Fear Street/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Tear Jerker: The second half of the first book in the 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil trilogy. It's the scene where Cally Fraiser is reading a picture book to her nine year old brother, James. Basically, James suffers a great deal of emotional stress due to the house. His dog, Cubby, goes missing a few days after receiving him, and the house taunts him by letting the dog's barking be heard CONSTANTLY throughout the halls, always making it seem like it's in the next room, only for them to arrive in said room and the barking shifts to another area of the house. He's also had to watch his parents suffer an equal amount of stress caused by the house. Cally notes that her brother has regressed to the emotional state of a baby, fearful of everything, when he asks her to read him a picture book he stopped reading years ago. Cally does indeed read the book to him, and wishes him goodnight, on the verge of tears from seeing her little brother in this state. And then the house takes James in the same way it did his dog. His family can hear James crying for his parents to help him, but they can't find him. It isn't until the next book that James and Cubby, or rather, their corpses, are discovered by the new residents of the house. At least the house hadn't turned him into a vengeful ghost as it did his sister, Cally, who also died in the first book.
  • The Woobie: Hope Mathis from Fear Hall. Growing up, her mother would constantly deride her for her weight. In one instance, when Hope had friends over for ice cream, her mom made her eat all the ice cream in the bowls, then forced her face into the carton. Right in front of her guests. She gave her the nickname "Buttertubs", which is how she addressed letters to Hope when she went to camp. In high school it got worse, she actually handcuffed herself to Hope to stop her from seeing a boy. Is it any wonder she snapped and developed four split personalities as a way to cope?