Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror

by R.L. Stine

Don't turn out the lights. Don't go out alone. And whatever you do, don't let down your guard. Because your neighbors might seem normal, but why do they collect knives and eat their steaks so bloody? And when the boy of your dreams finally asks you out, why is there something so . . . lupine . . . about him? And if your brother's fear of the dark is so childish, how do you explain those shadows creeping out of your closet? In thirteen blood-chilling stories from true masters of suspense, including five New York Times bestselling authors and four Edgar Award nominees, nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe. . . .

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Short Stories, Paranormal, Anthologies, Mystery, Fantasy

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2010

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

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially saw the audiobook available on YouTube and decided to get a hardcopy book to read along. I remember my kids owning several R. L. Stine works as they grew up, and I would either read to them or they would read to me. Stine always had a horror bend that my boys and I could really bond with despite him not being nearly hardcore enough.

My middle son was the most impressionably resistant to horror, so the other boys were acquiescent to Stine as a compromise. Fear: 13 Stories, is an interesting anthology blend of horror shorts that are not all horror, some are scary, or gotcha types. Some stories have content that is a little more mature, sexually suggestive, not explicit, nor profane. Because Stine is usually considered a young reader storyteller, the suggestive aspect may take some parents by surprise, but I don't recall anything overtly objectionable, other than some violent descriptions.

If anything I communicate makes you dubious, please err on the side of caution. We, parents are the final arbiter on what we feel our children can reasonably absorb, and my kids were desensitized early. They are all grown now and appear to be (as if there's such a thing) relatively normal members of society. I feel like I have to go middle-of-the-road on this, because it's an anthology of stories with varying degrees of scariness, maturity, and punch. I liked it well-enough.

[Austin Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a reread for me; I believe I first read this when it came out back in 2010, 15 years ago, but I didn't remember anything about it except for a vague recollection of not liking it all that much.
Upon reread, I think I liked it more this time around but the quality is definitely all over the place, and my review/ratings for each story is as follows:

Welcome to the Club by R.L. Stine: 2.5⭐
We open up with Stine's story in this collection, and what a middling story it is. It starts out okay, and has a nice crime/thriller flair to it, but falls victim to Stine's compulsion to throw in as many plot twists as possible, rendering this story a bit pointless in the end with all of its pranks and fakeout scares.
Mediocre/okay, bordering on being mildly bad. A weak start to this anthology.

She's Different Tonight by Heather Graham: 2⭐
Ooof. This is probably my least favorite story in this book. We have here a teen melodrama/romance story, with a predictable twist ending that involves one of the characters being a certain monster.
This is the most unoriginal, boring, and cringy story in this collection. Not quite terrible, but bad, in my opinion.

Suckers by Suzanne Weyn: 2.25⭐
Man, this collection is just not looking too hot at this point. This is a very strange sci-fi story that gets some points for its originality, compared to the last entry, at least - but I still found myself not caring for it by the end. Meh.

The Perfects by Jennifer Allison: 3.75⭐
Woah, we get quite the uptick in quality with this rather disturbing tale. In this one, we follow a teen girl as our lead that moves to a new small town with her family and takes a job babysitting for her new neighbors on Halloween night. What ensues is quite shocking and is something out of an adult, extreme horror story. I was quite surprised by this one. It was scary and leaves off on a rather disquieting note.
It does end a bit abruptly but all in all I enjoyed this one.

Shadow Children by Heather Brewer: 3⭐
An entertaining and action packed story about two kids who incidentally wind up in some kind of shadow realm, being pursued by shadow creatures.
This story lacks any real explanation or exposition which keeps me from rating it higher, and it's also not exactly the most unique idea ever, but this fast paced tale is fun enough for what it is.

The Poison Ring by Peg Kehret: 2.5⭐
A decent crime/suspense tale that I liked starting out, but kind of fizzled out for me in the second half. Another okay entry.

Dragonfly Eyes: 3.25⭐
Like The Perfects, this is another one that surprised me with its dark and mature themes. This is one of, if not the shortest stories in the collection, but manages to strike some effective emotional chords, which is saying something.
It's about a girl who is murdered and finds herself in some kind of spiritual/purgatory state, and tries to prevent her murderer from killing again.
This story was really sad. I liked it.

Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown: 3⭐
I really dug this story in the beginning. We have another babysitting job gone wrong setup with this one, and it's really creepy and atmospheric in setting and as we learn about the kid being babysat for and his "condition".
Unfortunately, I didn't like the direction things took in the second half - it felt too out of tone with the first half and the pacing shift was a bit jarring. It also lacked the good description and prose that the story opened with. I would've preferred a more subtle, ambiguous approach to this idea. Still decent, overall.

Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson: 3.5⭐
Yet another yarn that has some elements you would be most likely to find in an adult horror story rather than YA: Inbred hillbillies.
However, Wilson puts a unique spin on this idea: instead of the more villainous and cannibalistic portrayal we're used to when it comes to this premise, the hillbillies are the good guys in this case, and as a result of their inbreeding they may or may not have some kind of psychic powers. These powers possibly come in handy when in conflict with some crooks who are dumping toxic chemical waste into their swamp.
This was overall a weird but fun story. Didn't quite love it but one of my favorites in this anthology.

The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot: 2.25⭐
Another crime/thriller entry that's quite basic, if well written enough, but suffers from a cringy denouement and ending. Didn't care for this one.

Tuition by Walter Sorrells: 2.25⭐
ANOTHER crime/suspense story, but this time from the perspective of the criminal. A young kid in a family of crooks is trying to crack a safe in a bank. I think the big twist ending on this story is meant to carry it, and it was fine enough, but overall kind of a forgettable tale.

Tagger by James Rollins: 3.25⭐
This story has what is perhaps the coolest and most unique idea of all in this book: A Chinese/American young woman is the 13th born of her family (or something like that) and she has some kind of power passed down from her ancestor that is supposed to be able to ward off some kind of ancient demon that's cursed her family. Or something of the sort - it's a bit convoluted, and it doesn't fully make sense, which is where this one falters, and it's a shame because this one had a really cool idea.
I still enjoyed this one for the most part, but I think with some tinkering it could've been a lot stronger than it was. It needed some more explanation of the curse, powers, demon, etc. - but also more action, as much of it is steeped in backstory and the budding relationship between our leading lady, Soo, and her friend, Bobby.
Good, overall, but had the potential to be great.

Ray Gun by Tim Maleeny: 2.5⭐
Another weird sci-fi story that's somewhat entertaining, but feels a bit random and incoherent. A middle of the road story that kind of encapsulates this book as a whole.

Overall, a fine anthology of stories that I would say is worth a read for fans of YA horror and suspense, but nothing in here is quite amazing or perfect, sadly.
3⭐ for the book overall.

