The Bookworm: 'Dead End'
Dead End, by R.L. Stine. 147 pages. Pocket Books. March 1995.
“Keep the vow, Natalie,” Todd urged. “Keep our secret. It has nothing to do ... nothing to do with this. Nothing to do with today.” (p. 74)
I was wrong to assume Dead End takes place in the spring because it was released in March. Instead, the story is set sometime in early winter. Ironically, the blustery, wet, and cold conditions in the book were a perfect match for the bomb cyclone that hit Thursday and Friday.
Dead End tells the story of a ride home gone horribly wrong. When Natalie’s friend hits a car on a dead-end street after leaving a party, she races away for fear of angering her parents. When those in the car learn a woman was killed in the accident, they vow not to tell anyone. With the hunt for the woman’s killer dominating the local headlines, the guilt weighs on Natalie and her friends. When some of them decide to break the vow of secrecy, they end up dead. Natalie begins to wonder what will happen first: being caught by the police or being murdered.
It’s hard not to think of I Know What You Did Last Summer while reading Dead End. There are a lot of similarities—the death of a bystander, the vow to keep it a secret, and the characters getting picked off by an unknown assailant—but there are also a lot of differences that keep them from being an apples-to-apples comparison. Dead End predates the movie by two years, so any accusations of plagiarism are unfounded—though the book the movie is based on does predate Dead End by 20 years. Did Stine know about and use it for inspiration? Maybe, but I don’t think it matters since Dead End is similar but not the same.
Dead End is different from all the other older Fear Street books in one way: characters drink beer. It takes place offscreen, but there is beer present at the party in the beginning and a character gets drunk. Natalie notices kids in the garage with “silvery cans of beer in their hands” (p. 14) when she’s leaving the party. Yes, I’m beer geeking, but it’s fun when two of my passions—beer and Fear Street novels—come together. (Natalie doesn’t drink beer. She thinks it “tastes like soap” [p. 7].)
I had a couple epiphanies about the series while reading Dead End. First, much of the drama is driven by miscommunication. The characters do not communicate well or clearly with each other. A lot of it is for dramatic effect so chapters end on a cliff edge; countless Fear Street chapters end with one character overthinking or misinterpreting something that is easily explained on the next page. Much of the uncertainty and suspense would be eliminated by one clarifying question. Why did so-and-so say that? What did he/she mean by that? Just ask! That’s no fun, of course. There is no drama in clarity.
My second realization is somewhat related to the first: unfounded suspicion is a driving force for the plot. The main characters formulate all sorts of crazy ideas and suspicions—most of which are founded on miscommunication. Again, this is something that could easily be avoided with one or two questions. Of course, the miscommunication and unfounded ideas do reflect real life since it’s not easy asking hard questions, not easy confronting people to get straight answers. I’m guilty of thinking too much and not asking those clarifying questions, so these books are more realistic and truer to life (at least in some aspects) than one would expect.
Dead End is also unique in the series because it does not end with a feel-good final chapter to put a pretty bow on the story. It ends abruptly after a rather unspectacular climax. That surprised me. Though the puzzle of the story is completed (to an extent), there is usually one chapter that allows the reader to stand back and admire it in all its glory. Stine usually can’t resist that, but he did this time.
Though most of the puzzle pieces are in place, a couple don’t fit well. The details of the accident are vague and there is no explanation for how the woman was killed. I found it hard to believe a woman was killed by a strong fender bender that did no major damage to the offending vehicles. It stretches believability.
Here are a couple other noteworthy items:
• There are a lot of cameo appearances by characters from other Fear Street books. Even the world’s most unlucky cheerleader, Corky Corcoran, makes an appearance.
• Natalie and Randee are writers. I think they are the first writers I’ve come across in the series. Regardless, the characterization does not amount to much after a certain point.
• Speaking of Natalie and Randee, they are supposed to be best friends who tell each other all their secrets. However, their relationship is very awkward and distant.
• Though the cover art has nothing to do with the story, I like it. It’s one of the most intriguing covers in the series.
• Randee’s car radio is tuned to the local country music station (p. 111). I don’t remember country music being mentioned in any other Fear Street book I’ve read, so this may be a first. The popularity of country music was growing leaps and bounds in the mid-nineties, so the reference does not surprise me. Sometimes I think, halfway jokingly, that the steady decline in political reason and the rise in nationalistic rhetoric in the U.S. can be linked to the increasing popularity of country music.
