Who Killed the Homecoming Queen? by R.L. Stine

 

R.L. Stine is sometimes called the children's Stephen King, and just like Stephen King, he has his share of both swings and misses. This one, sadly, was a miss-- and it doesn't even have the benefit of nostalgia on its side, since this is one of the Fear Street books that I've never read as a kid.

The summary of this book is incredibly misleading, as it makes it sound like Tania is going to be the main character. The main character is actually one of Tania's friends, a girl named Eva. Eva is a living lie detector test with "the shining"-- but, for the sake of trademarks, let's call it "the deus ex machining." It's high school, in the 90s, or what someone who went to high school in the 50s thinks high school in the 90s is like, so there's a lot of "hey gang" and "let's meet up at the pizza parlor" with the hint of a "golly gee" or a "holy crow" hanging seductively on the wind.

Tania is a beautiful girl who has been crowned homecoming queen. And this is a Big Deal(TM). Suddenly, everyone can't stop talking about Tania, and she's being offered a starring role in an independent movie by a high school creep who just wants in her pants. The movie's title? Who Killed the Homecoming Queen? (Go ahead and roll credits, now.) It's a-- you guessed it-- horror movie where Tania gets murdered. Except, somebody didn't get the memo that art echoes life and not vice-versa, because Tania shows up dead.

Whoops.

I've really enjoyed some of R.L. Stine's books, but not the "golly gee" sorts. I think Stine is a lot better when he's writing for more of a YA than a middle grade audience, because in books like these, it really feels like he's pulling all the punches instead of the stops, and really dialing it in. The deus ex machining was a really lame twist, and the ending ended up being a cop-out sundae (with cop-outs on top of cop-outs on top of cop-outs). I was pretty disappointed, tbh.

1.5 to 2 out of 5 stars