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Hit and Run
Eddie, Scott, Winks, and Cassie. They went out for a drive one night. Just to practice, so Eddie would be sure and get his license.
Then Eddie had a little accident. Now four friends share a terrible secret.
Because Eddie hit someone and killed him.
Didn't he?
Then Eddie had a little accident. Now four friends share a terrible secret.
Because Eddie hit someone and killed him.
Didn't he?
176 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1992
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,724 books19.2k followersRobert 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 250 reviews
July 16, 2021
4 Stars ⭐️
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
November 14, 2018
Esta historia me dejó muy sorprendida la primera vez que la leí. Tuvo muchas cosas, demasiados secretos, nos puso en la mente de todos los chicos que estaban involucrados en el suceso y eso era algo nuevo en experiencia lectora para mi.
Los capítulos finales me tenían con la boca abierta y el final fue sorprendente.
Los capítulos finales me tenían con la boca abierta y el final fue sorprendente.
September 8, 2021
Out of all the Point Horrors that I’ve re-read, this is the one that I could instantly recall.
Cassie and her friends Eddie, Scott and Winks decided to get some extra practice in before their driving test by taking Eddies family car out for a ride.
But tragedy strikes as the hit a man during the course of the evening.
I can vividly recall all the pranks the group play on each other right at the beginning of the book, it instantly reveals the group dynamics.
Not the most original plot but I liked how Stine’s raised the tension as the group were convinced they were going to be caught after living with the guilt of what happened that night.
One of he’s better entries in the series.
Cassie and her friends Eddie, Scott and Winks decided to get some extra practice in before their driving test by taking Eddies family car out for a ride.
But tragedy strikes as the hit a man during the course of the evening.
I can vividly recall all the pranks the group play on each other right at the beginning of the book, it instantly reveals the group dynamics.
Not the most original plot but I liked how Stine’s raised the tension as the group were convinced they were going to be caught after living with the guilt of what happened that night.
One of he’s better entries in the series.
July 10, 2021
These characters are terrible. They have the worst sense of humor ever in the history of mankind.
June 9, 2026
I used to really enjoy R.L. Stine's Fear Street books when I was in the fifth and sixth grade. Found one of his non-FS books (The Babysitter) for free at one of the local libraries a few weeks back (many, many years after being a sixth grader) and decided to take it home to see what I'd think of his work as an adult. It was awful. Decided to try this one, since I found it really cheap at Goodwill, to see if I'd think the same about this one. I did.
This isn't me ragging on young adult and children's novels because I'm oh-so-mature now; I've read and reread a few books for younger readers since joining Goodreads a year ago, and a number of them were still fantastic reading for someone of any age. Compared to them, neither of Stine's books are even worth mentioning. Okay, I'm being too hard on what is essentially a PG-rated slasher flick in book form. However, I'm not a difficult person to keep entertained; even a fairly crappy book I'd likely give at least two stars to if it did something to amuse me. Hit and Run just failed on all accounts, however.
The story was far too predictable. (So was The Babysitter, for that matter.) As soon as Eddie is running over the man, you already know exactly what had happened and who was behind it all. Let's see; kid who is constantly bullied by people at school, including his three closest friends, who has a cousin who works at the city morgue and is enough of a dick and a jokester and lacks any respect for the dead that he'd let a kid take a dead person's eyeball home to play cruel pranks on people with? Said bullied kid is nearly traumatized the first time they all decide to take one of their parent's cars out without permission to practice driving...decides that they should all do it again not too long after? Yeah, he's planning something. He's ready to snap. The "victim" itself? "The surprisingly quiet thud of impact. The man's expression didn't change." Why isn't his expression changing? Oh, probably because he's already dead. I mean, Eddie has this asshole cousin who conveniently works at a morgue, right?
None of these characters are very sympathetic or even interesting, besides maybe Eddie. A bunch of self-centered brats who don't seem to learn from anything that happens?
There were also a number of things about Stine's writing that just aggravated me here and there. Seriously, how many times can you write "character cracked" or "character said sarcastically" in one, extremely short book like this? Can't they do anything besides crack jokes and be sarcastic? Sure, they're teenagers and all, but it just seems like lazy writing. Not to mention that most of what they say, jokingly or sarcastically, is all pretty "ho-hum".
