The Midnight Club, or "Come for the Horror, Stay for the Enlightenment"

I have never recapped a Pike book, though I used to read his books almost as religiously as Fear Streets in the ‘90s. Pike is a philosopher king compared to R. L. Stine. Fear Street is all slasher-gore horror but doesn’t come with tons of depth (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) Pike, however, seems to start off down on your typical horror road, then it spins out into something extravagantly weird, like “but we were actually ancient pagan gods and live in another dimension” kind of stuff. Pike’s books were pretty trippy.

But my attention was caught by the Netflix series based on his book The Midnight Club. It looks scary, and I thought it might be something fun to recap, seeing as I’ve been enjoying recapping R. L.’s shows. With that in mind, I’ve read The Midnight Club. It is … not at all what I expected. Although perhaps I should have, since it is classic Pike. And now I’m even more curious about The Midnight Club series. Does it follow the same path as the book? Does it take a creepy concept (dying kids make a pact to reach out to others after death) and take it in a whole different direction? Let me know if you’d like to see the recaps of the show here! Also if you're looking for more horror, check out my new blog post on The Scariest Monsters in Literature.

On to the recap: Ilonka is dying of cancer. She lives in Rotterdam Hospice, a very fancy mansion that has been repurposed for children receiving end-of-life care – no treatments, only pain management and whatever comfort they can find in a cool old place and each other. It used to be the home of an oil tycoon, set on the Pacific Coast in Washington State. 

Ilonka has a remarkably upbeat attitude to keep on living life right to the end. Her roommate, Anya, feels otherwise. She lives in excruciating pain from her bone cancer and likes drugs and not much else. Her leg has been amputated and she can barely move for the pain. She reads the Bible by day and tells scary stories at night. She also tells hard truths, like the fact that Ilonka is obviously in love with Kevin, another guest at the hospice, which is super awkward since he has a devoted girlfriend.

Ilonka is aware of all this. She hates Kevin’s girlfriend, thinks she’s insipid. She loooooves Kevin and believes her connection to him has to do with the ancient past. Whoof, it didn’t take long to get to the esoteric stuff Pike loves so much!

She takes like 6 T3s to forget about the girlfriend and push the pain away. These kids take a lot of drugs. 

Ilonka is awoken by Sandra to make the next meeting of the Midnight Club. It’s a group of five kids who meet in the library at midnight to tell each other stories. Ilonka is happy she didn’t sleep through it because she has a tale to tell.

Spence is the fifth member of the club, and is a bit of an energetic trickster. He tells a bloody, gory story, which is typical of him. Then Anya tells a disturbing story about doppelgangers and deals with the devil.

Ilonka starts her story, about a past life – 20,000 years ago in Egypt. Delius is the follower of a divine Master and had a good friend, Shradna. It’s a sad story, because Shradna’s daughter dies, then Delius and Shradna fight and fall out. Also, Ilonka believes that she is Delius, and Kevin is Shradna, though she leaves that last part out.

Kevin goes next. He tells a story of an angel who falls in love with a human and becomes mortal to be with her. Ooh, what could this mean?

The next day, Kevin’s girlfriend Kathy comes to see him. Ilonka takes her aside and tells her Kevin is going to die, that’s why he’s in a hospice and she’s only hurting him by talking about their after because they’re not going to get an after. Kathy leaves in tears and Ilonka feels terrible. It’s the worst thing she’s ever done because she only did it because she wants Kevin so bad.

Ilonka has been eating only fruits and vegetables and taking lots of vitamins, so she doesn’t listen to her own advice that she’s in a hospice and there’s only one way out of a place like that. She thinks she’s getting better and demands to be taken to get an MRI to prove it. 

Before the next Midnight Club, Anya shares a story for only Ilonka. It’s a real story. She was in love with her boyfriend and thought it was too good to be true. She fucked it up because her love freaked her out so much, and gets caught cheating with another man. She had made a sculpture of two lovers together for her boyfriend, who threw it to the ground when he finds them. The woman’s leg breaks off, right where Anya’s is amputated. She wonders if it means anything, as she got sick not long after that.

