Bad Dreams

Despite my love of fear street, I found this book to be slow and not exceptionally exciting. The book mostly revolved around the girl’s bad dreams.

The only enjoyable part of the book was the end, where almost all the action took place. The book's conclusion explained the friends' injuries and Andrea's gain.

The story needed more events, not just at the end. There was a touch of supernatural in the air. Her dream literally had her running through a cave out of nowhere... This book is pointless and boring. Stine did not fully exploit the potential of the bad dream. The book had little horror or excitement, as it was mostly about her swimming and fighting with her sister. The antagonist's motive was also unclear.

There is nothing special show more about the Bad Dream. The book has certain parts that can make you so annoyed that you may want to kill Andrea. Do I suggest it? No, not really. show less

I usually go pretty easy on these teen thrillers like Fear Street or Horror Point, but this one was just a jumble of stuff that lead nowhere and then, Oh, that's what's going on! With no real clues or anything. So I found it more frustrating than entertaining. Tweens might enjoy it, but this one delivered no chills for me.

Maggie keeps dreaming about a girl and then she starts seeing the ghost of this girl (who turns out to not be the girl's ghost but her living sister). I didn't guess the ending of the book until very close to the end, so it gets definite points for that. I also thought that the concept was good, and I liked that it actually involved the supernatural (unlike, for example, The Fire Game).

This scary story is appropriate for a middle school student that loves suspense. Since it is a horror story, the plot captures the reader and makes him wonder, "What is next?" Reluctant readers may find they actually keep reading to the end of the story since it is suspenseful. The main character, Maggie, is grieving the loss of her father and the family is forced to sell their suburban home and move into a spooky looking old house on Fear Street. The terrifying nightmares, of a teenage girl being stabbed to death, begin the first night when Maggie sleeps in an old fashion four poster canopy bed left there by the previous owners. By speaking with her neighbors, Maggie discovers that her reoccurring nightmare of the teenage murder show more actually happened on the beautiful bed she has been sleeping on. Soon, the awful accidents begin in her waking hours and her life is unpredictable and she begins to wonder if she is crazy. Although the author does describe horrible events, it is not done in a gory detailed way. Furthermore, the events are spaced out throughout the book so that the frightening scenes are not overwhelming. show less

personal response:Fear Street was where I left R.L. Stine 16 years ago. For this reason I decided to read this first. This was just as I remembered these to be. There is tension in the right places, a limited selection of characters combined with a close knit plot, and a nice mystery that spans throughout though the mystery isn’t one that is presented to be solved.
Grades 6 - 12
curricular connections:

This book was pretty good.

The Travers family has had a rough time lately. With a death in the family they seems to be on edge with each other all the time. Maggie & Andrea can not seem to get along for the sake of the remaining parent. Moving into a ramshackle new house on fear street doesn't help. Things go from bad to worse when the nice surprise awaiting Maggie in her new room turns out to be her worst nightmare, literally. Who can she turn to when her nightmares begin to come true and everyone thinks she is crazy?

RL Stine wasn't perfect, but he was fun when I was younger. I read a lot of his stuff and always hunted them down in bookstores. Remember enjoying this one.