Tagline: Trick or treat… the trick is not to die….
Back tagline: This party is a killer.
Summary: Brenda hates her cousin Halley. And Brenda isn’t the only one. Because Halley keeps stealing other people’s boyfriends.
So Brenda and her friends decide to plan the perfect murder. Something to go along with Brenda’s perfect Halloween Party.
Not that they’re really going to kill anybody. It’s just a joke.
Right?
Ha. Ha.
First impressions: It’s been a while since we had a Stine book that wasn’t Fear Street, so I’m looking forward to this one! I love Halloween-themed horror (except for Trick or Treat lol) and really enjoyed Halloween Party, so I’m keen to see what else Stine can do with the holiday.
Now let’s talk about the cover; this might be the strangest jack-o’-lantern I’ve ever seen. That face reminds me of what of those traditional dragon tattoos lol. It’s weird. Other than the weird face, it’s a very basic, generic Halloween cover.
The blurb is very simple too, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s short and punchy and has piqued my interest, but that ‘Ha. Ha.’ bit kills me hahaha. Let’s read!
Recap
Meet the squad:
Brenda – Our heroine who can’t stand her cousin.
Halley – Brenda’s cousin who’s moved in while her parents settle their messy divorce.
Traci – Brenda’s bestie who’s dating Noah.
Dina – Brenda’s other best friend who has long legs.
Ted and Noah – Brenda and Traci’s scumbag boyfriends.
The book begins with our third-person protagonist Brenda Morgan in her room with her besties, Traci Warner and Dina Smithers. Because we can’t have main characters with the same hair colour, Brenda’s got copper-coloured hair, Traci’s got black hair and Dina’s a brunette with a short haircut that she thinks makes her look like a boy. Dina gets the most description here because she’s always complaining about her looks; she’s too tall, too skinny, her chin’s too pointy, etc. She also has long legs, which you won’t have a chance to forget because Stine makes sure to mention her long legs as much as he can. [At least in the first half]
Anyway, Brenda’s complaining about her cousin, Halley Benson, [A blonde! No overlapping hair colours here!] who temporarily moved in a month ago while her parents go through a messy divorce. It hasn’t been a pleasurable experience for Brenda, who was forced to give up her bedroom and move into a smaller one for some reason. [I would not have agreed to that if I was Brenda] The conversation is briefly interrupted by Mrs. Morgan at one point, shouting up through the air vent from the hallway below for Brenda to turn her music down, since it carries through the vent and throughout the house, [I feel like this will be important later] and then it’s back to bitching about Halley. [So can whoever’s in the hallway hear what’s going on in Brenda’s room at any time?]
Halley is a real piece of work if we’re to trust Brenda’s opinion; she’s all sweet and innocent to Brenda’s parents’ faces but talks shit about them every chance she gets, including fat-shaming Brenda’s dad. Dina won’t stop defending Halley for some reason, suggesting ‘”she’s probably just nervous,”‘ on account of starting at a new school her senior year, as if that’s a reason to bully people, [I’m all for playing devil’s advocate because I love to argue, but Dina is practically on Halley’s side this whole conversation] and Traci agrees that Halley’s going through a lot right now.
Me and Brenda think that’s no excuse, and Brenda points out that Traci and Dina have only seen Halley when she’s on her best behaviour, insisting ‘”she’s really mean-natured.”‘ Brenda laments that she’d actually been looking forward to Halley moving in, thinking it’d be like having a sister the same age, but Halley has been awful and unfriendly the whole time. She’s constantly taking Brenda’s clothes without asking, stolen her text book and claimed it was hers, and she’s even been flirting with Ted, Brenda’s boyfriend! Brenda’s all worked up so Dina changes the subject to the Homecoming dance; Brenda’s going with Ted and Traci’s making an appearance with her man Noah, but Dina doesn’t have a date which she clearly thinks is to do with her looks. [There’s a strong focus on Dina’s appearance in this chapter. I wonder if this is foreshadowing that she’s our bad guy or something?]