[Jake Kropik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Welcome to the Club- 2/5
She's different tonight- 1.5/5
Suckers- 1/5
The Perfects- 2.5/5
Shadow Children- 1/5
The Poison Ring- 1/5
Dragonfly Eyes- 3/5
Jeepers Peepers- 2/5
Piney Power- 2.25/5
The Night Hunter- 2/5
Tuition- 1/5
Tagged- 3/5
Ray Gun- 1/5

This short story collection was very disappointing. I originally purchased this book to add to my RL Stine collection, but when I saw it said "Adult and YA horror" I thought I'd give it a chance. Not one of these story had any real sophistication, and the only two I thought were good was mostly because I liked the idea. Not very happy.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection, curated by R.L. Stine himself, promised to be full of horror and suspense. I found it to be very lacking in that promise. There were really only two stories that even came close. The other eleven stories were for the most part decent enough on their own but several were more Sci-Fi or only had a hint of thriller aspects. I expected better from this collection.

Overall, I give the collection 3 stars since I did really enjoy two of the stories and liked some of the others. Most stories were 3 stars and probably will be easily forgotten. Overall this collection really missed the mark.

Individual Story Ratings:

Welcome to the Club by R.L. Stine—Kept me guessing until the very end. 3 stars.

She’s Different Tonight by Heather Graham—Kind of boring until the end, which was satisfactory. 2.5 stars.

Suckers by Suzanne Weyn—A Sci-Fi horror. The premise was interesting and there were some tense moments but the ending was silly. 3 stars.

The Perfects by Jennifer Alison—Pretty solid story with creepy elements. 3.5 stars.

Shadow Children by Heather Brewer—An interesting take on why a child might be afraid of the dark. Predicted the ending, but it was still enjoyable. 3 stars.

The Poison Ring by Peg Kehret—More of a thriller story than horror, but still enjoyable. 3 stars.

Dragonfly Eyes by Alane Ferguson—Told from the POV of a popular girl killed by a school shooter and her realizations about herself and determination to save another student she always treated poorly. Interesting idea, but felt very short. 2.5 stars.

Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown—Great atmosphere, interesting characters, and an intense story with a nice twist at the end. I could see this one playing out as a short film. 4 stars!

Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson—Kind of campy, but decent revenge story set in the swamps. Main character was kind of boring. 2.5 stars.

The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot—More of a thriller than horror, but was interesting to see as I’ve only seen her write Contemporary/Romance. Interesting concept. 3 stars.

Tuition by Walter Sorrels—Thought the idea was interesting and the story itself was tense until the first twist, then extremely tense after, but is a much different kind of horror than I was expecting. I did feel bad for the main character. More of a tense story than horror, but that seems to be a theme with most of these stories so far. 3 stars.

Tagger by James Rollins—Neat concept and I liked the characters, but this felt more Sci-Fi than horror. Liked the cultural and family elements. 3 stars.

Ray Gun by Tim Maleeny-- DNFed after 5 pages. Boring. I skimmed through the rest and it looks like more of a Sci-Fi than suspense or horror. I'm over these stories that don't really fit the original description.

[S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories were hardly even stories. They were more like the first chapter of a book. I don't like cliffhangers usually, but I particularly dislike them if there isn't a sequel. This book was full of cliffhangers without sequels. And most of them weren't even that scary.

[Megan Wintrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much, R L Stine has worked alongside other authors such as: Heather Graham, Meg Cabot, James Rollins and many others to create this wonderful book of short spooky stories. Perfect for spooky season

[Natsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fear : 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror

Finally finished a book again this year XD
Overall, this book was a good read. Perfect for people who has a taste in children/teenager horror/thriller genre. Since I'm an adult who loves horror story, these stories were anything but horror. Even so, it was still an interesting read. And I'd recommend it.


1. Welcome To The Club by R. L. Stine
JJ hated his abusive boss so much, but he needed the job real bad he endured everything. Until he met a group of students from his school who said, "there's always an initiation to join our group" while handing JJ a small hand-gun.

A great story to start the book. It was a twist over a twist, and who knows how many twist were there.
9/10

2. She Was Different Tonight by Heather Graham
It was Halloween night. And a full moon. Vince Romero was hunting a girl in the bar, a certain shy and nerdy girl he'd been watching for a while. But tonight, the girl was different. As if she'd just went out of the shell. She was gorgeous, and sexy..

Nice story, but totally predictable. Especially if you already read the introduction part.
7/10

3. Suckers by Suzanne Weyn
Phil's parents were both famous movie stars. And they wanted to move to planet Lectus to escape the prying eyes all over them. But not long after they moved, people started moving to Lectus too. Phil's new friend, Etchenia, warned him, "the disappearance that happened 10 years ago started happening when the planet was overpopulated like now. You'd better tell your parents to leave this planet soon."

LOL! This one was amazing. I totally didn't expect it to be like that. The mystery was sooooo gripping I couldn't stop reading until the end.
10/10

4. The Perfects by Jennifer Allison
Hannah just moved to Entrails when her new neighbor made a visit to her new house and offered her a babysitting job. Amazed that she could get a babysitting job so quickly, she accepted the job despite the weird and bad feeling she'd been having ever since she stepped into the neighborhood.

It was a bit disturbing, but totally predictable.
6/10

5. Shadow Children by Heather Brewer
Dax's 6yo lil bro, Jon, feared the dark. He always nagged their parents about keeping the hall's light on and making sure his night-light was working or there would be a shadow creature taking him in darkness. Dax felt that his brother's fear of dark was ridiculous, and purposely let him in the dark for a while, so that his bro might learn that there was no shadow creature. Or was there?

It was good, but not scary enough, and the ending was cliché.
7/10

6. The Poison Ring by Peg Kehret
My mum had an antiques shop. But there had been some burglaries at the shops nearby. One day, it was our shop's turn. The police couldn't find the culprit. But I accidentally saw a woman who wore a poison ring which mum had sold to her friend a few days ago. So I followed her home.

It was actually good, but.. Uh.. Somehow, this kind of story, in this kind of book, would always ended well. So yeah, it kinda nullified the suspense effect in the story.
7/10

7. Dragonfly Eyes by Alane Ferguson
A man barged into Savannah's class room and took hostage of her and one other student named Claire. And then, this man shot Savannah on the head. In her death, she perceived things differently. Like a dragonfly's eyes which are able to see everything in its surroundings, Savannah now was able to see things, like thoughts. And she knew that this man was going to shoot Claire too.

I wouldn't categorize this story as either suspense or horror, but the idea itself was interesting.
7/10

8. Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown
Elizabeth had a babysitting job outside the city. She wasn't eager to do it, but she really needed the money. It wasn't long until she found out that the boy she needed to babysit was born blind. And didn't take long for her to realize this boy's power of making the things he saw in his mind real. Just like the creepers which were now surrounding them.

I like this story. It was interesting to read. I imagined the creepers were like dementors from Harry Potter xD
8/10

9. Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson
Jack met with three Pineys -- Levi, Elvin, and Saree -- where he found barrels of toxic waste dumped in a secluded part of the forest. He then had an idea of trapping the people responsible for the dump with the help of the Pineys. But he really didn't have any idea what was coming for him..

