Slumber Party by Christopher Pike

Tagline: It was eight years later, and it was happening again.

Back tagline: It was the perfect weekend… for murder.

Summary: Lara thought the ski trip should be a blast. The old gang was getting together for the first time in years. What could be better than six single girls out for sun and ski and apres ski – plus a huge house and a warm fire? Even with the memory of what had happened the last time, it looked like the perfect weekend. Until things started to go wrong…
It wasn’t much at first – a snowman that melted when it shouldn’t have, a weird phone call. But then somebody went out for “one last run” and didn’t come back. And the storm they heard about on the radio was getting worse. Lara thought everyone was up there for a good time. But she was beginning to realise that someone was up there for murder.

First impressions: Can you even light a snowman on fire? I do love movies/books where characters’ secret pasts comes back to haunt them, so hopefully it’s good!

Recap

Roll call:
Lara – Our heroine who I’m not sure I’d wanna be friends with.
Dana – Lara’s fugly best friend.
Celeste – The newest member of the group and younger than the others.
Rachael – A bitchy, beautiful, queen bee type.
Mindy – The dumb friend who idolises Rachael.
Nell – A friend who was injured at the last slumber party.
Nicole – Was accidentally killed at the last slumber party.
Percy – Lara and Rachael’s crush.
Cal – Percy’s rapey friend who Mindy is infatuated with.

We begin with Lara, Dana and Celeste driving in the mountains towards a ski lodge where they’ll be staying for the weekend when they spot their friend Rachael’s car parked at a roadblock in front of a mini mountain of snow. They’re greeted by none other than KFC’s very own Colonel Sanders, or his doppelgänger at the very least, a ranger who tells them their destination is only three miles away and the carload of other girls skied there about two hours ago.

The Colonel warns them of a huge storm due that night, but the girls are already aware. Lara wanted to postpone their trip until next weekend, but Rachael and another friend, Nell, insisted it had to be this one [Which is super suss]. Dana, who thinks Rachael got her kicked off the Student Body Council and is clearly bitter about it, suggests with complete seriousness that Rachael’s just hoping Lara breaks a leg and has to drop out of the running for homecoming queen. Lara thinks Rachael is a shoo-in to win anyway, because she’s like a Barbie doll while Lara is short with 50s bangs and a big nose, but admits “personality wise, Rachael was not everyone’s dream queen.” [So we hate Rachael, got it].

They leave their keys with the Colonel, just like Rachael did, who plans to bring the cars to the lodge later. The girls set off on their skis, except Celeste who has to walk due to a bad back. Lara doesn’t think she should have come on a ski trip if she can’t ski, but Celeste insisted because she wanted to see the scenery [OK….].

Dana hopes they’ll meet some boys there, but she has a face “best loved by a mother” according to Lara. Despite this, Dana has had plenty of boyfriends, but they just like her for her body [I guess she’s a prawn – shit face, good body]. Lara hasn’t gone on a date in six weeks so she can’t be anything special either. Celeste is quiet on the matter, and after some prompting reveals she’s never gone out with a boy. Lara asks if it’s because she’s too shy, and Celeste agrees miserably.

Dana

We flash back to when Lara first met Celeste on the second day of school that year in the library. Lara had noticed Celeste staring at the Stephen King book she was holding. Lara felt immediate warmth and a desire to protect Celeste, who seemed innocent and frail and they quickly struck up a friendship, even though she was a senior and Celeste was a sophomore. Since then, Celeste has revealed little about herself, but Lara knows she lives with her aunt because her parents had died, her bad back is from a car accident and she’s always bundled up in clothes, even in warm weather [I’m sure this will be a plot point later].

