
Violets are gray.
On Valentine’s Day,
You’ll start to decay.”
[I’m fkn decaying waiting for this bitch to get axed] Steve once again insists it’s a silly joke because he really wants to go ice skating [Is his gift for her at the skating rink? Is that gift murder?], especially because he already ‘”told Dave Metcalf and Cory Brooks and some other kids we’d meet them.”‘ [OK, so we’ve changed back to David from Donald… I’m choosing to believe they’re the same person] As they’re discussing whether to go or not, Rachel pipes up over the intercom that somebody hates Josie, and Josie decides she’ll take her chances with a potential killer because she can’t deal with Rachel anymore. Erica tries to stop them from leaving since the weekend help had to leave early and she’ll be all alone with Rachel, but Josie doesn’t see the big deal because Erica doesn’t have a date tonight anyway. As they head to the skating rink, Josie can’t stop thinking about Muggy and the valentines and grows increasingly nervous about tonight. She suggests they turn back, but Steve again reassures her she’ll be fine [Doth he protest too much? Is he our bad guy?].
It’s 2:03am now and Erica’s awake and worried about Josie, who hasn’t returned home yet [Omg I hope she’s dead]. She phones Steve, who reveals he and Josie had a stupid argument ‘”about skates or something,” and she’d left the rink with a bunch of other people, but she should have been home by now [Sounds suss, but what would be his motive?]. The doorbell rings and Erica’s expecting Josie when she answers [Why would Josie ring the doorbell, Erica? She’s got a key], but instead it’s two police officers with the terrible [Or great, depending on your opinion of Josie] news that Josie’s been murdered:
“We found your sister in the alley behind the ice rink,” the older police officer told Erica, speaking in a low, professional voice. “We identified her by her wallet. She hadn’t been robbed. She was dead when we arrived. She had been stabbed in the back. With the blade of an ice skate. The skate was still in her back.”
There’s a lot of skating deaths in Fear Street!] The next morning, Melissa wakes up to a phone call from Dave who desperately needs to talk with her, admitting ‘”I-I’m in terrible trouble.”‘ [OK, so Dave’s the red herring] She meets Dave at The Corner for breakfast, by this point having heard of Josie’s murder already herself, and Dave reveals that he’d been sending Josie valentines insisting she’d die on Valentine’s Day [Well there’s that mystery solved, but who’s the m-m-m-m-murderer?]. Melissa is a little jealous that her boyfriend has been hung up on Josie this whole time, but Dave insists he absolutely loathed Josie… but not enough to kill her! He just wanted to frighten the mole because she’s always on his case.
Melissa asks if he went straight home after leaving her place last night around 10pm, but of course he didn’t – he “cruised around for a couple of hours” because he was feeling restless, so he’s got no alibi [Maybe he did kill Josie, and he’s trying to make himself less suspicious by being the obvious suspect, like our bad guy in All-Night Party!]. Assuming Josie held on to Dave’s handwritten death threats, Dave plans to sneak into the house and steal them to eliminate himself as a suspect. Josie’s funeral is tomorrow [That was quick! It hasn’t even been 24 hours, surely it takes longer than that to organise a funeral?], so that’s when he’ll do it. Melissa is nervous for him, but he’s sure it’ll be fine – ‘”What could go wrong?”‘ [Don’t you know you never say something like that before a dangerous plan, Dave? You idiot]
So the next day, Dave sneaks into the McClain home without any trouble at all, because the idiots have left the front door unlocked even though a suspected intruder murdered Muggy inside the home just a few days earlier. As he’s heading for the stairs, he hears crackling over one of the intercoms… and is that someone breathing into it?! He then asks ‘”Hello? Anyone there?”‘ into the box, which is one of the stupidest things he could possibly do because he’s not supposed to be there in the first place, so what does he think will happen if some replies? Idiot. Luckily no-one replies, so he’s not sure if it is breathing he can hear or just the normal crackling and static of the intercom [Do intercoms crackle when they’re not turned on though? Like, doesn’t someone on the other end have to press a button for you to hear them through it?]. Oh well.
