Tagline: …Where the terror began.
Back tagline: The Secret is Out!
Summary: Why do so many horrifying things happen on Fear Street? Nora knows.
She knows how the terror began. She knows about the young girl who burned at the stake—and the bloody feud between two families that caused the unspeakable horror that has lasted 300 years!
She knows, and she wants to tell.
Are you sure you want to hear it?
First impressions: Yes, I want to hear it! The cover makes me think of those cheesy romance/erotica novels that I imagine married, middle-aged mothers love to read, which is not what I want from a Fear Street book but after finally acquiring all three books in the Saga, I’m ready to give the trilogy a chance. If it’s written very old-timey I’m not expecting to enjoy it much, but I’m super interested in learning all about this bloody feud that lasts for centuries. Let’s read!
Recap
Roll call:
Nora Goode – A descendant of the original Goodes who serves as the framing device for the trilogy.
William, Martha and Susannah Goode – The victims of the Fiers’ titular betrayal.
Benjamin and Matthew Fier – The assholes whose actions bring about the Fier/Fear curse.
Edward Fier – Benjamin Fier’s son and Susannah Goode’s love interest.
Mary Fier – Matthew Fier’s daughter and Edward’s cousin.
Jeremy Thorne – Mary Fier’s love interest.
We start with a page dedicated to the Fier family tree [I can’t remember when it became Fear or why, hopefully we’ll find out!]:
Village of Shadyside, 1900
The book opens in the Village of Shadyside in the year 1900, where Nora Goode stands amongst a bunch of other villagers and firefighters watching the Fear mansion go up in flames. Nora escaped the burning building and is waiting for Daniel Fear to run out too, but evidently no-one else will be leaving because she can hear the anguished ‘screams of everyone she knew, of everyone she loved’ coming from those trapped inside [Oof, that would be horrible].
She shouts out for Daniel, saying she escaped the fire [Which makes me think her and Daniel deliberately lit it?], but of course there’s no reply from her beloved. All she has left of him is the amulet around her neck [And presumably the fugly one on the cover, although the book description describes the jewels as being ‘held in place by a silver three-toed claw’, which does not match the image…], given to her as a token of his love [Cute].
The other villagers watch on in horror as the fire rages on, with one woman pointing out that the house ‘”is covered in flames, but it does not burn”‘ [So…is the house not burning down?]. Some other villagers agree that this place, and the Fears themselves, are evil, and the fire is feeding from that evil, which will hopefully perish with the Fears, but Nora’s heard enough blasphemy and runs toward the burning mansion, stopping outside the window of the grand ballroom:
“Ohhh!” Nora moaned in horror as the faces inside came into view. Faces among the flames.
Nora’s breath caught in her throat as she stared through the window at the wiggling dark bodies.
Are they dancing in there? Dancing with the flames?
No.
The faces were twisted in agony. Their dark bodies writhing in pain.
She saw screaming women, flames rolling up from the hair.
She saw the tortured faces of young men, dark holes where their eyes should have been, their clothing wrapped in fire.
Who are these people? Nora wondered, unable to turn her eyes from the ghastly nightmare inside the house. Why are they in the ballroom? Why aren’t they consumed by the flames?
Why don’t they die?
[It certainly sounds like they’re consumed by flames, so surely they’d be dead by now. Also as if she’d think they’re fucking dancing in there hahahah Nora’s an idiot]. Then Nora notices a young girl in the centre of the burning crowd inside, who’s glowing, eggshell – eyes meet Nora’s before she lets out a tortured ‘scream of rage, of unbearable pain’. The girl is tied to a stake [In the middle of the ballroom? What the hell is going on? Is this a dream?] and also begins to burn to death before a low explosion hides the gruesome sight from Nora’s view, leaving Nora to stand motionless, staring into where the girl had been [Starting off with a bang here!].
Wickham Village, Massachusetts, 1692
We then go back even further in time, to a colony, where temporary protagonist Susannah Goode is baking some biscuits in the heart while her mother, Martha, tends to her baby brother, George. Susannah’s quite beautiful, but as a Puritan, she’s been ‘endlessly taught the virtue of modesty’. Still, that doesn’t stop her from admiring herself in the looking glass [Same] or playing with her golden hair, which is always prompts the same scolding from her mother – ‘”True beauty comes from deeds, not appearance, Daughter'” [Tell that to the 599675487675746 influencers in the world right now]. Susannah’s currently wearing a long maroon skirt [The girl Nora saw on the stake was blonde with a maroon skirt! I guess Susannah’s gonna die :(] and at 16 years old, is starting to blossom into womanhood, often finding herself daydreaming about a certain boy [We don’t know who yet thought, but most likely a Fier/Fear, right?].
The hearth needs more firewood, so Susannah offers to fetch some from the commons as well as her father, who’s tending the cows there, since she wanted to go for a walk anyway. This is met with more criticism from Martha, who wants her daughter to stop taking walks alone so as not to bring attention to herself. She doesn’t want Susannah to end up like Abigail, a young village woman who was taken to prison last night, accused of being a witch by Benjamin Fier, Wickham’s magistrate.