Another thing that irrationally annoys me: why does everyone get their outfits described at times? It's not like it happens every single time you'd think there'd be a costume change, or even very often at all. Even then, the adding of a description of the outfit just feels...random. Like, "so? What of it? Does that have any importance whatsoever to the current scene?" Clothes paragraphs don't always feel like unnecessary padding for some writers, but they just don't add anything to this book. I mean, at least when they described outfits in like, The Baby-sitters Club, it was entertaining to see what sort of atrocity Claudia would come up with each book, but here it's all just very "meh."
Finally, I'm tired as hell of the heroine about to be killed by the perpetrator behind all the crimes, only to be saved at the very last minute by her twu-wuv (always male, of course), who always magically knows that she's in danger, exactly where she is, and always gets there in the nick of time. This isn't something directed personally at Stine; it plagues a great deal of suspense/thrillers for both young adults AND adults, yes, even by a number of authors that I otherwise enjoy. Sure, this was written in the 90s, but it was an already tiresome trope back then.
All that said, I'm pretty likely to still pick up more Stine books if I find them used/free somewhere, particularly if I can actually find any Fear Street. No, really, I LOVED them when I was younger; I want to see if they're any better than his non-series books, or if these two books were just especially bad.
This isn't me ragging on young adult and children's novels because I'm oh-so-mature now; I've read and reread a few books for younger readers since joining Goodreads a year ago, and a number of them were still fantastic reading for someone of any age. Compared to them, neither of Stine's books are even worth mentioning. Okay, I'm being too hard on what is essentially a PG-rated slasher flick in book form. However, I'm not a difficult person to keep entertained; even a fairly crappy book I'd likely give at least two stars to if it did something to amuse me. Hit and Run just failed on all accounts, however.
The story was far too predictable. (So was The Babysitter, for that matter.) As soon as Eddie is running over the man, you already know exactly what had happened and who was behind it all. Let's see; kid who is constantly bullied by people at school, including his three closest friends, who has a cousin who works at the city morgue and is enough of a dick and a jokester and lacks any respect for the dead that he'd let a kid take a dead person's eyeball home to play cruel pranks on people with? Said bullied kid is nearly traumatized the first time they all decide to take one of their parent's cars out without permission to practice driving...decides that they should all do it again not too long after? Yeah, he's planning something. He's ready to snap. The "victim" itself? "The surprisingly quiet thud of impact. The man's expression didn't change." Why isn't his expression changing? Oh, probably because he's already dead. I mean, Eddie has this asshole cousin who conveniently works at a morgue, right?
None of these characters are very sympathetic or even interesting, besides maybe Eddie. A bunch of self-centered brats who don't seem to learn from anything that happens?
There were also a number of things about Stine's writing that just aggravated me here and there. Seriously, how many times can you write "character cracked" or "character said sarcastically" in one, extremely short book like this? Can't they do anything besides crack jokes and be sarcastic? Sure, they're teenagers and all, but it just seems like lazy writing. Not to mention that most of what they say, jokingly or sarcastically, is all pretty "ho-hum".
Another thing that irrationally annoys me: why does everyone get their outfits described at times? It's not like it happens every single time you'd think there'd be a costume change, or even very often at all. Even then, the adding of a description of the outfit just feels...random. Like, "so? What of it? Does that have any importance whatsoever to the current scene?" Clothes paragraphs don't always feel like unnecessary padding for some writers, but they just don't add anything to this book. I mean, at least when they described outfits in like, The Baby-sitters Club, it was entertaining to see what sort of atrocity Claudia would come up with each book, but here it's all just very "meh."
Finally, I'm tired as hell of the heroine about to be killed by the perpetrator behind all the crimes, only to be saved at the very last minute by her twu-wuv (always male, of course), who always magically knows that she's in danger, exactly where she is, and always gets there in the nick of time. This isn't something directed personally at Stine; it plagues a great deal of suspense/thrillers for both young adults AND adults, yes, even by a number of authors that I otherwise enjoy. Sure, this was written in the 90s, but it was an already tiresome trope back then.