He makes his way up to Josie’s room and starts rummaging around at her desk but has no luck finding the the cards before the search is cut short when he hears a car arriving outside. He heads for the stairs to escape, but something horrifying stops him in his tracks. The next chapter is kind of confusing, talking about swirling puddles and pools of red blood all around Dave, before two policemen run up the stares and order him to drop the weapon:
Dave stared at the blood-covered letter opener gripped so tightly in his head.
The red flowing onto the silver.
“Drop it! Now!” the policeman barked.
Dave leaned over the girl. HE stared at the bloody wound in her side. Stared at the puddle of blood at his feet.
Erica.
The girl was Erica.
[The start of this chapter was written so weirdly I thought I’d somehow skipped several pages lol. I guess it was supposed to be portraying Dave being disoriented, but it just wasn’t good. I suppose we’re supposed to think Dave stabbed Erica, but I’m guessing he found Erica and then kind of blacked out. Not sure why he picked up the weapon though]
Part Two – February, One Year Later
Melissa’s in the den with Luke [Yep, Rachel’s Luke! She’d already had Josie’s sloppy seconds, and now she’s snagged Rachel’s!], her new boyfriend of two months, canoodling on the couch. Suddenly she jumps up to stare wistfully out the window, revealing she got a letter from Dave which brought back all the memories of last year. It turns out Dave was arrested after being found standing over Erica, but he maintained his innocence the whole time, claiming he’d simply found Erica like that and picked up the weapon in his shocked state [I still think that chapter was written horribly]. Erica was rushed to hospital and eventually recovered, but never pressed charges or even accused Dave of stabbing her, explaining it was too dark to see the attacker [It was midday at the time, but the sky was apparently black thanks to an oncoming storm…?], and she was stabbed from behind anyway. Why was she even home on the day of her sister’s funeral, you ask? She was too shocked, sick and upset to go, so she stayed home with Rachel instead [Yeah, I wouldn’t have gone either if I was her].
Dave was heavily investigated but was eventually released because of the lack of proof or evidence [So the malicious valentine cards, breaking into the house and being found standing over a body with a weapon means nothing? OK], but everyone in Shadyside believed he was guilty, so his family moved away and he was sent to a military-style boarding school upstate. Melissa isn’t so sure that Dave is guilty though.
We also learn that Luke breaking up with Rachel was a huge setback for her, even though she barely acknowledged him, but Luke had to get on with his life after realising Rachel would never get better [Which is totally fair, I think. How long ago did he end things, though? Surely he didn’t jump straight from Rachel to Melissa?]. Melissa’s still visits the McClains quite often, and poor Erica is still so very lonely [I feel so bad for Erica]. Luke abruptly changes the subject and they make plans to go to the Fear Lake skating party on Valentine’s Day next weekend as Melissa sifts through the pile of mail on the table [I’m sure we all know where this is going]. She finds a valentine addressed to her, but quickly realises it’s not from Luke when she reads the message inside:
Roses are red
Violets are blue,
On Valentine’s Day,
You’ll be dead too.
Across the road, Erica’s brushing Rachel’s hair, because that’s all there is to do with Rachel I guess. Rachel suddenly asks if Luke is coming, which is weird because she hasn’t mentioned him in weeks, and when Erica reminds her that Luke is with Melissa now, Rachel starts chanting that she hates Melissa. Erica then answers a phone call from Steve, which surprises her because they’ve barely spoken since Josie’s death, and he asks her out to the Fear Lake Valentine’s Day party [I this a pity invite or is he into Erica now?]. Erica seems keen but has to politely decline because she’s already promised to watch Rachel that night because her parents will be away, and she sadly realises just how depressing her life is:
I spend all my time in this creepy, old house, locked up with Rachel. I’ve lost all my friends. I have no dates. I can’t go out or do anything. I just stay here night after night, brushing Rachel’s hair.
