Trapped

Fear Street #51

by R.L. Stine

Despite the story that claims that some kids had been killed mysteriously there thirty years ago, a group of young people sneaks out of Saturday detention to explore the tunnels beneath Shadyside High

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Thriller, Childrens, Fiction, Paranormal, Fantasy

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

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

[Justin Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uh oh, revisiting these books already has me addicted! I remembered vaguely that this was one of the scariest Fear Street books and I can see why. This is a true horror story rather than a murder mystery. Much darker and genuinely scary. Great writing, brisk and full of adventure.

[Austin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trapped is a Fear Street novel unlike any other I've read. Gone is the usual murder-mystery. Gone are the mysterious phone calls. And the often-present teen relationship drama is kept to a minimum in this one. Instead, Stine focuses solely on the action and suspense - and it was quite effective, at that. This one feels more like a pure horror story, whereas many Fear Street titles are more straightforward mysteries/thrillers.

In this book, a group of five teenagers are sent to detention. They decide to go exploring the school instead of remaining confined to the classroom, and they accidentally discover an old passageway in the auditorium. It leads to a series of tunnels underneath the school, and what they find down there, or rather, what finds them, is absolutely terrifying.

This was a great book. Easily one of my favorite Fear Street books I've read so far. It really stands out for its tight pacing and unrelenting suspense. There's nothing in here that bogs the story down, unlike some of the other books in the series that often put too much focus on the teen relationships and drama. I would have liked a bit more depth to the story, as the plot is sorta basic and linear - but I can't complain too much - Stine doesn't mess around or waste time with this one - he drops us into the action almost right away and doesn't let up until the final page - something I haven't seen before in a Fear Street title.
I recommend this one.

A high 3.5 star rating, rounded up to 4.

[Julian Dombey · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHOCKING. Read it a year ago, still have trauma. When you read a lot of Stine, you get used to his absurd antics -- mousetraps that sound like guns being fired, snowballs that feel like knife stabs, frequent and deadly car crashes that never kill you and are never mentioned again in your life, best friends that choke you and shoot you as a practical joke, inhuman voices threatening you on the phone -- then the rug is pulled out from under you when you read Trapped, because dear lord, was this written by our Jovial Bob? Eggs on the eyes Stine? This being the last Fear Street book in the original series, I think he wanted to finish with a bang.

[Amara Tanith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of the Fear Street series when I was a preteen. I recently reread most of the Fear Street books as an adult. Trapped is the only installment that lived up to its memory.

When I was eleven or twelve, Trapped scared the shit out of me, to the point where I actually had to stop reading it. One scene in particular was downright disturbing, and it stuck in my mind for years afterwards.

As a matter of fact, it was that very scene that had me so excited to reread this. I read Trapped for the second time in November of 2011, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Trapped was the only Stine book I've yet to read that didn't make me wince with flat characters, a storm of clichés, and/or a disinteresting plotline.

Pretty sure I need to buy this one.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trapped is the final book in the main Fear Street series. And it was pretty lazy. The beginning is a blatant Breakfast Club rip-off of students having a Saturday detention. Then, they find some tunnels underneath the school and want to explore. They get lost, the ladder breaks, a red mist starts chasing and killing them off...none of it with any build up or pay off. Irritatingly slow until it's rushed conclusion, there was no satisfaction. It very much felt like Stine was just done with the series and wanted to pull this out just to get it over with. It was frustrating to have what could have been a decent nail-biter...except he forgot to add the suspense he's usually good at pulling off. Disappointing end to the series.

[BabyLunLun · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is quite unlike any other Fear Street books. Not much of a cliffhanger at each chapter and don't have much of a twist either. Its kinda sad when Mr Savage gave himself up to the red mist.

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book

Elaine thinks she’s going to spend a boring day in detention, but she would be wrong.

[Elaine] pulled her jacket tighter around herself and tried to fight off the chill that refused to leave her body.
It was going to be a long day.
She had no idea how long—or how dangerous.

The idiot kids in detention decide to ditch the room and go have fun in the deserted school, like raiding the cafeteria!