At the club, Spence is all kinds of mischievous and has wine for all of them. Ilonka takes only two small sips, thinking the wine tastes funny. Anya is in a remarkably good mood, maybe because of the wine and morphine mix. They talk about trying to reach out to each other when they’re gone, to show them there is an afterlife. Only this is not scary at all, but peaceful and sweet, a way to comfort each other. 

Spence has another bloody gory story that is short and entertaining. Ilonka goes next, and it’s another of her past lives, this time in India. She went against her caste to marry and has a child who will/did become a divine prophet called the Master, so that guy’s always mixed up with her lives. Pike always does spiritual stuff like that.

At this point, I am so curious what the show is actually like because we are ¾ of the way through the book and the only plot so far basically is: dying teens tell rambling stories.

Ilonka falls asleep hard that night and has more and more past-life dreams. In these, it appears she’s being led by Jesus, who speaks of God’s love, but she refers to him as Master. She begs him to bring back her dead husband, and she basically tells her she’s not very enlightened.

When she wakes Anya is dead. She wonders whether something happened to her (besides, you know, the bone cancer that was actively killing her). The doctors assure her of course her body had reached its end naturally and there would be no autopsy. 

Then a powerful rumour spreads through Rotterdam: one of the guests there has been misdiagnosed. One of them is not condemned.

Ilonka is sure it’s her because she had her MRI the other day. She’s happy and goes for a  walk with Kevin. He knows he was in her past lives, and he tells her the story about the angel was about them, too.

But then Ilonka sees Sandra packing her stuff.  Nobody packs their stuff here, that’s done for them after they’re gone. So Ilonka realizes it’s not her that gets to leave through the front doors. Her new diagnosis is much worse – she has maybe a couple of weeks.

Kevin finishes his story of the angel for her and it’s about love and acceptance and death. She tells him she loves him, he feels the same way, and they sleep together (though neither has the energy for actual sex, they’re together emotionally). She dreams of other past lives – one where she is a king, tempted by a woman who knows the secret of powerful addictive sex act called The Rapture.

Then in the next life she’s a poor, sick, bald milkmaid in Scandinavia, unloved and unlucky. She learns a different addictive sex act, called The Seedling, which forces others to be with her and she becomes promiscuous. A wizard gives her the power and now he wants her to use it to seduce and kill a count. She prays to be released from this and she is found by the young man she loved her whole life. He loves her too. They run away together but the wizard finds her and stabs her in the guts. Before she dies, the boy says he’ll find her again. She says she has many sins to pay for, but he says he’ll take them on as well so he might be with her.

Ilonka wakes up, her stomach burning with the same pain as from the other life and realizes this is the price she paid for wicked deeds before. But she wakes up in Kevin’s arms, so that’s okay. They kiss and tell each other they love each other, and he dies in her arms.

After that, it’s just her and Spence left. He admits to drugging Ilonka the night with the wine and then smothering Anya at her request. She asked him to do it because he believes he already killed someone, so his karma could take it. Spence is dying of AIDS, and he never told his partner he had it, though he hadn’t known he was infected when they first got together.

Ilonka tells him he’s forgiven, but if he would like, she’ll stay with him for the next life and share in whatever payment that comes with his sins, as Kevin did for her. 

She goes into the stars after that.

Wow. I mean, it’s a sweet story. There is nothing scary here. Even the kids who are dying are given the comfort of future lives to look forward to. It’s not Fear Street, that’s for sure. Essentially, it’s a story of divine love. I'm not sure how to rate this, but I'll go for 7 raptures out of 11.

Return to Fear Street: The Wrong Girl, or "Overreacting Teens, Overreacting"

This second book in the revamped Fear Streets was reminiscent of the series I know and like to snark on. A group of teens get into trouble, and things spin out of control on Fear Street. My issue was the POV kept on changing, and I had trouble keeping up!

Part One: Six weeks before the Robbery

Poppy is a bored teen poet and pretty whiny at that. She meanly describes all the other kids in her group of friends, including Keith, her boyfriend she is so over. Others she snarks on include bestie Ivy, her boyfriend Jeremy, and Manny. They are SO BORED at the mall, and I remember when I had all that time on my hands. Must be nice.

