The Prom Queen

Fear Street #15

by R.L. Stine

Dance of death…

A spring night…soft moonlight…five beautiful Prom Queen candidates…dancing couples at the Shadyside High prom—these should be the ingredients for romance.

But stir in one brutal murder—then another, and another—and the recipe quickly turns to horror.

Lizzie McVay realizes that someone is murdering the five Prom Queen candidates one by one—and that she may be next on the list! Can she stop the murderer before the dance is over—for good?

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Fiction, Thriller, Childrens, Mystery, Teen

167 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[Persephone's Pomegranate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The time has come for me to revisit my favorite fictional town - Shadyside. Why do people keep moving to Fear Street? We'll never know. Bring on the macabre.



𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔫 𝔰𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔞𝔰𝔱, 𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔢𝔩𝔡 𝔴𝔦𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔬𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰. 𝔄𝔰 ℑ 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 ℜ𝔞𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔩’𝔰 𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔬𝔫 𝔉𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔖𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔱, ℑ 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔩𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔠𝔞𝔯 𝔞𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔟𝔩𝔲𝔯. 𝔉𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔖𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔱. ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔡𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔉𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔖𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔰𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔪 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔫.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the fact that none of the characters are all that likable, THE PROM QUEEN is still en epic foray into old school cheese. I seriously just can't get enough of these books.

For the bad, the characters really aren't redeeming. They all go on dates with one of their friends' boyfriends behind her back and they do it shamelessly. They're all self-centered, one's exceptionally bitter and it's not like these girls have revelations at the end of the book that fix these issues. That's just how they are. They're just not appealing.

But the plot? Pretty awesome. I was definitely wrapped up in it, trying to figure out who the murderer was and why. Quite frankly a plot to kill prom queens is kind of dumb but the girls come up with some pretty good motives for why. None of them were right but at least their heads were in the right place.

I didn't see coming who the murderer was. Even in hindsight it was hidden pretty well. Granted I don't actively look for this kind of stuff and I'm not someone that picks up on it too easily so someone else could rightly guess the murderer immediately. I didn't and was kind of shocked when I did find out.

You guys know me by now; I'm a sucker for cheese and THE PROM QUEEN has it in spades. But I love it. Despite it's gouda essence, it'll still make you think twice about sitting in your room alone at night. It'll still make you wonder about your friends. It's still a good horror book and I've said it before and I'll say it again, the YA world needs far more of them.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia clásica de la calle del terror.
Un grupo de amigas son elegidas para disputar la corona de la reina del baile de fin de cursos y aunque al principio lo toman como algo que no causará ningún problema, sabemos que sí lo habrá.
El asunto es que las cosas se tornan más aterradoras, pues las candidatas no solo pelean, sino que están muriendo.
¿Quién estará detrás de esos asesinatos y para qué?
De eso va esta historia, que los pondrá un poco nerviosos.
Stine logra que te sientas parte de su grupo, y por ello, el peligro de las chicas se sentirá más real, y te mantendrá con ganas de descubrirlo antes de que maten a la chica que te gustaría, fuera la reina.
Libros simples, con tramas igual de sencillas, pero que son muy entretenidos si no quieres leer algo denso.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Wow, what a blast from the past! Definitely gotta reread more of these things, vintage R.L. Stine is just way too much fun.

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Scary Book from Fear Street

Lizzie and her friends, Simone, Elana, Rachel and Dawn, are all going to have a blast being a prom queen.

They will have to get their school to vote on who should be the next prom queen. And they all want to win.

They all want to win the three thousand dollars scholarship money that is up for grabs. Yes, all these rich girls, who each have their own car, want that little scholarship money.

But would they kill for it?

Four stars. 💫💫💫💫

[Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a favorite because you literally have 5 different girls that are stand in tropes for some of the girls you get used to in slasher films/YA horror. And though not all of them are great people, they are memorable characters. I think what I liked most about this one was that the reason behind the murders is not what you will think and the reveal was very well done along with who the murder was. But this was definitely a book that would have some later feminists throwing up their hands in disgust.

"The Prom Queen" follows a group of teen girls at Shadyside High. A girl was just found murdered in Fear Woods and some are thinking that that murder is linked to another one that happened nearby. However, the girls at the school are excited cause at the assembly the girls nominated for prom queen will be announced. Whatever girl wins prom queen also wins a $3,000 prize as well. When the teen girls who are announced as prom queen nominees, then one by one someone starts taking them out. Could these murders be linked to the other girls murdered or is someone else doing this to make sure that only one of these girls can be crowned prom queen?

The main heroine we follow in this one is Lizzie. I really did like Lizzie. Probably because she's a really bright character who doesn't seem boy crazy like the rest of the teens in this one. Lizzie's boyfriend moved to Alabama due to his father's new army location. But Lizzie is Kevin's girlfriend and that is the only person she wants to be with. We even get to "read" some of the letters they are sending back to each other. Ahh letters. How cute.