Apparently Benjamin’s found three witches in the village since the start of the summer, and Martha’s fearful he’ll suspect Susannah of being one if she continues to go off on her own so often. Susannah reassures Martha she’s just going to the commons and will be back soon before pulling her white cap over her head [Martha freaks out when she almost forgot it, so it must be compulsory I guess?] and venturing to the main village.
She sees Benjamin Fier entering the meetinghouse and shudders as she thinks of poor Abigail, who surely is not a witch. We then learn more about Benjamin, the most powerful and wealthiest man in the village. As the magistrate, Benjamin conducts the witchcraft trials and insists guilty women are burned at the stake rather than hung, which happens elsewhere in the state.
Susannah’s been taught since she was a little girl that ‘good fortune goes to those who are the most righteous’, which is how Benjamin and his brother, Matthew, became so wealthy – they’re the most worthy [I’m sure it comes from the exact opposite of righteousness]. This explains how Benjamin became the magistrate and why Matthew’s farm prospers [I’ve seen the word ‘prosperous’ 956858768 times in the last two pages lol] while other farms fail [They’re probably sabotaging the other villagers tbh]. This reasoning is ‘plain and simple knowledge’, according to Susannah [You poor, brainwashed child. The 1600s sucked!].
Walking past the meetinghouse, Susannah’s thoughts turn to the object of her lust, Benjamin’s son Edward, and she’s so distracted that she trips over a pig, which she thinks is karma for her improper thoughts [Hahahaha]. She spots her father in the commons’ pasture at the centre of the village, but opts to take a short walk in the woods first to get away from her responsibilities and the ‘heavy fear that hovered over the entire village these days’.
Once she’s hidden by the trees, Susannah removes her cap and tosses her luscious hair back [She’s a harlot!!!], enjoying her surrounding despite knowing they’re not a good-natured place:
Away from civilisation, deep in the woods, was where the Evil One and his followers dwelt, Susannah had been taught.
The witches of the village came here to dance their evil dances by moonlight with the Evil One and his servants. The Evil One and his servants lived deep in the holes in the ground, hidden by scrub and thick shrubs. Susannah believed that if she wandered alone into the darkness of their domain, they might reach up and grab her and pull her down, down into their netherworld of eternal torture and darkness.
[Probably not a good place to be venturing alone then, is it, Susannah? Especially if you don’t want Benjamin thinking you’re a witch! No wonder she’s gonna get burned at the stake lol]. Realising she’s probably walked too far, Susannah about to turn around when she’s grabbed from behind by a pair of strong hands [!!!]. It’s not the Evil One, as she initially believes, but the handsome Edward Fier, her crush! He’s the best-dressed young man in the village, and it shows:
Edward was tall and good-looking. He wore a wide-brimmed black hat over his straight dark brown hair, which fell below his ears. His gray doublet was made of the finest linen. The cuffs at the end of his sleeves were white and stiffly starched.
His navy blue breeches ended just below the knee. Gray wool stockings covered his legs. On his feet were Dutch-style clogs fashioned of dark leather.
[I know I’m turned on, hehe!] In private, some villagers accuse him of the sin of pride due to his fancy dress, but no-one would ever criticise him publicly, ‘For Edward was a Fier, Benjamin Fier’s son. And no one would dare say a word against Magistrate Fier or his son’ [Let me just reiterate one more time so you don’t forget – Edward is Benjamin’s son. God, I think half of this book so far is the same few sentences paraphrased several times].
Anyway, he followed her into the woods and they begin discussing the Evil One and witches. Susannah admits that she keeps dreaming about her friend Faith, who was seized as a witch ‘”because she wore a red ribbon in her hair'” and burned a the stake. Edward assures her that his father must have had proof of Faith’s witchcraft, because ‘”he is a fair and just man”‘ [I bet he ain’t!].
The pair soon kiss, and Susannah jokes about the Evil One watching them. Edward doesn’t share her sense of humour and can’t bear blasphemy though, causing Susannah to wonder why she likes him so much when he’s so serious and solemn. The pair have apparently been meeting secretly for weeks, which is against village custom. Susannah’s worried about her safety if Magistrate Fier were to find out, but Edward reckons it’s not a crime because they love each other [Cuuuuute], and he wants to marry her. As Susannah lovingly fantasises about running away from the village and living in the wild with Edward, the couple hears voices and realise they’re not alone [!!!].
Except they are alone, and it’s just the wind carrying voices from the village, where people are chanting ‘”Burn the witch! Burn the witch!”‘ [Oh no, Abigail!]. Susannah feels sorry for Abigail, but Edward bluntly says she must face the fire if she’s a witch. By this point Susannah’s been gone too long and needs to head back, with Edward opting to wait a few minutes before heading back himself so no-one will know about their rendezvous. Before she leaves, Susannah wants to know if he’s going to tell his father about them, and he promises to when the time is right. With that, she merrily skips back to the village, daydreaming about marrying Edward Fier.