All that said, I'm pretty likely to still pick up more Stine books if I find them used/free somewhere, particularly if I can actually find any Fear Street. No, really, I LOVED them when I was younger; I want to see if they're any better than his non-series books, or if these two books were just especially bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2017
Una lectura entretenida y ligera. Aunque fue bastante predecible, estuvo bien para pasar el rato.
April 9, 2021
Cassie and her friends are involved in an accident when they run someone over on a deserted road one night. The driver doesn't yet have his license, and neither do the others, so to avoid getting into trouble over that they flee the scene of the crime. But they can't escape the ramifications of their decision as it becomes clear that someone is out for revenge for what they did.
This was middle of the road (no pun intended!) Stine for me. It was good but not great. The setup is very reminiscent of I Know What You Did Last Summer but the story does its own thing with it and goes in a different direction. There is a prankster within the group (it is a Stine book, after all!) which can be quite grating but thankfully I found that it worked for this group of friends and this story. The story went in a way I wasn't expecting and kept me guessing at the mystery element. Without giving any spoilers I did feel that where story ends up did bring up some questions but I found if you just go with it and not think about it too much it was fine!
This was middle of the road (no pun intended!) Stine for me. It was good but not great. The setup is very reminiscent of I Know What You Did Last Summer but the story does its own thing with it and goes in a different direction. There is a prankster within the group (it is a Stine book, after all!) which can be quite grating but thankfully I found that it worked for this group of friends and this story. The story went in a way I wasn't expecting and kept me guessing at the mystery element. Without giving any spoilers I did feel that where story ends up did bring up some questions but I found if you just go with it and not think about it too much it was fine!
June 30, 2026
Hit and Run is basically a poor man's I Know What You Did Last Summer. A group of friends are driving at night in one of their parents' cars to practice for their upcoming driver's license tests, when a man steps onto the highway and they hit him. Thinking him dead, the friends return home, but in the days afterward they begin to be threatened and stalked by a mysterious presence that is seemingly out for revenge. Can it be the man they hit? If so, how, when he was in such a horrific accident? Or is something supernatural or otherworldly at play here?
This was pretty bad, I have to say. One major problem with this book, and it's shared with another Stine Point Horror book I read just after this one, The Hitchhiker, is that Stine is terrible at throwing off the reader. In both of these books, I figured out who was responsible and what the mystery was about 30 pages in, and in both cases I was right. When you're writing these like it's a big secret and you try to drop the reveal on the reader near the end in a supposed "twist", you really have to keep the reader guessing throughout the story. And Stine just doesn't know how to do that.
He throws all these red herrings at you, but they're so dumb and unbelievable, and at that point he's already basically told you who the villain or villains are, he's just so bad as a writer that he doesn't seem to realize he's done it and that the story is, from that point on (and it's very early on), ruined.
Definitely a "Do not recommend" from me.
1.5 stars
This was pretty bad, I have to say. One major problem with this book, and it's shared with another Stine Point Horror book I read just after this one, The Hitchhiker, is that Stine is terrible at throwing off the reader. In both of these books, I figured out who was responsible and what the mystery was about 30 pages in, and in both cases I was right. When you're writing these like it's a big secret and you try to drop the reveal on the reader near the end in a supposed "twist", you really have to keep the reader guessing throughout the story. And Stine just doesn't know how to do that.
He throws all these red herrings at you, but they're so dumb and unbelievable, and at that point he's already basically told you who the villain or villains are, he's just so bad as a writer that he doesn't seem to realize he's done it and that the story is, from that point on (and it's very early on), ruined.
Definitely a "Do not recommend" from me.
1.5 stars
June 20, 2011
I think perhaps R.L. Stine is just for the sixth-grader me. I used to really like his "Goosebumps" books and I remember having my jaw hanging in awe because of the wonderful twists and turns that he has at the end of his books. Now that I'm almost twenty, the only thing I can feel while reading is nostalgia--two fists of old memories ramming themselves against my gut. Only that.
