It isn’t Halloween if I don’t review some campy goodness by R.L. Stine. I’ve reviewed almost all of his adult horror books and I’ve also ranked my favorite Goosebumps books; you can check that out here. Sadly, I missed out on reading his books for teenagers. By the time I was a teen, I was on to reading other things so I never experienced Fear Street or any of his other wildly popular books in the ’90’s. I’ve started buying them whenever I find them just to add to my R.L. Stine collection.

I happened to come across Halloween Night at a thrift shop and that’s what I’m reviewing today. I had originally planned to review three books by him but October has been VERY hectic so I just had time for this one. I’m going to give you the synopsis and then my review. This review will be spoiler free.

Synopsis

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.

My Thoughts

This book consists of everything I love about Stine’s writing and 90’s horror. We have a Halloween party, boy drama, stereotypical teenage girls and said girls casually planning a murder…

The characters in this book are pretty typical. Stine has been writing the same characters over and over for 30 years. Brenda, the main character, is honestly not that likable but we’re supposed to root for her over her terrible cousin, Halley. I really didn’t care about either of them. None of the characters in this book were exceptionally memorable or well developed.

The pacing in this book was very odd which at times made it hard to keep track of what was going on. Even though the pacing wasn’t the best, there were a ton of entertaining red herrings throughout the book and the twist at the end honestly surprised me. Stine loves adding in twists and he’s very good at it.

Overall, this is a cheesy story with mediocre characters but it’s a fun, quick read for the Halloween season.

Final Thoughts

Do I think R.L. Stine is a fantastic writer? No but reading anything by him takes me back to my childhood and that’s why I keep buying his books. I don’t necessarily recommend you try to find this book because it just isn’t the best but I would love to know if you grew up reading Stine’s books as well! Thanks for reading and have a great day!