It was predictable but still fun to read. I'd love to read more about the Pineys.
9/10

10. The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot
The Night Hunter was a hero in the city. He was like batman who put justice where cops couldn't, and no one knows who he was. Nina was about to go home after her work shift at the mall when she noticed someone with a clown mask was robbing a bank. Inspired by the Night Hunter, she tried to help other customers from getting near the bank by sounding the alarm. And ended up taken as hostage.

Uhh.. This one was more like a chicklit than a suspense/horror story xD. It wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea.
7/10

11. Tuition by Walter Sorrells
It would be Marlon's birthday in a few minutes, but instead of celebrating it with family and friends, he was breaking into a safe. He didn't like it, and the fact that he'd turned 17 soon and be legal made it even worse, but he had to. He needed the cash for his tuition and finally be freed from this kind of work. And the cut he'd get from this job worth four years of his tuition. He was close to opening the safe when two guards came and stopped in front of the room.

This one was good, and I like the twist hahah!! The desperation, the disappointment, and the surprise..
9/10

12. Tagger by James Rollins
Soo-Ling's mother told her that she was a protector of the city just before her mother passed away due to cancer. Who will believe such story, right? But in honor of her mother who held their tradition high, and also because her best friend suggested it, she kept going with the tradition. She painted a certain Chinese symbol taught by her mother in a wall of a specific place to prevent bad thing from happening there. Until one day, she felt a cold and painful touch on her wrist. "Next time, you are mine", a whisper can be heard out of nowhere. Seemed like there was much more about protecting the city than just painting a Chinese symbol on walls.

Okay, this was brilliant. I really like it. The idea was great, wow.. Never expected something like this..
10/10

13. Ray Gun by Tim Maleeny
Ray Gun was riding a train with his dad when he met a girl who was looking for her lizard pet, so Ray helped the girl to look for it. But then, they met a strange man with a briefcase in a compartment. Turned out this man had a vertically slit pupil, green skin, and weird movements. And he started chasing Ray.

Woah a perfect story to end the book. Quite intense, and really interesting.
10/10

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories were not nearly as scary as I wanted them to be, but still good! A nice appetizer for spooky season.

[Mister B. Gone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of these stories were not good, and only a few were just ok

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a bunch of silly, not at all scary stories. They might have been scarier if I were 12, but even then, I don't think this would have been that scary to me!! I got excited when I came across this at the bookstore in the mall because I grew up loving R.L. Stine books and some of the authors are some of my faves(Meg Cabot and Heather Graham to name a couple) but needless to say I was not even remotely entertained by their stories. *Note to Heather Graham: Please stick to writing Paranormal romance and the yearly Christmas story!! Your true fans thank you!!! The Meg Cabot story started out ok, but then transpired to teenage fluff( Nina gets taken hostage by the "Night Hunter", who wears wears a clown mask). As I stated earlier, I think it was more intended for very young readers of YA, so fans of deeper YA need to forgo this one!!

[Carol Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories in this collection are mediocre, and a couple of the big names (Meg Cabot and Heather Graham) are clearly phoning it in. But there is one story called "Dragonfly Eyes" by Alane Ferguson, that is a beautifully written experience that will make you cry!

[paige turner ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I mean, it started off really great. It had the vibes that was freaky, but it wasn't going to keep me up all night if I read it before bed.

We start off with Welcome to the Club written by R.L. Stine. J.J. is the new guy in this town and he works at the worst job in the world, some restaurant which I don't recall the name. His boss is an abusive prick, but he needs the money. Some people he recognizes from school go into into the restaurant and he gets them free drinks. Is he cool enough to hang with these tough looking kids? Well he has to be initiated into their little club. What does he have to do? He has to kill someone.

I think this one was one hell of a story to kick off this book. I had high hopes for this book after I read.
It had that good R.L. Stine twist that wasn't silly at all, it was actually really good.

So let's move onto the next one.

She Was Different Tonight by Heather Graham.

This one wasn't terrifying, or even scary. You could see where it was going though. Some douche, i don't recall names being tossed around anywhere stalked this girl for a while and she's at this Halloween party looking really good, normally she's a nerdy quiet girl that no one really pays attention to. Obviously he's going to kill her, right?

It was fun to read, interesting, even though I saw where this story was going, I still enjoyed the ending.

The next story is Suckers by Suzanne Weyn.

I liked the idea of this story. I thought it would be better if it was a full story, that's how much I wanted to know more about it. A futuristic story could be pretty terrifying because anything can happen, we don't even know what's really possible. This story was really interesting. This kid, Phil has famous parents and they move to this exclusive planet that is really only for the best of the best and it's supposed to be really private. He notices his new neighbor swimming in her pool and she is just weird from the get-go, her name is Etchenia. She hints that something strange has happened on that planet before like people disappearing, everyone has private tutors she even has bodyguards to keep her safe, but won't really go anymore details. All of a sudden these weird things keep happening, but no one seems to know what's wrong.

Without going into anymore details or spoilers, I'm just going to say the ending was one I never would have thought would have happened that's for sure. This one was another one that was getting me so excited for these stories.

The next story is The Perfects by Jennifer Allison.

This one was okay, it had a little chilly things happen in it. I mean, it has creepy kids in the story, and I haven't read or seen something with creepy kids that was really disappointing. It wasn't until the end of it that I was just, bored. I mean I wanted to know what happened, I didn't really want to work at trying to think of what could have happened. Maybe if it was a full book I'd be more interested in it, but this story was okay. It had a great opening and a great middle, but the rest was just, meh.

This girl's name is Hannah and her and her family move into a new house, the house next door is creepy, the woman who lives there is creepy, her children are creepy, but still, Hannah agrees to babysit her children on Halloween. Who knows what the Perfect's do, but they are the wealthiest people in this little town. Strange things happen and a weird ending happens, there's really not much to say without spoiling anything.

The next one is Shadow Children by Heather Brewer.

Dax and Jon are home alone and Jon is really afraid of the dark because shadow creatures are after him. Dax doesn't believe in that sort of thing, but guess what? Jon is right. This one didn't excite me at all, I felt bored. The ending reminded me of R.L. Stine's Let's Get Invisible, if you know what I mean. Been there, done that, next one.

The Poison Ring by Peg Kehret.

This one was okay, I know it was supposed to be suspense and horror, and I mean it was a nice story, but you just knew what was going to happen. There was no mind-boggling twist and to be honest I was a little bored with it. There's been a bunch of robberies in the area and eventually this old antique store gets hit, but if you pay attention then you can figure out how this little mystery is solved.

Dragonfly Eyes by Alane Ferguson.

This one was interesting. The first line was what caught my interest:

"Monday morning, on the floor of my science classroom, I, Savannah Rose Anderson, woke up dead."

I wanted to know more about the backstory and why the events in this story happened, and I still kind of do, but I was still satisfied with how this one played out. There's a school shooting and Savannah and a girl named Claire are held hostage, but Savannah died and is looking at the world in a whole new perspective. I thought it was a very interesting take on a story, I kind of wish that I had more of it. It's a good thing, but the way this one was written, I'm still very happy with the outcome.

Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown

This story sparked my interest. Elizabeth is on her way to babysit a strange child named Wilbur in a strange house and in the middle of nowhere. Wilbur is blind and has a strange power that sends people running and screaming and never returning. He has this strange power that he doesn't really know how to control it. The thing I liked most about this story though, wasn't the creepy things that happened in the story, but the friendship that was built between Elizabeth and Wilbur and how she helped him face his fears. She's a great babysitter, I'll just say that.

While I was getting bored of the other stories in this book, this one made me really happy.

Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson

This was another story that wasn't suspenseful or scary in my opinion, but it was interesting. I liked that it was more about acceptance than anything really. This kid named Jack noticed something strange happening in this forest area. There's this weird thing with these people called "pineys" that are strange people who live in the forest areas and seem to be superhuman, if anything. Jack and the piney people form a bond to figure out what exactly is happening in the forest could harm the water that the piney people drink out of, but what is to come of it?

I liked this read, I enjoyed it for other reasons but nothing suspenseful or scary about it.

The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot.

I was excited to read this short story by Meg Cabot since I've been reading some of her books lately. I suppose this one was suspenseful. It had this sort of sexy vibe that reminded me of batman in a way, I suppose. I liked how this one ended up, although it was a little predictable, I still enjoyed it. A little action type story when I really wanted something scary, but this story wasn't bad at all. A girl named Nina is working at the mall because her mother lost her college fund, so now she has to work part time at the mall. There's a robbery that happens and Nina decides to do what she can to help. There's also this legend of this Night Hunter who is a vigilante that helps people in need. Bad things happen, Nina gets kidnapped, she gets to meet the Night Hunter guy, all is well and the ending is one you'd see coming a mile away.

This next one is called Tuition by Walter Sorrells.

This one was a little suspenseful, I didn't like the ending though. It's about this kid who was brought up by criminals who rob people. This kid, named Marlon wants the clean life though and as soon as he hits 17 he's out of this crime business for good. It just so happens that this night that he's cracking this huge complicated safe is the night before his birthday, and no one seemed to remember.

Does he crack the safe, or does he get caught? I didn't really expect the ending, I thought it was just a little dragged on, and eventually I got bored and just wanted this story to be over.

Tagger by James Rollins.

I didn't like this one at all. This was the one that almost made me quit the book, but I wanted to keep going because I was almost done with it. Honestly it was just boring. Soo-ling tags stores that she wants to protect, it's a family thing passed down from generation to generation. Some demon is trying to come after her, but the way that it played out I just didn't like it at all.

Ray Gun Tim Maleeny.

This last story was kind of interesting, a little strange and full of science stuff which is interesting. I've never actually read any science fiction or anything like that but I honestly thought this was just going to be about lizard people. I think I was a little confused by it, but at the same time I knew what was going on? Is that a thing? I guess for me it was. It wasn't really how I would have liked this entire book to end, but at least it wasn't as bad as the previous story.

All in all, I liked some of the stories in this book, but I was really wanting more horror than anything.

[Riley Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a Collection of short stories, each one is a pretty good tale! So I got little blurbs about each! Each one was written as by a different author too! So here they are (With some spoilers!):

"Welcome to the club": A story about peer pressuring and practical jokes. Probably the most grounded of the stories. The twist-fest at the end is rather tedious but in a funny way! The characters are easily understood and relatable, and there's murder! JJ as a protagonist is really nice, as his character is so different from the "cool kid" crowd he's hanging with. It's also got a nice touch of revenge at the end! In what way? Read for yourself to find out!

"She's Different Tonight": A variation on the standard love story! The shortest of the short stories, this one's unique due to the fact it's the only one with your typical old movie monsters! Although the names and characters do fall short, as I can't remember either, the use of imagery here is perfect!

"Suckers"; My personal favorite of these stories! Apocalyptic dread meets Eldritch, Lovecraftian horror. The entire premise of this story is utterly terrifying, and certainly made me question my reality a little more than I would've liked. Yes, the ending is a bit cheesy, but it's not a deal breaker. Honestly it asks more questions than answers any. If you read this book, and only could choose one story to read, do this one. It's a heckuva good tale!

"The Perfects" : Mediocre at best. The typical "I'm a normal and I just moved into a new town! My neighbors are really strange and such! Maybe it's because "Suckers" was such a good story and this one feels so...samey? I'm not sure what it was but this one was predictable. Inoffensive and spooky, but skippable.

"Shadow Children": My second favorite! As someone's who is afraid of the dark myself, the monsters and overall just...darkness, that I got from this story, and the place where the Shadow Beasts come from and the TWIST! AHHH! It's all great. Another good read for a dark and stormy night.

"The Poison Ring": The first in the oddly grounded crime related stuff (which doesn't strike me as scary, but it makes for a good story element). This one can get a bit nail biting, especially during the last fourth of it. Although I don't remember much, I do know that it involves the aforementioned ring, but not at all you'd imagine due to the title.

"Dragonfly Eyes"; Forgettable. The best way to describe this is in five words: "Ghost good. Evil man bad." That's all I really remember. I mean, I don't like crime themed horror stories (for the most part) but even "The Poison Ring" and "The Night Hunter" kept my interest!

"Jeepers Peepers": Most odd story of the bunch. A girl goes out to watch a blind kid down in the bayou of Louisiana (I think) and he has really odd powers! Scary stuff happens and such. I don't think it's bad, but it certainly not good.

"Piney Power": Really is just as bland and boring as the title. The ending is nice but overall this story is just there.

"The Night Hunter": Another semi-grounded one. If you want an explanation without spoilers, think off brand Batman. Otherwise it's kinda meh.

"Tuition": ANOTHER crime story. A up and coming safe robber wants to get a big one to get tuition for college. This one is FULL of twists. Pretty funny actually, albeit a hair too short.

"Tagger": Ancient Chinese (Or Japanese. I'm bad at remembering. I'm ninety percent sure its Chinese tho.) Meets modern street tagging. It's pretty riveting. Not really a horror story per say, but it's engaging as all get out!

"Ray Gun" something something Lizard People something something train.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up. An enjoyable collection of short suspense stories, similar to episodes of a modern day Twilight Zone. They should bring that show back and have it hosted by Neil Gaiman. That would be awesome!

[Alisha Mooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as “horrifying” or “suspenseful” as I would’ve hoped. Some good stories, interesting plot lines, but definitely needed more out of the authors.

[Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book from the library after searching for Fear Street books and finding none available at the time. I've been wanting to read more of R.L. Stine's more young adult works since I grew up with his kids/teen series, and I loved the concept of an anthology edited by him and written by authors I could seek out afterwards depending on how I liked their writing.

The issue is, I downright hated most of the stories. I sought out some comments on here about four stories in, seeing if it was just the first few that had issues, and I agree with a lot of comments on here saying most of these shouldn't even count as short stories, let alone horror. There were a couple stories that were phenomenal, and a few that at least weren't just long "gotcha" endings or jokes, but overall these stories were just so disappointing and, again, not even close to horror.

