THE FIRST EVIL is definitely a much more robust horror novel for the Fear Street line, mixing genuine character confusion in what’s going on with an abject disregard for who lives and who dies with a supernatural twist that I love to see in my horror.I love it when Stine kills characters. The deaths are usually over the top, pretty damn creative, and no one is safe. In THE FIRST EVIL one of the main characters, which you probably won’t see coming, gets boiled to death in the gym shower. I love it. I’m sick, I know, but it’s CREATIVE and because he treats all of his characters the same (a la GRRM) it’s a death you won’t see coming. At least I didn’t.Plus this is a fairly subtle slid into supernatural and horror and I think it worked well. It made for a scarier story because you’re not bombarded with it. For most of the book there are just a bunch of cheerleaders being cranky with each other and the drama resulting from that. Then little things start to happen and once the end gets closer the horror escalates and finally it all comes to a head.I liked how this story linked to Fear Street’s past and you see a little piece of what was to come in the Fear Street Saga series out the following year. Obviously if you haven’t read any of those the reference is little more than filler but since I have the connection made me smile. It made the story more complex and considering its ending it was all the juicier. Not surprising since there are a few CHEERLEADERS sequels out there (that I’m kind of anxious to read).I felt the characters were a bit more fleshed out, a bit more realistic, and it brought me more into the story than some of the later Fear Street books. Kimmy, the alleged antagonist, does seem to be a bit much but I think a lot of her resentment is justified and she levels out as the book goes on (or becomes even more justified in her attitude, however you want to look at it). I didn’t find myself laughing at her or just generally being disgusted with her attitude because I didn’t feel she was so over-the-top.Corky and Bobbi started off being a little obnoxious but that ended quickly as the story went on. I did like how, even though they were twins, they were portrayed as very individual characters and as the story progressed they became more and more individual as characters. I never had any confusion as to who was who.At this point in the Fear Street series characters are still responding more appropriately to tragedy, lending itself to a more realistic plot line in that tragedy weighs on someone and they don’t get over it instantaneously like they do in later books. And with the ending, it wrapped this particular story up kind of creepily and left it open for the sequels to move in. I liked the more subtle supernatural aspects of it. Keeping it low-key like this made sure that the story didn’t come off as ridiculous and when it did happen it was more scary than satire.THE FIRST EVIL is again another solid addition to YA horror.4
I used to read these books all the time. I remember them being somewhat scary, and a page-turner for me. Now that I'm reading them again 15 years later, the experience has changed. The story is interesting enough. There is a seemingly trivial event at the beginning of the book, other than that, a whole lot of nothing happens. The chapter endings are filled with cheap "scares" that mean nothing. A slightly exaggerated example might be: "She walked to the bathroom, turned on the light, then gasped. NEXT CHAPTER It was actually a yawn. She has been so over-loaded these days..." Some of the scares are practical jokes, etc. It gets annoying to get teased like that--only to have nothing go on.The body count is very low, so I feel mislead by the description on the book with "ghastly murders". It wasn't really like that. There are all in all two deaths. Both deaths are surprising. The first one is because of the timing (and that one was pretty shocking), and the second one was surprising because of who the character is--even though Stine alludes to it.I like how Stine didn't write the book only from one person's perspective. He flips it around to multiple characters. That's really interesting.The story was ok. The motive of the killer is an eye-roller. Main point: Nice, quick and easy mindless read, but keep your expectations low.
What do You think about The First Evil (1992)?
I should begin this review by saying that I've been reading RL Stine's Goosebumps growing up, they were the first books I ever read and they will always hold a special place in my heart. I've never read any of his other series though and seeing that Fear Street Cheerleaders had more of a YA feeling to it was a welcome surprise. Corky and Bobbi are the two sisters that are the main characters of this book, 16 and 17 years old. They move in their new house on Fear Street and decide to join the Cheerleading squad of their new school. Even though most of the team members don't want them they manage to join in. During a bus trip to an away game a terrible accident occurs and the captain of squad ends up in a wheelchair. After that everything that the two sisters though as normal changes. Weird noises in the locker room and hallways, more mysterious accidents and finally someone ends up dead.I loved the two sisters from the beginning, especially Bobbi since we got to see more of her. But what the character I enjoyed most was Kimmy, the jealous cheerleader that hated Bobbi's guts. I wanted to bitch slap her through out the whole book but the story wouldn't be the same without her. She gave a spark to the whole book.So if you are a fan of RL Stine and in need of a creepy YA read this is the book for you.
—Veronica Morfi
This was the first fear street book that I read. I was in 6th grade.Me and my best friend wanted so badly to be cheerleaders and were excited to get our hands on fear street books. Keep in mind that not all fear street books are scary. But this was the first book I read so I was under the impression that they all were to scary for my delicate mind lol. Which put me off of reading fear streets for awhile. But I love these books. Okay so enough talking on to the review.This book is about Corky and Bobbi Corcoran two sisters who just moved to fear street. And are eager to join the cheerleading squad because apparently they are awesome cheerleaders. Shortly after they join the squad all the cheerleaders get into a bus accident near the fear street cemetery ,and the cheer captain Jennifer gets thrown out the bus. She lands on Sarah Fear's grave. Leaving her a paraplegic Making Bobbi the new captain of the squad. a lot happens but I'll cover the creepy/ mildly intense scenes. There is a lot of foreshadowing in this book. At one point when Bobbi walks by Jennifer's house she sees Jen's silhouette in the window walking back and forth, she rings the door bell and Jennifer answers in her wheelchair. so either Jen is lying or Bobbi is crazy. a lot happens to Bobbi like when she walks to her locker a bunch of lockers slam on their own. which is just eery. At one point she claims her body freezes and she fails to catch one of the cheerleaders. The most gruesome scene 12 yr old me still remembers to this day is the shower scene. Bobbi is in the locker room showers. The doors slam shut and all the shower heads start spraying scalding hot water. She tries to run but the doors wont budge. She passes out and Corky eventually finds her sister dead and the book basically describes Bobbi as being red and blotchy like a lobster so basically she burned to death. Corky finds a cheer pendant which turns out to be Jennifer's. She finds Jen dancing on Sarah Fear's grave with the cheer pendant. Only she's not really Jennifer, She's actually possessed by Sarah Fear. This leads to a showdown between Corky and Jennifer/Sarah Fear whose trying to throw Corky in the grave. Corky defeats Sarah or so she thinks only to go home and find Jennifer's cheer pendant on her bed, She screams. So you know it isn't over.
—Francessca
The book is about 2 girls, bobby and corky, they were trying out for the cheerleading team and bobby got picked as a captain. The other girls on the team gets jealous so they were making fun of her and not following her directions. When there was a new game to go to, on the way there on the bus, the bus crashes and jennifer fell on a grave and dies, but an evil spirit went inside her acting like her. The evil spirit kills bobby and corky kills the evil spirit at the end. I wouldn't want to be a leader of anything after reading this book, especially a president, i would not want to be assasinated just because they don't like me or they are jelaous that i'm president.
—Randy
