Baxlala’s #CBR4 Review #23: Chain Letter by Christopher Pike
A few weeks ago, a friend and I went out nostalgia-hunting at a local used book store. The idea was to find some YA novels we’d read as children, buy them, and then read the shit out of them while basking in the glow of our distant childhoods. I was mainly on the lookout for the horror trifecta I read as a child (Christopher Pike, RL Stine, Lois Duncan) but ended up finding a few other blasts from the past (namely Caroline B. Cooney), as well as some non-YA in the form of Mists of Avalon.
Yeah, you guys, THERE ARE MISTS OF AVALON GIFS.
When I was a tween/teen, I must have read a new Christopher Pike novel every weekend, often blowing through one in a single day. And even though I have far less time to read now than I did then (I always did my homework in the bathroom, by the glow of the nightlight, after I was supposed to be in bed asleep, which freed up most of my evenings and weekends for reading), it still didn’t take more than a few scattered weekend hours to blow through Chain Letter.
Chain Letter is basically I Know What You Did Last Summer (which, if I’m not mistaken, was a Lois Duncan novel before it was a movie starring Boobies McBooberson) meets Double Dare, only the dares are super messed up. A group of friends receives a chain letter, you see, from someone who knows a terrible secret about all of them. This mysterious Caretaker (as he is known) demands of them one thing: that they each perform the tasks he assigns them, no questions asked. These tasks start out somewhat comical, stuff like running through the school dressed as a clown, repainting the school mascot in the gym, but gradually morph into more dangerous and illegal dares. The price for refusal is injury or possible death, so most of them try to play along. At least at first.
Look, this is not a great book, but I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Chain Letter, along with the Remember Me and Last Vampire series, was one of my favorite Christopher Pike books as a teen, so I have a certain fondness for it now that I probably wouldn’t have had I not read it so many times years ago. PLUS, it holds up really well if you turn off the logical part of your brain and don’t pay attention to plot holes, which is a bonus.
Mists of Avalon gifs! I love that mini-series. I really need to read the book. Good so far?
It is! It’s been a while since I saw the mini-series but it seems to be following it pretty closely (or vice versa, really). That reminds me, though, reading it makes me want to read more fantasy…any suggestions?
What kind of fantasy are you in the mood for?
IDK. Fairies and magic and shit. And WOMAN POWER.
The best fantasy I’ve read in years is The Name of the Wind. I don’t really read much with fairies and shit. If you’re looking for dark fantasy and a series to basically occupy your summer, then Game of Thrones is the obvious choice.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is urban fantasy and has woman power and shit, but no fairies (demons and angels instead). Loved that book.
I read Elantris last year and really liked it. It’s set in a more traditional fantasy atmosphere, but has a little twist to it.
Just recommended this one to Abigail, but if you haven’t read Howl’s Moving Castle yet, get on that shit.
Robin McKinley does fun re-tellings of fairy-tales. My favorite of hers is Spindle’s End, which is basically Sleeping Beauty, but way better.
I’m sure there’s more, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Oooh, I loved Christopher Pike. Good to know those hold up at least tolerably well.
For fantasy books with magic and women power and shit, I recommend Lois McMaster Bujold’s Sharing Knife trilogy. Dag+Fawn4EVA! (Did I do that right? I haven’t gone nostalgia-basking in a while.)
Adding all of these books to my to read list…thank you!
That’s what I’m doing right now, reading all of Pike’s stuff that I loved as a 9-12 year old! The Last Vampire 5: Evil Thirst was my favourite. I’m getting them off Ebay
I never even thought to look on ebay! This could be dangerous.