Dina, who’s sitting over by the window with her long legs, alerts the others that Halley’s arriving home, and she’s with Ted! Brenda can’t believe the big grin plastered on her cousin’s face and would love to know what they’re talking about. Traci points out that Brenda’s cuter than Halley, but Brenda doesn’t want to be cute, damn it! Halley soon enters the room with Ted, who suspiciously avoids Brenda’s eyes, and asks to borrow her car because Ted’s offered to give her a driving lesson. Brenda is surprised but hands over the keys anyway, then tells Ted to call her after dinner. He agrees and then hurries out of the room, so I’m thinking he’s got something to hide. Halley follows him out without so much as a thank you to Brenda, which sets our heroine off again. [Manners are important, to be fair] Luckily, Traci’s got an idea – ‘”Let’s murder her!”‘
Now, obviously us seasoned Stine readers will know it’s one of those pesky fake-out chapter endings he’s so fond of, but we don’t know for sure just yet because the next chapter is about Halley’s driving lesson with Ted. He’s teaching her how to park at the mall but Halley is much more interested in flirting with him, and she’s not being subtle! After backing into a parking space, Halley grabs his arm and tells him how nice it is of him to give her a lesson, and how everyone is being so nice to her while she’s going through her parents’ messy divorce. Ted is clearly uncomfortable with her hand on his arm, but Halley ignores it and babbles on about her great Brenda and her friends are, but an insult is never far away when it comes to this bitch and she tells Ted the girls aren’t what she’s used to – ‘”They’re…uh…a little unsophisticated.”‘ [Fuck off, Halley] But then she reiterates that they have been really great, but she’s already shown her true colours.
Ted finally manages to get his arm out from under her vice-like grip and accidentally knocks her bag over, which spills at his feet. As he’s collecting the contents, he notices a license with Halley’s name on it [Omfg I hate her hahaha] and quickly calls her out. Halley is unfazed and raises her eyes slowly to Ted’s before wetting her lips, telling him ‘”I just wanted to get you alone.”‘ [Don’t do it, Ted]
Before Ted can react, Halley slides her hands around his head and pulls his face to hers. Then, ‘with a tiny cry, she pressed her warm lips against his, softly at first, then harder.’ [A tiny cry? What? Why lol?] The kiss lasts a long time and when it ends, Halley changes her mind and kisses him again. [Ted, wtf are you doing?!] A while later Ted finally comes up for air, but all he can say is ‘”Whoa,”‘ while Halley giggles mischievously. He tells her they shouldn’t do this but immediately moves in for another fkn kiss, [Get in the bin, Ted] and after another lengthy pash Halley wonders out loud what they’re going to do about Brenda.
It’s Sunday now (but I have no idea how many days have passed) and Brenda’s in her room with Dina and Traci working on a writing project. Brenda’s 10-year-old brother Randy is there too, being annoying, and we get this hilarious exchange when Brenda finally kicks him out:
“Why does you brother likes to hang around us all the time?” Dina asked.
“I think he has a crush on you,” Brenda teased.
Dina sighed. “Maybe he could be my date for Homecoming.”
“No way!” Randy screamed from the hall.
[Hahahaha poor Dina] Brenda tells him to piss off again and waits for his footsteps to go downstairs before continuing their conversation. Brenda had gone out with Ted last night and divulges to the girls that he seemed really distracted, like he had something else on his mind. [Yeah, that whore cousin of yours 😡 ] Dina matter-of-factly replies that Ted can be like that sometimes, and Brenda remembers that Dina had dated Ted for a while when they were juniors. [So last year? Wow, Brenda, bad friend. Dina’s probably ur bad guy and this is her villain origin story]
Dina asks how things are going with Halley, and Brenda explains that they haven’t talked much and it almost seems like Halley is avoiding her, which is perfectly fine with Brenda. Whenever they do run into each other, however, Brenda has a smug smile on her face, like she’s got a secret. [If only you knew, Brenda]
Traci then brings up murdering Halley again, and Brenda casually suggests they murder Ted too before it becomes clear that this murder plot is for their writing assignment for English. [Laaaaame. Cool assignment though!] Halloween’s coming up and Brenda’s throwing a costume party, so they decide to make the murder happen during a that exact scenario to make the story more mysterious. Dina has some reservations about killing Halley in a story, insisting it feels too real and is a mean thing to do. [Nah do it, yolo]
Brenda demands to know why Dina’s always sticking up for Halley, and we learn it’s because Dina’s parents also had a messy divorce and battled for custody, so she understands what Halley’s going through. Apparently Bad Friend Brenda completely forgot about this life-changing occurrence in her best friend’s life, and Dina doesn’t hide her bitterness as she remarks that Brenda and Traci probably don’t remember what she went through. [Yeah, Dina’s definitely our bad guy]
Dina turns away from them and looks out the window, but then her mouth drops open and she lets out a gasp. Brenda and Traci immediately go to the window and follow her gaze, to Ted’s Honda Viciv parked in the driveway. Inside the car, the girls can see Ted making out with Halley in the front seats! [Halley obviously wanted Brenda to see them, but what’s Ted’s reason for being this dumb?] Brenda is rightfully livid and declares she’ll murder Halley for real! [I will riot if we Halley gets murdered later but it turns out we’ve just been reading their writing assignment]
The next morning, Brenda tries to talk to her mother about Halley’s latest escapade but she refuses to listen, insisting Brenda and Halley should solve their differences like adults and Brenda shouldn’t come running to her like a 10-year-old. [Oof, what a bitch. No wonder Brenda’s so awful herself] Mrs. Morgan reminds her that Halley needs understanding and sympathy right now, and Brenda can’t help but wonder if her aunt and uncle are actually fighting to not keep Halley, rather than trying to get custody of her. [To be honest, I was thinking the same thing earlier]
At the end of the school day, Brenda bumps into Dina and her long legs on the way to her locker and poor Dina has not had a good day; she studied the wrong pages for the Spanish test, then spilled a sloppy Joe on her shirt at lunch! Brenda makes a joke out of it and is quickly scolded by Dina – ‘”You always think it’s a riot when something bad happens to me.”‘
Brenda doesn’t apologise because she apparently can’t read the room, [Dina, get new friends please] and after some more chatter Dina heads off. Brenda continues to her own locker, but stops short when she sees Halley down the hall with Traci’s boyfriend, Noah, both of them being very flirty.