[Elaine] glanced around—and saw Jerry in front of another big steel door. He held several cans of iced tea in his arms. Elaine grinned at him.
“Don’t look at me that way,” he complained. “Everyone else is doing it.”
“I know,” Elaine replied. “I want chocolate milk.”
“Oh.” Jerry’s expression relaxed. “Second shelf.”

But then Elaine accidentally finds the entrance to the infamous tunnels under the school and the idiot kids decide to go explore them.

“Why would anyone want to party in a dump like this?” Jerry asked.
“Think about it,” Bo replied. “No one to bother you. No noise complaints. No cops. One hundred percent privacy.”
“If you survive it,” Elaine remarked.
That comment brought silence.

I remember reading this book back when I was in middle school and really loving it! But I didn’t actually remember any specific details about, which was nice because I love being surprised. The one thing I definitely did remember was the creepy atmosphere of being trapped down in some spooky tunnels. And you know what, it was still creepy the second time around!

I really liked the characters and how vastly different they were from one another. Bo I thought was kind of insane, though. I really don’t know why Elaine decided to follow his bad example. He also pulled some really awful pranks there were actually not funny at all. I feel like the only sane one in the group was Jerry, and he was made fun of for following the rules *sigh*

But Bo did become more likable as the story went on. He began fooling around less when he realized that they were in some serious trouble. He actually became a pretty good leader, and I much prefered this more serious Bo.

And I have to talk about the kills, because you bet people are going to die! So, the kids run into... something that starts picking them off one by one (is it the same thing that go the kids back in the 60s??) So not only are they lost, but now they’re being killed off by some red mist, which is more horrifying than it sounds! And let me tell you, the description of the deaths were amazing! They were gory and tense and just—yes! This is what I live for—R.L. Stine’s descriptive death scenes. Lol.

In the end, I actually guessed what this thing was. However, I actually really enjoyed reading the reveal and it’s connection to—ahem, a certain someone who I will not name in order to avoid spoilers. But also its connection to the dead kids from the 60s was insane!

I really enjoyed this Fear Street book! I loved the creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere, the suspense, the descriptive scenes, and the setting in the school and the tunnels! It was just an overall enjoyable read!

The Fear Street connection: Yeah, I don't know. I couldn’t even find a mention of Fear Street in the whole book—and I checked twice! My guess is that one of the characters in the book lives on Fear Street. Maybe the protagonist Elaine, or Bo, or even Principal Savage... idk. Lol.

[Gmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

.and you thought your high school was scary...

This story brings to mind The Breakfast Club with a twist...YOU actually risk BECOMING the breakfast. There are the obligatory HS stereotypes, the new principal cracking down on shenanigans, the Saturday in-school detention with the threat of more to come is EVERYONE doesn't behave. HahahahahahahahahahahaHA! Like THAT could ever happen with this bunch. *smirk* Needless to say, one thing leads to another and another and another and...then suddenly, there's no more leading as they are trapped (eureka, the title!) where they shouldn't be, in a place that's been long forgotten, with something that SHOULD NOT EXIST. That last thing? Yeah, it's out for blood too...and it's none too picky about who it comes from.

In typical R.L. Stine fashion, the book goes from zero to sixty in a heartbeat, good thing too considering the length of the story, and nothing is held back. NO, really...nothing, as in when rats get in our leading lady's hair, you hear all the squeaky details, or when the mysterious red cloud decides to wring the life from one of our happy bunch, you hear all the bone crunching moments until none are left. Did I mention this was my pick for the Young Adult set and beyond? Yeah, definitely...and yet I enjoyed it, which was surprising to me because my previous exploration into his work yielded different results. Did the author's game change over the years? Who's to say...this title is back from 1997...but I CAN say that you won't forget this short and non-sweet tale ANYTIME soon.