Back in the present, the trio finally arrives at the three-storey lodge which is owned by their friend Nell’s family. Celeste hasn’t met or heard about Nell yet, so Lara and Dana fill her in. Nell’s family is super rich and moved away back in fourth grade, but they’ve all kept in touch over the years. They tell Celeste not to mind how serious Nell is because she’s had a hard life, and explain that when they were nine, Nell got burnt in an accident at a slumber party and each girl at the sleepover – Lara, Dana, Rachael and Mindy – contributed to it. Nell’s had extensive plastic surgery to help with the scarring, but the memory of that night is always there between the girls. Dana and Lara lie when Celeste asks if anyone else was hurt.

“No,” Dana said quickly, before Lara could speak. “No one else was hurt.”
Dana pressed Lara with her eyes, shaking her head. The thought was mutual.
Do not talk about it. Do not remember.
“No one else,” Lara echoed weakly; not exactly a lie. Nicole hadn’t really been hurt. Nicole had died.

[After the dragging out of Shane’s pathetic secret in ‘The Invitation‘, I’m relieved this one is being handled so much better. Even though we’ve already been told what the secret is, we don’t know the full story yet, so I’m compelled to keep reading, whereas with Shane’s we were constantly told she had a secret but didn’t find out what it was till the end, and it turned out to be a crap secret anyway! It’s always better to leak information slowly to keep the reader engaged. Also, I bet Celeste is Nicole]

Mindy notices the girls and comes out to greet them, and Lara compares her to bubblegum – “initially sweet, often swelled with hot air, periodically exploding,” which is a nice way to say she’s an idiot, but Lara can’t imagine life without her. She’s also a “pale shadow of her idol,” Rachael, who also comes to greet the newcomers. Lara has always sensed that Rachael is capable of violence, and when Dana mentions the oncoming storm and insists they should have come next week, she’s reminded of it because Rachael seems to harden and flatly replies that it’s important that it was this weekend.

Nell also joins the girls and there’s an awkwardness when Lara introduces Celeste to Nell. This is the first time Lara has seen Nell without heavy make-up, so her facial scars are more noticeable than usual. Lara notes that she would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the accident [God, does Lara have anything nice to say about her friends?].

The girls want to hit the slopes immediately, but Celeste and Nell opt to stay home. Before they head off, Rachael and Mindy insist on showing the girls the snowman they built out back, but all they find is the scarf, sunglasses and cowboy it had been wearing in. There’s a smooth, concave circle of ice where the snowman once stood, and the girls deduce that it must have melted somehow and then refrozen as a liquid, but can’t work out how that’s possible. Lara notes “it was as though the snowman had suddenly caught fire.” [Surely that’s not even possible though].

Anyway, while Lara and Dana wait for Mindy and Rachael to get fitted for their skis at the main lodge, Dana complains about being hungry and wishes anorexia were contagious and someone had infected her [Oh, boy]. Rachael returns, announcing that she and Mindy need to go meet some other friends for a bit. Lara and Dana take the opportunity to go eat after a cutting remark from Rachael about Dana’s double chin [These girls all seem to hate each other but I’m loving the snide remarks], where they bump into “vaguely frightening, definitely handsome”, 22-year-old Percy [A very weird description, but Point Horror girls are turned on by fear, so…] and his inferior acquaintance, Cal. Dana’s keen to invite the boys over to the lodge tonight, but Lara isn’t sure because “this is supposed to be a slumber party, not an orgy,” and I am not used to such adult things in Point Horror!

Dana leaves with Cal to help him unload his van [I’m sure he plans on unloading something else ;)] and Lara calls Nell to make sure she’s OK with some boys coming over. Nell is fine with it but seems to have forgotten Celeste’s name [Probably because she knows her as Nicole?!?!]. Lara then invites Percy to come to the house later with Cal and Percy offers to bring some drinks [Alcohol in a Point Horror?! :O].

Rachael and Mindy return and it turns out Percy and Cal were the friends they were supposed to meet, so it gets awkward quickly. Percy quickly leaves to find Cal and Dana, leaving Rachael and Lara to squabble about who he belongs to.

