THE DEAD BOYFRIEND

A girl’s boyfriend doesn’t stay dead in this Fear Street novel.

Taking the loose form of Caitlyn’s diary, this story tells of how the white girl meets and falls in love with a white boy named Blade. Caitlyn, as she frequently reminds readers, is the kind of girl inclined to fully embrace her emotions, and she falls hard. During a fairly lengthy romantic buildup, mildly freaky things occur which all the other characters seem to shrug off. Then Blade gets caught two-timing Caitlyn, and she impulsively stabs him to death. She’s wracked by guilt and grief when, at his funeral, he sits up and temporarily reanimates. Then goth white Deena Fear, of the infamous Fear family, tries to recruit Caitlyn to work together to bring back Blade (whom they both have feelings for). It’s too much for Caitlyn, but Deena does it anyway, and soon undead Blade is stalking Caitlyn, and everyone around her thinks she’s going crazy. The plot is pretty flimsy and the characters stock, but the humor inherent in B-movie–style horror like this gives it a certain liveliness, regardless of how dead the characters are. The ending is a classic Goosebumps/Fear Street type twist.

A macabre horror comedy for die-hard fans only.