[Stormy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The scariest creature I have ever read about! If my memory serves me right they a group of kids ventured into tunnels under a high school and wound up getting lost and confused about which way to get out. There was history down there of kids partying and trashing it up and sometimes never surfacing again. Anyway, one by one the teens get picked off by a red tornado-like mist that picked them up and squeezed and twisted them into impossible angles. Bones cracked and snapped and there were definitely screams of agony. I couldn't imagine the fear knowing that you might be next or watching your friend or boyfriend get eaten by this wicked thing. All I know is that the book scared me. My heart was beating so fast. At some points I had to stop reading and I was reading in the daylight! It scared me more than zombies do. If you knew me this would be unimaginable because I loath zombies. I can't stand to see them limping along bedraggled with their limbs awkward and their mouths foaming with blood. They freak me out to the point of panic attacks but I'm sure that if there was a movie about this red tornado creature I would be really flipping out to the point of CPR. No lie!

[Drucilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may start off like a novelization of The Breakfast Club but it quickly turns into an awesome horror version of it. The reader does need to take a few things on faith such as the conveniently located tunnels and the fact that a teenager knew how to brick up a wall fully and correctly. The reader should also ignore the fact that the main female character develops an almost instant crush just because the boy is "bad" (and therefore shames all females), but all of that can be forgiven because the reader is given some very gruesome death scenes, the likes of which we've never seen in a Fear Street novel before.

[Erika Castle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was my favorite story in the Fear Street series. It was kind of like Breakfast Club meets Goonies meets a hellacious ghost story.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to get through more of Fear Street this year and I wanted to start big. For this I jumped to the end, because I heard some great things about this one. Since it ended up being the finale of the original series (one more was planned and got pushed to New Fear Street which came out 3 months later so there was a minor gap), I think they wanted to all out.

This will earn a blog review for that reason so this will be short. I’ll just say…yeah the hype was worth it, it was kind of awesome. I’m not totally sure if it’s another high 3.5 or a light 4 but I’m going that direction for now, maybe my review will change my mind. It has a breakfast club setup with teens in detention and it could have fleshed them out just a tad more, going more into these dynamics.

The ending is a bit abrupt, nice but does lack an epilogue to let them wind down and process it all. It also takes 60 pages to get to the fireworks factory but man does it explode. It is constant tension with some dark deaths, The tension is high and the characters do work. They get some mild nice moments and I did legit feel for them when one would die. That’s rare in these.

They still aren’t that deep but for this series standards, they work well. Even the jerk one, Bo, proves to be good and isn’t creepy to girls. I smell a ghostwriter lol. The reveal of what this mist is goofy in the best ways, adding to the depth. The jerk principal is fun and it’s just so enjoyable.

Others can have bigger deep moments but this feels like the complete package. The last third is just that awesome. It almost gives Runaway a run for its money it just had those little things as well as some taste stuff.

Still; it's a unquie home run. The series should have stuck with the supernatural more often honestly. It's just unfair that Fear Street ended with this while Goosebumps got Monster Blood 4 lol.

So yeah; worth checking out. It'll win you over in the end.

BODY COUNT: 4

POP CULTURE: The Doors, Snow White, Coke.

CONTINUITY: A new principle is introduced, replacing the regular Mr. Hernandez. The next book to come out, Cheerleaders the evil lives, addresses what happens with him here.

STINE-ISMS: Sour, dryly.

Again, next is up in the air but I got ideas including returns to old favorites. See ya then.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. I loved the Fear Street books when I was around 9 or 10 years old. I used to sit in the library isles and just consume them. I picked this book to fulfill the hard mode Bingo square "last in a series" (series has 4+ books) because my previous choice no longer qualifies (another book is being written for the series I originally wanted to complete). This is the last of the original Fear Street series. Quick read, nostalgic, and good cheesy fun.

[scar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. the extremely cursed energy this book emanates is incredible. i wasn't a fan of the ending, the explanation seemed far-fetched, but other than that the concept was incredible and actually creepy as fuck

[Michael H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this when I was 12. Borrowed it from the middle school library. For some reason it ended up sticking with me, though I could never remember the name. I would try googling aspects of the book, and never had any luck finding a title. The cover was seared into my mind, I was pretty sure it was from Stine, and I vividly remembered the monster, but nobody else seemed to know this book.