“I didn’t know he was with you,” Lara said, raising her voice.
“And I suppose while the two of you were talking, my name is never mentioned!?”
“Right! Why should we talk about you?”
“Because it was me he was supposed to meet!”
“So he got lucky!”
“Why you little tramp!”
“Why you bigger one!”

[Hahahahahaha this is great]

Dana comes back, mad that Cal tried to force himself on her while she helped him unpack and a distraught Mindy shows that she really is as dumb as Lara thinks when she accuses Dana of sleeping with him. Rachael and Mindy then leave to hit the slopes.

Lara and Dana closely follow, but the two pairs of girls don’t speak to each other. Lara daydreams about Percy, who is now the love of her life apparently, but confides in Dana that she doesn’t have a chance against Rachael at their little shindig later. Dana offers to call the party off since she’s not looking forward to seeing rapey Cal again, but instead of thanking her best friend for being so kind, Lara accuses her of enjoying the borderline sexual assault [Nice, Lara] and wants to keep the party on because she misses Percy soOoOo000oOooO much [After half an hour with him… Lara is getting worse and worse].

Lara eventually calls a truce and the girls continue skiing, besties once more but Mindy and Dana fall behind quickly because they’re crap. Lara manages to keep up with Rachael, but her confidence continues to deflate because Rachael is so sure of herself, even suggesting they wear nothing at all to the party.

“Feels like I’m wearing nothing at all!”

On their last run, Rachael suggests she and Lara go through the forest slope for more of a challenge and Lara agrees instead of swallowing her pride and admitting she’s too exhausted. On the slope, though, Lara is too busy dreaming about Percy to concentrate on the dangerous terrain and takes a tumble. She automatically assumes Rachael cut her off to make her fall, even though she didn’t actually see it happen… [OK, Lara]. Percy suddenly appears and tends to the cut on Lara’s head and her injured leg, claiming that he was trying to catch up with them so they could all ski together. Rachael is nowhere to be found, though, which further proves to Lara that she cut her off on purpose [I guess Rachael is that kind of girl, though].

Percy mentions that Cal told him what happened with Dana, but he doesn’t believe Cal’s version of the story and thinks it’s best if they don’t come to the party later, especially with how Rachael acted earlier. It’s the perfect opportunity to just give him her number and not give Rachael a shot at him, but Lara’s tumble has unlocked some confidence and she now reckons Percy would choose her over Rachael. She throws Dana under the bus, telling Percy that Dana liked Cal more than she’d let on [OK, I officially hate Lara] and insists she’ll need saving if Rachael really did try to hurt her.

They head back to the main lodge, where Lara notices the storm clouds rolling in and worries about her friends’ whereabouts. Even though it’s dark, Percy decides he wants to ski some more before calling it a day and we get this absolute doozy:

“Isn’t it too late?” Her euphoria was suddenly compromised. He wanted to ski when he could talk to her. He didn’t love her.

[I was enjoying this book and now I want to bang my head against a wall. You’ve known him less than a day, Lara, of course he doesn’t love you!] Percy leaves and Dana notices Colonel Sanders approaching the bar. She asks for Dana and Rachael’s car keys but he’s off duty and has left them in the office, but promises to have the cars to them before they leave on Sunday before continuing to the bar. This raises Lara’s suspicions [I Still don’t know why you’d leave your keys with a complete stranger] and she decides she’ll have to check him out later.

Before she can head back to Nell’s house, Cal arrives and Lara reminds him about the party that night. Percy hadn’t mentioned it to him though, and he goes all weird, demanding to know what Dana and Percy have said about him. Lara invites him to come, encouraging Cal to give Dana another chance because “to tell you the truth, she likes aggressive men.” [Ummmmmm, what the fuck? I have no words for her behaviour right now]. Cal agrees to come but doesn’t need directions, so Lara is suspicious of him as he leaves because everyone’s a suspect in Point Horror!