The old awe and fear were not present anymore. Even the twist at the end didn't surprise me in the least. "Hit and Run" is about Four friends that are involved in a, well, hit and run. They tried to keep the crime a secret, but it seems that they can't keep it for that long.
This book is just okay. I'm pretty sure that if the nine-year-old me will read this, I'll really like it.
The old awe and fear were not present anymore. Even the twist at the end didn't surprise me in the least. "Hit and Run" is about Four friends that are involved in a, well, hit and run. They tried to keep the crime a secret, but it seems that they can't keep it for that long.
This book is just okay. I'm pretty sure that if the nine-year-old me will read this, I'll really like it.
July 6, 2026
This stars a group of teens: Cassie (a girl who has a sorta kinda crush on Scott, although she hates the way his laugh sounds), Scott (an all-around kind of guy, more of a follower than a leader), Eddie (timid, poor, and often picked on), and Winks (a prankster).
The group decides to go practice driving - illegally, since none of them have their licenses, but they figure it should be fine since they've picked a fairly empty stretch of road. It goes mostly okay until Eddie is behind the wheel and Winks pulls a mean prank on him, making him think something is in the road. The experience is clearly upsetting for Eddie, and yet it's Eddie who, not too much later, suggests that they all go out and practice again. It seems he wants to prove that he wasn't too scared that one time, although he does make Winks promise to behave himself.
When Eddie takes his turn driving, however, he really does hit someone this time. They drag the man to the side of the road and try to pretend it never happened, but then everybody but Scott starts to getting calls and messages, apparently from the dead man. Has he come back to get revenge, or is there something else going on?
Stine's efforts to hide the truth weren't very effective - I didn't guess how things were done (because who would do that, it was insane!), but it wasn't hard to tell who was likely behind it all.
Man, literally all the guys in this book were horrible human beings. Their "pranks" were all more examples of a gruesome lack of empathy than anything actually funny.
This was like I Know What You Did Last Summer, but with extra jerkishness. Also, this really did feel enough like Lois Duncan's book that I felt like R.L. Stine should have credited her as an influence.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
The group decides to go practice driving - illegally, since none of them have their licenses, but they figure it should be fine since they've picked a fairly empty stretch of road. It goes mostly okay until Eddie is behind the wheel and Winks pulls a mean prank on him, making him think something is in the road. The experience is clearly upsetting for Eddie, and yet it's Eddie who, not too much later, suggests that they all go out and practice again. It seems he wants to prove that he wasn't too scared that one time, although he does make Winks promise to behave himself.
When Eddie takes his turn driving, however, he really does hit someone this time. They drag the man to the side of the road and try to pretend it never happened, but then everybody but Scott starts to getting calls and messages, apparently from the dead man. Has he come back to get revenge, or is there something else going on?
Stine's efforts to hide the truth weren't very effective - I didn't guess how things were done (because who would do that, it was insane!), but it wasn't hard to tell who was likely behind it all.
Man, literally all the guys in this book were horrible human beings. Their "pranks" were all more examples of a gruesome lack of empathy than anything actually funny.
This was like I Know What You Did Last Summer, but with extra jerkishness. Also, this really did feel enough like Lois Duncan's book that I felt like R.L. Stine should have credited her as an influence.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
April 29, 2024
I view Stine as King's little brother. I was an avid Goosebump and point horror reader growing up and it helped me fall in love with reading and graduating to King, Koontz and anything else in the horror, thriller and Sci-Fi section I would eventually get my hands on.
I havent saved all my goosebumps however I have saved my point horror and every once in a while go back to them if I want to read a quick YA horror in one sitting. This book was a very fun read. Very Nostalgic for me and definitely something that reminds me of Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer.
As an adult you can definitely see where the story is going and what is happening but as a 5th-8th grader you can remember the jaw dropping enthusiasm.
REREAD 4/29/24, It was still a fun "ride". Sorry, couldn't help myself. But this is more like a 3.5 - 4 star book, so I down rated it from my previous rating. It was a little too far fetched with this big twist at the end and how it was accomplished. The logistics of pulling this off would have been AMAZING for an average 16 -17 year old. Not to mention the amount of Febreze it would take. Other than that, very fun. Stine and his classic chapter cliffhangers never really disappoint.