[You’d think her parents would step up and help out over the weekends to give poor Erica some freedom, but I guess not] Rachel’s escaped outside by this point, and pops out from behind a tree as Erica frantically searches for her, pleased with herself about scaring Erica, who can’t help but wonder if Rachel knows more than she lets on.
On Monday afternoon, Melissa shows Luke another sinister valentine, this one promising she’ll take her last breath on Valentine’s Day. Luke dismisses it as a joke, so Melissa has to reminds him that it wasn’t a joke for Josie [Yeah, Luke!]. Luke suggests they compare Dave’s handwriting on the letter he sent last week to the writing on the cards, so Melissa heads to her room to fetch it. She’s interrupted by a phone call from Dave’s mother, however, who reveals Dave ran away from his boarding school last night and might be heading to Shadyside, since he’s been talking about Melissa a lot recently [Oop]. Melissa takes the letter downstairs and they quickly determine the handwriting is a match – Dave sent the cards, ‘”and now he’s coming here. To make his threats come true.”‘
Melissa scurries across the road and tells Erica the bad news about Dave and the valentines, which terrifies Erica because she actually does believe Dave stabbed her and killed Josie last year, but she wasn’t super sure so didn’t tell the police [Dave is definitely innocent. But who’s the real murderer? Could Erica be our bad guy, having finally snapped after being taken advantage of for so long? Maybe she stabbed herself to frame Dave, using his immense hatred of Josie to her advantage!].
Later that night, while Mrs. McClain is out and Rachel’s in bed, Luke breaks in to leave Rachel a valentine because he didn’t want to disturb anyone [Uhhh, leave it in the letterbox??? Luke is suss now 😢]. He’s caught by Erica, who tries to tell him how devastated Rachel was when he stopped coming over, but Luke flees the house because it’s a sore subject for him.
Across the street, Melissa’s struggling to fall asleep after losing a game of Scrabble against her father by 400 points [Apparently she had nothing but vowels the whole game, which is hard to believe] when someone suddenly pulls her window open and climbs through – it’s Dave! He notices how scared she is and sadly realises she thinks he’s a murderer, but that doesn’t stop him from standing over her, ‘so close she could smell onions on his breath.’ [Yuck, that actually made me gag 🤮 ]
He’s back to clear his name and catch the real killer, and after inspecting the nasty valentines Melissa accuses him of sending, he declares ‘”Now I know who the killer is!”‘ and scampers back out the window, completely ignoring Melissa’s demands to be told who [Ugh, I hate when characters do this. It would have taken you one damn second, Dave, but no. Now we have to wait 40 more pages!] because I guess he doesn’t care that she’s in danger.
The next afternoon, Melissa kindly watches Rachel so Erica can go to a rehearsal for the school play. It’s such a lovely day so Melissa takes her on a walk, and Rachel has the time of her life playing around in a pile of dried leaves. It’s sad, tragic and touching to Melissa, who joins her in a leaf fight. A short while later they’re playing catch in the front yard when Erica returns home. Melissa tells her about Dave’s visit, and then Rachel starts chanting ‘”Someone hates Erica,”‘ so Erica takes her inside.
Melissa jogs over to her own house, surprised to see Luke coming around the side of the house [Suspicious…]. He’s apparently left his keys at school or something, so decided to come here instead of waiting out front of his own house. Funnily enough, Melissa can’t find her keys either [Interesting… Did Rachel take them while they were enjoying the leaves? Or did Erica somehow get her mitts on them? Note from future: This is just page filler because we never find out where their keys are]! They agree on how dumb they are and start making out before Melissa confesses that she genuinely thinks they’re a great couple… Luke, however, seems ‘very embarrassed and more than a little troubled.’ [Oop, that’s not a good sign!]
