Fear (anthology)
Encyclopedia
Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror is a 2010 horror anthology edited by R. L. Stine
. It was published on September 2010 by Dutton Juvenile in the United States. It contains the following stories: "Welcome to the Club" by R. L. Stine, "She's Different Tonight" by Heather Graham
, "Suckers" by Suzanne Weyn
, "The Perfects" by Jennifer Allison
, "Shadow Children" by Heather Brewer
, "The Poison Ring" by Peg Kehret
, "Dragonfly Eyes" by Alane Ferguson
, "Jeepers Peepers" by Ryan Brown
, "Piney Power" by F. Paul Wilson
, "The Night Hunter" by Meg Cabot
, "Tuition" by Walter Sorrells
, "Tagger" by James Rollins
and "Ray Gun" by Tim Maleeny.
managed by Florian, meets with a group of kids hanging out at the parking lot of the restaurant. The kids tell him that in order to join their club, called "The Killers," he has to kill
someone. A few days later, JJ meets with them again and proclaims that he killed Florian. He later proceeds in shooting someone in that group with blanks, Bony, who falls down at impact, leaving JJ to believe that he killed Bony. After Bony gets up and informs him that the act was just a joke; that the rest of the group was in on it and it was JJ's initiation to the club, Julie, who works with JJ at the restaurant, approaches them and informs them that someone shot and killed Florian.
s that occur when Lectus gets too overcrowded from a girl named Etchenia. Soon, the population begins to rise and one day, they hear that everyone at the north end of Lectus has been wiped out and about a strange light that had appeared in the sky. An astronomer
, Schroeder Peterson, suggests they were being visited by God
. That night, a force pulls Phil's sister, bothers and mother in the air, leaving him, his father and several others left on Lectus. His father volunteers to go to the mysterious light, and disappears after going towards it.
. During the babysitting job, Hannah notices the kids acting strange
ly, and after hearing someone call her name, she goes to investigate. This crying leads Hannah to a tiny room behind a mirror, where she finds the source of the crying: a baby monitor with a video screen. After finding the cage that the baby had been located in, she topples into the cage and is trapped inside with a doll that looks like her. In the end, the littlest Perfect appears outside of the cage with a key.
stated that this anthology contained "thirteen highly suspenseful short stories". Benjamin Boche from TeenReads.com stated that "some of the tales aren’t for the faint of heart, some deal with the intricacies of what science can do, and some are just plain creepy" and "FEAR has something for everyone". Joy Fleishhacker from the School Library Journal
called this anthology a collection of "heart-pounding adventures and creepy-crawly mysteries". Publishers Weekly
stated that the anthology "offers chills, though seldom getting too gruesome". Daniel Kraus from Booklist
stated that this anthology contained "uninspired entries" although it "keeps the reading level consistent, which makes it a good entry point for reluctant readers moving on from Stine’s own oeuvre".
R. L. Stine
Robert Lawrence Stine , known as R. L. Stine, and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American writer. Stine, who is called the "Stephen King of children's literature," is the author of hundreds of horror fiction novels, including the books in the Fear Street, Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, and The...
. It was published on September 2010 by Dutton Juvenile in the United States. It contains the following stories: "Welcome to the Club" by R. L. Stine, "She's Different Tonight" by Heather Graham
Heather Graham Pozzessere
Heather Graham Pozzessere is a best-selling US writer, who writes primarily romance novels...
, "Suckers" by Suzanne Weyn
Suzanne Weyn
Suzanne Weyn is an American author. She primarily writes children's and young adult science fiction and fantasy novels. she has written over fifty novels and short stories, and is best known for The Bar Code Tattoo and The Bar Code Rebellion books...
, "The Perfects" by Jennifer Allison
Jennifer Allison
Jennifer Allison is an American author of mystery novels who is best known as the author of the Gilda Joyce children's series of books.Born Jennifer Allison Brostrom, she grew up in Saline, Michigan and is a 1984 graduate from Saline High School. Jennifer holds a B.A...
, "Shadow Children" by Heather Brewer
Heather Brewer
Heather Brewer is an American writer of young adult fiction. Her debut series, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, was published by Dutton Juvenile.-Publications:The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod:*Eighth Grade Bites...
, "The Poison Ring" by Peg Kehret
Peg Kehret
Peg Kehret is an American writer. Her writing primarily targets younger children between the ages of 8 and 14....
, "Dragonfly Eyes" by Alane Ferguson
Alane Ferguson
Alane Ferguson is an author who has won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery novel in 1990 for Show Me the Evidence.Ferguson was born in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1957. Her mother is children's author Gloria Skurzynski....
