Book Review by Kestina Roberts
Youth Librarian – Star Valley Branch
Do you have young horror lovers searching for their next chilling read? Or perhaps you’re looking for some classic R. L. Stine nostalgia? The latest release from the bestselling author of Goosebumps is Nightmare on Nightmare Street, and it has everything you could wish for in a middle-grade horror novel. In Stine’s own words, “I was eating an Everything Bagel, and I had an idea. What if I wrote an Everything Book?” That description could not be more accurate. This book was definitely the Everything Bagel of youth horror, packed with nearly every spooky element fans could hope for in one fast-paced story.
This book has it all: ghosts, hauntings, werewolves, creepy dolls, haunted Polaroid cameras, and Stine’s signature, ventriloquist dummies! Every chapter seemed to introduce a new mystery or terrifying surprise, and the twists and turns just kept coming with every thrilling page. One of the things that made this book especially fun was how unpredictable it felt. Just when I thought I understood what was happening, the story would completely shift direction again.
I spent most of the book confused in the best possible way, trying to follow the strange and overlapping stories of Joe Ferber and his sister Sadie, who have just moved into a creepy old house with a graveyard in the basement. At the same time, readers are introduced to Shawn and his little sister Addie, who move onto a strange street called Nightmare Street. Things quickly become unsettling when they begin attending a bizarre new school, and Shawn’s life gets turned entirely upside down in a single day. The two storylines weave together in surprising ways that kept me hooked from beginning to end.
The twists and turns never stopped in this fast-paced and thrilling R. L. Stine novel. Every chapter brought a new surprise, keeping me guessing right up until the dramatic ending twist that I never saw coming. Fans of spooky mysteries and classic middle-grade horror are sure to enjoy this wild ride from beginning to end. In the foreword, James Murray, bestselling author and co-creator of Impractical Jokers, writes, “It’s classic R.L. Stine–wonderfully weird, relentlessly funny, always unsettling, and a tornado of ideas.” I don’t think anyone could have summed up this novel better than that. This book can be checked out from the Star Valley Branch Library and the Thayne Branch Library.