But then Poppy sees new kid Jack, who is attractive and intense. Also, we know he's a badass because he has an earring AND a tattoo. He convinces them to play a prank, letting in a bunch of stray dogs into a pet store. Keith is out, and Poppy thinks he's so lame. The rest of them get the whole thing on video and post it on YouTube, becoming internet darlings. Poppy lets Jack drive her home, and they make out. I guess she's really over Keith and into dangerous guys.

Heather, Poppy's sister, is furious Poppy didn't invite her in on the prank, but Poppy can't really stand her lame younger sister and tells her she doesn't have any friends of her own. Ouch, Poppy is just plain mean.

The next day, Poppy auditioned for the school play, up against her arch-nemesis Rose, a beautiful bitch. Poppy craps on her audition and is upstaged when her sister shows up and stabs herself in the heart. Obviously, it's with a stage knife and, like, super melodramatic.

We change to Ivy's POV, thinking about how her boyfriend is a Martian. Does anyone in this book like who they are dating? It's just like high school! Jeremy is super allergic to everything. Keith calls Ivy to see what's going on with Poppy, and Ivy is uncomfortable because she can see the writing on the wall with Keith. When Ivy goes to Poppy's that night, Jack is already there, and she thinks Keith doesn't stand a chance.

Rose very bitchily tells Poppy she didn't get any part in the play, and Poppy shows off her impressive temper. She stabs her ... but of course not for real, just a fantasy. Classic Fear Street.

Poppy has her friends over that night to plan their next prank, to cheer her up from being such a bad actress. She wants to target Rose, like putting a laxative in her drink. Jack pooh-poohs (see what I did there?) the idea. Instead, he suggests a fake car wreck, staged at an intersection near the school so no one can get there to watch the play. They're all in and name their prank group Shadyside Shade. Ooh, guys, how great would it be if they had called it Shadyside Snark? I would die.

Now Keith's POV. He's a stressed-out boy. He goes to Poppy's to find comfort but instead finds her with all their friends and Jack, and he didn't get an invite. He races home, downs some rum and starts cutting himself. Whoa, Keith has demons.

It's the day of the big play, and Poppy has just broken up with Keith (and kinda broke him). She and Ivy are on their way to the staged accident, where they lightly bump their cars together, blocking the intersection. Then, for greater effect, Poppy puts a smoke machine in Ivy's car. Except it actually set fire to the car, which then explodes. Whoops.

The cops investigate, and one of them is Manny's brother. Poppy agrees that all of this is her fault and is ready to accept the consequences ... just kidding! Ivy is in super trouble because it was her parent's car that exploded, and she's furious with Poppy. And Keith is feeling pretty good about being dumped and losing all his friends - not! He goes to buy beer with a high school dropout who works at the Pic-n-Pay, who confesses to stalking girls. Then Keith cuts himself. This book should come with a trigger warning.

Poppy is now working at the hamburger joint, Lefty's. Ooh, Rose comes in with Heather. Maybe they formed an I Hate Poppy Club. In a massive overreaction, Poppy smashes a burger into Rose's face. Ooh, that temper! And yeah, she's fired.

Heather's POV: she's hanging with Rose after the burger incident. Rose says she's never taken Poppy seriously, which is such a burn because, as Heather says, Poppy is obsessed with Rose.

Jack gets the gang together, telling them the best thing to do would be to rob a store as a prank. Poppy is in, mainly to impress Jack. He's targeted the Pic-n-Pay, the same place with the creepy guy who stalks girls - so that's not great. They all agree, then Jack and Poppy make out, like, a lot.

Ivy, Poppy and Jeremy case the joint. Run by a guy named Harlow, who seems really nice - but it's okay, he'll be in on the prank because it's good publicity. There's a moment where they discuss Oreo flavours and how they keep on coming up with new ones and nobody likes them - it's true. Do Carrot Cake Oreos actually exist? Ew. Poppy runs into stalker guy in the storage closet. He's so creepy, and her gut instinct tells her to run away, and then he calls her by her name, which is devastating. How did he know?

They prepare for the prank, but just before they go into the store, Jack hands Poppy a gun, telling her it's real but loaded with blanks. But when they hold Harlow up, he doesn't act like he's in on it and tries to discourage them. Then he reaches for his gun, and Jack screams at Poppy to shoot.

She freaks out and shoots him in the head. Holy shit, the whole thing is caught on camera. Jack laughs until he realizes Harlow is actually dead.

