The Whisperer

Nightmare Hall #12

by Diane Hoh

After cheating on a test, Shea Fallon receives a phone call from a mysterious whisperer who threatens to divulge her secret unless she commits further transgressions.

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

About the author

Diane Hoh is the author of fifty-seven novels for young adults. She grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania but currently resides in Austin, Texas. Reading and writing are her favorite things, alongside gardening and grandchildren.

Reviews

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so much fun! We follow Shea, who did something terrible, (though not as terrible as she seems to think) and spends the rest of the book being threatened by an anonymous whispering voice - usually over the phone, sometimes in person. All my suspicions were wrong, things got a bit darker than I had anticipated, and the twist at the end was pretty enjoyable.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series!

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great big slice of 90's nostalgia from the fondly remembered Point Horror range.

The initial hook of Shea discovering her teachers office is unlocked and photocopying a forthcoming test only to be blackmailed by someone who knows what she'd done due to a video camera recording of the act was very evocative of that era.

She realises that she can't come clean about cheating when her teacher is attacked and reluctantly complies with 'The Whispers' demands as she's desperate to get the video back.

One of the strongest in the series - I loved how the reveal came as a complete surprise.

[ItzSmashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I had a blast with this one! Finished it in an evening and the time flew by. There was interesting premise and the mystery was very well teased and paid off at the end with a multi level reveal that I was hooked on. I would say that maybe the final twist is a bit too unbelievable. But that's exactly what you would read a 90s teen horror book for nowadays.

Shea has made a grave mistake. Struggling in one of her classes, she decides to sneak in to the teachers room and photocopy tomorrow's test. But when she finds her teacher assaulted and unconscious on the floor, she is then blackmailed by a threatening voice whispering down the phone to her. This voice blackmails her in to doing escalatingly dangerous tasks until she can't take it anymore. Can she find the culprit? Or will the stranger expose everything.

[scar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. i needed a light read to beat my reading slump and in a way this succeeded, because it motivated me to pick up better, more serious books. i was actually into this at the beginning; the college campus setting was nice and the mystery caught my interest. the scene where the main character steals the test from the office was pretty tense! however, as the story kept progressing, it just got more and more ridiculous. i hated the ending, it was so corny and disappointing. however, there were some things that saved this from being a flop. the writing was okay (except for the finale lol) and the characters weren't too bad. the book is from the '90s, so the way the technology was used in this felt like time travel to me. the MC actually had to go to the library at night to watch a tape, that's incredible. i'll probably read some more nightmare hall books in the future, i see potential here.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of this one did take place at Nightmare Hall.

* Shea has biology with a really harsh teacher, and if she fails the upcoming test she'll lose her scholarship, and have to leave school.
* She decides that the only thing she can do is steal a copy of the test so that she doesn't fail.
* She steals the test, but the next day the teacher says that she knows someone stole the test because she has a video of it, and that she's going to play it for the class the next day.
* Shea goes to the teacher's office to confess and beg forgiveness, but finds the teacher lying injured on the floor. She calls for an ambulance and then leaves.
* Shea then receives a call from some who whispers, and tells her that they have the video, and they'll send it to the dean unless Shea does as she's told, which involves stealing a snake and throwing it into somebody's room in halls.
* Shea does as she's told, and it nearly kills the girl whose room she throws the snake into, because she has a heart condition.
* Then Shea is told that the video is hodden at Nightmare Hall and she has to go and retrieve it.
* She takes the video to the library to watch it, but is attacked, by none other than the teacher whose test she had stolen in the first place.

[Jojo Holm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whisperer is the very first Diane Hoh book that I have ever read. I was worried when I began to read the whisperer, I wanted to DNF (did not finish) the book a lot of times. In the end I did end up reading the book and I liked it a lot. I managed to finish the book in two days so it is not that hard to read. I would give this book a 4.5 because the story is really good and is tense at some parts. I felt like the main character kept on imagining what it would be like to tell her friends what she had done and I understand that it is a way of showing her stress, but it happens so much though out the book and it seemed like filler. The whisperer was scary during the whole story and I got it wrong on who the whisperer actually was. So in the end I would recommend this book to people

[Liam Underwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Whisperer is now the twelfth Nightmare Hall book that I've read, and I must say I'm surprised that this series has been pretty consistently strong. I'm still a big fan of the concept, although I do think that Hoh could have done a little more with recurring characters and references to events in previous books. Although The Whisperer doesn't really break new ground, Hoh still handles the typical Point Horror tropes with an expert's touch.