Lara’s slowly limping her way back to the house when Mindy skis towards her. She tells Lara she was heading towards the house with Dana, but came back to find Lara and Rachael. Lara accuses her of really wanting to go find Cal, and Mindy is immediately defensive. She thinks Cal is a gentleman, no matter what Dana says [Wow, Dana really needs better friends].

Lara guilt trips Mindy into heading home with her, since Cal will be at the party later, and they’re continuing up the hill toward the house when they find one of Dana’s skis, a small trail of footprints that suddenly end, and a sheet of ice similar to the one where the snowman had been earlier. Again, Lara is reminded of fire [I hope Dana’s not dead, I like her!].

After fashioning a cross out of sticks and tying it to a nearby tree so they can find the spot later if needed, the girls return to the house with Dana’s ski, where Nell tells them Rachael and Dana haven’t returned yet. Nell suggests the ski belongs to someone else since it’s a popular brand, but Mindy is convinced Dana circled back to meet Cal before she could get to him [Shut up, Mindy]. Lara reluctantly agrees with Nell’s explanation for lack of a better one, and asks how her day with Celeste has been. Nell just says Celeste seems like a nice girl and that she’s showering now [OK].

Lara searches for Celeste, barging in on her as she’s drying. Celeste quickly leaps behind the shower curtain and wraps herself in a towel. She offers even less information abut her day than Nell did and Lara clearly can’t take a damn hint. Then Lara spies an ointment on the sink labelled “N. Kutroff” and assumes it’s Nell’s, who must have taken the adjacent room that shares this bathroom instead of the master bedroom [OK, Celeste is clearly Nicole, who must be Nell’s sister and really dead. Why are they being so weird around each other though?].

Back downstairs, Rachael comes home and hasn’t seen Dana either, and suggests she’s probably off with Cal. Upon noticing Lara’s injuries, Rachael claims she skied ahead of Lara and then lost sight of her, but Lara still thinks Rachael cut her off on purpose. Lara then phones the main lodge and leaves the house’s phone number with Roger, the desk clerk, who promises to let Dana know to call if he sees her. Lara also asks Roger about the Colonel, but Roger knows no one by that description, but Roger is new so probably hasn’t met him yet.

Lara and Celeste cook up a feast for the party and then Lara showers before taking a nap, where she dreams of the accident eight years ago that Killed Nicole and scarred Nell.

Back in fourth grade, Lara, Dana, Rachael, Mindy, Nell, and to Nell’s annoyance, her younger sister Nicole were having a slumber party at Dana’s when Rachael decided they should drink the alcohol in the house [These girls are 9 and 10, wtf?]. Drunk, they hold a séance where Nicole freaked out, knocking over a candle after the Ouija board called her evil. The candle started a fire beneath Nicole and her robe caught alight. Nell tried to help her sister, ignoring the flames as they burnt her own flesh. In an attempt to put the fire out, dipshit Lara poured the rest of the hard liquor she was holding over Nicole, which only fed the flames.

Lara @ Nicole

Eventually, Nicole died a week later in hospital due to an infection from her burns. Nell underwent a series of skin grafts, refused to speak to the girls ever again and moved away with her family a month later. Lara felt the most guilt because she’d promised Nicole she wouldn’t let her die, but the other girls never wanted to discuss it, which sent Lara into a deep depression until Nell called her one night, saying no-one was to blame and they all become friends again [It was definitely Lara’s fault, though, and Celeste is 100%, definitely Nicole].

Lara is pulled from her dream by Celeste, who wants to leave all of a sudden. Lara asks if it’s because of Nell, but Celeste denies it and just says she’s afraid. Lara assumes it’s because she’s homesick but says they can leave a day early if she really wants. There’s still no sign of Dana, but Lara overhears Rachael talking on the phone.