It has nothing to do with the age range either, I've read several children's/teen's horror that has had me reaching for a light switch or running a little faster down a hallway at night. Most of these stories read like I asked a fourth grade class to do a brainstorming rough draft the first twenty minutes of class and then asked a high schooler to edit it. Were some creative? I guess, but how creative can you get with random spouts of events that eventually just end because the author stopped typing?

Ratings for each story:

Welcome to the Club (R.L. Stine) 1/5
I hate giving this author a rating so low. He's always so creative with how he can tell a story, even if it's as silly as having a slime alien invade a birthday party. I don't need to be scared by him as long as I care about the characters he creates and don't want them to be hurt. By the end of this story, I didn't care what happened, I just wanted the M. Night twists of the gun and who killed who and who pulled what prank to stop. I didn't even get if I was supposed to laugh or feel paranoid, I just felt annoyed.

She's Different Tonight (Heather Graham) 1/5
A boring, teen version of Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. He's a werewolf, she's a vampire, I don't care about either of them and I honestly wouldn't be able to remember who killed who if not for the title.

Suckers (Suzanne Weyn) 2/5
This one was fine, and then the ending made me kind of go "oh... hmm" and then I rolled my eyes. I reread it just for fun knowing the twist, and it was still fine, but then it just read as a mediocre dark comedy more than a mediocre sci-fi. It at least was one of the most unique ones I've read from this book.

The Perfects (Jennifer Allison) 1.5/5
I liked the setting description of this one, especially of the exterior and interior of the Perfects' house. That's it.

Shadow Children (Heather Brewer) 1/5
This is when I started getting really sick of the "Hey I'm Teen McNormal. I was going about my day when SUDDENLY something totally crazy happened I can't describe??? I was really cool and brave, and nothing of any lasting substance happened. OR DID IT???" story prompt all of them must have been given. I'm so tired of the boring, overplayed, schlocky twists.

The Poison Ring (Peg Kehret) 1.5/5
This one at least got my blood pumping a little bit. Kidnapping, the character is in believable danger that made me think something bad might actually happen IN the story rather than insinuated in a few throwaway sentences at the end, but it's still not memorable and I can't for the life of me remember how it ended.

Dragonfly Eyes (Alane Ferguson) 2.5/5
Okay! This one was pretty well done! When I read in the back that she was working to develop this into a full novel it made more sense. It was really rushed and didn't really give you time to be scared or feel for the characters, but you do anyway because she at least put stakes in there and didn't talk down to her audience.

Jeepers Peepers (Ryan Brown) 4/5
This was such a fun read. I'm instantly pulled in to the juxtaposition of the character and her setting. Why is the mom being so mysterious? What's wrong with her son? She seems to genuinely care for him and for the babysitter despite her tone and words. I feel for both of them already. In the house, I instantly care for the child, and I love the babysitter more. I want both of them to be okay, I want them to be friends and conquer their fears. The veeeery ending was... confusing? Like, is she a lizard? Are lizard people normal? Did him imagining her to be a lizard bring it to reality? I just ignored that to be honest lol.

Piney Power (F. Paul Wilson) 5/5
Stephen King, that's all I can say. I cannot tell you the speed in which I googled this author, PRAYING he had written at least five books in this same world and story. Although he has a series following a main character of the same name, I don't think my wish came true, unfortunately. This is probably one of the best short stories I've ever read. I had to double check I was reading the same book, it's legitimately straight out of a Stephen King collection, but unique in it's own way. It was still more sci-fi than horror, but I can't even complain because I want a Netflix series adaptation for it by yesterday.

The Night Hunter (Meg Cabot) 3.5/5
Again, not horror in the slightest, but I love teen batman. It's just a batman story in the pov of another character. I like batman, so I'm fine with this.

Tuition (Walter Sorrells) 2/5
We're back to weird twist endings. This story was unique, but another dud ending. At least it was a little exciting.

Tagger (James Rollins) 3.5/5
Another superhero/sci-fi story, but interesting! I could see myself reading the first couple books of this series as a tween and then probably getting bored of it near the third or fourth. It ran on a bit and still rushed some bigger elements, but it felt like I was watching an early 2000's Disney girl power movie which was fun, and I love the world building.

Ray Gun (Tim Maleeny) 2/5
Another superhero/sci-fi story... Did they all submit to the right anthology? Because I'm not really sure lol. I've been re-reading the Percy Jackson series in between other one off books on my list, and this was just a really boring and rushed version of that. Unknown things meet adventurous boy and spunky girl and parent reveals pertinent information after a mysterious attack that opens a world of adventure and danger. It was fine.

Overall, I'm just a little sad and disappointed. I love giving new authors a shot, and anthologies are like skimming through trailers of work that advertises their strengths or versatility as an author, and I barely saw any of that. It really felt like most of them just submitted old, one-off stories they trashed in the middle of writing and threw an ending on to make it a short story, or like they didn't care to edit anything, or both. There were a few diamonds in the rough, but other than that I would skip. Or maybe give it a shot if you go in thinking it's a sci-fi anthology instead.

[Danna · Rating 4 out of 5]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I thought I should start this review out by screaming since that is what the book started out by doing. I really liked this anthology because of two reasons: R.L Stine is awesome and I LOVE horror books (can you tell from the way I love zombies so much?).
I can’t really say good/bad things about the whole book (since it has a bunch of stories by a bunch of authors mashed into it) so I’m just gonna say that some of the stories were jaw dropping and made me have nightmares and others were, well, not so scary and had that little tinge of not so great writing in it.
My favorite story in the anthology was The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot. Reading that story was a calling for me to read more Meg Cabot and horror books. Her story was kind of Batmanish, but it had a lot of originality to it (like it being from a girl’s prospective and having her be saved by the Night Hunter). I was actually hoping that that story wouldn’t end *sigh*.
The cover looks really creepy with the dude standing in the field. Kinda stalkerish I might add.
Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror was a great scary read and it had the unlucky 13 stories in it! I can’t wait to read more creepy anthologies! MUAHHAHA!!!
Since this is an anthology I’m just gonna give it a B+ and not rate the writing and so forth.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthology of short stories curated by the master of my middle school horror fixes always R.L. Stine..I rarely read random stories because it is so hard for me to keep up but I will record my thoughts as I read and see if this is a shelfer or giveaway LOL..Love that that is something I do with my life--read to see if I can use to inspire others to read..Yay..Okay so lets get into the book…

Welcome to the Club-R.L. Stine

J.J. is the perpetual new kid always moving around, struggling to fit in and dependent on his job eand his mom’s two jobs to get by after his dad’s death..he finally gets recognition from some of the cool kids and a gorgeous girl and he is all in, even if the group is called the Killers and to join you must well kill someone..quirky twist..3/5


She’s Different Tonight-Heather Graham

A boy who is not all he appears to be waits until Halloween when he dresses up as the perfect All-American football guy to make his move on the perfect girl. He has been watching her and despite her studious persona she shows a different side on Halloween--sexier, edgier and completely different ….what secrets are they both hiding??? 3/5


