The Bookworm: The Surprise Party
The Surprise Party, by R.L. Stine. 167 pages. Pocket Books. August 1989.
The dangers of the Fear Street woods weren’t just rumor. People really did disappear in those dark hills that stretched for miles past the end of Fear Street. Strange, impossible accidents were reported in the newspaper. Trees fell, seemingly for no reason at all. Normally fearful animals attacked with bizarre ferocity (p. 81).
After what seemed like weeks of writing and going back and forth with editors, I finally had time to return to good ol’ Shadyside and Fear Street. It felt so good to read again — to just sit and let the events of The Surprise Party unfold to my amusement. That is one of the reasons why I am revisiting the Fear Street series: mindless fun.
The Surprise Party was the second book in the Fear Street series, after The New Girl. Interestingly, the major characters of The New Girl, Cory Brooks and his neighbor/girlfriend Lisa Blume, play supporting roles in The Surprise Party, which makes me wonder if Stine intended there to be more character continuity. At least at first; that is obviously not what happened as the series progressed. With the exception of a few holdovers (most notably Suki Thomas — that slut!), Shadyside and its eponymous high school are seemingly repopulated with new people every book. (Suki Thomas also appears in The Surprise Party.)
This was the first Fear Street book that involves one of the “strange, impossible accidents” that occur in the Fear Street woods. (The Shadyside police, I realized, must have no investigative skills whatsoever.) The events of the novel take place one year after the mysterious death of Evan, the boyfriend of Meg Dalton’s best friend, Ellen. Evan was found, shot dead, in the Fear Street woods by Meg’s cousin, a character named Brian who is obsessed with a role-playing game called Wizards and Dungeons.
Evan’s death sent lasting shockwaves through Meg’s group of friends. Tony, Meg’s boyfriend, became moody and easily irritable. Shannon, Evan’s sister, became pensive and withdrawn. Brian lost himself in his role-playing. And Ellen moved away and has not contacted anyone since she left. However, the gang catches wind that Ellen will be making a trip back to Shadyside and Meg thinks it is a good idea to have a surprise party to welcome her back. Someone else, though, thinks differently and begins threatening Meg, telling her she should cancel the party — or else. But instead of being scared, Meg becomes bound and determined to have the party no matter what — which she does, in a recently renovated house deep within the Fear Street woods. (Nice choice, huh? “Lets throw a party for Ellen deep in the woods where mysterious things always happen — including her boyfriend’s murder!”)
The big surprise in The Surprise Party was the fact Stine revealed the identity of Evan’s killer (or supposed killer; it’s complicated) and the person threatening Meg two-thirds of the way through the book. Meg remains clueless until the climax, but Stine reveals him to the reader with a couple chapters written from his perspective. That was unexpected and a little disappointing. I want the mystery to remain until the end.
Also unexpected were frank mentions of sex and drinking. Regarding Suki Thomas, Shannon is quoted as saying “she’ll do it with any boy who asks her.” Though the language is pretty fourth grade childish, it is much more explicit than the allusions to her “reputation” in other books. Meg and Shannon also attend a party where a character is drinking beer. Both gave The Surprise Party a shred of reality that was likely avoided on purpose in later Fear Street books.
And another amusing surprise was this odd little tidbit about the Fear Street woods, which directly follows the quote at the top of the post:
Perhaps the strangest thing of all about those woods was that no birds ever ventured there. No birds chewed on the ripe wild berries, or dug for worms in the soft earth, or built nests in the trees. Over the years, teams of scientists from universities around the nation had come intent on explaining why the woods were bird-free. But they all went home as mystified as when they had arrived (p. 81).
Okay… From now on, I will definitely be on the lookout for references to birds in the Fear Street woods.