“Don’t worry, I’m behind you a hundred per cent. Who cares about Dana? She’s out of the way. Lara is the only one that matters. She smart, but she’ll never know, not until it’s too late.”
Rachael chuckled. “Who could imagine such power! I can hardly believe it. Fate must have brought us together… Hmm, let me think about it… Get me what I want first and then we’ll see… No problem with the car… To hell with her; she’s just another fly to swat…”

[Is that pesky Rachael in on it too?!] Lara wants to hear who she’s talking to, so sneaks into the master bedroom for the other upstairs phone where she finds Nell struggling with something in the closet [Probably Dana’s dead body :(]. Lara is surprised that Nell has taken this room instead of the one that shares Celeste’s bathroom, but can’t remember why. Nell leaves and Lara picks up the phone, but Rachael quickly realises someone else is there before the other person can speak and Lara hangs up.

Later, Dana still hasn’t returned by the time the party begins. Rachael is her typical self, all over Percy already and not wearing a bra. Over dinner, a drunken Cal reveals what got him discharged from the army – he’d played a part in napalming some Germans [He claims it was an accident, but there’s definitely giving off racist vibes].

Later, after more drinks, Cal is all over Celeste who’s not keen at all, which starts up an argument between Nell and Cal. Mindy comes to Cal’s defence, so Nell kicks him in the shin and throws some brandy, which misses Cal and soaks Mindy’s arm. Percy punches the increasingly volatile Cal, who knocks Mindy over as he falls, and her arm lands too close to the fireplace and catches alight. Celeste flees but before Lara can pour some alcohol on Mindy [She was seriously considering this even though she knows how it turned out last time. She’s an idiot], Rachael douses the flames with a fire extinguisher. Nell kicks Cal out and the girls treat Mindy’s arm after calling a doctor.

Lara is positive there’s something sinister going on here, as fire seems to connect everything that’s happened. She pours her heart out to Percy, confessing about Nicole and everything else, but he offers logical support instead of entertaining her conspiracies about an intentional firebug. Lara goes upstairs to check on Celeste, who says everything she’s told the girls has been a lie and they need to leave, but then falls asleep [I guess we are dragging out some secrets now…]. Lara is an idiot and dismisses Celeste’s words instead of waking her up to continue the conversation.

Since Nell’s parents were clear that no boys could stay over, Lara decides to walk Percy part of the way back to where he’s staying so she can look at the spot where she’d found Dana’s ski. Rachael tries to flirt her way into joining as well, but Lara refuses to let that happen. As she leaves with Percy, Lara hears Rachael accusing Nell of throwing the brandy on Mindy on purpose, but Nell claims she was aiming for Cal [I’m with Rachael here!].

Lara and Percy flirt a lot on their journey through the storm. They eventually kiss and he tastes like carrot cake [Ew, why?], but Lara loves carrot cake so it’s fine. Percy gives her a flare gun in case she gets lost in the storm and they go their separate ways. Lara breaks off a chunk of the dirty, frozen ice where Dana’s ski was and takes it home with her.

Nell is the only one awake when she gets back, and after a tense conversation Lara goes up to bed. Her alarm clock goes off an hour later, the same time she woke up yesterday to head to the snow, and she discovers among the defrosted chunk of ice some ash and what looks like a charred bone, which must be what’s left of Dana.

Lara decides she has to leave right now, alone because she can’t trust any of the girls. She heads for the snowmobile in the basement but stops when she hears someone pouring kerosene down there. She locks whoever it is inside and runs out of the house, planning on going to the main lodge. It’s way too cold though and she’s not wearing proper gear for the weather. Just before she completely succumbs to the cold, though, she remembers the flare gun, but her hands are too numb to work the trigger so she has to pee on her hands [Hahahahahaha love it]. After shooting the flare, she passes out just as Cal approaches.