, "Jeepers Peepers" by Ryan Brown
Ryan Brown (actor)
Ryan Brown is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Bill Lewis III on Guiding Light from 1998 to 2001 and Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless from 2002 to 2003 and author of the novel Play Dead in 2010....
, "Piney Power" by F. Paul Wilson
F. Paul Wilson
Francis Paul Wilson is an American author, primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer . Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog while still in medical school , and continued to write science fiction...
, "The Night Hunter" by Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot is anAmerican author of romantic and paranormal fiction for teens and adults and used to write under several pen names, but now writes exclusively under her real name, Meg Cabot...
, "Tuition" by Walter Sorrells
Walter Sorrells
Walter Sorrells is an award-winning author of mystery and suspense novels for adults and teens. He has written many novels, including Fake I.D., named one the ten Best Mysteries by Booklist magazine in 2005 and several novels based-on the television series Flight 29 Down. He also writes under the...
, "Tagger" by James Rollins
James Rollins
* For the American baseball pitcher, see Jim Czajkowski* For the American baseball shortstop, see Jimmy Rollins* For the 19th century American politician from Missouri, see James S. Rollins...
and "Ray Gun" by Tim Maleeny.
Welcome to the Club
JJ, who works at a restaurantRestaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
managed by Florian, meets with a group of kids hanging out at the parking lot of the restaurant. The kids tell him that in order to join their club, called "The Killers," he has to kill
KILL
KILL is the sixth album by Detroit rock band Electric Six.In initial press releases, the band described the album as being a return to a sound more akin to their debut album, but this was later revealed by front-man Dick Valentine to be more gimmick than truth.An explicit video was released for...
someone. A few days later, JJ meets with them again and proclaims that he killed Florian. He later proceeds in shooting someone in that group with blanks, Bony, who falls down at impact, leaving JJ to believe that he killed Bony. After Bony gets up and informs him that the act was just a joke; that the rest of the group was in on it and it was JJ's initiation to the club, Julie, who works with JJ at the restaurant, approaches them and informs them that someone shot and killed Florian.
She's Different Tonight
On Halloween night a young, cocky man tries to seduce a seemingly shy, young girl. In the end his intentions change and they both are not who they seem.Suckers
Phil Boreidae and his family move to Lectus, where they hear about the disappearanceDisappearance
Disappearance may refer to:* Forced disappearance, when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view* Unexplained disappearances, the disappearance of objects, animals or people without apparent reason or cause...
s that occur when Lectus gets too overcrowded from a girl named Etchenia. Soon, the population begins to rise and one day, they hear that everyone at the north end of Lectus has been wiped out and about a strange light that had appeared in the sky. An astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, Schroeder Peterson, suggests they were being visited by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. That night, a force pulls Phil's sister, bothers and mother in the air, leaving him, his father and several others left on Lectus. His father volunteers to go to the mysterious light, and disappears after going towards it.
The Perfects
Hannah and her family move to Entrails, Michigan, where their next door neighbor, Rebecca Perfect, offers Hannah a babysitting job for the nightNight
Night or nighttime is the period of time when the sun is below the horizon. This occurs after dusk. The opposite of night is day...
. During the babysitting job, Hannah notices the kids acting strange
Strange
Strange is a British television drama series, produced by the independent production company Big Bear Productions for the BBC, which aired on BBC One. It consists of a single one-hour pilot episode screened in March 2002, followed by a series of six one-hour episodes broadcast in the summer of 2003...
ly, and after hearing someone call her name, she goes to investigate. This crying leads Hannah to a tiny room behind a mirror, where she finds the source of the crying: a baby monitor with a video screen. After finding the cage that the baby had been located in, she topples into the cage and is trapped inside with a doll that looks like her. In the end, the littlest Perfect appears outside of the cage with a key.
Shadow Children
Dax's younger brother, Jon, is afraid of the dark and that the shadow people will come and get him if the lights are out. So one night Dax lets Jon lay in the dark terrified and is about the find out that the shadow children are real, very real.Reception
Kirkus ReviewsKirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
stated that this anthology contained "thirteen highly suspenseful short stories". Benjamin Boche from TeenReads.com stated that "some of the tales aren’t for the faint of heart, some deal with the intricacies of what science can do, and some are just plain creepy" and "FEAR has something for everyone". Joy Fleishhacker from the School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
called this anthology a collection of "heart-pounding adventures and creepy-crawly mysteries". Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
stated that the anthology "offers chills, though seldom getting too gruesome". Daniel Kraus from Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
stated that this anthology contained "uninspired entries" although it "keeps the reading level consistent, which makes it a good entry point for reluctant readers moving on from Stine’s own oeuvre".