Book Review: Nightmare On Nightmare Street by R.L. Stine

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NetGalley ARC of Nightmare On Nightmare Street by R.L. Stine
Nightmare On Nightmare Street by R.L. Stine opens with Joe Ferber, his sister Sadie, and their parents moving into a haunted house on Nightmare Street. Their house has a creepy doll, a cemetery in the basement, and voices in the walls. Joe has trouble falling asleep that first night. As he tries to fall asleep, strange things keep happening, and when he finally dies catch some shut eye, he has nightmares. We also meet Shawn and his little sister named Addie, and it appears that they live in the same house. Shawn is having terrible nightmares, and strange things are happening to him. Can Joe and Shawn figure out what is real and what isn't before it's too late?

I'd like to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for approving my request for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this middle grade novel. As a tween and teen, I was a huge fan of R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, so I was absolutely thrilled to receive a copy for free in exchange for my honest review.

Not having read the synopsis of Nightmare On Nightmare Street, I wasn't sure what to expect exactly, other than what the introduction said ... the story was like an everything bagel and had a little of everything in it. I'd have to say that it's reminiscent of the Goosebumps series. Adults who read that series as a kid should absolutely fall in love with the book, but the target audience is really for kids that fall into middle grades and potentially those in second or third grade. Additionally, I also felt like the story had similar vibes to the movie Krampus or The Others. If you know, you know.

As for characters, I didn't really care for Joe or Shawn. They seemed very whiny and young for their ages. Sadie wasn't much better and seemed like a mean girl ... a bully if you will. Addie is the youngest character but seems to be more mature than the others. With that being said, there isn't much character development. Although, it's hard to dive deep into a character in such a short book made for kids.

From the beginning, I thought the story was going in a direction similar to Stranger Things where there is an alternate world like the upside down, or the kids were dead and didn't know it like in The Others. As the book progressed, I felt like the ending would be the latter of the two. Nightmare On Nightmare Street did have a lot thrown in as promised in the introduction, and I think kids who love a good scare will absolutely love it. Three out of five stars is my rating.

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