I havent saved all my goosebumps however I have saved my point horror and every once in a while go back to them if I want to read a quick YA horror in one sitting. This book was a very fun read. Very Nostalgic for me and definitely something that reminds me of Duncan's I Know What You Did Last Summer.
As an adult you can definitely see where the story is going and what is happening but as a 5th-8th grader you can remember the jaw dropping enthusiasm.
REREAD 4/29/24, It was still a fun "ride". Sorry, couldn't help myself. But this is more like a 3.5 - 4 star book, so I down rated it from my previous rating. It was a little too far fetched with this big twist at the end and how it was accomplished. The logistics of pulling this off would have been AMAZING for an average 16 -17 year old. Not to mention the amount of Febreze it would take. Other than that, very fun. Stine and his classic chapter cliffhangers never really disappoint.
November 14, 2009
This book was amazing!It gave me goosebumps.From the moment Winks took the dead manswallet to learn his name to the disturbing call to cassie saying ,"You cant run".And all the jokes not knowing whats real or fake.People turning on friends.You being so shocked you almost pee your pants.I could read this book again and again. It never gets old!=]
By:Mariana,Massachusetts
My Review:
Title: Hit and Run
Author:R.L.Stine
Genre:realistic fiction
It's about these kids who get are getting ready to take their driver's test,so they practiced at an empty lot but on the way back home they felt a bump.Of course Eddie the coward was scared. He should be they had run over a man.Later after they decided to bail,they each get a mysterious phonecall in a whisper saying,"You can't run."Is he alive?,they would all think or is it just someone's cruel sick joke?
It's pretty interesting how they're getting phonecalls from a man who is supposed to be dead and the most least likely person was the one playing the joke.I liked the book because I didn't know if something was really happening or if someone was trying to scare them.
By:Mariana,Massachusetts
My Review:
Title: Hit and Run
Author:R.L.Stine
Genre:realistic fiction
It's about these kids who get are getting ready to take their driver's test,so they practiced at an empty lot but on the way back home they felt a bump.Of course Eddie the coward was scared. He should be they had run over a man.Later after they decided to bail,they each get a mysterious phonecall in a whisper saying,"You can't run."Is he alive?,they would all think or is it just someone's cruel sick joke?
It's pretty interesting how they're getting phonecalls from a man who is supposed to be dead and the most least likely person was the one playing the joke.I liked the book because I didn't know if something was really happening or if someone was trying to scare them.
January 2, 2020
Un libro que conservo con gratos recuerdos.
La historia fue de mis favoritas por años y uno de los protagonistas, el maltratado de hecho, me cautivó bastante, y solo por él leí este libro más veces de las que puedo contar.
Un grupo de chicos, algo de alcohol, un auto... desastre total.
¿Se animan a conocer todo lo que pasó?
La historia fue de mis favoritas por años y uno de los protagonistas, el maltratado de hecho, me cautivó bastante, y solo por él leí este libro más veces de las que puedo contar.
Un grupo de chicos, algo de alcohol, un auto... desastre total.
¿Se animan a conocer todo lo que pasó?
August 4, 2019
Just re-read this for Teenage Scream podcast (lovingly dissecting the best and worst of 90s teen horror):
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream
April 21, 2025
silly, over the top and probably a bit too unrealistic to be remotely believable — but i’m sure reading this as a kid in the 90s would’ve been fun either way!