Brenda’s briefly distracted by someone saying hello and when she turns back, Noah’s alone and walking towards her. He saw Brenda watching him and explains he and Halley had just come from math class and were talking about math, that’s all. [Even if it was true, which it isn’t, the fact you immediately came to clear that up is super suspicious lol. Like, if it was as innocent as he’s saying, it probably wouldn’t cross his mind that it would look like something else, right?] He insists there’s no need to tell Traci about it, and Brenda informs him ‘”I’m not going to run to Traci every time you talk to a girl in the hall,”‘ because as I’ve said already, she’s a bad friend. Noah starts heading back down the hall again but stops just to tell Brenda, ‘”Hey, your cousin’s really nice, you know?”‘ [If I was Brenda, I’d definitely be telling Traci everything]
Traci and Dina come over later that night to work on the murder plot, and even though she’s dying to tell Traci, Brenda manages not to spill the beans about Halley and Noah. [They were in the hallway at the time anyway, surely Traci could just pretend she saw it with her own eyes?] Ted had called shortly after the girls left, but Brenda immediately hung up before he could say anything. [You go girl!] Now it’s almost 11pm and Brenda’s trying to study at her desk, but but she’s too distracted by thoughts of her boy-crazy cousin; first Ted, then Noah, and now Halley’s over at another boy’s house for a study date! [Halley’s gonna earn herself quite the reputation!]
Brenda decides to turn in for the night and that’s when she notices a man staring at her through her bedroom window, his eyes bulging and his mouth wide open in an ugly grin. [!!!] She quickly realises it’s a cardboard cut-out taped to the window and retrieves it , but her screams have brought her mother, Randy and Halley running in. Brenda explains what happened and notices something written on the back – ‘See You on Halloween.’ Randy denies being responsible, but Halley’s amused smirk is a sure sign that she’s behind the prank, at least to Brenda, who thinks Halley wanted to make her look like a fool. As everyone leaves the room, Brenda can’t help but wonder if the mask and message is just a silly prank, or if something strange is going on. [Probably, but it’s a bit early to come to that conclusion]
The next evening, Traci and Dina are over to help Brenda carve a jack-o’-lantern, but Dina’s super tired from her after-school job at a vet’s office. She wishes she could quit, but her dad lost his job and hasn’t been able to send her and her mother any money. [Poor Dina. Literally] All of a sudden a gorilla appears in the doorway, lumbering towards the table to scoop up the carving knife and raise it menacingly. [It’s obviously Halley in a costume, but dumbass Brenda and her idiot friends really thinks a damn gorilla broke into her kitchen 💀] As expected, it is just Halley in a costume; Brenda’s father had shown it to her in the attic, and Halley plans on wearing it to the party. [Really? A slutty nurse seems more Halley’s style]
Halley asks to borrow Brenda’s car again, and since there’s an audience present, Brenda allows it. Halley heads upstairs to get changed, and Traci and Dina are surprised about how nice Brenda was to loan her car out. Before Brenda can reply, the idiot realises she’s gripping a knife by the blade and slices her finger. [Brenda, you’re killing me] After bandaging it, Brenda declares the gorilla isn’t the only scare she’s had lately, telling the girls about the face in her window. She still thinks Halley did it, but has no idea why.
The conversation turns to their murder plot assignment and they decide that fictional Halley should be murdered while wearing the gorilla suit at the costume party. Dina suggests ‘”And no one knows she’s been stabbed,”‘ which I think is pretty self-explanatory, but Brenda’s an idiot who doesn’t understand what she means, so Dina clarifies that because the suit is so thick, no-one realises Dina’s dead in the chair instead of just sitting down, enjoying the party. Traci suggests they make Ted the murderer, but Brenda sharply replies that he’s not invited to the fictional party. He’s also not invited to the real party either, and Brenda’s been ghosting him ever since she saw him kissing Halley. Dina hopes that Halley didn’t borrow the car to go meet Ted, a thought that hadn’t even occurred to Brenda. [I see what you’re doing, Dina! Cheeky girl]
Brenda’s finger is bleeding through the bandage so she heads upstairs to get a new one, instead of just to the bathroom like last time, and notices the lights are on in her bedroom. She makes her way over to her room to turn them off but stops in the doorway when she sees blood smeared all over the walls, [Is it really blood, or just red paint like it usually is in these books?] spelling out some words – ‘SEE YOU ON HALLOWEEN.’ [Ooky spooky!]
