A Book Review - Beach Party by R.L. Stine (Point Horror)

I remembered the main plot points of this book quite well, despite the fact that I probably hadn't read it in fifteen years, but I couldn't remember if I actually liked it or not. Happily, it turns out that I did.

Karen (California girl) and her friend Ann-Marie (visiting from New York, where she's been living for a few years) are spending the summer at Venice Beach, and are planning to party nonstop. Karen's recently broken up with her boyfriend, so she's thrilled when she meets two new guys: sweet, handsome Jerry and menacing-but-sexy Vince. She and Jerry really hit it off, but someone starts leaving her messages, warning her to stay away from him. Jerry's maybe-girlfriend-maybe-ex doesn't seem to like Karen. Ann-Marie is acting strangely. And then the nasty pranks start.

This is one of R.L. Stine's best books, I think. I feel a little uncomfortable saying that, because it's a pretty old book - 1991, I think - and I like to think that authors improve over the years. This doesn't always happen with Stine. I don't know if it's because I've been reading too many of his Fear Street books over the years, but a lot of his plots seem to be both outlandish and recycled. With the amount of different criminal and supernatural / preternatural elements that he adds to his books, they shouldn't ever feel stale, yet to me they often do. There are some good titles in the Fear Street series, and also a lot of forgettable ones that feel rushed and lacking in vitality.

Perhaps it's because this is an early book of his, or perhaps it's the different setting, or perhaps it's the fact that Point Horror is aimed at a slightly older reader than Fear Street. Whatever the reason, Beach Party still feels fresh to me. This is going to sound odd, and you may not get what I mean, but it feels honest. Like Mr Stine wrote it because he wanted to, rather than churning it out on contract the way I suspect he does with a lot of his books.

Ah, I don't mean to denigrate Mr Stine. I liked him a lot as an early teenager and preteen, and still enjoy some of his books nowadays. I just find him hit-or-miss.

So yeah, I really enjoyed Beach Party a lot. The characters are a little shallow, but they're fun and pleasant enough to root for. The plot is reasonably tight, and I enjoyed the big reveal at the end. The best thing for me, though, is that this book really captures the zeitgeist of the late 80s and early 90s. I lived at the beach up until about 1989, and as soon as I started reading this, I could have been back there. I put on a Def Leppard T-shirt while I read, stuck some cheerful pop songs from 1990 and 1991 on my iPod, and had a fantastic couple of evenings reading. 1990 was a brilliant year for me, and it was an utterly hedonistic pleasure to be able to revisit it via this book.

I love the cover, too. Simple, beautiful and just a tad creepy - but not creepy enough to rid me of that happy feeling.

Verdict: Elements that pulled together nicely. Great fun to read.