Halloween Night Books I and II

Halloween Night #1-2

by R.L. Stine

Trick or treat! (And the trick is not to die....)

Everyone at McKinley High dreams about Halloween. The A-plus parties, the creepy costumes—it's a blast. Everyone, that is, except Brenda Morgan. For Brenda, Halloween is a total nightmare.

Every year, something terrifying happens to her. Like someone smearing blood all over her bedroom wall. Or her friend stabbing her in the back—literally.

It's almost like Halloween night is cursed for Brenda. And unfortunately, October 31 is just around the corner....

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Halloween, Horror Thriller

366 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brenda, the lead character in this book, might as well be called Sidney Prescott, because shit just keeps happening to her.



Books I and II are basically the same thing, with several cheap, not-so-thrilling thrills, jokes about murder, not-jokes about murder, random phone conversations, and a lame "twist" at the end. Like, I have no idea why there was even a sequel, they were so similar. Having read them both, I now have some advice for Brenda.

1. Get some new friends. The ones she has pretty much suck. They keep trying to kill her, after all. And the ones that aren't are strangely okay plotting murder with her.
2. Meet some new guys. Both Ted from Book I and Jake from Book II suck. Either Brenda is really bad at picking guys, or her cousin Halley is some sort of siren to be able to steal them away so easily. At least when the guys tried to come back to Brenda with their non-apologies, she told them where to stick it. However, she then tried to frame Ted for murder. So maybe they deserve each other? I don't know.



3. Don't trust Halley. What the hell is up with this girl? She not only stole Brenda's boyfriend in Book I, she also stole Brenda's friend Traci's boyfriend. And then in Book II, Halley was dating Ted, but then she stole Jake from Brenda. WTH??? She blames her behavior on her parents' divorce. While that is certainly a lame excuse, she has issues of some sort, obviously. And she is utterly confused as to why Brenda doesn't like her. She's a classic manipulator.
4. Get some new parents. Brenda's parents never listen to ANYTHING she says. They constantly take Halley's side when the two girls fight or argue, and always reprimand Brenda. They don't even try to understand her. Halley basically gets to do whatever she wants and act however she wants. Not only that, but Brenda had to move out of her room, presumably her childhood room, and into a smaller one, so Halley could move into it. Thanks, Mom and Dad. You're the best.

I guess we're supposed to feel sorry for Brenda, and in some ways I would (if the books weren't so crappy), but in other ways she's a complete idiot. Actually, everyone in this book is basically an idiot or a terrible person. Their dialogue is so boring and terrible. However, the story arc is pretty simple and standard, so this would probably make a decent, albeit crappy, horror movie.

These books take place on and around Halloween, but the atmosphere is far from Halloween-y. In the first book, there's a couple jack-o-lanterns and a party at the end. In the second, there's trick-or-treating and a decorated house. That's all.

I can see why I gobbled these books up as a teenager, but they have absolutely NO meat to them. Maybe I'll preserve what's left of my childhood and refrain from reading any more R.L. Stine books if I come across them.

Or maybe not.

[Tanathebookworm_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start by saying I grew up reading Goosebumps and Fear Street books. Both were staples of my childhood. I still have about 20 Fear Street books that, as an adult, I still enjoy reading from time to time. With that being said this book was just stupid. The edition I had was both books of the series and they were both equally bad. It was pretty much the same story told twice, just different characters and a slightly different twist, if you even want to call it that. Brenda is clearly an idiot who is not good at picking friends or boyfriends. Halley is just an awful person. Brenda’s parents are blindly loyal to their niece rather than their daughter. If I had to chose I would say the second book was slightly better than the first but like I said they were both pretty terrible. I gave it 2 stars instead of one just because I really do love R.L. Stine and will just have to forgive him for these books.\

You can read my other reviews here:
http://www.tanatime.com/sortable-arch...

[Amber "Epp" · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun book

[Jamie Lindemulder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to give this 5 stars because I know I am way too old to be reading this. If I was about 10-14 years old, I know it would scare the crap out of me. As an adult though, it is quite corny.

[Luckhow · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun assortment of halloween tales. not really scary for young children and more fun than anything.
the stories are true to halloween and not silly nonsense so we liked that

[A.J. Humphreys · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good ole nostalgia read for spooky season, and although 31-year-old me didn't enjoy it as much as 13-year-old me, the pair of stories were still campy classics that were enjoyable and quick to read through.

I will say I'm not sure if it was semi-remembering them, or just the age difference, but the mystery and intrigue just didn't hit hard, and in places felt forced.

That said, I think Stine delivers great atmospheric horror and suspense that kept me reading beyond that nostalgia effect. Definitely worthwhile for teens and pre-teens who are showing interest in the 80s/90s horror classics.

[Steff S (The Bookish Owl) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Note: I actually only own Halloween Night II and have never read Halloween Night.*

Interesting twist with who it was but they didn't explain much about the why. If the reason in the book was the only reason then it was a pretty rubbish reason. Typical teen stuff, not worth trying to kill someone over though.

[Amanda M. Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my very favorite horror books at 12 or 13, great pacing