This is part three of a three-part review of The Fear Street Saga by R.L. Stine. Click here for part 1, The Betrayal. Or click here for part 2, The Secret.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fear Street Saga 3: The Burning was the first book in this trilogy that made it into my greasy little kid hands. I was in the fourth grade at the time, and that month our teacher assigned us a book report that could be about any book we wanted. I turned in 4 handwritten pages, front and back, that were essentially just a very detailed, bordering on plagiaristic, summary of the whole Hannah and Julia plot arc. It was the most tragic and horrifying thing I’d ever read. I was completely obsessed.

Fun fact: Ever since then, the song “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew has reminded me of this book.

The final Fear Street Saga book, The Burning, follows Simon Fear as he debuts in New Orleans with a new name and a new ambition to bring the freshly-christened Fear family back to its former glory. When he sets his sights on the rich and glamorous Angelica Pierce, he knows the only way to win her is to use the terrific powers of his ancestors to remove anyone who stands in his way. Later on, Simon’s daughters Hannah and Julia struggle to come of age in the high society of their new town, Shadyside. But being a teenager isn’t easy when the strings are being pulled by the unseen hands of their family’s curse… Then, Daniel Fear tries to reconnect with long lost family in Shadyside, only to find himself falling in love with Nora Goode. They know that only a marriage between them can unite their families and end the curse. But will Simon Fear allow it?

Some of the tropes in this book:
Gold Digger
Artifact of Doom
Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor
Hereditary Curse
Murder by Mistake
Let the Past Burn
The Cassandra

I loved cracking open this book and immediately jumping into my favorite part of the whole trilogy: The whole plot arc of Simon trying to win over Angelica. Perhaps it’s because it was my introduction to these books, but even reading it now I found it to be the most fun segment out of all three novels. The ballgowns! The Opera! The horrific deaths! I also love Angelica’s glamour and mystique, and wish Stine had done more with her in the latter half of the book.

As mentioned in the intro, the segment with the sisters in the second half of the book blew my preteen mind. I still enjoyed it in this reread, though their “awkward boring sister vs. charming beautiful sister” dynamic didn’t land as well for me this go around. Part of this is because of the characterization of the sisters—like geez, everyone’s thoughts about Julia are so mean!—but I think another part is how it begins from Julia’s point of view, then switches to Hannah for the remainder. I feel I would have preferred it if the viewpoint had either switched back and forth between them more consistently, or just stuck with one sister all the way through.

Also, why don’t we get to find out what happens with Elizabeth Fier from the last book? She’s the POV character for around 1/4 of The Secret, but the only thing we learn about her after that book is that she gave Simon the evil Fear family pendant at some point before he left their home for New Orleans. Please, Jovial Bob, couldn’t we get just one measly paragraph about Elizabeth for continuity?

And another thing: A Fear tries to marry a Goode to break the curse AGAIN?!? That’s three times in three books! In so many generations of Fears, can’t we see one of them come up with a slightly better or at least different idea for breaking the curse?

With all it’s faults, though, The Burning still kills it with the pacing, ambience and action that makes these books so enjoyable. Simon holding his dying daughter in his arms is the image that haunted me the most when I read these as a kid, but others such as the riverboat scene and Simon and Angelica drinking blood together were perhaps even more fun to experience as a grownup.

I still have that original copy of The Burning that I got from the grocery store. The front cover is missing. The spine is unreadable, but still in one piece. Of all the books I’ve lost and donated and “lent” over the years, I’ve never been able to let go of this one.

This is the book that cemented my love of reading late into the night, promising over and over that I’ll go to bed after this next chapter. Of reading something terrifying when I’m alone, something that makes me suspicious of the darkness around me so that I shiver and in a burst of energy get up to turn on all the lights. It’s because of this experience that I went on in my teenage years to seek out incredible horror writers like Anne Rice, Stephen King, Bram Stoker, and so many more.

Four stars for The Burning, and a strong recommend for young people who are just starting to dip their toes into horror. While this trilogy isn’t by any means the best preteen horror out there, it’s a bone-chilling romp that makes a great gateway to the genre.

Did you read The Fear Street Saga as a kid? What were your thoughts then vs. now? I can’t wait to hear what you think, so leave me a comment below!