But when Lizzie and her other friends (Simone, Dawn, Rachel, and Elena) are all nominated for prom queen there is a rivalry that starts up among the girls and even Lizzie realizes they all don't really like each other. It's also mentioned like a thousand times that Rachel lives on Fear Street and is poor. God love these books, they really are not PC at all.

I also really didn't like the boys at all in this one, we got Justin, Simone's boyfriend and Lucas Brown who is in essence stalking Lizzie and acts like she should be falling all over herself dating him.

When the kill count starts going up and there's only two girls left you are left wondering if Lizzie is going to be the final girl or not. I really liked this one because I didn't guess who or why. I don't think I read this one when it first came out so it was a nice read for me.

[Coos Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

De lo más entretenido que leí recientemente de R.L. Stine. Y claro que lo leí ahora porque se viene su respectiva adaptación cinematográfica (y puede que la portada hermosa haya influido bastante también). La historia sigue la linea del típico slasher, lo que la diferencia es el setting: la fiesta de las reinas de la promoción. El plot twist del final está muy bueno (aunque me lo vi venir).

[Liliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book

Ah, prom. One of the most fun times of a teenager’s life, right? Wrong! It turns out that someone is killing the prom queen candidates of Shadyside High!

“I resign. I’m going to tell Mr. Sewall tomorrow. I quit. I don’t want to be prom queen, believe me. Where are they going to hold the prom anyway? The Shadyside Funeral Parlor?” -Lizzie

I think this is one of the very first Fear Street books I read back in middle school when I first got into this series! Well, it was either this one that I read first or The Thrill club. Anyway, I don’t actually remember much of this book, not even who the killer was/what their motive was. It’s been a long time, okay? Lol. But it was actually really nice not knowing. It was fun trying to figure out this mystery, and I pretty much suspected everyone! And then the reveal... Oh my god, it was so obvious! Once we found out who... I don’t know how I missed it!

All because a certain someone was a huge manwhore -_-

I really liked our protagonist Lizzie. She was very believable in her actions and totally not like the typical characters in a horror movie who do stupid things and get themselves killed. Oh and Lucas... he thinks he’s so funny but he is totally not! He is insane! And I am so glad Lizzie put this idiot in his place when he needed it! Dawn was awful! She kept making inappropriate jokes and just—murder is not funny, okay? Jeeze. It was so weird how all these girl were “friends” when it didn’t feel like this at all. They certainly don’t act like it. It almost seems like they only tolerate each other. It’s so odd!

Overall, I really liked The Prom Queen! The mystery, suspense, and all around creepiness... so much yes!

The Fear Street connection: One of the prom queen candidates, and Lizzie’s friend, Rachel lives on the dreaded street. Also, bodies have been found in the Fear Street Woods, thought to have been killed by the same killer that’s after the girls.

[Grace Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 would-be prom queens, and someone is killing them off one by one. But whyy?? And WHO? But who cares when you have catty girl one-upmanship, rad prom dress buying sprees, and a night at the movies seeing a CHRISTIAN SLATER SPY MOVIE. 🤣😎🙌🏼

Several confirmed kills in this one, unlike some of the other RL Stine fake-outs. A dramatic showdown for the finale, where one poor victim is found on the school auditorium stage with her face "smashed and bloody", eww!!

I read this book with my friend who guessed the killer correctly towards the middle, but I IZ DUMB because I didn't know 🙃🙃

4 out 5 vengeful stabs of the knife for this book! BUT wear a heavy leather bomber jacket. It's tré chic AND because it's so damn thick and bulky, it just might help you survive a knife attack 🔪💀

[retrovvitches · Rating 3 out of 5]

just a quick read following a serial killer supposedly killing prom queen nominees. the plot did lack a little for me, but this did have it moments of mystery and murder. i actually did not predict the killer, even tho it’s pretty obvious lol. might read more of the fear street books after this one

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prom Queen was a fun Fear Street slasher! I recommend this one for any fans of the genre and RL Stine.

There is a mystery on who the killer is; However, I correctly predicted it after reading the first chapter which made me roll my eyes at the grand reveal. The excessive use of the word “screaming” was also annoying but I guess it makes sense.

Despite my critiques, I had fun with it. 4 stars.