it’s definitely not great as an adult so i’m rating it a ‘i might’ve enjoyed it as a kid, but maybe not’ three-stars lmao
it’s definitely not great as an adult so i’m rating it a ‘i might’ve enjoyed it as a kid, but maybe not’ three-stars lmao
January 2, 2021
Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book
So four teenagers without their license go out to practice their driving so that they can pass their driving test... Please tell me how that makes sense 😑 Lol. And it all goes about as well as you can imagine... they kill someone. Lol. Kidding 😅 But they do kill someone 😬 After the accident, they start receiving creepy notes and one of them even gets hit with a car, and omg could it be the guy they killed?? 😲
Me and this book, we started off not great. There were pranks everywhere. SO many pranks... I just did not like 😒 But these pranks were basically only pulled on one poor character. Let me rewind, these four friends have been besties since forever. We got Winks, the annoying prankster, Scott, the hot jock/representative of the Student Government, Eddie, the quiet one who is always teased and the center of the pranks, and then Cassie, the only girl in the group. So yeah, I hated how Eddie was picked on! Scott just went along with whatever Winks did, and Cassie kinda tried to get them to stop... but not hard enough. And then she also laughed at the poor guy. Ugh! It was awful! Just pranks everywhere at the expense of Eddie and I was so done. Especially when I read this:
Fucking NO Cassie! God! What’s wrong with you? 😠
The characters were just no good. The only thing I liked was the blooming relationship between Cassie and Scott. I thought they were really cute... you know, when they weren’t being completely awful to Eddie. The book wasn’t great, but I didn’t have an awful time reading it either 🤷♀️ I don’t know, I just like the feel of these books. And some parts did make me laugh... non-prank parts, mind you. Lol.
So four teenagers without their license go out to practice their driving so that they can pass their driving test... Please tell me how that makes sense 😑 Lol. And it all goes about as well as you can imagine... they kill someone. Lol. Kidding 😅 But they do kill someone 😬 After the accident, they start receiving creepy notes and one of them even gets hit with a car, and omg could it be the guy they killed?? 😲
Me and this book, we started off not great. There were pranks everywhere. SO many pranks... I just did not like 😒 But these pranks were basically only pulled on one poor character. Let me rewind, these four friends have been besties since forever. We got Winks, the annoying prankster, Scott, the hot jock/representative of the Student Government, Eddie, the quiet one who is always teased and the center of the pranks, and then Cassie, the only girl in the group. So yeah, I hated how Eddie was picked on! Scott just went along with whatever Winks did, and Cassie kinda tried to get them to stop... but not hard enough. And then she also laughed at the poor guy. Ugh! It was awful! Just pranks everywhere at the expense of Eddie and I was so done. Especially when I read this:
“There’s one kid like that in every class,” Winks said. “One kid everyone liked to pound on. Eddie just happens to be that kid. He’s used to it.”
“You think so?” Cassie asked.
Fucking NO Cassie! God! What’s wrong with you? 😠
The characters were just no good. The only thing I liked was the blooming relationship between Cassie and Scott. I thought they were really cute... you know, when they weren’t being completely awful to Eddie. The book wasn’t great, but I didn’t have an awful time reading it either 🤷♀️ I don’t know, I just like the feel of these books. And some parts did make me laugh... non-prank parts, mind you. Lol.
June 17, 2020
There isn't anything especially noteworthy here, and I Know What You Did Last Summer already left this territory picked over years prior. Still, Hit-and-Run is an interesting variant, and patently Stine -- abandoning the Dostoevskian guilt trip, his characters are obvious unregenerates from the start. They harass others and themselves without remorse and take it too far to boot. He successfully inspires antipathy for his protagonists, with the possible exception of Eddie, who seems to have the unfortunate luck to fall into this group of vipers and think they're his friends because they don't bite him as often as they could. By the end it's hard not to root for him. (The who-dunnit aspect is fairly obvious this time, so even I could guess it. This doesn't much detract from enjoyment though. It's satisfying to see these characters get a taste of their own medicine.) You can tell the teens don't feel much remorse.
In terms of believability, the plot is a mess. The idea this coroner guy could haul a corpse around town without getting caught is insane, and the fact these kids see nothing too objectionable about that, or popping out decedents' eyeballs, drives home what sociopaths we're dealing with. Eddie may be crazy, but at least he has a soul, with feelings to be hurt. I like that he wasn't locked up forever at the end, merely committed to professional help. His friends and his cousin need correction more.