We meet Susannah’s father, William Goode, at dinnertime as he grumbles about the small size of his carrots. Matthew Fier’s carrots are as long as candlesticks apparently, and William can’t understand how that can be when Matthew has no more farming knowledge than he does himself. Martha pipes up that the Fiers have many secrets, and we learn that the Fier brothers came from a farming village, unlike the rest of the Wickham people, who came to the New World from England [I don’t know enough about American history to know what any of this means hahaha].
The Fiers and their wives were poor when they arrived, but have prospered [I am sooooooo sick of this word. Did they not have synonyms in the 1600s?] in Wickham, which, according to William, ‘”proves they are pious folk, favored by the Maker”‘. As Martha clears the table, William wants to have a word with Susannah – apparently she’s been spotted walking around with Edward Fier ‘”without a chaperone present'” [Oh, the horror! :O].
Susannah admits to her parents that she and Edward are in love and he wants to marry her, but her parents have a bombshell of their own:
“Edward Fier is engaged to be married,” her father said. “Edward is to marry a young woman of Portsmouth. His father told me this morning.”
[Oh, poor Susannah :(] Susannah goes to bed early that night and tosses and turns for hours, mad at Edward for leading her on [I’m sure he loves you! No doubt he’s just being forced to marry this other girl], and she’s so upset that she vows never to trust anyone again.
We shift to Benjamin Fier’s house now [He’s the magistrate and Edward’s father, remember?], where Edward [Just another reminder, Edward is Benjamin’s son!] is refusing the marry Anne Ward. He’s never disobeyed his father before, but marrying the girl from Portsmouth is something he simply can’t do because she’s a complete stranger and he doesn’t love her. There’ll be plenty of time to get acquainted after the marriage, according to Benjamin, who scoffs at the idea of marrying for love.
Benjamin’s got a guilt trip ready, reminding Edward that the Fier family was so poor in ‘”the Old Country”‘ that he and Matthew had to eat rats to survive. They came to the New World ‘”not just to succeed but to prosper”‘ [If this word continues to be so prominent in the whole trilogy I’m never gonna make it through], and Edward must continue the family’s wealth by marrying Anne, whose father is the tea importer from Portsmouth. It’s made him super prosperous [Now I’m using it!] and Edward will share his wealth by becoming a tea importer too.
Edward blurts out that his heart belongs to Susannah Goode, which is met with laughter from his father. William Goode only owns ‘”two scrawny chickens and two cows,”‘ so Susannah is no match for Edward. But Edward sticks to his guns, insisting he has to marry for love, not wealth, but the wedding to Anne is already arranged for autumn, and Benjamin wishes Edward’s mother was alive to see him wed ‘”so profitably”‘ [I don’t know, Edward, marrying for money sounds appealing to me!].
Edward’s had enough by now, insisting he will marry Susannah Goode, even if he has to run away to do it, and then scurries out of the room, leaving Benjamin to grin eerily into the fire and vow that Edward will never marry Susannah [He’s gonna accuse her of witchcraft, isn’t he? Poor girl].
The next day, Susannah’s complaining about peeling potatoes, and Martha thinks she might be ill because Susannah never complains [Meanwhile, I’m never not complaining, hehe]! The poor girl’s just heartbroken and not in the mood to do anything, so Martha suggests she take a walk [But you hated her going for walks alone yesterday?], which sounds good to Susannah, who hopes for a chance to talk to Edward. Before she can set off, though, Benjamin Fier bursts in with two officers, ordering them to search for proof.
Naturally, Benjamin’s the one who finds exactly what he’s looking for at the hearth who after bending down ‘as if picking up something from behind the kettle’, revealing a purple cloth bag when he turns around to face then. He empties out the contents onto the table, revealing ‘a chicken’s foot, some feathers, dried roots of some kind, a small bone, and a glass vial containing a blood-colored liquid’, which is all the proof he needs that the women are witches. Despite Martha and Susannah’s protests that the bag isn’t theirs [I think we all know Benjamin had it up his sleeve or something and just pretended to find it, lol. I hate him], Benjamin orders the officers to take them to prison to await their trial, and Susannah’s catches ‘a gleam of merriment in his dark eyes’ [Edward won’t be happy].
The Goodes’ neighbour, Mary, appears at the door to see what the commotion is all about, and since William’s not home, Martha hands her little baby George, begging Mary to keep him safe. Then the alleged witches are led through the town as the other village people watch on in shock, and Benjamin promises that Susannah and her mother ‘”will burn before the week is out”‘ [It’s horrifying that this kind of stuff actually happened centuries ago].
