What an absolutely fun throwback young adult horror story! Like most people right now reliving their youth and in anticipation of the upcoming three-part Netflix movie inspired by the original Fear Street books, I’m making my way through some of the o.g. Fear Street stories starting with the first ‘The New Girl’.

While I was really looking forward to the nostalgia factor, the version of this book I read was re-printed in the early 2000s and had been updated for a more modern audience. iPods replaced Walkmans, cell phones replaced land lines, you get the picture. The ‘feel’ I was hoping to recapture had been mostly stripped away because of the reprint. Word to the wise, find the original print copies of these books if you want to dive into a 90s teen horror story.

In ‘The New Girl’ we meet star athlete, Cory, and the titular new girl, Anna. While Cory is enamored with Anna, she has the unfortunate habit of disappearing. This is coupled with her mysterious aura that gets into Cory’s head and he doggedly begins to pursue her. Especially after he turns up at her house only to have her brother tell him that Anna is actually dead.

The Fear Street books are known for their cliffhanger chapters and creeptastic prologues that give readers a glimpse into who the antagonist is right from the get-go.

Great summer reading and essential for any horror-loving preteen in your life.