Our protagonist, Shea, isn't as likeable as some of the other main characters we've followed in this series, but I like that she's a little more layered. Of course, with this being a Hoh book we have a whole array of supporting characters, allowing suspicions to be sowed. I'm never particularly good at figuring out who's behind everything in Point Horror books, and The Whisperer is no exception, but I will admit I did find the reveal to be a little bit too bonkers.

There's a couple of sequences in this book that are quite tense, and the brisk pacing kept my attention engaged. This is particularly useful when there are at least a couple of moments that are just a little bit bizarre, borderline nonsensical, if you give them too much thought. Still, I liked that the Nightmare Hall location actually gets featured - considering this series of books are all titled Nightmare Hall, I've been surprised at how little it's actually been utilised throughout. The Whisperer certainly isn't one of the better Nightmare Hall books, but it's not bad either. This is proving to be a pretty competent series.

3/5

Point Horror Ranked
1) The Girlfriend - 4/5
2) Thirteen More Tales of Horror - 4/5
3) The Dead Game - 4/5
4) Trick or Treat - 3.5/5
5) Camp Fear - 3.5/5
6) Nightmare Hall - The Silent Scream - 3.5/5
7) Dream Date - 3.5/5
8) Fatal Secrets - 3.5/5
9) Teacher's Pet - 3.5/5
10) The Baby-Sitter II - 3.5/5
11) The Cheerleader - 3.5/5
12) The Hitchhiker - 3.5/5
13) Nightmare Hall - The Scream Team - 3.5/5
14) April Fools - 3.5/5
15) My Secret Admirer - 3.5/5
16) The Lifeguard - 3.5/5
17) Freeze Tag - 3/5
18) Thirteen Tales of Horror - 3/5
19) The Accident - 3/5
20) The Vampire's Promise - 3/5
21) Funhouse - 3/5
22) Nightmare Hall - Sorority Sister - 3/5
23) Nightmare Hall - The Nightwalker - 3/5
24) Nightmare Hall - Pretty Please - 3/5
25) The Stranger - 3/5
26) Nightmare Hall - Deadly Attraction - 3/5
27) The Window - 3/5
28) Nightmare Hall - Guilty - 3/5
29) Nightmare Hall - The Whisperer - 3/5
30) The Invitation - 2.5/5
31) Nightmare Hall - The Wish - 2.5/5
32) Help Wanted - 2.5/5
33) Nightmare Hall - Last Date - 2.5/5
34) The Perfume - 2.5/5
35) The Train - 2.5/5
36) The Waitress - 2.5/5
37) The Snowman - 2.5/5
38) Nightmare Hall - The Roommate - 2.5/5
39) The Yearbook - 2.5/5
40) Halloween Night II - 2.5/5
41) Silent Witness - 2.5/5
42) Halloween Night - 2.5/5
43) Beach House - 2.5/5
44) The Mall - 2.5/5
45) Nightmare Hall - The Experiment - 2.5/5
46) The Boyfriend - 2/5
47) The Fever - 2/5
48) The Cemetery - 2/5
49) The Diary - 2/5
50) Mother's Helper - 2/5
51) The Baby-Sitter III - 2/5
52) The Phantom - 2/5
53) The Watcher - 2/5
54) The Witness - 2/5
55) The Dead Girlfriend - 2/5
56) The Baby-Sitter - 1.5/5
57) Hit and Run - 1.5/5
58) The Return of the Vampire - 1/5
59) Beach Party - 1/5

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shea was one of those people that keep making bad decision after bad decision and are surprised when their actions make a situation worse. I honestly found it hard to feel bad for her after a while. I was done with her once she decided to hide under her blankets until morning instead of waking up her roommate to give her the heads up that someone hacked off her hair. Like, how could Shea be shocked later on that the girl believed her to be responsible for what happened? That ending though was crazy as hell. I definitely did not see that one coming at all. It was kind of overly ridiculous, but the entire thing was entertaining to read.

