The conclusion goes off on its own tangent, and while we might have been willing to forgive convenient swathes of sharks that avoid the killer and go for the prey, the literal magical closet at the end is too much. It’s all the tropes tied together, enjoyable, perfect for a slightly creepy but not too gruesome beach read, but flawed and not especially lasting. We have illogical shark murders and the usual killer walking off screen before the unnecessarily slow and elaborate death is complete. The killer proves to be the usual juvenile villain – nothing especially surprising about the motive or the persona.

But for all that the two sets of teens are interchangeable, making it difficult to remember who is “then” and who is “now,” especially as the narrative slips back and forth between present and past. The story has a lot of atmosphere, an enjoyable connection to the indolent laziness of a day on the beach and the billowing clouds of an incoming ocean storm. Although I discovered an attraction to horror in my teens, Stein’s books were just never available, and I tended to prefer adult horror novels to YA anyway. I never actually watched Goosebumps as a kid. Stein, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street. This is my first encounter with the famed R.L. Will the survivors be able to figure out the secret of the beach house and stop the anger behind the deadly force bent on killing them or will history repeat itself? And now – today? The same thing is happening again in Beach House. Back in the 50s the group slowly dwindled, separated and culled by a ruthless killer. Two groups of teenagers seeking sun and fun during a beach vacation are separated by decades, but they are brought together by one ill fated beach and a house on pylons: a strange house no one has ever lived in.

Beach house book rl stine