Fear Street: Night Games (R.L. Stine)

Diane is hanging out with her boyfriend Lenny, best friend Cassie, and Cassie's boyfriend Jordan when they come across the house of their math teacher. Mr. Crowell is the least liked teacher in Fear Street. After complaining about him for a bit, they move on and see a dark figure climbing out of a window. Though they think it's a burglar, it's actually Diane's old friend Spencer.

Spencer tells them that he abruptly left town because his dad lost his job and his grandmother got sick so they moved to Washington. They came back recently, but his parents put him in private school. He doesn't explain why he never called Diane who was supposedly his best friend. Spencer tells them that he likes doing something he calls Night Games and wants them to play with him. It really just involves him sneaking up on a couple making out and yelling at them. Lame.

Lenny is goofing off in math class when Mr. Crowell goes off on him. I think we're supposed to feel bad for Lenny, but I feel bad for their teacher. He points out that Lenny never pays attention in class and that he can't even hazard a guess as to what they're doing in class that very day. Lenny gets so pissed off that he starts to go after the teacher, but Diane yells at him and he instead runs from the room.

Later that night, they all meet up with Spencer again for some more lame Night Games. Spencer listens to them all rail about how Mr. Crowell is so evil before taking them to the teacher's house. He says they need to spy on him and get some dirt, but he actually gets close enough to peek through his windows. He then starts to destroy the man's Christmas decorations. Crowell hears them and comes outside, which leads to them all running away in a panic.

Diane imagines the police showing up on her doorstep, but everyone else just laughs it off. They all agree to meet up with Spencer again too. She gets home and gets a phone call from the guy she dated before Lenny. Bryan acts ticked off when she refuses to get back together and tells her that Lenny is bad news before hanging up on her. She then gets a new call from someone who tells her he saw what she did and he knows about her Night Games.

The book then jumps to last winter.

Spencer had a massive crush on Diane and assumed that once she dropped Bryan, she'd go for him but instead picked Lenny. Spencer invited everyone up to his uncle's cabin. Lenny and Diane had a fight later about how he didn't want to be there, to which she told him to sleep outside and he raced off to the car. Diane and Spencer wound up talking outside while bring in wood, which led to them kissing. Lenny caught them and punched Spencer in the face, as he should have.

Back to the present day.

Diane and Cassie are hanging out and eating pizza when Lenny comes in with a bloody hand. Turns out that Crowell turned him in for failing algebra and got him kicked off the basketball team. Instead of blaming the guy who doesn't do his homework, everyone blames their teacher. When they meet up with Spencer that night, he decides that they should get back at the teacher.

Since he isn't home, they sneak in through one of his windows. The guys want to trash the place, but Diane convinces them to just move some stuff around. She freaks out because she thinks she sees their teacher's dead body, but it's just his pajamas. Crowell really does come home though and almost catches them.

The next day, they all keep freaking out during his class. Diane is sure he knows they were in his house, especially when he asks her to stay after class. He really just wants to find out if she needs help with her midterm project. Man, he's such a horrible person! She later hears someone following her and flips out until she realizes that it's Bryan. He tries to talk to her, she screams at him for calling her all the time, he denies it, and she runs away again.

Lenny shows up at her house later that night pissed off once again. This time he's mad because Crowell called and told his parents he was in danger of failing. Just as they start making out, Cassie shows up with a note someone left her about the whole Night Games thing. Spencer then shows up with a similar note.

Back to last winter.

Cassie, Diane, and Spencer were playing in the snow when Lenny decided they should have a snowball fight. Still ticked about getting punched in the face the night before, Spencer made an iceball and flung it at Lenny but hit Jordan instead. Lenny and Jordan then teamed up on him, shoved his head in a snowdrift, and packed the snow around him. Even though Spencer couldn't move and was clearly in pain, the guys convinced the girls to leave him and then just took off. WTF?

Present day again.

Crowell calls Lenny in for a meeting and supposedly called him a loser. I don't know about all that, but Lenny is so mad that he demands they play one more Night Game. They all meet and sneak into his house once again. Diane freaks out when she thinks he brought a gun but he really just brought a can of spray paint.

She and Cassie wind up alone with Diane wanting them to leave. They then wander around some more and really do find Crowell dead. Lenny freaks out because he already spray painted the man's house and will probably be found guilty of killing him. They start to run outside but see headlights coming towards them.

It's really just someone next door, so they all sneak out and head home. Diane thinks she sees Bryan's car parked in front of her house but isn't too sure. She then gets up the next day and gets a call from Cassie because they found Crowell dead of a heart attack. Unfortunately, because of the spray painting, they think someone broke in and literally scared him to death. Diane later finds a note on her front porch that says she's next.

Cassie and Lenny both got similar notes, so they head out to track down Jordan. They find him laughing with Bryan and accuse him of setting Lenny up. He confesses and then laughs at them for thinking he could do something like that. After he yells at them, they go to find Spencer. They find his house completely empty and his dead body in the middle of the living room.

While they freak out over what happened, Spencer suddenly rolls over and starts talking. He tells them that they killed him and rises off the floor. Turns out that he really did die in the snowdrift last winter. He blames Diane, grabs her, and strangles her. She tries to fight back before giving in and hugging him. He starts flipping out because he needs his hatred to “live” on. When they all hug him and say they love him, he disappears.

As everyone celebrates their victory, Diane feels incredibly cold and can't get warm. She then realizes that Spencer killed her. Lenny comes over to hug her, but she gets really angry at the fact that they all did nothing while he killed her. She then wonders if she should tell them the truth or have some night games of her own. Um, okay?