At the Goodes’ trial, a bat flutters around the courtroom before being ushered outside, which Benjamin and Matthew Fier latch onto as proof of Susannah and Martha’s allegiance to the Evil One, because ‘”A dark creature like that would not enter our court unless summoned”‘. William pipes up from the back of the room, insisting his family is innocent, but he’s eventually knocked unconscious and dragged from the building. Unfortunately for the Goode women, a wind blows through doors as he’s taken out, almost extinguishing the torches lighting up the room, and the Fier men accuses them of trying to darken the room with their evil [Honestly, the Fiers deserve to be cursed after this bullshit].
Benjamin shows the onlookers in the court the purple bag he found [Pretended to find] in the Goodes’ home and tells Susannah and Martha they have witnesses who’ve seen them dancing in the woods with the Evil One and his servants [He’s obviously lying but this point I’m hoping they are witches because this family needs to be cursed ASAP]. Benjamin asks the Goodes one last time to confess their evil practices, but their protests of their innocence apparently proves their guilt [God, no-one really stands a chance with Benjamin as magistrate, do they?] and the women are sentenced to be burned tomorrow night.
Later that night in the prison Susannah shares with her sleeping mother, she wonders if the other three women who’ve already been burned were innocent too. Her thoughts are soon interrupted when Edward [Who she’s been hoping would come to her rescue this whole time, but he didn’t appear in the courtroom] appears at the window, accusing her of betraying him with the Evil One and denying he was toying with her heart:
He stared at her, his features set, his eyes as cold as his words. “I told you, Susannah. I revealed my feelings about you to my father. I told my father of my love for you. Do you think that knowing this, my father would put you on trial if you were innocent?”
“But, Edward—”
“Do you think my father would put me through this pain? Do you think my father would hurt me like this? Deliberately hurt me by trying an innocent girl?”
Edward shook his had, his eyes still burning accusations into Susannah’s.
“No, Susannah,” he said sadly. “My father may be stern and hard, but he always does what’s right. He is a good man. My father cares about me, about my feelings. He would never do this to me. He would never put you on trial unless he was certain of your guilt!”
[…]
“To think that I defied my father on your behalf,” Edward cried. “To think that I went against my father’s wishes in order to stand up for you. To think that I risked my father’s goodwill, my father, who is a good and pious man, who only wants the best for me. To think that I was ready to defy him, for you—a witch!”
[Does Edward think it’s just a coincidence that his father happened to find evidence that the poor girl he loves is a witch the day after he confesses his feelings? Idiot] Susannah protests that his father is wrong, but Edward won’t hear of such things and disappears from the window, leaving Susannah in tears and utterly defeated [Poor girl :(].
Back at the Goodes’ home, William’s wallowing in his grief when Matthew Fier knocks on the door. He’s here to offer his assistance, since he has some influence over Benjamin, but it will come at a high price – 100 pounds. William only has 80, but is willing to give it all up for the safe return of his wife and daughter, and Matthew decides the brass pan created by William’s father will serve as the rest of the payment [If ‘prosperous’ being said every sentence isn’t proof this book had a bad editor, there’s also a typo calling Matthew ‘William Fier’, lol].
William counts out the coins and as Matthew leans forward to collect them, the pendant he wears around his neck falls into view [The same one Nora owns in the future!]. William asks what the three latin words inscribed on the back, ‘Dominatio per malum’, mean, and Matthew shrugs it off as an old saying, explaining the amulet was given to him by his grandmother and serves as a reminder of his old life [I looked it up, and that phrase means ‘power through evil’!!!!]. Although he’s never seen anything like the amulet before, William’s heard the three-toed claw depicted on it ‘”referred to as a demon’s claw”‘ that is said to have powers, but Matthew denies any knowledge of this and suggests William should too [Does William practice the dark arts, is that how he knows?!]. Then, promising the Goode women will be freed at sunset the next day, Matthew departs [Don’t trust him, William!].
The next evening, William merrily heads to the prison to meet his soon-to-be-released family. There’s a crowd of people gathered, who he believes are there to rejoice with his family, so imagine his surprise when the Goode women are led out of the courthouse flanked by officers, their hands still bound behind their backs. Realising they’re not about to be released, William searches the crowd for Benjamin, but finds the deputy magistrate instead, who tells him ‘”Benjamin and his brother, Matthew, fled the village before dawn this morning”‘ [Lol, of course they did]:
“The Fiers robbed us,” Giles told him. “They emptied the storehouse. They left us no food for winter. They took everything. Everything.”
Apparently the brothers loaded all of their belongings and the town’s supplies onto wagons and then disappeared, and unfortunately for the Goodes, they didn’t speak to anyone beforehand, so as far as Giles is concerned, ‘”The sentence must be carried out”‘ [This book is heartbreaking]. Susannah and Martha are burnt at the stake, and William knows he’ll hear their anguished screams and ‘picture their bodies twisting on the flaming stakes, still see their melting faces, their fiery hair’ forever [Watching loved ones burn to death would be fkn horrible, poor William :(].