The next night, Brenda’s sitting in an ice cream parlour at the mall with Traci, discussing her vandalised walls. Apparently it is real blood [Grossssss] and although Brenda had insisted Halley was responsible, her parents didn’t believe it because where would Halley get all that blood? [OK, so you think a stranger broke into your house and smeared blood all over your teenage daughter’s walls instead? I mean, I don’t think it was Halley either, but it’s the most believable scenario. You know who probably does have access to all that blood? Dina and her long legs, curtesy of her job at the vet’s office! She’s probably punishing Brenda for being an awful friend, which I don’t blame her for] Brenda suggests Halley’s doing all this crap because she’s jealous of Brenda’s normal family, and then Traci changes the subject to Dina. She’s working late tonight, and Brenda reckons she should quit her job because she’s working too many hours and is so exhausted. [Brenda, she literally told you why she has to do all these hours. You probably ignored that, though, huh?]
Then Traci spots an awful sight behind Brenda – Noah’s sitting in a corner booth at the back of the parlour with Halley, and they’re holding hands across the table! [Omfg] Traci furiously storms over there and Brenda reluctantly follows her, trying to convince herself she shouldn’t feel guilty for not telling Traci what she saw because ‘I really didn’t know they were actually seeing each other.’ [Whatever helps you sleep at night, Brenda] All Noah can say is ‘”I was going to call you,”‘ over and over again, while Halley can’t see why Traci’s so upset. After all, Halley didn’t force Noah to come here with her, and Traci doesn’t own him. [Someone really needs to take Halley down a peg or 17]
Traci doesn’t want to hear from Noah ever again and storms out of the parlour and back to her car with Brenda. She thinks Brenda needs to get rid of her cousin, but unfortunately Halley will be around for a while because her parents’ court hearing was pushed back three months. [Booooooooooooo] After Traci drops her home, Brenda notices her car isn’t in the driveway; turns out her parents let Halley take it since Brenda wasn’t using it, and they scold her for being selfish and mean towards her cousin. [Why are the parents always so awful in these books?]
Ted had called while Brenda was out and up in her room a short while later, she contemplates calling him back, unsure if she’s even still furious at him. [Brenda, where’s your self-respect?] Brenda struggles to fall asleep that night, too busy thinking about Ted, and ends up having a nightmare that the jack-o’-lantern she’d carved with the girls starts glowing and threatens to ‘”SEE YOU ON HALLOWEEN.”‘
As Brenda walks home from school the next day, Ted catches up to her, wanting to know if they’re still going to Homecoming together. Brenda’s all like “why would I want to go with you?” [Good for you, Brenda!] and he apologises, but doesn’t explicitly say what for. Brenda accuses him of coming back to her because Halley’s seemingly with Noah now, something that Ted clearly didn’t know. As they stop at a corner, Ted puts his arm around her shoulders, and Brenda decides not to pull away:
She realized she was happy they were getting back together.
“I still really like you,” Ted said, blushing.
“I like you, too,” she whispered back, leaning her head against the broad shoulder of his silver-and-blue school jacket.
[Brenda is making it impossible to root for her] Ted immediately follows up with ‘”I just think we should see other people, too,”‘ and not be so serious. [Hahahahaha fuck off, Ted] Brenda’s stung by his words and asks him straight up if he’s asking her because Halley said no, which Ted denies before kissing her. His lips are dry and scratchy [Gross] and even though Brenda returns the kiss, [For fuck’s sake, Brenda, she’s thinking about how Halley is ruining everything and wills her cousin to go away forever.
Later that evening, Traci and Brenda are waiting in Brenda’s room for Dina to arrive from work, discussing how Brenda has sort of made up with Ted. Halley’s not home at the moment, and Traci reckons she’s out and about scouting for more local talent. [Hahahaha] Dina’s voice soon drifts up from the air vent in the floor, informing them she can hear everything they’re saying. When she enters the room, the poor girl looks exhausted and even more pale than usual.
Brenda’s parents call up through the air vent to say they’re going to visit some friends for a few hours, so the girls take their murder plotting to the living room. Dina thinks the others are taking it too seriously and suggests changing the victim’s name, but this is ignored by the others. They decide that Dina should be the murderer, since she is the least likely suspect, and then Dina heads into the kitchen to grab them all cokes. [Or is she going up to Brenda’s bedroom to leave a nasty surprise?!] Red herring Halley arrives home and heads straight upstairs, and Dina returns a few minutes later.