In terms of believability, the plot is a mess. The idea this coroner guy could haul a corpse around town without getting caught is insane, and the fact these kids see nothing too objectionable about that, or popping out decedents' eyeballs, drives home what sociopaths we're dealing with. Eddie may be crazy, but at least he has a soul, with feelings to be hurt. I like that he wasn't locked up forever at the end, merely committed to professional help. His friends and his cousin need correction more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2024
I read this with my book club that I run on Instagram where we revisit Point Horror and other books from our childhood - @talespointhorrorbookclub
Tagline - Look before you leap.
Memorable For – I Know What You Did Last Summer with a few more plot holes, moist yellow cake and terrifying leaves!
Blurb -
Four friends go out one night to practise their driving and come home with a terrifying secret. Eddie has hit someone and killed him – or has he?
Some Thoughts -
A group of friends are due to take their driving tests. There’s the good girl, the shy guys, the jock and of course the joker of the pack. After playing too many practical jokes on one of the group, poor Eddie, they decide one night ,when their parents are not around obvs, to take the car out for a spin and some get in some extra practise ….and run over a guy and leave him for dead on the side of the road! A good old hit and run!
The four friends try to forget about the poor dead guy, Brandt Tinkers.But then the phone calls start, the threatening letters turn up and Polaroid photos of the dead corpse behind a steering wheel! Could Brandt Tinkers really be alive and out to get revenge?!
Other highlights include a gross eyeball trick, parents who actually cared for their Point Horror child an obsession with the colour yellow and the horror of being in your face pjs before 7:30pm 😱
Tagline - Look before you leap.
Memorable For – I Know What You Did Last Summer with a few more plot holes, moist yellow cake and terrifying leaves!
Blurb -
Four friends go out one night to practise their driving and come home with a terrifying secret. Eddie has hit someone and killed him – or has he?
Some Thoughts -
A group of friends are due to take their driving tests. There’s the good girl, the shy guys, the jock and of course the joker of the pack. After playing too many practical jokes on one of the group, poor Eddie, they decide one night ,when their parents are not around obvs, to take the car out for a spin and some get in some extra practise ….and run over a guy and leave him for dead on the side of the road! A good old hit and run!
The four friends try to forget about the poor dead guy, Brandt Tinkers.But then the phone calls start, the threatening letters turn up and Polaroid photos of the dead corpse behind a steering wheel! Could Brandt Tinkers really be alive and out to get revenge?!
Other highlights include a gross eyeball trick, parents who actually cared for their Point Horror child an obsession with the colour yellow and the horror of being in your face pjs before 7:30pm 😱
September 20, 2024
Randomly threw this book into my reading pile, so no real rhyme or reason I went into this one. And I’m happy to report it was a really solid and entertaining read. The story’s strong point is the reveal of whose behind the madness, which is a staple of these Young Adult horror books I’ve read. And here, the reveal of who was behind it was done real well albeit a little predictable if this ain’t your first rodeo. Their intentions is what drives it home, and it also makes them a more unique twist villain because they lack some certain sadistic traits and replace them with ill minded ideas and mislead assumptions. And it’s really cool. The characters in this story, Eddie, Cassie, Winks and Scott, are all admittedly likable characters. Eddie is the scaredy-cat, Cassie is the lead, Winks is the jokester, and Scott is the love interest. Yet as typical as these all sound, Winks and Eddie’s bland tropes are utilized in a manner that I found super interesting. They’re fun characters that were well implemented in the story, albeit Scott is the least important character here. The plot is engaging enough to keep you interested, the mystery is solid, Jerry was an interesting addition, and there was some generally solid scares involving the guy they (MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILER) ‘killed’ with the car by accident. Now all that outta the way, there was some rough wrapping up stuff involving Scott’s whereabouts at a certain point in the story and also Jerry’s involvement in a huge plot point. Whilst I half like that Jerry, admittedly thinking he was gonna be a one-off nothing character that exists for convenience, it could’ve been handled a bit better. The final chapter is fun and goofy but also feels out of place. There’s also the twist villains off-putting change of tone that happens within the last thirty pages that leaves me very confused. They were really strange throughout the day, then come back into character when they’re revealed as the villain. It’s strange. And the final thing I wanna throw out there that I didn’t like is the bland plot. It’s extremely straight-forward, literally just confined to the hit-and-run and solving the mystery with pointless scenes that pat out the run time that don’t add to a different plot-line or arc at all. It’s just so weirdly simple. The book gets an 8/10, it’s solid and entertaining with good characters but lacks much more than that.