Long after the flames have been doused and the crowd has dispersed, William’s alone in a puddle of his own tears when his grief gives way to fury. He marches home, moves to the back of the house and ‘pulled open the door that led to his special room’, a room not even Martha or Susannah knew about [Oh my god, William’s a witch!] where black candles are always lit [Yessssss, curse the Fiers, William!].
Reciting a purification ritual, William pulls on a hooded scarlet robe and drops to his knees to whisper dark, ancient curses as he scratches ‘signs of evil in the dirt floor’, summoning the spirits of evil he’s done so many times before:
Innocence died today. But my hatred will live for generations.
The Fiers shall not escape me.
Wherever they flee, I will be there.
My family’s screams shall become the Fiers’ tortured screams.
The fire that burned today will not be quenched—until revenge is mine, and the Fiers burn forever in the fire of my curse!
[Ooky spooky!]
Village of Shadyside, 1900
Back to Nora, who’s just written all of that down [I guess we were reading her writing! But how does she know every single detail?], confirming out loud despite being alone that ‘”That’s how it all began more than two hundred years ago”‘.
It’s a few hours after the mansion fire, where she was found by a stranger and taken to this room. Now, Nora’s absolutely determined to tell the story of her ancestors, and she’s not done yet! She grabs the pen again and begins writing, picking up with Matthew and Benjamin 18 years after Martha and Susannah Goode burned to death. They’re once again successful farmers and Matthew now has a daughter, Mary, with his wife, Constance, and Edward is married to Rebecca, who bore him a son, Ezra [I guess since the Fiers ran away he never had to marry Anne Ward. I wonder if he married for love after all, though?].
Western Pennsylvania Frontier, 1710
The Fier brothers and their respective families are seated at Benjamin’s dining table for a nice family dinner. Benjamin’s now a self-proclaimed ‘”crotchety old man”‘ while Matthew’s become quite stout in the past 18 years. Matthew’s daughter, the 17-year-old Mary, is one of the youngest people in the village, so only really has her family for companionship, and she’s very close to Edward and his wife, Rebecca, whose six-year-old, Ezra, is quite the handful.
Anyway, Benjamin worries that the Fiers are cursed due to some new roof shingles put up last week being washed away in last night’s thunderstorm [Is that the only bad luck you’ve had in 18 years? Lol calm down Benjamin]. Matthew thinks he’s just being silly – they have such a fine family and their farm and trading store is prosperous [I see they still don’t know any synonyms 18 years later. Couldn’t leave that word in the 1600s, Stine?], there’s nothing unlucky about that! Edward also dismisses the idea of a curse and decides he’ll fix the shingles after dinner, since it’s still light out.
Unbeknownst to the Fiers, William Goode’s hiding behind a tree outside the house! He’s spent almost 20 years searching countless colonies for his enemies, and at last he’s found them [Woo!]. Now he can avenge his family and carry out his curse [Woooooooo!]. Soon, the Fiers start coming outside so Edward can fix the shingles, and William is delighted by how horribly Benjamin’s aged and how fat Matthew’s gotten. He recognises Edward too, but not Mary or Ezra, which doesn’t make a difference to his plans because they’re clearly Fiers, ‘And all Fiers shall start to suffer now’ [Sucks that future generations have to suffer for Benjamin and Matthew’s dickhead actions but good on old William Goode for sticking to his guns I guess!].
Soon just Mary and Edward remain outside, who prop a ladder against the side of the house. Mary begs him to wait until morning because it’s almost dark, but Edward insists he do it now and rejects her offer to hold the ladder for him:
“You know you should be in the kitchen helping Rebecca and your mother clean the dinner dishes.”
Mary groaned and rolled her eyes. “I am seventeen, Cousin Edward,” she said sharply. “I am not a girl. I am a woman.”
“Your place is still in the kitchen,” Edward called down.
[So not only did the curse start with the Fiers, so did Shadyside’s misogyny! At least it was the norm in the 1700s I guess, but what’s the excuse for the men in present-day Shadyside, though?]. No sooner is Edward on the roof than he falls off headfirst, [Hahahaha good], landing with a sickening crack [Stine loves his sickening cracks! I think there’s one in every book]. Mary’s screams bring the other Fiers running over, but luckily Edward’s alive, only suffering a badly broken arm [So he fell headfirst but managed to land on his arm instead? Lucky]. Constance [Matthew’s wife, in case you’ve lost track of all these characters like me] is also injured, having been startled by Mary’s scream while cleaning a knife and cut her hand, and as the family head inside to deal with both injuries, while this further cements in Benjamin’s mind that the family is cursed [Yeah, and it’s your fault, asshole!].
Matthew sets Edward’s broken arm and fashions a sling out of linen, while Mary manages to stop the flow of blood from her mother’s hand. I’s been an unfortunate night and as Mary struggles to sleep that night, she can’t shake the feeling that the family’s bad luck isn’t over [It’s just beginning, hun!].
