“Don’t open that door!”
From the original book series to the new Netflix slasher trilogy, Fear Street has been terrifying teens for three decades.
To celebrate the long-running series’ latest incarnation, we’re taking a look back at some of the best covers from the Fear Street books.
Fear Street started in 1989 with The New Girl. It’s not clear whether putting a girl who looks like she’s auditioning for the “Thriller” music video on the cover helped, but we have to imagine it did.
Like a certain similarly titled Christmas horror movie, Silent Night 2 leans into the implicit creepiness of Santa Claus, though presumably with fewer sex scenes involving nuns.
While it’s lacking in the title department, Missing more than makes up for it with incredible ‘90s fashion and inexplicable poses.
The Boxcar Children in the background don’t seem to be having a very good time, but we would read a whole series about the adventures of this sinister girl and her chill snake.
The repeated stony expression on the eponymous face is great, but the best part of this cover is the implication that the artist only noticed something strange was going on after her eighth time drawing it.
Sometimes, Fear Street delves into cheesy supernatural scares. Other times, it leans on legitimately upsetting real-world horror like murderous stalkers. Broken Hearts is firmly in the latter camp, making it nightmarishly memorable.
This one’s so great there’s nothing snarky to say about it. It’s just one of many examples of how good R.L. Stine was at turning teenage anxieties about looks and popularity into deadly monsters.