May 22, 2019
Hit and Run by R.L. Stine it starts off introducing Cassie Martin and her three friends. Cassie was a little weirder as most of her friends for her life has been guys. All her friends are guys named Scott Baldwin, Winks (Bruce Winkelman) and Eddie. Winks loved pulling tricks over Eddie and Scott would always join in on it. One day they were driving when Winks pulled a prank. It made Eddie furious but the next day Eddie decided to take his parents car and drive again. This is when the incident happened.
This book was interesting and intriguing . It started off with a prank and really showed who Scott, WInks and Eddie are like. It also showed a little bit of Cassie. It also gives the viewpoint mainly from Cassie and what she is thinking. They all were learning driving and I could connect to that as I'm starting to do that myself. With this learning how to drive they had an incident that really had to adjust to the situation. The guilt really starts to get to them as they were worried the public would find out. To try and calm it down they call Eddie's , cousin Jerry who works at the morgue. This just makes them worry more though as it countines on.
This book was interesting and intriguing . It started off with a prank and really showed who Scott, WInks and Eddie are like. It also showed a little bit of Cassie. It also gives the viewpoint mainly from Cassie and what she is thinking. They all were learning driving and I could connect to that as I'm starting to do that myself. With this learning how to drive they had an incident that really had to adjust to the situation. The guilt really starts to get to them as they were worried the public would find out. To try and calm it down they call Eddie's , cousin Jerry who works at the morgue. This just makes them worry more though as it countines on.
January 27, 2023
3.5…. This point horror, wasn’t a favourite for me. I didn’t think much of the characters, there jokes were pretty silly, and they weren’t that nice to each other. I worked out who was behind the creepy goings on from the beginning, and I was disappointed to discover I was correct at the end. Looking forward to reading another point horror book next month.
November 6, 2019
Not too bad. I think it’s obvious who’s behind the events that occur. I had my suspicions before the hit and run happened. None of this would have happened if they had done the right thing in the first place and called the police.
December 22, 2017
another brilliant young adult book.
September 26, 2019
I loved reading these corny horror books growing up and when I saw them in a book sale I jumped at the chance for some 90s nostalgia :)
February 21, 2022
Gave off some early ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer Vibes’ before reading similar to the Return to Fear Street book, ‘Wrong Girl’. An easy one sitting read which doesn’t take itself too seriously.
January 7, 2023
Omfgggg this book is so wild 😂😆😭😭 RL Stine’s magnum opus to all things practical jokes and truly beyond messed up. Poor Brandt Tinkers. Corpse desecration all for a joke 😭😭😭💀
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 13, 2025
HOLY. SHIT.
This book really was something with all of the twists and turns that this book had. There was always a twist at the end of the chapters which made me keep reading it!
Genuinely recommend this book to someone who loves comedy, mystery and murder‼️🫶🩷
This book really was something with all of the twists and turns that this book had. There was always a twist at the end of the chapters which made me keep reading it!
Genuinely recommend this book to someone who loves comedy, mystery and murder‼️🫶🩷
February 20, 2026
2 out 4 Point Horrors re-read! A short and sweet one, definitely preferred Help Wanted.
March 8, 2018
Four young teenagers were just practicing for their driving test when something terrible happened. Even though the four teenagers did not have a license they took their parents car out for a practice run. They took turns driving, when it was Eddie's turn he hopped into the seat and started driving. It started off going well but then he suddenly hit a man on the highway. They all got out of the car and took his cubs hat off and found who the man was. The man the kids' hit name was Brandt Tinkers. After this the kids had nightmares and a lot of strange things start happening, the notes, threats, the corpse, and Winks getting hit. Then, Winks(Bruce) gets hit by a car just like how they hit Brandt Tinkers. Was this a coincidence or was this on purpose?
April 28, 2023
pretty much "i know what you did last summer" without that much of a surprise ending. meh... not stines best.
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