After collecting eggs from the henhouse in the morning, Mary’s walking back to the house when she’s intercepted by a good-looking blonde boy around her own age. His name is Jeremy Thorne and he’s looking for the owner of the farm, so Mary leads him to the house where Matthew greets them outside.
Matthew doesn’t take too kindly to this stranger walking with his daughter and quickly dismisses him, even after Jeremy explains he’s just moved to the village with his ill father and is looking for work. Luckily, Edward appears and reminds his uncle that he’ll be of little use for a while, what with his broken arm and all, so Jeremy’s actually come at the perfect time [A little too perfect if you ask me. Could this be William in some magic disguise?]. Matthew ‘rubbed his chins thoughtfully’ [Hahahaha] and offers Jeremy 10 shillings a week and instructs him to start by cleaning out the tool shed.
Mary reckons Jeremy’s super hot and her mind races with exciting thoughts [Horny gal!]. She knows her father would never approve of anything between her and a lowly farmhand, but she’s unable to stop thinking about him nonetheless. As she goes about her daily chores, she constantly sneaks glimpses of him as he cleans out the tool shed. When she heads to the garden to collect some vegetables for dinner, she spots him emerging from the shed drenched in sweat and scurries over to the well to fetch him some water:
He smiled at her, breathing hard. His blond hair was matted flat to his forehead. He had removed his shirt, and his smooth, muscular chest glistened with sweat.
[Am I in love with Jeremy Thorne too? He sounds dreamy]
Mary compliments his work ethic and he explains that his father’s always had poor health, so he’s always been a hard worker. He also compliments her looks, admiring her copper-coloured hair before stepping towards her. Mary’s sure he’s moving in for a kiss, which is exactly what she wants [Hubba hubba!], but suddenly Rebecca comes running out of the house towards them, calling out to her. Jeremy quickly heads back to the shed before Rebecca hurries over with bad news – she can’t find Matthew or Edward, and ‘”something horrible has happened!”‘
Rebecca leads Mary back to the house and into the sitting room, where Benjamin’s ‘sprawled stiffly on his back on the floor’. Edward and Matthew eventually arrive, and Benjamin turns out to be alive, but finds that something’s not quite right with his left leg:
“No feeling in the leg at all,” Benjamin said thoughtfully. “It does not hurt. There is no pain. It does not feel like anything. It is as if the leg has been taken away from me.”
[Yaaasssss, William, make him suffer slowly! >:D]. Over the next three days, Mary meets Jeremy by the woods in the afternoons as he takes a break from clearing brambles from a new section of land, and the lonely girl can feel herself falling in love with him [After three days? Oh, sweetie]. Today, the third day of secret meetings, Jeremy brings up how her father wouldn’t approve. Mary insists Benjamin is ‘”the true snob of the family”‘ and after Jeremy asks about Benjamin’s condition, Mary reveals his left arm has lost all feeling too, and poor Benjamin Fier is completely paralysed on the left side [Good]. The thought of Benjamin being helpless must turn Jeremy on, because he quickly pulls Mary in for a snog, and Mary doesn’t even care that what they’re doing is improper [Harlot!].
Later, Mary invites Edward for a walk through the woods to help ease his troubled mind, but he can’t stop worrying about his father’s condition. He’s also worried about his wife, Rebecca, who seems so weary, so different, but Mary points out that she no doubt is tired – Ezra’s not an easy child to look after. As they head back home, a fire appears before them, a blonde girl on a stake trapped within the flames. Mary notices the girl is glaring straight at Edward and to her surprise, he seems to recognise the fiery beauty – Susannah Goode! As soon as he says her name, the fire and the girl disappear, leaving the woods in darkness one again.
Two days later, Mary’s by the woods with Jeremy again, telling him about the nightmares she’s been having about the girl on fire, which she knows had to be real because Edward recognised her. Edward’s been super quiet ever since, barely saying a word, and when Mary told her father about what they saw, ‘”he cried out as if he had been stabbed”‘ and clutched at the amulet around his neck.
There’s also discussion about whether Mary’s told her father about their love affair, but she thinks he’s too troubled for that kind of news right now. Mary would like to meet Jeremy’s father, however, but he seems startled by the idea before explaining the man is much too ill for any visitors [Surely Jeremy is William in disguise, right?].
Afterwards, Mary heads to Edward’s house with some baked goods for Rebecca, aiming to lift her spirits. On the way, she thinks about her family and all their recent troubles – Benjamin lost the use of his right leg overnight, leaving only his head and right arm able to move; her father has become even more distant and aloof; Edward is glum and silent; and Rebecca has seemed wearier and older, ‘as if she were aging a year every day’.