[Carmen Tudor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unrealistic to think a university student could sneak into a lecturer's office and find a test paper on a desk, walk off to an adjoining room, make a copy, and return the paper before sneaking back out and seemingly leaving no trace. Even so, I still really quite liked this one. :)

Didn't guess the antagonist, either -- not even close.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book nice story and a very unexpected plot twist.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was genuinely a hoot.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am in the midst of trying to collect as many Nightmare Hall books that I can find and I found this one for a dollar and decided to give it a shot.

Shea Fallon is at Salem U on a scholarship and if she doesn't keep a B+ average her mother will be strapped to help her financially. The one class that could ruin her college career is Advanced Biology with Professor Mathilde Stark, not the nicest teacher on campus.

Trying to reason with the woman isn't working so Shea does the unthinkable. It's an opportunity we all think about: printing out a copy of the next exam.

Too bad Stark installed a video camera in her office...Shea believes she's finished. Knowing it would be better to just come clean, Shea goes to the woman's office to confess and finds the teacher unconscious, head bludgeoned with a copper paperweight.

Shea gets the woman help without leaving her name but now she has an even bigger problem. A sinister, whispery voice calls Shea and tells her that they have the tape of her cheating on the test and Shea's bloody fingerprints on the paperweight from a paper cut printing out the test.

Cheating...stealing and attacking a teacher will get Shea expelled and arrested unless...she does the whisperer's bidding. Shea has to start lying to her friends to hide her blackmail but could it be someone close to her behind the terror?

It's got red herrings, some fake outs, a genuine didn't see it coming reveal and an okay ending. Not really a stand out from the series I have read or remember reading but a decent Diane Hoh read.

[🕷️Serena🕷️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was very suspenseful and thrilling, it kept me guessing who the whisperer could be. I never would’ve guessed who it was in the end. The overwhelming fear and guilt our protagonist feels over cheating is prominent through the whole book and you can almost feel her anxiety get worse as the story progresses, which I would call good story telling. I’d recommend this one if you’re a fan of fun 90s YA horror!

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Characters and characters relationships aren’t well developed.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best writing, there have certainly been more gripping Nightmare Hall books. Luckily the twist was satisfying so I could give 3 stars instead of 2.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woah! This ended up being so much better than I thought it would be. The ending was great. Definitely one of the better teen horror books.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m still loving re-reading this series after all these years!

[Briana · Rating 1 out of 5]

only read this to get my goal up...

[Britney · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the twist at the end was very much unexpected. This book definitely shows its age a bit, but I enjoyed seeing the different techniques used to create suspense and tension.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

About a 3.5. I don't know why they didn't get the Whisperer to wear a balaclava or something, rather than having him constantly just out of sight 😂

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twist was honestly a surprise!

[D.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would make a great B horror movie! lol I enjoyed it.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure nostalgia from my childhood.

[Strawberri Mystery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was alright but it has NOTHING on R.L Stine's " The Cheater" it seems that's was Diane Hoh was trying to copy off of R.L. Stine. Diane could have come up ith something better, this book looked like it as written from the mind of a first grader.
The pranks that "The Whisperer" made Shea do were more funny than scary.
The only thing I liked was the ending because it has a surprise shock to it.

[Jacquelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pacing: 8/10
Writing: 5/10
Plot: 6/10
Characters: 5/10
Creativity: 5/10

Total: 29/50

This book was okay and kept me guessing but it wasn't the best. Some characters got on my nerves, the plot was sometimes weird and I didn't think it was necessary. Overall, it was a good one and I probably would read another book by Diane. I think this is a book everyone has to try out for themselves.

[Gwapunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

vai vair scary>>>...

[Milady Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the series.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this as a kid, it was one of the only two I had for awhile.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, but a thrilling conclusion.

[Kasey Loftis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved Every Nightmare Hall book that I have read. None have disappointed yet.