Traci suggests that Dina swaps costumes with Brenda in the story’s party so that Dina can’t be blamed for stabbing Halley. Brenda points out the plan would easily be foiled by revealing the costume swap [But also wouldn’t Brenda be blamed, since the murderer was wearing her costume at the time?], so Traci suggests that Dina also kill Brenda to tie up any loose ends. [I don’t know if that would work either, Traci, but I like your enthusiasm!]
The girls go home soon after and Brenda heads upstairs to do some homework. As she sits at her desk, she realises the jack-o’-lantern is glowing, and it’s not a nightmare this time! A stomach-churning smell invades her nostrils and when she pulls off the pumpkin’s top to look inside the awful smell grows stronger. Next to the small candle burning inside is a dead bird, ‘it’s head cut cleanly off, tendons and blood vessels poking through the open cavity of its neck.’ [That bird better have already been dead before you mutilated it, Dina!] Next to the bird is a folded up piece of paper, which Brenda plucks out to read the most threatening message yet – ‘YOU’RE NEXT. ON HALLOWEEN.’ And then poor Brenda leans over her desk and vomits. [Gross]
The rest of the house bursts in moments later to see what the commotion is and a hysterical Brenda quickly accuses Halley of trying to drive her crazy. The whole family then heads downstairs to have a calm and rational discussion at the kitchen table. Halley and Randy both deny vandalising Brenda’s room, and Halley suggests someone broke in and did it. Brenda’s constant accusations have pissed Halley off and she storms upstairs in tears, pointing out that Brenda’s been awful to her ever since she moved in. Brenda pleads with her parents not to believe Halley’s lies and insists her cousin is evil, but as usual they don’t want a bar of what she has to say and label Brenda’s attitude as sick.
At lunchtime the next day, Brenda complains to Dina about Halley and her parents before Ted arrives and helps himself to their food. Dina quickly leaves but promises to come over later, and as Brenda tries to talk to her boyfriend, [Can’t believe they’re still together] she realises he’s not listening, too distracted by something across the cafeteria. Following his gaze, she sees that Halley and Noah have just entered the room together, being all cuddly. [Gross] Turning back to Ted, she notices a strange expression on his face, like ‘sadness and envy and anger all mixed together.’
Dina arrives later that night, but Traci can’t make it due to visiting a cousin with her parents. Dina wishes she had a big family like Traci, sadly explaining how lonely it can get at home with just her and her mum; apparently her dad’s relatives pretty much dropped them after the divorce, as if they just don’t exist. [Dina just can’t catch a break!] Brenda offers her Halley, which Dina politely declines. [Hahahahahaha]
Speaking of Halley, in she bursts with news about a horrible accident! She leads the girls down to the driveway where Brenda’s prized car is sitting, its whole passenger side crumpled like a crushed soda can. Halley explains it wasn’t her fault – she doesn’t know the area very well and the stop sign was hidden, and if the other car hadn’t been going so fast, they could have stopped in time! [How did this bitch get her license?]
The excuses and lack of apology send Brenda into a white-hot fit of rage and she attacks Halley, strangling her and yanking at her hair. Brenda’s eventually pulled off by her father while her mother comforts Halley, and Brenda manages to calm herself down. Halley’s still denying being responsibility for the accident and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan scold Brenda for not just being grateful that Halley’s OK. Brenda catches a momentary flash of what she assumes is triumph in Halley’s eyes and silently vows to kill her for real. [Do it!]
The next morning, Dina calls Traci before school to tell her all about Brenda’s behaviour last night, confiding that it really seemed like she was genuinely trying to kill Halley. Dina’s worried that Brenda’s really messed up, and Traci reveals that Brenda will be even more messed up when she learns what Traci yesterday after school. [Oooh 👀 ] Traci had stayed late to use the computer lab and as she was leaving, she noticed Ted’s car in the parking lot, and Ted was making out with Halley inside. [OK, Ted can die] Brenda’s going to the Homecoming dance with Ted tomorrow night, but Dina suggests that Traci shouldn’t tell Brenda what she saw because ‘”She’s so messed up already.”‘ [Dina definitely wants Brenda to be humiliated in public lol] Traci agrees because I guess she’s as bad a friend as Brenda when it comes to keeping their boyfriends’ secrets.
