Halloween Night Review

Halloween Night
by R.L. Stine
Genre: YA Horror
Format: Paperback
Midnight Minute: Three high school girls take their school writing project to the extreme!
From Goodreads:

Brenda hates her cousin Halley. And Brenda isn't the only one. Because Halley keeps stealing other people's boyfriends. So Brenda and her friends decide to plan the perfect murder. Something to go along with Brenda's perfect Halloween party.
Not that they're really going to kill anybody. It's just a joke.
Right?
Ha. Ha.

Midnight Thoughts:

~ I read this during Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon, and it was the perfect length to start my day off!  I think in April I'm just going to read old school YA books!
~ Major over usage of the word "wistfully".  Brenda spoke, thought and sat wistfully.  And it was catching, several other characters were quite wistful at times too.
~ Uh, Brenda's parents!  They frustrated me too.  I get that Brenda was a bit whiny, but their refusal to even listen to her complaints was infuriating.  I did find that realistic though, adults often ignore teens and their problems (especially female teens), dismissing them as histrionics.  I'm 35 years old, but when I'm around my mom sometimes I might as well be 16 again.
~ I loved, loved that the English teacher's assignment was to have them write a murder mystery story.  Where was this teacher when I was in high school?
~ Brenda is a bit too quick to make up with Ted.  She should have left him cold. 
~ There are some gross out moments involving dead birds and bloody, maggoty meat.  For those of you with weak stomachs, take note.  Also take note that this did not stop me from stuffing my face with Kim's brownies while I read it. 
~ The ending made me laugh out loud.  I won't spoil it for you, but I will tell you that I am now Team Double Foam Padding!

Timeless Characters:

~ Brenda- our heroine. She's a bit whiny and naive, but she does have a wicked sense of humor.
~Traci- B's friend.  Her boyfriend Noah is also "stolen" by Halley.
~Dina- she makes up the terrible trio.  Described as "bean stalk" which I guess was harsh in the 80's. 
~Halley- Brenda's cousin, has to move in with her aunt and uncle because her parents are divorcing.  I found the reasoning a bit lame, but I guess Stine wasn't going to make the kill shot on Halley's parents.  Pike would have killed them off though.  Just saying...
~Ted- The Worst Boyfriend Ever.  Seriously, wth do any of the girls see in him?
There's also a little brother and various high school friends, but that's the main peeps.

Midnight Moment:

This is going to be spoilerish. So this is your warning.  But you should read it because it's kind of funny:

The midnight moment for me came when Brenda CHOKED Halley in their driveway (don't worry, she fails in her choking, because this is R.L. Stine and not Pike).  I don't know what troubled me more, that she was stupid enough to do this in front of her parents and other witnesses or that her parents to take her to a mental hospital immediately afterward! Seriously, your kid tries to choke her cousin, that's not something that can be addressed with getting sent to bed without supper.  Still allowing your daughter to have a Halloween party a few weeks later further shows that Brenda's parents are MORONS.

Stop The Clock:

Halloween Night is a fun read from my old YA horror youth.  The characters aren't particularly fleshed out, but Stine has a sense of humor.  I don't know that his books ever really scared me, even way back when, but I devoured the Fear Street novels in 6th and 7th grade.  Totally worth re-visiting this book during the month of October!



R.L. Stine— Website |http://rlstine.com/

Halloween Night gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

I read and reviewed this book for our event Bloggers Dressed in Blood!  There's still time to participate, there aren't that many entries yet, and the main prize is Amazing! Check it out here!