Part Two

Poppy stops to vomit everywhere as they flee. Her mom comes home from her fascinating work experimenting with giant hornets (oh god, this was written before the murder hornet crisis, right? Did RL know something?). Poppy confesses what she did, but her mom didn't hear her, so that was a lot of nothing.

Manny calls Poppy because she needs to turn herself in, he accidentally posted the video, and it's everywhere. If she goes to his brother, he'll be kind to her. Poppy arrives there by herself and confesses. The cop takes her to the crime scene.

Harlow is there, and he's fine. Everybody's laughing and cheering. It was all a prank ... on Poppy! Jack orchestrated it all because ... he's actually with Rose and had been stringing Poppy along as a joke. That's black, man; I don't condone that. Was Rose cool with him making out with her all the time? Wtf?

As to be expected, Poppy loses her exceptional temper and vows revenge on all of them. Again, massive overreaction. I think it would be appropriate to be happy you are not, in fact, a murderer, and the nice man you thought you killed was still alive? But no. Poppy is all me me me.

Part Three

Poppy is feeling sorry for herself - she has such mean friends! Ex-friends, now that she refuses to speak to any of them. She's working as a taxi dispatcher now, and when she leaves, she is stalked by extremely creepy stalker guy. He is intensely rapey but finally lets her go. This scene was genuinely terrifying because most women have been in this position at one time or another. Was this written by a woman? I'm getting that vibe. Anyways, Poppy backs up over the stalker, and I approve.

She goes to Ivy's, who's been begging her for forgiveness. Poppy uses her washroom, then tells Ivy she never wants to see her again. Poppy, get over it. I wouldn't forgive Jack because he was a creep, but her actual friends should be given a pass. Oh, god, Poppy does not forgive. Instead, "someone" put acid in Ivy's shampoo, giving her horrific burns and causing all of her hair to fall out. Ivy had perfect hair, so this is huge.

Swing over to Jeremy's POV, who's having an asthma attack as he gets the horrifying news from a sobbing Ivy. It's at that point he realizes his bedroom is filled with hornets. They attack, and Jeremy falls over, unable to breathe ...

Cops come to Poppy's house to investigate since she did vow revenge on the victims just the other day. Heather unhelpfully points out that Poppy uses a strong acid to clean jewelry. And when they go to look, the bottle is gone! Now Poppy is suspect #1! She's also a real piece of work and showing a shocking lack of empathy towards Ivy. They get the news at that point, Jeremy died in the hospital from the hornet stings. Now Poppy's mom even thinks she did it because Poppy knew about her experimental hornets.

Now, at first, I thought this next chapter was in Poppy's POV and thought she was psychotically un-empathetic, but then I went back to realize it was Keith. Keith is shockingly nonempathetic, and apparently, he overdosed once and spent some time in a hospital himself. This is why he pretends to be boring, but he's actually hardcore.

Poppy remembers she saw her mom's hornets WITH KEITH - and all of a sudden remembers he threatened her after they broke up. So, of course, she goes to confront him. And HE LIVES ON FEAR STREET. And her stalker is stalking her. And Keith isn't home, but his mom says he has "episodes."

Poppy returns home to find her rabbit cuts to pieces in her bed. No, that's awful and way too personal. Now I actually suspect her weird sister.

Part Four

Poppy doesn't want to go to school because everyone thinks she's a murderer, but her sister says she'll sit with her. Okay, it was definitely the sister. It's the day of the school play, which they had missed because of the fake/real car wreck, and the curtain rises on Rose, tangled in ropes and strangled with Poppy's scarf. It's for sure the sister, right? Angry that Rose dropped her once Jack got rid of Poppy?

Everyone's a suspect, everyone's sketchy, and I still think it's the sister. All parties are gathered in the music room by the cops, and apparently, Poppy figures something out. She dramatically confesses. Which infuriates her sister, who angrily reveals it was actually her. Heh. I knew it.

But then she stabs Poppy, and Keith confesses for real - wait, what? He rips his shirt to show off his cutting scars to show how angry he really is. Poppy and Heather congratulate themselves on their excellent acting - it was a fake knife all along. They figured if they confessed, the real killer would want to confess. But ... that's stupid, even though it worked. If I were the killer, I'd be like ... yeah, it was them! Luckily, Keith isn't too sharp, and so the investigation wraps up. O ... kay.