At school, Brenda feels like everyone’s staring and whispering about her and wonders if word got around about her punch-on with Halley. Ted seems uncomfortable and nervous at lunch, his eyes constantly darting around the cafeteria. Brenda tells him about Halley wrecking her car but leaves out the fight, and Ted offers to pick her up for the dance tomorrow night. [Ugh I can’t believe her friends are gonna let her go to the dance with him] Brenda notices how quickly Ted heads off when the bell rings, as if he’s glad lunch is over and is super eager to get away, but wonders if she’s just being paranoid. [Girl, you already caught him cheating on you, you should be paranoid about him!]
Things are tense between Brenda and her parents that night, and when Dina and Traci come over later to work on the murder plot, [They’ve been working on this for way over a week and they never get anywhere with it, how fkn hard can it be?] they also seem uncomfortable around Brenda, so it’s a relief when they finally leave and Brenda can finally turn in for the night. She changes into a nightshirt and clicks the light off before slipping under the covers, but immediately feels something lumpy and wet on her back. She leaps out of bed and hits the lights before creeping back over to find chunks of raw, rotten meat crawling with maggots:
Brenda opened her mouth to scream. Then stopped.
“Oh. I know!” she cried aloud, staring at the crawling maggots.
“I know.”
Yes. She understood now. She knew.
She knew what she had to do.
[Let me guess, murder Halley for real? Like you’ve decided every few chapters? Time to walk the walk, Brenda!] It’s time for the Homecoming dance now, and Brenda’s enjoying how dark it is as she dances with Ted. She feels very far away, almost like she’s in some kind of daze, and closes her eyes as she sways to the music. When she opens them again, she finds herself alone amongst the dancing couples. She goes searching for Ted and eventually spots him over at the far wall, making out with Halley. [Omfg, he really ditched Brenda on the dance floor to go make out with Halley in public. He needs to die]
Brenda feels like she’s in a dream and has no idea what to do, but Noah appears and he’s absolutely fuming as he marches right on over to the kissing couple and starts a fist fight with Ted. [I will never understand why people are always more angry at the other party rather than their cheating partner. And it’s not like Halley was exclusive with either of them anyway] The fight eventually moves outside, where Brenda notices Halley ‘pose under a white spotlight,’ watching the fight with a pleased smile on her face. [I don’t know if this posing and smiling is legit or if Brenda’s an unreliable narrator. Is it possible that Brenda’s gone off the deep end and has been doing all these pranks herself but not remembering as a result of her issues with Halley? That would be a fun twist that I wouldn’t have expected. I don’t know why it just popped into my head]
Brenda leaves the trio to it and runs all the way home, knowing what she has to do. [For the 4966985867548th time] Upstairs in her room, she calls Traci, who stayed home from the dance and is hanging out with Dina, and tells her ‘”Let’s do it, okay? Let’s really murder her!”‘ [Fkn get on with it, Brenda!]
The next day, a Saturday, the girls are all in Brenda’s room as she excitedly tells them they’re going to use their fictional murder plot to really kill Halley. Everyone who’s coming already knows what the three are planning to dress as, but Brenda wants to swap costumes for some reason; Traci will wear Brenda’s clown costume, Dina will wear Traci’s peacock costume, and Brenda will wear a Frankenstein costume to stab Halley, then change into Dina’s monk costume and stuff the Frankenstein one down the laundry chute because ‘”no one will ever think to look there.”‘ [I’m confused; why do all three of them need to swap costumes? There’s no point, unless I’m just dumb? Also, LOL at this idiot thinking absolutely no-one’s going to examine the house and scene of the crime from top to bottom for clues to a murder. God she’s dumb]
Dina points out one problem with the plan – she won’t be taking part! She won’t try to talk Brenda out of it and won’t tell a soul what she knows, but she just doesn’t have it in her to be directly involved. She quickly scurries out of the room and leaves the house, and while it’s obvious Traci is just as uncomfortable with the situation, she at least appears to go along with Brenda’s plan. [I wonder if Traci will actually take part, assuming it actually happens] Meanwhile, below Brenda’s room, Halley’s standing in the hallway and has heard every single word that’s been said in Brenda’s room. [I knew that air vent would come back to bite Brenda. But again, how stupid is she that she just keeps talking about this murder when she knows people in the hallway can hear everything that goes on in her room?!]
After dinner that night, Brenda heads to the mall to get the sewing supplies she needs to finish her clown costume. As she heads inside she spots Ted and Noah together, laughing and joking together as if last night never happened. Brenda’s confused but doesn’t confront them, [Like I would] but they spot her before she can get away and Ted scurries on over to apologise for last night.
“You know, you could give me another chance,” he said softly. “It won’t happen again. Really. I swear to you, Bren. It won’t happen again.”
“That’s for sure!” she declared bitterly.
