YA Review: Night Games by R.L. Stine [Fear Street #40] (1996, Pocket Books)

Diane, Lenny, Jordan, and Cassie all attend Shadyside High. Beyond that, the other thing they have in common is a dislike for Mr. Crowell, the crabby old Algebra teacher. Crowell especially loves to put Lenny on the spot, both because Lenny's got a hair-trigger temper and also because he's awful with math.

Walking home after a late night of dancing at a local club, the four wander by Crowell's home, awe-struck at the ridiculous amount of Christmas decorations infesting his yard: light-up Santas, elves, snowmen, reindeer, and strand after strand of multi-colored bulbs decorating the house and trees in the yard. It's enough to make any teen roll his eyes, but Lenny's got more on his mind than just walking away. Lenny wants revenge on Cowell for making his life miserable. A chance encounter with their old classmate Spencer turns into an opportunity for some after-dark mischief.

Spencer likes to play Night Games. At night, he points out, there's nobody out and about. Nobody to tell you no. Nobody to tell you how far is too far. And after scaring a couple parked and making out in a car at the end of the street, the group is hooked. Spencer suggests they meet up again so they can play some more Night Games.

But what starts off as simple fun turns criminal as the four teens, egged on by Spencer's take-charge persona, take things up a few notches: vandalism, breaking and entering, even theft isn't off the table. The best part about doing it at night is that there are no witnesses...but if that's the case, then why is Diane getting creepy phone calls in the middle of the night, from a phantom caller who claims to know what she and her friends have been up to?

It doesn't take long before Spencer's Night Games get out of control, two people end up dead, and Diane sits at home terrified, holding an anonymous note telling her she'll be next, not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust. Her only chance is to figure out who the killer is and stop them before the game ends with her as the loser.

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Two of my favorite horror novels (both coincidentally by Richard Laymon) involve ordinary people exploring their surroundings after dark. For Ed Logan in Night in the Lonesome October, a bad break-up and too much free time send him wandering his college town after the sun goes down. Jane Kerry from In The Dark wanders the streets to complete the odd tasks requested of her by an unknown benefactor who rewards her with increasingly more cash in exchange for her participation in increasingly more dangerous games. Basically, if your characters are going out at night to do shady shit, you have my total attention.

I knew I was going to like Night Games as soon as I read the back of the book, and getting into the story took me right back to those years as a teenager where my friends and I would often stay out well after dark, especially in the autumn, and just walk and talk. Not do anything specific, not head anywhere with any goal in mind, but just enjoy being alone on the streets after the rest of the world had gone to bed.

There's something magical about that, and by the time you hit your mid-twenties, it's pretty much gone. You've grown up and learned too much about the world to really enjoy it anymore. But those teenage strolls with your friends, swimming from street light to street light in the neighborhood's darkness, that's something you never forget. At least I never did. Stine's descriptions brought all those memories flooding back again, and I was instantly in the moment.

I'll disclaim that I never did anything like what Diane and her friends did though. Like, seriously, don't break into people's homes and take stuff, kids. B&E is bad, m'kay?

Stories like this are often more atmosphere-driven than character-driven, and by the end of the book it's a fair critique that we know almost nothing about Lenny, Jordan, and Cassie, and little more about Diane (who serves as the story's first-person narrator for most of the book). It's Spencer, the guy who starts the ball rolling, who gets the bulk of the development, with two flashbacks where we see past events through his eyes instead of Diane's. Normally I'd poo-poo Stine for this, but Night Games lost none of its appeal despite minimal character development over 149 pages.

Then there's that ending. Holy shit, is this ending polarizing. The rating someone gives this book hinges entirely on how they feel about the way the story ends, and there's no middle ground: it either knocks you on your ass, or you're rolling your eyes, and I'm not afraid to say I'm in the first camp.

Did. Not. See. That. Coming.

If you prefer your teen horror firmly grounded in the real world, Night Games will disappoint. But if you know Stine isn't afraid to mix it up between real world and paranormal in 'Fear Street', then the ending might just take your breath away (no pun intended). I'd go so far as to say it's vicious, easily the meanest prank in the whole book, and while it appears to leave the story open-ended and fresh for a sequel, as Stine often did in 'Fear Street', a Night Games 2 is unnecessary.

A lot of people hate this one. I understand why. I get it. I just don't agree--I had a blast the whole time. Five home invasions out of five.

Best Scene:

The first flashback to last year from Spencer's perspective delivers both a cruel and accurate look at what it means to be an outcast among your peers, especially if you're a guy with feelings for a girl you know isn't available. Spencer's crush on Diane really hit home here. Every guy knows this feeling, and clearly Stine does too, because he nails it with this chapter.

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I'm having a blast with these R.L. Stine reads. If you're interested in my thoughts on a few others, have a gander:

• The Snowman
• The Babysitter
• The Babysitter II
• The Babysitter III

And if you have a favorite (or a least-favorite) you want me to take a look at, leave a message in the comments.

Reading is meant to be fun, so let's enjoy it, right?

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