I wasn't very into this one. It was a bit long, and all the teens were pretty whiny. I kinda wished that Poppy actually was the murderer; that would have surprised me. On the other hand, points for the realistic uber-creepy stalker, and there were some creative deaths in there. I'll give it three murderous hornets out of seven.

Return to Fear Street: You May Now Kill the Bride, or "Fear Street Meets Twilight Zone and They Have a Delightful Love Child"

 

Hello Fear Street lovers! Watching the spooky Fear Street trilogy on Netflix has inspired AM and I to recap more Fear Streets, and as it happens, there are three newer books we've never read. Hooray!

Now, obviously our recaps of Fear Street will be finite, because there's only so many of these RL can pump out, but don't fret because we have other content out there. I am in the process of compiling a list of witchy book reviews at my website Cordelia Kelly. I you love books about witches as much as I do (and I love them a lot), then you should check it out at: Book Reviews But Make it Witchy!

Now, back to Fear Street, and the first in the new line of Return to Fear Street: You May Now Kill the Bride. Ooh, a book about weddings? I’m immediately curious – how old are these characters? Fear Streets (the books, not the movies ahem), rarely have any romantic interactions beyond a chaste nacho-flavoured peck on the lips. And now we’re talking marriage? I think the only wedding in a Fear Street until now was a disturbing child bride scenario in Bad Moonlight.

Part One

Ruth-Ann Fear is being strangled from behind by Peter Goodman. Oh, no, wait, this is sexy strangling, so it’s okay. Dear lord. It’s only page 1!

It’s 1923. We know this because Ruth-Ann Fear just got her hair bobbed, and they say “the bee’s knees” a lot. RA always comes in second to her perfect older sister Rebecca, who gets absolutely everything, including cute boy Nelson Swift. But Peter is RA’s boy she caught all on her own. RA actually thinks that he’s kinda dumpy, so he’s perfect for her! Unfortunately, Rebecca doesn’t want RA to date Peter for some reason, which makes RA angry. So she deals with her anger in a secret Fear attic full of secrets. Well, that can’t be good.

RA inherited the Fear family spellbook – and also being evil, apparently. She casts a spell, dancing naked in candlelight while delighting in her ability to control people. Except … her powers didn’t work out all that well because Peter (who she magicked into loving her) decides to go for perfect Rebecca instead. Damn!

One year later, it’s Peter and Rebecca’s wedding. It is happening on a mountaintop in Colorado, where the Fears apparently own property. Nelson Swift, Rebecca’s former boyfriend, shows up to make a scene. RA herself is pretty calm; she feels like she’s over it.

When it’s time to kiss the bride, Peter lifts Rebecca into his arms, kisses her, and with a blank look on his face, throws her off the cliff. Ooh, didn’t see that coming. Was Peter under the control of someone else? Or murdering of his own volition. Which of the suspects is truly evil? Peter, RA or Nelson?

Obviously, the murder results in complete pandemonium. RA’s father blames her. He knows about the attic; she was so obvious with her witchy spells. In fury, RA breaks free, runs, and also plummets over the cliff.

And the evildoer was … Peter! He was actually Peter GOODE, longtime enemies of the Fears, who continues the cycle of hate by murdering the Fear daughters.

Part Two

Cut to modern times, on the same mountaintop in Colorado. We have a bunch of new Fears: Harmony, with her perfect older sister Marissa. Hmm, I’m seeing some connections here.

But Harmony also has a twin, Robby, whose sole characteristic is apparently obsessed with his girlfriend Nikki Parker, who is referred to as shallow and dumb. Harmony is way too boy-crazy to settle on one guy, while Robby is a shy nerd.

Marissa is about to marry Doug, a humourless bull nobody likes. Their obnoxious Uncle Kenny tells obnoxious jokes at the rehearsal dinner, then starts to vomit chicken feathers. It’s probably a bad idea to piss off the Fears; you never know what kind of crap they’re going to do to you. At the rehearsal itself, everyone is attacked by zombie squirrels. You know, normal wedding stuff.