[Wow can’t believe she’s grown a brain since leaving the house] Brenda has a bright idea and tells Ted he can still come to her Halloween party as long as he wears a Frankenstein costume, lying that she made a bet with Randy that there’d be a Frankenstein there. Ted agrees happily, probably thinking he still has a chance with her, and Brenda heads to the sewing store, feeling pretty chuffed with herself for manipulating Ted into wearing the same kind of costume Halley’s killer would be wearing. [Her intelligence is increasing!]
On her way home a short time later, Brenda thinks about Dina’s decision not to help with the murder. It was a surprise, but then Dina was always defending Halley so she probably has some kind of soft spot for her:
Was it because Dina’s parents had gone through a terrible divorce and a long, drawn-out custody battle, just like Halley’s parents were doing now?
Brenda shuddered, thinking about Dina. They had been such close, close friends. But during the divorce, Brenda just couldn’t bear to be with Dina or to see her. It was just too sad.
Too horribly sad.
Brenda had been glad when the mess was all settled, and Dina was happily living with her mother, and she and Traci and Dina could all be friends again.
Yes, she had been very glad.
But now Dina was breaking away from the trio again, refusing to join in.
[I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Brenda is a horrible friend! This whole friendship group is terrible] At home, Brenda hurries to her room to find Halley waiting for her, looking very angry. Halley suddenly storms over and the hard expression on her face crumbles as as tears start flowing down. She asks if she’s really been so hateful that Brenda wants to kill her, and Brenda realises Halley’s heard everything.
Halley explains that she really did want to be friends and hasn’t meant to be so horrible, but she’s just been so upset about her parents and scared about being in this new environment. When she first arrived, Brenda really hadn’t been friendly, like Halley was an intruder; ‘”I could feel you didn’t want me, Brenda.”‘ So Halley took Brenda’s boyfriend as revenge, but can’t explain why she also stole Traci’s. She theorises that she wanted to show Brenda and her friends that she was just as good as them and didn’t need them, that she could do whatever she wanted. She explains that she was just so mixed up from everything, so hurt and bitter, that she couldn’t be herself and has been on guard all the time.
Halley asks for forgiveness and wraps Brenda in a hug, suggesting they start over, and Brenda agrees as she returns the hug. Brenda starts to tear up herself as she realises Halley’s being genuine right now, that she really is sorry and wants them to be friends – ‘What a shame that I have to go ahead with my plan anyway.’
A few days later, Traci and Dina are on the phone discussing Brenda’s murder plot. They decide not to tell the police or Brenda’s parents [???????] because Brenda will just explain that the murder plot is part of a school assignment. Traci feels bad for Ted, who’s being set up as the killer, while Dina’s really scared by the whole situation. Traci confirms she and Brenda are still swapping costumes, although I still don’t really see why, and Traci confesses that maybe she really does want Brenda to kill Halley.
Now over to Brenda, who’s just finished carving jack-o’-lanterns for the party tomorrow with her new best friend, Halley. Brenda heads upstairs and is pranked by Randy, who’s sprawled out on her bed with a pool of blood beside him. The blood turns out to be plastic, [So we know this is 100% being used to trick Brenda during the murder tomorrow night] and Randy flees the room yelling ‘”Gotcha! Gotcha! Gotcha!”‘
It’s the night of the party now and everyone’s having a great time. Instead of using their names, Stine’s decided to identify our core group by their costumes, and no-one notices when a Frankenstein walks up to the gorilla, [What’s the bet it’s not Halley?] who’s sitting in a chair, and plunges a sharp knife into its chest. No-one hears the strangled cry from the gorilla or how it’s head slumps forward on its chest, and no-one notices the Frankenstein slip quietly away. Eventually, a witch notices a puddle of blood around the gorilla and alerts the rest of the guests, who all assume it’s a prank. The gorilla still doesn’t move, so a clown starts shaking the gorilla by the shoulders:
“Halley? Halley?”
No reply.
Letting go of the hairy shoulders, the clown wrapped both hands around the top of the gorilla mask, and tugged.
The mask pulled up easily.
The room echoed with screams as the face underneath was revealed. Eye closed. Mouth gaping open. Copper-colored hair falling behind the lifeless head.
“It’s Brenda!” the clown shrieked. “Oh, no! It’s Brenda! And she’s dead!”
[Wtf is Brenda doing dressed as a gorilla? She’s probably faking being dead and that puddle of blood is Randy’s plastic toy] The clown rips off her own mask, revealing herself to be Traci, and someone points out that she’s wearing Brenda’s costume. As frightened voices fill the room, Dina steps forward in her monk costume and accuses Traci of murdering Brenda – ‘”You and your stupid murder plot! You killed Brenda!” Traci denies killing anyone and soon the peacock steps forward, revealing herself to be Halley, who explains that Brenda inexplicably forced her to switch costumes. Traci isn’t buying that and accuses Halley of stabbing Brenda, who just accuses her right back. Traci denies it, accidentally it was a Frankenstein who stabbed Brenda, [And no-one really questions how she knows this] which according to Dina means that Ted stabbed Brenda. [So you want to frame Ted, Dina? Thought you didn’t want anything to do with this murder plot?] There’s two Frankensteins at the party right now and they both step forward to unmask themselves, but neither of them is Ted. A mummy, revealed to be Noah, steps forward and explains that Ted has the flu and stayed home. Then he freezes in terror and points at the chair as Brenda lifts her head and says ‘”Happy Halloween,”‘ in a lifeless, bitter voice.