Then when I was 29 I finally figured out the title by going through every single Fear Street cover. I recognized it instantly, and off I went trying to find a copy. Ended up having to buy a three-book Fear Street Collector's Edition that included it. Then it sat on my shelf for a while. And now I've read it for the first time in 18 years.

And it's still a fun little story, and more than a bit odd. The characters are teenagers, written by an adult, in a story and setup aimed at tweens.. And some of the kids get absolutely brutalized and murdered in horrific ways. This book has an identity crisis, and I think this is a rare instance in which it helps make it stand out. You go from reading about a kiddier Breakfast Club type of group to reading about intentionally slow bone-snapping violence. This monster doesn't just want to kill. It wants to make its victims feel pain. It wants them to suffer before finally, literally, breaking them in half and ending it. It's a wild juxtaposition. Maybe that's why it stuck with me all these years. Maybe that's also why so few have heard of it, and why the publisher never pushed it or put it in ebook format. They wanted to bury it. Trouble is, sometimes burying things just makes them stronger.

Oo, spooky reference to the booooook. If you can find it cheap, give it a read. Then give it to a kid and let them deal with it.

[Piratemonkery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book like 10 years ago when I was in middle school. I was in my peak goth/emo phase, and I was really starting to get into reading again. I remember loving this book, and I remembered the basic premise. This book stuck with me when many others have faded into the abyss of my mind.


So there're these teenagers who are in detention on a Saturday. The principal leaves them alone, and they decide to explore the campus. They find a secret corridor that leads to an underground labyrinth. This labyrinth, these underground tunnels, were made during the cold war for people to use as shelters in the event of a bomb. But the war passed and teenagers flocked to these tunnels that run city wide to party.
Then some teenagers started dying and these tunnels were closed off.


Anyway, our hooligans at Saturday school, make their own torches and explore these tunnels, only to find their doom.


XD



It's good. As an adult, who knows more about the world, and people, and writing, I was able to see things that 13 year old me didn't get.
There's this bad boy, Bo, who likes to set things on fire.
His lady friend, Darlene, who is insecure
Mike..or Max... idk this dude who is a subordinate of Bo's
Jerry, a nerd
and Elaine, the protagonist, who obviously has a crush on Bo




there is some death in this book, and it is quite brutal. This book goes for some light scares in the beginning, but once they those tunnels, it went from like 25 mph to 85 mph

it was awesome.
Anyway I really like Bo, and Elaine is cool too. We get some of that teenage drama

yeah this book was written in like...the 90s
but teenage relationships are the same

idk.

this book is really short. I remembered the ending so I couldn't say I enjoyed it as much as I first did.
Me, a seasoned veteran who has since gone on to read a lot more of brutal things...but who has also read soft romances

idk i just feel old reading this. not because they're so young, but because....I'm just not phased by it anymore.
i mean, maybe a little. I do remember making shocked faces



idk

anyway whatever

[Ger Francus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have Trapped, and read it last year. :)

The best for last....

I think it was a great, awesome, very cool, unique and really terrifying story. It was very well and detailed written, I could picture it in my mind as a movie. The writing-style was also very nice.
It started of a bit boring, but it took on terror very fast! The suspense is killing you through the pages, and it's impossible to put down.
The ending (as always) is a total shock and did never see it coming.
This final (from the original series) Fear Street novel is definitely one of the best. It's very different from the other Fear Streets, but that's a good thing. The dark, mysterious tunnels....it really gets you freaked out!
At the same time that it's horrifying, it's also a very sad and emotional story... You really live with the characters, and feel the fear; and at the end [spoiler:]you feel the pain and rage of the students who died in the tunnel[/spoiler:]...

This would definitely be a great movie!


5*****

It sure is in the Top-5 Favorite Fear Street books.

[Lilyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loooovveeeed fear street as a kid. I must have read half of these books, but sadly I can't remember which ones. I've been going through them all trying to recall the ones I've read.
This is the only one I remember VERY clearly. I also remember where I was sitting when I was reading it. It was a friday morning, and I was huddled up next to my mom in bed determined on finishing it, and I remember I got so scared after completing it :P, hey! I was 9! Dont judge me! Eventhoug, I know if I re-read any of these books I would give them a 1 star, my 9 year old self will never allow me to do that, They're 5 stars for her and they shall remain so for me

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - In my quest to read all of the original Fear Street books...I'm not sure if I succeeded or not. This is either book #49, and I am done...or some lists actually include the 2-part Fear Hall series as #47-48 of the original Fear Street series (but they feature college students, not high schoolers). At either rate, Trapped was one of the best Fear Street stories, featuring a Saturday detention gone wrong when the students discover a secret tunnel in the school that holds a dark secret. With supernatural elements and typical teenage tension, this was a great book to end the Fear Street series on.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m impressed, this was actually quite scary, which is not normally what I find with Fear Street books. The claustrophobia and darkness in certain parts had me on edge, it was almost as if I was reading a whole other book. Never has a Fear Street book made me feel so tense. This was also quite a different take than the norm which I quite enjoyed. Definitely one of the best Fear Street entires out there in my opinion.

[Kelvin Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, this book is okay. It isn't as interesting as the rest of his books but the cover gives me the creeps.

Well, I'm really glad that two of the protagonists managed to escape from the tunnel. On the other note, I kind of like the way how R.L. Stine described the red mist and how it kills its victims.

[Jayda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a few years back and I remember enjoying it so much that, even though at the time I was a very slow reader, I read it in a day or two. The twists and turns are really well done, and I've always been a fan of R.L. Stine, especially when I want a good scare.

[Shasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This probably is one of my favorite Fear Street book. It was creepy as always but at the time I could really identify myself in the main character: Pressure and the desire to do the right thing while wanting to belong.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was actually legit good. A lot of times I will say that it was good for a Fear Street book, but mediocre in terms of books in general. This one was actually good. It was like The Breakfast Club meets Stephen King's It.

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine. Very predictable, characters are basically cardboard cutouts of the characters from any given teen movie and have about as much personality as a cutout, but there was a little bit at the end that was semi-surprising. Definitely not one of the stronger Fear Street books.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly, funny R.L. Stine. Cracks me up. I gobble these books up like candy. But there have been better ones than this one.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lol oh good old Stine, you never fail to supply me with trashy reads ;)

[Nicko]

Left me scarred for life after reading in elementary school. Probably to blame for my aversion to revenge-seeking clouds of red mist.

[House of Goosebumps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely horrific and terrifying. It is one of the scariest R. L. Stine books I have ever read.

I definitely recommend this book.

[Jameson · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHAPTER 1
Every once in a while I feel like a red Swedish fish. This is one of RL Stine’s better red Swedish fish. Because… because… because what, for crying out loud?!

CHAPTER 2
Because there is actually a genuine threat! A threat? You, know, a menace. Danger. Like a Mack truck doing a buck twenty barreling down on you—look out!

CHAPTER 3
Phew! It suddenly swerved out of the way just in time, sparing not only your Walkman and your Rolling Stone with an AOL Free Trial CD-Rom but also your very life. Was that Bo behind the wheel? Gee, I always thought he was such a Grade A jerk but maybe he’s actually just a really sensitive guy.

CHAPTER 4
I wish more of the Fear Street books were like this one. Wait. Did you feel that? I think there’s a spoiler heading straight for you!

CHAPTER 5
Gee, I always hated spoilers but maybe it’s just because they’re misunderstood. I wonder what this spoiler’s underwear smells like…

CHAPTER 6
I’ve probably read half a dozen Fear Street books as an adult and this, I think, is the only one with both supernatural goings-on and non-fake-out deaths. But the book sucks!

CHAPTER 7
Oh, silly! That was just a prank. When it comes to the final sentences of each chapter in an RL Stine book, nothing is true. When you think Stine is gonna zig, he zags. And when you expect him to zag after zigging again, he obliges!

CHAPTER 8
But, for real, for all of that, it’s surprisingly not unputdownable. Well, see you in detention! I’ll be the one masked up with Bo’s white tighties.

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RL Stine is a real person and never once did his publisher slap his name on any other author’s work. Like, totally.