Daniel Stalter's Blog, page 7
October 26, 2022
THE LAST VAMPIRE 3: RED DICE
The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice
by Christopher Pike
Spoiler-Free Review:
The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice opens with some of the wildest action in the series so far. It cemented my feeling that these books could adapt really well in the right hands. Christopher Pike once again does a good job of raising the stakes so it never feels like a complete retread of the past. We get glimpses of different parts of Sita’s past, which I felt was well-balanced. It gave us just the right amount of information wh...
October 20, 2022
THE LAST VAMPIRE 2: BLACK BLOOD
The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood
by Christopher Pike
Spoiler-Free Review:
The Last Vampire 2: Black Blood picks up about six weeks after the events of the first book and brings Alana/Sita to a dangerous neighborhood in Los Angeles. The depictions of Black characters in the opening chapter are very problematic and have not aged well. That said, it was nowhere near as egregious as the depictions in Remember Me 2. Beyond that, I think the book did a good job of expanding the story and raising the...
October 13, 2022
THE LAST VAMPIRE
The Last Vampire
by Christopher Pike
Spoiler-Free Review:
The Last Vampire delivers on what I have come to expect from Pike; complicated characters with dubious morals in fucked up situations. Alisa, also known as Sita, was a bit grating as the main character, although she did grow on me over the course of the book. Starting out she was a little bit too obnoxiously good at everything. My eyes rolled more than a few times. I would have liked it better if she struggled with computers. It would ...
October 4, 2022
A SHOCKER ON SHOCK STREET
Goosebumps #35: A Shocker on Shock StreetSpoiler-Free Review
A Shoker on Shock Street was, for the most part, one of the weaker books in the Goosebumps series. It centered on two very irritating main characters, relied on tired horror tropes, and wasted most of the book on fake scares. I remember enjoying this one as a kid, and I can see why. The story moves at a steady clip, however incoherently. Then it ends with one of Stine’s better twist endings. In fact, the twist ending is easily the ...
September 28, 2022
THE BABYSITTER III
The Babysitter IIIby R.L. Stine
Spoiler-Free Review:
The Babysitter III felt like a sequel in search of a story. I’ll start with the good; at least Jenny wasn’t taking on yet another babysitting job after her experiences in the first two books. It changed the formula by introducing Jenny’s cousin Debra as this book’s titular babysitter. Unfortunately, I still saw the twist ending coming from a mile away. It had too many similarities to other Stine books. Everything he did here, he’s done it ...
September 22, 2022
THE BEAST
The Beastby R.L. Stine
Spoiler-Free Review:
I loved this as a kid, and it held up exceptionally well. For a book that was written as a one-off promotion for a roller coaster in Ohio, The Beast is way better than one might expect. I’ve come to think of The Beast and its sequel as the lost books of the original Goosebumps series. I mean, it certainly reads like a Goosebumps book, it was published at the height of Goosebumps fame in 1994, and it even features a cover by Tim Jacobus. It’s a real...
September 8, 2022
FLAME CON 2022
August 20 & 21, 2022
Sheraton Times Square
New York, NY
Overview:
After buying my half table in 2019, I finally got to participate in what was supposed to be Flame Con 2020. It was a fun surprise walking in on the first day and finding out I would be sharing my table with none other than Joe Corallo. The Geeks Out organizers took additional precautions due to the ongoing pandemic. Mask and vaccination were required, and tables were spaced out much more than they had been in previo...
August 16, 2022
SUNBURN
Spoiler-Free Review
I appreciated that RL Stine changed up the plot formula a little bit. Sunburn opens with a pretty intense scene right out of the gate, and then never really lets up. It made for some awkward transitions in places, but the slight variation in the Fear Street formula was a welcome change. I was hooked from page one. There was an over-reliance on rip tides as a plot device. I rolled my eyes several times during one particular scene that just became ...
July 12, 2022
REVENGE OF THE LAWN GNOMES
Goosebumps #34: Revenge of the Lawn GnomesSpoiler-Free Review
I fully expected Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes to be a tired rehash of the Living Dummy books, so I’m happy to report that I was at least partially wrong. The book had strong characters, a fun setup with warring garden dads, and even had a little twist I did not see coming. It really had the potential to be a series stand-out. The biggest issue was the lawn gnomes themselves were introduced way too late. Sure, those opening chapters ...
June 14, 2022
BAD MOONLIGHT
Spoiler-Free Review
I’m pretty sure I loved Bad Moonlight as a kid. Because what’s not to love about being a rockstar werewolf? In its best moments, Bad Moonlight reminded me of Coyote Ugly and its banger of a theme song “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” 14-year-old me would have given that movie the academy award for Best Picture back in 2001. At its worst moments, Bad Moonlight read like a very rough first draft. Certain scenes and details felt like ...