Brenda shows everyone that the blood is plastic and announces the party’s over, instructing Halley to get them all out of here while she leads Traci and Dina into the kitchen. She tells her best friends that she knows which one of them tried to kill her, then lunges forward and rips open Dina’s robe to reveal the green costume beneath, a Frankenstein mask falling from her sleeve. Brenda smiles bitterly as she explains that she sewed a double-thick pad of foam rubber into the gorilla suit to protect her from the knife. [What if she stabbed you somewhere else? Was the whole suit double-padded?] Brenda had eventually realised what I figured out long ago; the blood, headless bird and chunks of rotten dog food in her bed had all been Dina’s doing, since it was so easy for her to get all that stuff from her workplace. [So was Dina breaking into the house at some points? There was at least one instance where she was over at Brenda’s and had never been alone to do something evil]
Halley enters and demands to know why Dina tried to kill her, but it turns out Dina knew it was Brenda in the gorilla suit – she’d listened at the air vent and heard them trade costumes. And why did she try to kill Brenda? Again, exactly as I expected, Brenda wasn’t there Dina while her parents were going through that messy divorce – ‘”You disappeared. You dropped me, didn’t you, when I needed you the most!”‘ [Moral of the story that any empathetic person would already know; don’t abandon your friends when they’re going through a hard time] Then Brenda was doing exactly the same thing to Halley and it brought all those memories back to Dina, who decided Brenda needed to pay. She was just planning on scaring Brenda, but decided to use her own murder plot against her when she and Traci decided to kill Halley for real:
“But, Dina — ” Brenda replied, taking a step toward her. Traci and I never planned to murder Halley. That was just a trick, a trick to draw you out. That whole plot to murder Halley — it wasn’t real. It was all for your benefit. We never planned to stab Halley. We just wanted to trick you into confessing.”
I am calling absolute bullshit on that one. Brenda was constantly deciding to kill Halley for real in her inner monologues, so how could that be for Dina’s benefit? While hugging it out with Halley she was still set on murdering her… how does Stine expect us to believe this was to lure Dina out? I don’t accept it that. Despite how awful these girls are I was actually enjoying this book until now. You’ve dropped the ball again, Stine! Anyway, Dina declares that she still wants to kill Brenda and shoves her aside before trying to flee, but there’s two police officers at the front door, having been called earlier when everyone thought Brenda was dead.
Later, Brenda and Halley are at the kitchen table, sipping hot chocolate and discussing the night’s events. Brenda had no idea Dina harboured such resentment, [Because you’re a bad friend] explaining she didn’t deliberately drop her; she’d just thought Dina wanted to be alone. [During the hardest time of her life? Fuck off. Brenda already admitted earlier it was just too hard to be around her anyway lol, so this is another lie] Both girls are thankful Dina will get the help she needs, and Halley tactlessly says that it is a happy Halloween in one way, since things have improved between the cousins. Then the book ends with both girls being on the same page about cleaning up tomorrow instead of tonight, highlighting the brand-new bond between them.
Final thoughts
As I just said, I was really liking this book despite how horrible the friendship between Brenda, Traci and Dina was. I’m actually siding with our bad guy on this one, lol. Brenda treated her like shit so I think it’s completely justified that the poor girl snapped. I can’t get past Stine ruining it so quickly with Brenda’s lie about never planning to really kill Halley. She was still set on killing Halley while hugging things out with her, there’s no possible way that was for Dina’s benefit. It just doesn’t make sense! Stine, you’re (sometimes) better than this! It didn’t completely ruin it for me, but it is a huge flaw that I’ll be deducting points for.
It also could have been shorter because it got a bit repetitive with Brenda deciding to kill Halley for real every five minutes, as if it was a brand-new idea that she’d just thought of every time. But overall I was enjoying it; these recaps are always more fun when I have something to complain about, and with friendship this warped there was a lot to go off.
I will say it didn’t really feel like a Halloween book, so that was kind of disappointing; Halloween wasn’t a major factor in the plot and the book would have worked just as well if the storyline took place at any random time around any costume party.
I’m sure there’s both better and worse Stine Point Horrors out there, but this one was entertaining enough, so 65 gorillas in the kitchen out of 92.
