R.L. Stine will always be a huge part of my being a book lover. While most teenage girls in my time were swooning over Sweet Valley High, I was that loud kid spending her downtime crouched in a far-end corridor, nose buried in a Fear Street book I borrowed from the library (or, on other days, a well-worn Precious Hearts Romances paperback but that’s a story for another time). So reading Party Summer now felt like stepping right back into that same corner of my high school building.
This book is part of the Fear Street Superchillers Series. I picked it up as part of my “Reread for Comfort” plan because sometimes, the best way to heal and unwind is to revisit the stories that shaped you when you were younger. And true enough, this is one of the few decisions I did in my life that didn’t regret.
Because I didn’t realise until now, how much missed cliffhanger chapter enders, supernatural scenarios that may or may not be easily explained by logic, “renting movies”, kids in their Walkman being cool, the eerie-yet-cozy setting where even the woods feel safer than the main road but then of course danger lurks everywhere, and summers spent in both horror and amusement that were too interesting and exciting to not be part of “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” essay for when school started again.
Reading it on Kindle didn’t have quite the same thrill as holding the original pocket-sized copy (those gems are so rare to find these days), but the nostalgia was still there. The atmosphere, the heart-racing suspense, and the youthful recklessness of the characters all reminded me why I fell in love with reading in the first place.
Now, I’m planning to track down the other Fear Street Superchillers titles I can find, just to relive those summers again. Sometimes, revisiting an old book feels like writing your own “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” essay. Except this time, the answer is: I traveled back in time, and it was worth it.
🌸 Mood Match
Perfect for nights when you want to feel like a teenager again (well, if you’re a 90s kid, that is). Equal parts terror, entertainment, and nostalgia.
☕Emotional Aftertaste
A strange mix of goosebumps and warmth. I felt like my younger self was sitting beside me, giggling and shrieking at the same pages.
📚 Shelf/Heart Space
Not necessarily a must-read for everyone, but definitely a must-reread if Fear Street was once part of your life. For me, it’s a treasured time capsule, kinda like a proof that books can take us back to who we once were.
See you on the next chapter!
xo