Suckers-Suzanne Weyn

It’s New York 2060 and a rich family with movie star parents are in the middle of moving to one of the new designer planets for opulent extravagant living and they are all getting ready to travel to the planet of Lectus..As the family tries to settle into the new planet Phil meets the most beautiful girl he ever saw who warns him that people/whole towns are prone to mysterious disappearances...2/5

The Perfects-Jennifer Allison

When Hannah and her family move into a new neighborhood it can’t be worse for her..she has no friends and nothing to do on a Halloween night so when her neighbor Mrs. Perfect comes over with a babysitting invitation --what else is there to do but accept? There is definitely more to the Perfect house and children then there seems and this one had so much potential but alas was was too short….2/5


Shadow Children-Heather Brewer

“It was like this every night. Jon would whine to Mom or Dad and they’d make sure his night-light was working or that the hall light was on, anything to placate Jon’s irrational fear of things that weren’t really lurking in the shadows, waiting to snatch him away. Only tonight, it was Dax who was left to placate him. Bad enough he had to miss out on Janie’s party to babysit his little brother, but now he was also expected to cater to Jon’s ridiculous fear of the dark.” (Pg. 42)

Dax is so over his little brother and his fear of things that lurk in the shadows so when he has to stay home and miss a party because of it he is disgusted-but are Jon’s fears for a good reason? 3/5

The Poison Ring-Peg Kehret

A girl working with her mother in an antiques shop who takes in pieces from a mysterious older lady who may or may not have memory problems and all the danger and weirdness that happens after they acquire a cat poison ring..my least favorite one so far...1/5

Dragonfly Eyes-Alane Ferguson

After a school shooting one day Savannah wakes up dead..she comes out of her body and begins a strange new life--

“As easily as one snuffs out a candle, I have ceased to be, and yet I still exist. This new state of being confuses me.” (Pg. 128)

As she starts to contemplate life on the other side she also gets to know the other girl singled out by the gunman and comes to terms with her death..⅖

Jeepers Peepers-Ryan Brown

For the love of money and yearning for freedom Elizabeth takes a babysitting job in a really odd part of town….its an emergency hire and though the mom is pretty and nice enough she herself even warns Elizabeth that none of her other babysitters ever return.
Not easily spooked Elizabeth stays and meets the child and learns he is blind and sees terrors-thoughts in his mind that become real and well, creepy. After getting him to see that what he imagines isn’t always real things are fine---or are they? This one has a great twist and build up..4/5


Piney Power-F. Paul Wilson

Jack should have gone home after Wheezy did..but he went on anyways and ended up running into the eccentric children in town--the Pineys…

“Some folks called them inbreds….Jack didn’t know if any of that was true. People liked to talk, and some people just naturally exaggerated as they went along. But no one could deny that some Pineys didn’t look quite right.” (Pg. 164)
Whether they are inbred or not they are an odd bunch that sticks together and dispense their own brand of justice to those who damage their peace..2/5

The Night Hunter-Meg Cabot

Nina is obsessed with the Night Hunter-a vigilante who makes citizen’s arrests and is ultra-mysterious and gets his name from a song she loves….the Night Hunter finds her, knows her and then ...eh it was not a fav LOL...1/5


Tuition-Walter Sorrells

A story about a safecracker and his protege-his son as they try one last time before Marlon becomes a full-fleged adult to get enough money to ensure his tuition is set...and this last job couldn’t be going worse and ends...with a twist..eh. 2/5


Tagger-James Rollins

Soo-ling Choi is a graffiti tagger who feels ghosts and spirits and withthe guidance of her Aunt must discover what is real and what is not----the longest story and my least favorite. 1/5



Ray Gun-Tim Maleeny

This last story I was not able to get into at all I can’t lie...it was too sci-fi and weird so I stopped...Short stories are too easy for me to lose interest with…. 1/5


Overall these stories were just eh...not really scary and only 2 like recommendable must reads..
Started a new book in the middle of this one LOL..sorry not a fav this Halloween season..

[CHRISTOPHER WENTLAND · Rating 3 out of 5]

**SPOILERS**
I would recommend this book to teenagers who enjoy mild horror and some weapon use. I would also recommend this book to adults who like to read to their kids. "Fear" is a good collection of suspense/horror stories.
1. Welcome to the club: This short story is about a busboy named JJ who hates his boss. After meeting some fellow teenagers who have a strange initiation into their club, JJ is convinced to murder somebody. 4/5. loved the twists, especially the final one. Still left with unanswered questions.

2 She's Different tonight: A popular boy at school, Vince Romero spots one of his nerdy classmates, Ivanna, except she is anything but nerdy at the bar on Halloween night. After convincing Ivanna to "get some air", Vince has just trapped his next victim, or so he thought. 3/5. Very predictable ending, especially after the introduction and certain hints introduced early in the short story.

3. Suckers: Phil and his family try escaping the press by moving to the small planet of Lectus. They only heard about the kidnappings after they moved. 2/5. lame ending and some unnecessary details.

4. The Perfects: Hannah and her family get an amazing deal on this huge new house. When their off-putting neighbors ask for a babysitting job on short notice, Hannah is somewhat weary but still accepts. She should have listened to her intuition. 4/5. Would love to know how it ends. Huge cliffhanger

5. Shadow children: When Dax's little brother Jon would scream from his room about monsters, nobody would believe him. Only when Dax is left to babysit does he discover Jon has a legitimate fear? 3/5. Big world for such a small story. Not great character building but there was a spine-chilling twist at the end.

6. The Poison Ring: When the antiques pawn shop gets robbed, the main character recognizes one of the rings from the shop being worn by a woman. After following the woman, she gets herself into a lot of trouble with some bad people. 2/5. Did not find the main character's name. Good plot but ended up not being very interesting.

7. Dragonfly Eyes: When Savannah Rose Anderson and Claire are picked as hostages for a school shooter, Savannah ends up being shot in the head. Now that Savannah's soul is disconnected from her body, she can see everything. She realizes that she judged people unfairly and she wants to make it up to Claire. She saves her in a brutal way. 4/5. Amazing message behind the story. Great break from the actual horror stories just to rewind. Not scary but it has very violent aspects

8. Jeepers Peepers: Elizabeth Nolan's school year is soon to start and she needs money for a Fall wardrobe. She finds a babysitting job in a Bayou. Limited information is given and she is left to find out just what she got herself. Once she finds out that the blind kid she is babysitting has a special talent, the babysitting turns into survival. 2/5. Not scary and I am looking for a longer story. Nice plot but it just doesn't creep me out like I was hoping.

9. Piney Power: The Pineys are said to be inbred freaks that live in the woods. Once Jack trespasses onto Old Man Wilbur's land, he finds some Pineys. When he learns that people have been dumping toxic waste in their well water, he feels obligated to help them. After trapping the dumpers, Jack witnesses exactly what the Pineys can do. 4.5/5. I would read a novel if this story was extended. By far the best story in the collection. Not scary but suspenseful and intriguing.

