REVIEW: The Dead Boyfriend

 The Dead Boyfriend
Author: R.L. Stine

Back in the day my son loved the Goosebumps books. He's 30 years old now, but we still reminisce about evenings spent reading about frightening neighbors, aliens, killer toys, ghosts.....  R.L. Stine gave us many hours of entertainment. As an adult when I'm looking for a fun, slightly scary story to read, I still check his books out of the library for a nostalgia read. Why not? :) The Fear Street series was the teen version of Stine's horror vision....the horrors of high school, prom queen evil, bad parties, frights at work, cheerleader mayhem...stuff I worried about at 16 worked up into cheesy horror tales. So fun! I have to admit I have also read many of these teen screams too! Again, why not? 

Now the series has been revamped a bit and is a movie trilogy on Netflix! I will watch all 3 this weekend! I had no idea the Netflix series existed until I saw this series of Fear Street Relaunch books. I downloaded three of the audio books immediately! If it has R.L. Stine's name on it, I'm going to read it. Pretty much without a moment's hesitation....

This story was fun, Stein-ian horror. The trials of a teen girl revved up into something truly horrific. Caitlin is 17. She's had a few dates, but never really a steady serious boyfriend. Then she meets Blade. Her friends warn her she's going too fast, getting too deep into the relationship before she really knows him. But she doesn't listen -- can't listen. All she can think about is Blade. Then she meets Deena Fear and Caitlin's life swings wickedly out of control. Being 17 is bad enough....but being stalked by a dead boyfriend? The boyfriend you killed? That's bad with a capital B.

I listened to the audio book version of this story. The audio is a bit over 5 1/2 hours long and narrated by Brittany Pressley. I had great fun listening to Caitlin's life descend into a bloody mess (literally). The story kept my attention from beginning to twisty ending. Very nostalgic! A simple, slightly scary story that was a perfect break from heavier adult fiction. 

There are six books in the Fear Street Relaunch series. I like Stein's style...I plan to read them all! And this weekend -- I will be enjoying the Netflix series! :)

**I voluntarily listened to a review copy of this audio book from Macmillan Audio. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**