She wakes up in the basement of the house, tied up alongside Rachael and Dana [Woo, she’s not dead!] and surrounded by kerosene bottles and a propane tank. Dana explains that when she returned to the house earlier, Nell drugged her hot cocoa, tied and gagged her and stored her in the closet [Which is what Lara walked in on earlier]. Rachael had been hit with a fire poker and bound up just like Dana before they were both taken to the basement. Dana also explains that Cal was returning to apologise when he found Lara in the snow. He brought her back, but he left without hearing Dana and Rachael’s muffled cries for help.

Lara apologises for thinking Rachael was the murderer, and Rachael reveals the phone call Lara had overheard was just a conversation with a guy from school, but I’ll let Rachael explain it for you:

“He did a brake job and a tune-up on my car for free, and to compensate him I invited him over to watch a movie on TV and let him have a small feel, nothing big. Anyway, the movie we watched was ‘Carrie’. From that, he got the idea of a way to fix the balloting for homecoming queen. Ain’t I a jerk?”

[Yes, Rachael, but I think I still prefer you over Lara] Suddenly, Celeste comes down the basement stairs. Dana and Rachael urge her to untie them, but Lara finally realises that Celeste is Nicole. She flashes back to all the obvious hints towards Celeste’s true identity, like the ointment in the bathroom, always dressing for winter etc, but it’s too late now, Lara.

Nicole shows them her horribly scarred, nipple-less body [which explains why she’s always bundled up] and tells them that her parents told everyone she was dead out of shame for their monstrous daughter. Nell has been lying to her sister all these years, convincing Nicole that the group hated her and that Lara purposely poured gasoline over her instead of alcohol that she thought would put the fire out. Nicole had moved in with her aunt under a false name to get to know the girls, so she could see for herself if Nell was telling the truth.

As the girls try to explain the truth, Nell arrives, having drugged Mindy upstairs. Nell confesses to the weird stuff that’s been happening, like melting the snowman with a blowtorch while Mindy and Rachael were cleaning throwing in ash and bones from an old BBQ into the melted snow where Dana’s ski was.

Nicole is torn between the friendships she’s made and wanting to believe her sister, but eventually realises that on the night she was burnt, Nell was moving the planchette. She tries to sneakily untie Lara, but an outraged Nell notices and stops her. She orders Nicole upstairs and Lara realises her ropes are loose enough for her to reach the flare gun in her pocket.

Lara gives Nell a chance to let them all go, but Nell lunges at her instead, forcing Lara to shoot the flare. It lands in a puddle of kerosene at Nell’s feet, setting her on fire. Nell resigns to her fate peacefully and succumbs to the flames as Lara and Nicole free Dana and Rachael. They head upstairs for Mindy and all manage to escape the house before it blows up.

Colonel Sanders shows up after Cal tipped him off about an uneasy feeling he’d had when dropping Lara off, and the Colonel reveals he’s actually retired but helps out to pass the time. Since Roger is new, they hadn’t met yet, which explains that little mystery. He asks what happened to the house and Lara lies that they all woke up to smoke and Nell didn’t make it out.

A few days later, the girls are being discharged from hospital except for Nicole, who’s badly hurt and needs more time to recover. The girls have all sworn to never tell anyone the truth about Nell’s death, and it’s shown that Lara and Nicole will continue their friendship. Lara then leaves the hospital with Percy and her friends, and the book ends.

Final Thoughts

I really liked this book! The twist was super obvious, but I didn’t mind too much because I was really enjoying the characters. Lara was a bit hit and miss for me because I feel like she was a great heroine, but at the same time I can’t get over the whole Cal/Dana thing and her intense feelings for a guy she barely knew. Rachael, Dana and Mindy were fleshed out well too, but I still wish we got more of them because they were pretty good characters!

I’m surprised that sex and alcohol were mentioned so often, but maybe not all Point Horrors are as juvenile as the Fear Street series. Or maybe it’s more of a Christopher Pike thing? Either way, it made the characters feel more real, like they were actual teenagers. I also appreciate the way Pike paints a picture with his words, which you don’t see very often in these sort of books but really helps draw you in.

10 drunk nine-year-olds out of 12!