10. The Night Hunter: Nina is stuck working a job with the most annoying girl at school who happens to be her boss's daughter. Once Nina notices that the bank across from their store in the mall is being robbed, she is eager to help for the change of scenery. The robber takes Nina hostage, ends up trusting her too much, and she crashes the getaway car while praying she doesn't die on impact. After the crash she blacks out but wakes up to find a blue-eyed masked man who she can only guess is the legendary Night Hunter. 3/5. Disappointing cliffhanger knowing the story won't continue. Not scary in the slightest and only minimally suspenseful.

11. Tuition: As Marlon cracks open the safe, he can't help but envy other normal kids who would eat cake on their birthday instead of doing heists. He is also fuming knowing that everyone forgot his birthday because if he gets caught he won't go to Juvy anymore, he will go to prison. Only after opening up the safe does he realize that it was all a surprise to reveal that his college is paid in full and everyone reveals themselves to congratulate him. After celebrating they realize that real guards ratted them out earlier and the police were ready to capture them. 1/5. Confusing and not scary. The suspense alone was barely enough to allow me to finish the story.

12. Tagger: Soo-Ling is a graffiti tagger who honors her mother's passing by drawing the fu symbol. Soo-Ling only learns more about the symbol when a threatening whisper can be heard and she feels sick. 3/5. Somewhat eerie and very suspenseful. The concept was great.

13. Ray Gun: Ray Gun couldn't imagine what would be to come after he just wanted to help someone find their pet lizard. 2/5. It's very confusing and interesting at the same time. I don't think I'm educated well enough to completely understand the story so I'll probably try again when I'm older.

One of the takeaways from this collection is that it is interesting to read the different short stories. What I mean by that is all the authors have different writing styles and it's clear and cool to read. I also enjoyed the cliffhangers, some more than others, and certain stories could easily be written as full novels like Piney Power. All the authors could have improved by adding more of a horror aspect.

[Nelson lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a great book because it wasn't like one long boring story that you have to wait for the end or the middle for the intresting parts. But in this book you only need to read for a short period of time to get to the instresting part. I also really liked the stories but it didn't freak me out but i still liked it. I choose this book because I really like R.L.Stine's book because it aucually keeps the reader stuck to the book. When I first looked at the book I thought that it was going to make me over cautions on the streets at night but it turned out to be a fun read. I really liked the first and second chapter because it seemed like what my elementry school teacher would have read to me. it was also very intresting.

[Dannielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dannielle Nebinski (Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror)
Genre: Short Stories

Fear, is full of spine chilling tales about werewolves, vampires, cannibalistic children, and so much more.Things that seem to start out normal, such as an innocent baby sitting job for the neighbors, or a first date, or even a having a younger brother who is afraid of the dark, all turn out to be more than meets the eye, and cause you to start to think about how "normal" all of your own surroundings are!

This collection of 13 stories is compiled by R.L.Stine from some of the true masters of suspense, and will keep you turning the pages, and not wanting to out the book down and turn out the lights!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were great and interesting but most of them were meh...
The very first and the best thing that captures my attention was the introduction by R.L Stine which was simply creepy and scary all at once. (Stine's best trait......which I admire.)
I'll admit I didn't enjoy this book.... I did liked a few like I said especially the one by meg cabot(The night hunter),Heather brewer's shadow children,Alane ferguson's Dragonfly eyes. A lot of the authors ended their stories on cliffhangers which a clear disappointment to many readers since I too would have love to read more about how was their story would ended.This was the general complain I heard about from many readers.

[B Fey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, friends. Buckle in because this is going to be a long one.

When this book was lent to me, I originally wasn't planning on rating it when I finished because it's a collection of short stories as opposed to a full length narrative. However, after reading, I feel strongly enough about some of these that I've changed my mind.

1. Welcome to the Club by R.L. Stine: ⭐️
First off, the set up for the story was really fucking stupid. "Oh, you're brave enough to get us free cokes at the restaurant you work at? Then CLEARLY you'd be willing to kill someone to join our friendship group." Bitch, what? After that, they kept throwing "twists" to keep up the suspense, but by that point I didn't really care and just wanted the story to be over.

2. She's Different Tonight by Heather Graham: Negative Five Stars
"I usually had a blonde with size quadruple-D bazoongas on my arm."
3. Suckers by Suzanne Weyn: ⭐️⭐️
This one wasn't completely irredeemable. I didn't personally vibe with the writing style, but I did think it had the most unique twist out of the whole collection, so I appreciated that.

4. The Perfects by Jennifer Allison: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Three stars because it was the story that got the closest to actually freaking me out a little. That being said, the main character was stupid and the "explanation" wasn't realistic in the slightest.

5. Shadow Children by Heather Brewer: ⭐️⭐️.5
Again, not terrible, but it doesn't really read like a short story. It reads more like an action scene the author thought would be really cool as opposed to something with a clear plot which can be frustrating and confusing to read.

6. The Poison Ring by Peg Kehret: ⭐️
Boring

7. Dragonfly Eyes by Alane Ferguson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I actually really liked this one. I thought it was kind of beautiful, in an existential way. That being said, I wouldn't really but it under "horror" or "suspense." Not really sure what genre I would put it with but it didn't really fit in with this collection.

8. Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another one that I actually really enjoyed! It had a really interesting premise and I think the author really utilized descriptive language in a way that carried the story.

9. Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I think this one was really hindered by the short story format. I think the premise set up was actually really interesting, but it felt rushed and flat because it had squeezed into a limited number of pages. I think even a novella length would have given the author room to flesh out and explore the plot in a way it deserved.

10. The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the one that I actually got kind of animated reading. There's two reasons why this wasn't a five star read for me. The first was the random implication that the bank robber was going to r*pe Nina?? Like that did not fit the tone of the rest of the story AT ALL and was so random and inappropriate. The second is that she basically just wrote about Batman in a small town. Like... Rich orphan who watched his parents get killed in an attempted robbery who now runs around in a dark kevlar outfit at night to fight crime. Am I describing Bruce Wayne or Ryan Calder? The world may never know.

11. Tuition by Walter Sorrels: ⭐️
I didn't really care enough about the characters for the ending to have an impact.

12. Tagger by James Rollins: ⭐️
A couple of teenagers defeat a centuries old demon that's killed dozens of seasoned warriors by... painting in VR????

13. Ray Gun by Tim Maleeny: ⭐️
An author who does not understand science tries to write science fiction.

Average: 1.75 ⭐️

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because this is a compilation of short stories, my overall review is an average of the individual stories' ratings. It was a 3.4/5 averaged, but I rounded down because of the lack of standout stories.