Old Grandpa Bud calls out Harmony – apparently, she’s taken up the mantle of family evil and casts minor spells. He accuses her of wanting to disrupt Marissa’s big day and warns her off.

In a huff, Harmony goes to the bar to pick up guys, but that’s when she sees Aiden, Marissa’s former boyfriend and the REAL love of her life.

Flashback to Aiden stuff: He was the college boyfriend Marissa was never supposed to have. She brings him home for Thanksgiving, despite not breaking things off with her high school guy, Doug. Everyone is confused, except for Harmony, who immediately lusts after him. Marissa warns Harmony off.

But Harmony doesn’t listen. She’s drinking beer with her friends and decides to do a little woodworking, as one does. Somehow Aiden ends up in the basement with her, and she tries to make out with him. He turns her down, but then there is a horrific cabinet-making accident where drunk Harmony runs a drill through his hand. Aiden, who had plans to be a surgeon, was significantly upset.

Back in the present, Harmony tracks Aiden down, speaking to several hotel workers to wiggle out his room number. She demands to know why he’s there. Predictably, since she mangled his hand, he doesn’t want to talk to her.

The following day, the bride can’t be found. Her hotel room is empty, with only a note for Harmony: DON’T LOOK FOR ME.

Part Three

Everyone is frantic, and the wedding is called off. Harmony goes looking for Aiden, only the hotel room he was in the night before is occupied by someone else. Most of the hotel workers she spoke to didn’t actually work there. Hmmm.

She’s confused until she sees a photo of the hotel staff from 1924 – the people she spoke to were in that photo! She’s even more confused now, but I am jazzed – this concept is kinda cool, a twilight zone time warp, I’m into it. Harmony thinks she’s losing it.

Part Four

There is a search to see if they can find Marissa, who has completely disappeared from the face of the earth. They do a helicopter search and find a body … only it is Taylor, Marissa’s best friend. The Fear family is falling apart; Mom is spiralling and drinking until she’s catatonic. Dad stays in Colorado to help with the search while everyone else goes home. Robby accuses Harmony of wanting to destroy Marissa’s wedding and calls her evil.

In a weird subplot, Robby goes to see his girlfriend Nikki, but her Mom says she’s gone camping and not to call her. Robby calls anyways, and Nikki answers, telling him she’s at home. When he’s like – you clearly are not – she hangs up and ghosts him.

Harmony is Facetiming with her Dad, who is sitting in the lobby of the Colorado hotel. Over his shoulder, Marissa appears and looks straight at Harmony. But when Dad turns around, she’s gone. Ooh, cool, Facetiming ghosts just gave me the creeps. Totally loving the vibe of this book; with the hotel, it reminds me of something a bit old-school like The Shining or Tower of Terror (which I realize is a ride, but still). I actually got goosebumps, and I’m loving this.

Harmony immediately heads back to Colorado. In the hotel, she hears her sister in the room next door! She tricks the night manager into letting her in, but there is no one there. But when she sneaks in later, she finds Marissa! She’s having a girl gab with Rebecca and RA. They all confirm that they are indeed dead. 

Right here - this is where the book hit its best part, I think. This is all cool. But things sort of unravel, with loosely wrapped up plot points and a rushed ending. But lots of points for this neato plot. Might I even say it's the bee's knees?

The ghosts explain. There is a curse on the Fears and the Goodes that they can never marry. Because Peter Goode actually married Rebecca, he set the curse in motion. So the Fears are doomed to haunt the hotel for eternity. And Marissa was killed by Aiden, who is out for revenge. He’s been working with Nikki, his actual girlfriend, who he met at the Thanksgiving of terror. I’m confused about how he ended up being in the other time, though?

Harmony needs to make things right. She’s been researching some spells in this and can go back in time, and she stops the original wedding from ever taking place. Rebecca and RA are no longer trapped in the hotel, and Harmony ends up in a staff photo from 1924, then goes back to real-time and saves the day.

I really enjoyed the setup. I was impressed by the nuanced connections between the two times, nearly a century apart, and felt like a really cool world had been established. The end was rushed and confused and ended kinda like a typical Fear Street, which was okay. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from these new Fear Streets and was pleasantly surprised. I give this 7 haunted hotels out of 11.