While studying in her room late that night, Melissa hears a thud from outside followed by footsteps and a garbage can toppling over. She scrambles to the window and pokes her head out and is just able to make out a figure running away from the house, a figure with ‘long red hair trailing behind her.’ [Rachel has long red hair, but I think this might be someone in a wig. Or maybe Rachel does know more than she lets on?!] She hears a car speeding away, which only confuses Melissa more because Rachel doesn’t drive, and whose car would she even get in? Especially when she lives across the street anyway? Melissa’s parents also heard the prowler and called the police, who discover a body outside and get a very dramatic reaction from Melissa:
“The body of the teenage boy on your driveway,” the officer replied.
“No!” The scream burst from Melissa, more a shriek of horror than a word. “No! Not Luke! Please, don’t let it be Luke!“
[Melissa, calm the fuck down, it’s probably Dave]. We then cut to Erica, who’s just about to settle into bed when Rachel, who’s surprisingly wide awake, calls over the intercom for her to come brush her hair. A knock at the door saves Erica, though, and it’s the two police officers we saw at Melissa’s house, asking to speak with Rachel in connection with the death of Dave Kinley this evening [See, Melissa? It was Dave!]. Mrs. McClain and Erica explain that Rachel can’t leave the house without supervision, but the officers insist and talking with her and and much to the McClains’ surprise, Rachel proudly tells the cops that she can go outside by herself and she does it all the time!
We skip ahead to Friday now, and school has just finished. Erica bumps into Melissa on her way to play rehearsals, and since she misses school for a few days due to being shocked about Dave’s death, she explains now that the police quickly realised Rachel isn’t capable of murder after chatting with her for a few minutes. They have no leads, though, so there’s a killer on the loose! She also tells Melissa she is going to Fear Lake party on Sunday because she just needs to get out of the house, but she’s not going with a date [Who’ll be watching Rachel? And why not ask Steve to go?]. As she heads off, Melissa notes with sadness how hard the McClains’ have had it over the last few years – ‘One sister murdered. One sister stabbed. One sister’s life ruined forever by a stupid accident.’ Melissa then opens her locker and finds a large, dripping, broken heart painted on the inside her of the door in red, with the words ‘YOU’RE DEAD’ scrawled below it [The scene on the cover!].
Now it’s Sunday, Valentine’s Day, and Melissa’s just rocked up to the ice skating party at Fear Lake. Melissa can’t skate to save her life [Something she’ll probably be doing very soon, I imagine!], so Luke takes her further out onto the ice for a private lesson, even though they were warned the ice is thin here. He then skates further into the darkness ahead of her as Melissa hears the ice cracking, but then he speeding towards her with a menacing gleam in his eye. It turns out he just wanted to get her alone so they could have some sexy makeout time, but Melissa is ain’t impressed, calling him out for his insensitivity:
“You just forgot that I got all those death threats!” Melissa snapped.
“I thought—”
“You thought it was funny to lead me out here to the darkest spot where the ice is cracking! I don’t believe you!” she uttered an angry cry, raising her fists and nearly toppling over.
[Luke was so much better last year, now he’s an idiot] Luke admits he was wrong but doesn’t actually apologise, and Melissa cuts him some slack because he was just trying to be romantic [Was he?]. She suggests he skate ahead and do a few laps since she’s only slowing him down anyway, and she’ll meet him by the refreshments later [At least get him to help you back to civilisation, you idiot!], and off he goes.
Melissa quickly topples over and as she picks herself up, she sees a hooded figure racing towards her, holding a knife [!!!]. When the hood flies back, Melissa’s notices the long red hair flowing behind the figure… Rachel? [Or someone in a wig?! Erica framing Rachel so she can get her life back, maybe?] The redhead crashes into Melissa and plunges the knife into her side., but Melissa isn’t injured because of the giant, bulky overcoat she’s wearing [How thick is this thing?]. Melissa loses her footing and reaches for the attacker to hold herself up and ends up getting her hand tangled in the red hair, accidentally pulling it off and revealing… Erica beneath the wig [!!!].