When no-one answers her knocks on the door, Mary lets herself into Edward’s home and finds poor cousin-in-law Rebecca hanging by a noose from a rafter ‘like a heavy, ripe fruit’ [Very strange analogy lol. Also poor Rebecca! Her only crime was marrying into the family :(]. After a quick vomit, Mary runs from the house and heads for her own, calling for help. It’s raining now, though, and the poor girl slips in the mud. As she picks herself up, she notices a stranger dressed in all black, ‘standing as still as death’ in the pasture and staring at her. Mary calls out to him but he just continues to stare, so she heads over for a closer look, and as she does, she realises it’s just a scarecrow – but who would put a scarecrow in the middle of a grassy field? And then she finally reaches it:
Finally through the heavy downpour she recognized the face under the wide-brimmed black hat.
“Uncle Benjamin!”
Once again Mary stared into the blank-eyed face of death. Benjamin Fier was the scarecrow.
His body was propped up nearly as straight as if he were standing. His arms hung lifelessly at his sides.
His face was bright purple. His hair spilled out from the hat and lay matted against his head. He gaped at Mary with blank eyes, deathly white eyes, the pupils rolled up into his head.
[So much death in this book, I love it!] A funeral is held for the dearly departed two days later, and as the minister gives his speech, Mary studies the sullen faces of her family. Edward had reacted in disbelief at the news of his wife and father’s deaths and has spent his time wandering ‘silently around the house like a living corpse’, leaving Constance to look after Ezra and Matthew to arrange the funerals.
But it was Matthew who had the strangest reaction of all when he heard the news; more fearful than sad as he clutched the amulet around his neck. Later that night, Mary had seen him in his his room, holding the medallion and chanting the phrase written on it, ‘Dominatio per malum’ [Remember, ‘power through evil’! Looks like Goode is finally trumping evil though, hehe xo]. He’s been avoiding Mary whenever she tried to talk to him, but she has noticed that he keeps looking around the farm as if expecting an unwanted guest.
Anyway, as the funeral’s wrapping up, Mary spots Jeremy among the crowd of mourners. She hasn’t seen him for the past few days since all work on the farm was halted, so she meets him behind the tool shed for a smooch when the funeral’s over. He’s kind of hesitant though, and that’s because he’s got some news – ‘”I know who killed Rebecca and Benjamin”‘ [Was it you, Jeremy? Also, I don’t know why everyone’s just assumed they were murdered… Rebecca easily could have just hung herself, and the rest of Benjamin’s body probably became paralysed, leading to his death? I guess someone had to string him up like a scarecrow, though, but still, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were murdered, right? I’m sure they were, but it just seems strange everyone would immediately jump to that conclusion, particularly with Rebecca].
Jeremy reveals it was his father, William Goode, who killed the pair, and explains that he lied about his last name, Thorne, because William had told him the Fiers would never hire a Goode. He tells Mary all about the betrayal back in Wickham when Benjamin and Matthew framed Susannah and her mother for witchcraft to prevent Edward marrying her, then stole everything from the villagers and fled. William’s been obsessed with revenge ever since, something George got sick of tolerating, so he moved back to Wickham two years ago. He also explains that Edward didn’t know about Susannah’s innocence, trusting his father’s word [Big mistake, Edward].
Although Mary recognises Susannah’s name as the one Edward identified the burning girl as, she can’t believe these horrible things about her family. Jeremy insists she must believe her, because he loves her and that’s immediately all the proof Mary needs [Love conquers all!]. Jeremy wants to stop his father from killing the rest of the Fier family and suggests by getting married, the two families will be one and the bad blood will be forgotten [I mean, maybe after Matthew and maybe Edward are dead, that could work].
Unbeknownst to the newly engaged couple, Edward’s been hiding along the side of the tool shed after spotting the pair together and has heard every word [!!!]. He heads back to Matthew’s house, angry at what he thinks are Jeremy’s lies and how he’s filled Mary’s head with them [Use your brain, Edward. Why would he lie? You know the Goodes were burned, and you obviously know your family fled Wickham. I wonder what excuse they gave him, though?], although after remembering the vision of Susannah burning in the woods, he considers there could be some truth to Jeremy’s story.
He marches straight to Matthew’s room and confronts his uncle about what he’d heard, but of course Matthew denies the whole thing and demands to know who’s spreading these falsities. Mary suddenly burst in ready to confront Matthew, and Matthew immediately has a change of heart [Filling pages again, Stine?], and he admits the truth. Edward’s mortified that he also condemned Susannah to death and it’s revealed Benjamin never told him why the left Wickham, but Matthew explains now that they didn’t want Edward to experience poverty [Edward wouldn’t have married into poverty though? Susannah would have married into wealth? Although maybe by marrying, the Fiers would have run out of their riches].
Matthew wants to get revenge on William, but Edward and Mary both insist it’s time the Fiers and Goodes make peace, with the wound between the families to be healed by Mary and Jeremy’s marriage, much to Matthew’s chagrin. Edward also demands Matthew apologise to William and Jeremy for his sins and after some reluctance, Matthew agrees to make peace:
“Yes,” Matthew agreed. “When a week of mourning has passed, invite them both—William and Jeremy—to dinner. At that time I will do what it is necessary, I promise you both, to end this bitter feud forever.”