Welcome to the Club (R.L. Stine): 3/5
She's Different Tonight (Heather Graham): 3/5
Suckers (Suzanne Weyn): 4/5
The Perfects (Jennifer Allison): 5/5
Shadow Children (Heather Brewer): 2/5
The Poison Ring (Peg Kehret): 2.5/5
Dragonfly Eyes (Alane Ferguson): 4/5
Jeepers Peepers (Ryan Brown): 3.5/5
Piney Power (F. Paul Wilson): 4/5
The Night Hunter (Meg Cabot): 4.5/5
Tuition (Walter Sorrells): 3/5
Tagger (James Rollins): 3.5/5
Ray Gun (Tim Maleeny): 3/5

Overall it was a pretty "meh" collection. I found most of the stories pretty forgettable, although decently enjoyable while reading. It was good for a quick Halloween read but definitely not the best book I've read this year.

The Best: The Perfects was easily my favorite story, but probably because it was the most "serious" horror story of the bunch. Yes, there were some cheesy parts, but that is true of every single story in this collection. When cheese is done well, though, it can make for a very fun ride. The imagery was actually somewhat spooky, which was cool, and the ending was unexpected in a pleasant way. The Night Hunter was another standout, only losing half a star for the extremely obvious twist at the end. It took me seconds to predict who the Night Hunter was once the character was introduced, and also to predict that it would be his ~dreamy blue eyes~ that gave him away later. The story was well-written though, all the characters likeable and believable enough, and was the best thriller/suspense story in the book thanks to playing up the "Fear" theme well. And I'll give an honorable mention to Piney Power, which mostly felt like a test or first draft for a longer book. But I would read that book if it got written, I think -- the idea was very fun and the setting even more so.

The Worst: Tuition, The Poison Ring, and Shadow Children were pretty weak all said an done, the first two feeling like a generic heist story no different from any other, and the last feeling like a mediocre creepypasta that tried to get too ambitious at the end. In a general sense, I was pretty disappointed with the reliance on very tired tropes to build suspense in most of the stories -- She's Different Tonight being a memorable example, only earning 3 stars because it was well-written. Double honorable mention to R.L. Stine -- first for spoiling the twists in several stories in his introduction (In particular, for She's Different Tonight, he said "there might be vampires in it..."; that doesn't happen till one of the last paragraphs of the story and is supposed to be a big reveal). He earns the second shout-out for writing a story with like five soap-opera level twists at the end for no reason.

Overall, I would probably recommend finding another horror anthology.

[Melvin Rodríguez-Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I see a book by RL Stine I know I'm getting into what I like to call comfort horror: classic, entertaining and easy to read. Much like a haunted house attraction you'll eagerly get it, scream and get scared by classic fiends, and leave feeling satisfied without necessarily being scarred or confused.

Which is why I pressed buy without bothering to read that this is actually an anthology put together by Stine and not a complete book of his.

As with most anthologies, some stories stick to you better than others, although I must say those that I didn't enjoy I did not enjoy in the least, particularly a story about a school shooting from the POV of a ghost, and with the Uvalde shooting happening so recently and my dislike for stories from the POV of ghosts, it really was tough to get through.

Another problem I found with the anthology is the weird inclusion of horror with crime stories. I know back in the 1800s these stories tended to blend often, but for some reason very few of them actually pulled off the scary or suspenseful aspect.

My favorite stories were Stine's "Welcome to the Club", about a teenager on a crappy job being tempted on a dare, "Suckers" which had a weird sci-fi Eldritch edge, "Jeepers Peepers" about a boy with a particular ser of eyes, "The Poison Ring which was the best among the crime stories, and my favorite of all "The Perfects" which presented a new family with weird neighbors and slow burn rise to tension and fear.

[The_Books_Music_Life · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this is 13 stories i’m going to rate the stories individually.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.


R.L.Stine’s story 3 stars,
I don’t think it could possibly hate or dislike anything this man writes. He’s one of my favorite authors.
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Heather Graham story 1 star,
I did not like this story it was slow, and boring to me.
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Suzanne Weyn story 3 stars,
I liked this one it kept me on the edge of my seat and had me confused till the end. I never would have guessed that ending I almost laughed!
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Jennifer Allison story 2 stars,
It was suspenseful and creepy but would have been better as a longer story.
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Heather Brewer story 2 stars,
It was ok but it didn’t build into it but rather jumped straight into it.
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Peg Kehret story 3 stars,
It was good suspenseful.
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Alane Ferguson 1 star
There was nothing suspenseful about this story.
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Ryan Brown story 3 stars,
It was a good story about imagination
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F. Paul Wilson story 1 star,
I didn’t get this story.
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Meg Cabot story 3 stars,
It was a good story.
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Walter Sorrells story 2 stars,
It was a ok story just telling you criminals never win.
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James Rollins story 4 stars,
I really enjoyed this story I loved the Chinese mythology and how it wove it into the 21 century.
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Tim Maleeny story 1 star,
I didn't understand this story or the concept.
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[Kyle Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about many horror stories that put the main characters in high tense situations where they are tested to see if they are able to overcome. Some of the horrors were realistic and some were made up. They all involved choices that are said to be like crossing the Rubicon which means it cannot be undone. The miny story from inside that is gonna be the main focus is called "Tagger". In this story, a girl is tested to defeat an ancient monster that will destroy Los Angeles if she fails. She is completely fearful because her ancestors before her failed which made her feel as if she had no chance. She then realizes how she had to do this with all her might to put the problem to rest. "Just do as we planned" (pg.264). This quote shows her might to fulfill what she has to do. I can relate to this because there are times when I'm scared and want to just give up and back down, but I, like her choose to not give and to stay strong to get the job done.

[Ethan Cagney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 Stars (based on average of all ratings)

When they were good they were great but more often then not they were pretty shit.

Welcome to the club by RL Stine 4 Stars
She’s different tonight by Heather Graham 1 Star
Suckers by Suzanne Weyn 3 Stars
The Perfects by Jennifer Allison 5 Stars (loved this one heaps!)
Shadow Children by Heather Brewer 2 Stars
The poison ring by Peg Kehret 3 Stars
Dragonfly Eyes by Alane Ferguson 2 Stars
Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown 4 Stars
Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson 2 Stars
The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot 4 Stars
Tuition by Walter Sorrells 1.5 Stars
Tagged by James Rollins 4 Stars
Ray Gun by Tim Maleeny 4 Stars

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fear's collection of thirteen stories ranged from good to just ok. My favorite one of the bunch is "She's Different Tonight" by Heather Graham. It's got a fun twist that made me smile. I also liked "Dragonfly Eyes" by Alane Ferguson. It has a great lesson in there about being nicer to people before it's too late.
I honestly could've finished this in a lot less time, but work and life got in the way. It's an ok anthology. I just expected it to be better. This is classified as a young adult book, but some stories seemed almost more middle grade level. Check it out if you're a fan of R.L. Stine and/or the other authors. Otherwise, you're not missing much.

[Pug · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's difficult to determine if these stories were scary since they were SO TERRIBLE!!!
I plodded through the first two stinkbombs, but after the third one where they were revealed to be FLEAS!?!? That's a joke, right? Or perhaps an allegory??? I can't believe I just read something so incredibly stupid!!!!!? I about threw the CD out my car window!!! I didn't, though, of course... because it's a library audiobook, and you must always take care of library materials. Although I would have done the world a favor by ridding it of this non-literature.