Cue the bad guy monologue as Erica confesses to murdering Josie because Rachel’s accident was her fault, and she took no responsibility for it, continuing on with her life as if nothing happened [True, she had it coming]. Erica’s life was also ruined the day of Rachel’s accident, and she couldn’t let Josie get away with it any longer. Learning that Dave was behind the threatening valentines made him the perfect scapegoat, and when Erica saw him break into the house, she called the police and stabbed herself, effectively framing him.
Dave was getting too close to the truth, having realised Erica kept the old valentines so she could copy his handwriting, and now Melissa has to die because she took Luke from Rachel, which made Erica even more of a prisoner – ‘”after you took Luke away, I was all Rachel had left.”‘ But why the red wig? I’ll let Erica explain, because it’s not what I was thinking:
Erica glanced down at the ball of hair. “This is Rachel’s revenge, too,” she said quietly. “I wanted Rachel to be here too. In some way, she’s here with me, getting her revenge on you.”
[I think it would have been more interesting if she was framing Rachel to get her locked up somewhere, so Erica would finally be free to live her own life!] Melissa’s managed to keep Erica yapping long enough for Luke to realise she’s missing [Even though it’s been, what, not even five minutes since he left?], and here he comes racing towards the girls just as Erica’s swinging the knife towards Melissa. Before he can reach the girls or the knife can connect with its target, the ice gives way beneath them and Melissa and Erica plunge into freezing water. Luke quickly pulls Melissa from the water, but it’s too late for Erica, who slips under the surface ‘as if being sucked under’ before disappearing into the icy darkness.
Erica reappears under the thin sheet of ice, staring blankly at them with her face pressed up against it, and Melissa doesn’t understand why she isn’t moving and trying to save herself:
“I don’t think she wants to come up,” Luke said quietly.
Melissa stared in horror at the unmoving, wide-eyed face staring up at her, pressed up against the ice.
Erica has been in a prison for a year, staring out at the world, Melissa thought grimly.
Now she’s staring up at us from another prison.
[Wow, very deep, Melissa. Also, I can’t believe Erica’s being so selfish! Who’s going to look after Rachel now?!] Three weeks later, Melissa and Luke are finishing up a visit with Rachel, who’s showing them a painting of a snowman she did at school. She wishes she could show it to Erica, and then vows to get better so she can go outside by herself [Good plan, Rachel!]. Melissa and Luke then head off, bidding farewell to Mrs. McClain [I feel so sorry for the McClain parents! Their only surviving daughter probably won’t ever lead a normal life again]. As they make their way to Melissa’s house, Melissa realises she hadn’t seen Rachel since Valentine’s Day. Neither of them want to think about that particular holiday ever again, though, and the book ends with Melissa suggests that next year they send each other Groundhog’s Day cards instead [I know what Groundhog Day is, but if this is a joke, I don’t get it lol…].
Final thoughts
This was more boring than I was expecting and definitely didn’t need to be this long. I feel like the ending was super rushed too, which is very annoying when the book has this many pages.
Josie absolutely sucked and it took way too long for her to be killed off. I get that her shittiness stems from her pain and guilt, but there are countless other ways to deal with that other than being a c*nt to everyone. Melissa was great though, and I thought Erica was nicely fleshed out. It’s hard not to root for her, even after the big reveal, because you can’t help but feel sorry for the poor girl.
Speaking of the bad guy, this one did keep me guessing more than usual, although looking back, Erica was the obvious choice because everyone else was acting too suss. It’s weird that Jenkman completely disappeared after Josie’s death; Stine could have played into his creepiness a bit more. Steve also completely disappeared after asking Erica out, which I also thought was weird.
8 Josie McClains with an ice skate in her back out 17!