“Thank you, Father!” Mary cried happily.
“Thank you Uncle,” Edward declared.
“It will be done,” Matthew said softly.
[Matthew’s definitely planning to kill the Goodes once and for all, lol. But he won’t get George in Wickham!]. The week of mourning passes slowly, but finally the night arrives. Mary answers the knock at the door to find Jeremy all alone, and shit hits the fan as soon as he enters the house. As Jeremy crosses the room the greet him, Matthew points the amulet straight at him and shouts the Latin words, causing Jeremy’s head to explode [Holy shit hahaha]:
Jeremy’s skull cracked open, and the skin on his face blistered and peeled away. Pink brains bubbled up from his open skull. His face appeared to melt away, and another face pushed up from under the shattered skull.
Another head appeared on Jeremy’s body.
The head of a white-haired man, his cheeks scarlet, his eyes brimming with hatred.
It’s William Goode, of course, who reveals there was no Jeremy, it was just his sorcery all along [I knew it!]! Mary’s in pure disbelief, demanding to know where Jeremy is over and over [You were just told he doesn’t exist, idiot]. Matthew points the amulet at his enemy and repeats the words, and William quickly crumbles to dust [Lame, I wanted a big showdown! >:(]. Matthew begins laughing maniacally over his triumph as Constance begs him to stop, while Edward drags Ezra and Mary [Who still won’t stop asking about Jeremy] from the house, fleeing into the night.
Western Pennsylvania Wilderness, 1725
We jump 15 years ahead of that as a now-21-year-old Ezra journeys to Matthew Fier’s farm on horseback. He has some memory of his last night at the farm and blames the Goodes for the destruction of his family. After moving to a cabin in the wilderness with Mary and Ezra, Edward had died of exhaustion. Mary had never quite recovered either, not speaking for weeks and then declaring she was a witch from time to time. The poor thing would also stare into the trees, waiting for Jeremy to come [Tragic]. Ezra had looked after her after Edward’s death, but one recent afternoon he found her facedown in the pond behind their home, having drowned herself [Poor Mary :(].
This has all prompted Ezra to begin his own journey of vengeance, and he’s decided to return to Matthew’s farm, hoping to learn information about the Goodes from his great-uncle. Arriving at his destination, he’s disappointed to find the farm overgrown, clearly not having been tended to in years [Surely he didn’t really think they’d still be alive?]. Inside the house is a layer of dust and no sign of Matthew or Constance, and Ezra finds William’s study completely walled in, with stones piled on top of each other, but not cemented together.
Assuming the information he’s after must be behind the wall, Ezra begins taking the stones down, working even harder after he hears a continuous scratching sound. After creating a decent hole, he finds two decayed skeletons, one of them seated at a table with a collection of pages beneath its hand. Ezra snatches them up and begins reading the manuscript signed by Matthew Fier:
I still laugh the hideous laugh without cease, the laughter an unending torture for me and for Constance. But the wall is in place, and at last we are safe from the Goodes and their treachery.
Constance attempted to escape. The poor woman did not realize that the wall is for our safety. I had to hit her over the head and render her senseless so that I could put in place the final stones and secure our safety. We are now as safe as we were in the old days in Wickham, and will remain safe from the Goodes for the rest of our lives.
Ezra vows that he won’t rest until the Goodes have paid for their evil [And so, the cycle continues. Although really, Matthew destroyed his own family, right? Edward fled the farm because of his actions…]. Ezra spots the amulet around his neck [And this time it says the claw is in the centre of the disk, which is definitely not what’s on the cover], and although he doesn’t seem to recognise it, he takes it for himself, bitterly noting that it’s his only inheritance. Then he leaves the house, presumably planning to head to the village of Wickham [OK, but what was the scratching sound?].
Village of Shadyside, 1900
Back to Nora now, who takes a moment to rest her cramped writing hand because the story’s not over yet – in fact, it’s just beginning:
The Fiers would continue to pay dearly for their betrayal of the Goodes. Blood would flow. The blood of both families, through decades.
Nora vows to complete the ‘long and bitter tale’ of the feud before the night is over, and the book ends as she feverishly begins to write again.
Final thoughts
OK, it took me a while to fully get into it because I couldn’t get past the writing, but I’m glad I stuck it out because the story was amazing! The characters were interesting, the deaths were great, and I loved learning all about the very beginning of the Fear family’s curse. I can’t wait to begin the next one!
The story was fleshed out well into two equal parts, following Susannah Goode’s and Mary Fier’s families respectively, and I really liked both heroines so I was pretty sad by their fate, especially poor Susannah. I thought the use of the real-life witch trials from the 1600s were a great addition to help set the story in a believable reality, as far as Fear Street books go at least, and the book just got better and better, especially after ‘prosperous’ stopped being used every four words.
I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but it’s definitely worth the read for all Fear Street fans. 94 prosperous Fier families out of 106!