[Cameron Chaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my new faves! I can't believe I didn't read this one as a kid, but I'm glad I finally have.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prom queen is a book I've owned forever and never gotten around to reading it for some reason. This book in particular even Has the 59 cent price sticker on it, which amazes me. The story starts off with three friends Lizzie the main protagonist ,only child of over protective parents .Rachel , a poor girl with red hair and Dawn a girl that makes bad jokes. They're discussing a series killer that killed a girl a few towns over that was stabbed 16 times and they for some reason are shocked that this has happened.I mean they live on Fear Street. Getting away from the murder stuff there's a prom queen thing coming up and the winner receives a three thousand dollar scholarship. They are five nominees for prom queen, Liz , Dawn,Rachel,a rich girl named Elana and Simone a girl that dates this guy that dates everyone else. There's also a play going to take place the day of the prom, I think .Eventually one of the main characters disappears and we get into the main story where one by one prom queens begin to disappear ,and that's honestly all I can say because it's hard not to spoil this book. Our main focus is who is killing off the prom queens ? There are a lot of red herrings in this book and I actually didn't guess the killer ,but there's a big reason why. Reading this there's a certain assumption about a character that were supposed to just accept, but if you pay attention and think logically you can guess the killer .I honestly thought I just read over it. The prom queen is very middle of the road for me. I enjoyed the dream sequence that is depicted on the cover and there was decent gore and some of the kills were very dark ,but the prom queen for me lacked alot of logic and was a little meandering. It didn't flow perfectly ,but was ok .I give the Prom Queen a three out of five stars.

[Erica Leigh]

Soooo DRAMATIC. I love a prom story. There are too many characters IMO, but luckily you don’t really need to remember too much about each of them, as they’re all pretty much interchangeable. We get…

- A get-together at Pete’s Pizza where all the prom-queen hopefuls start roasting each other via “prom speech” impressions!
- A catty prom dress shopping montage!
- A Christian Slater spy movie outing!
- More than one death!

Honestly, a satisfying Fear Street

Edit: Re-read in 2025 and forgot SCRUNGIE makes an appearance. Overall, funnier and more gruesome than I remember

[ItzSmashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in to the Fear Street series. Multiple people are killed and deaths described in detail, which is a big rarity in this genre. I found the mystery quite intriguing and the characters relatable. If say end the reveal was a little out of left field, but once I read the explanation, it did justify the choice. I would definately reccommend this one.


Liz is one of the 5 candidates for prom Queen in her senior year. But somebody is killing off the other candidates, what is their motive? And is liz also on the killers list?

[Latasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like any of these girls! God forbid they let Rachel forget she was poor and lives on fear street! And Justin the ho? Girls please! I had read this back in the 90's but I didn't remember how it ended. I was surprised and surprised by the motivation. Lol. Fun times at Shadyside High

[Shadyside Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute blast to read! Lots of suspense, plenty of slashing and some incredibly gruesome writing! And of course, don’t forget about the twist! (That I didn’t predict). Only reason I didn’t rate it 5 stars was because there was way too many characters lol!

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun read!
It had all the twists and turns you could expect from an R.L Stine Fear Street book and those cliffhanger chapter endings that make me so happy! I really loved the twist at the end with the killer reveal and I honestly didn’t see that coming! The only reason I gave this 4 and not 5 stars is because ALL of the girls in the book were so terrible to each other! I disliked every single one of them. It didn’t really take anything away from the plot, they were just terrible humans. But regardless, this was still really fun and it gets 4 stars from me!

[Horror Sickness · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

The school is about to announce the candidate’s for this year’s prom queen. They are planning a big party in Halsey Manor that happens to be in the Fear Street Woods.

But before they even get to enjoy the party and crown the queen, someone seems to be out to kill every single one of the candidates.

Who is killing them and why?

This one was definitely one of the Fear Streets I have enjoyed the most so I can see why this was chosen to be adapted into a movie. It is obviously also the reason why I had to buy it and read it before watching the movie adaptation.

This is a story of mean girls that are forced to work together to defeat a common threat before they all end up dead. I really enjoyed the mystery in this one and even though these girls were not nice to each other it kind of feels accurate to most highschool experiences when they all want to become the prom queen no matter what.

There are plenty of possible suspects and it was a fun quick read. I would recommend this instead of the movie. That movie adaptation was rough.

I am working on a Book VS Movie video that will soon be up in my channel.

[Heather~ Nature.books.and.coffee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this short book because I have read RL Stein in the past and they're always entertaining. And the movie was coming out so thought it would be fun to read first. It's a very short, quick and fun read although a little predictable, but it is a kids book.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

[Drucilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Fear Street book is one of the better ones. The main character is likeable, the plot keeps you guessing, and the killer's identity surprises you (in a good way). The guys in the book were jerks, but it's the same in every Fear Street book. I do have to admit that one thing left me wanting to know more: Justin says that he didn't go out with the other girls, but is he lying or did they just make it up to sound cool? I wish Stine had explored that more. It would have been awesome if the girls were lying and Simone killed them by mistake.

[♥ Honey♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of this book was awesome. I read this book last year and it was awesome and I really enjoy it!! I was gald that I had read this book. It was interesting and it was the kind of book that I was interested in!!! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to be suspsened all the time reading!!!! Please enjoy!!!!

[Andy Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read it to compare it to the movie, and once again, the book far outshines its cinematic adaptation. I had an even better time reading it, and I felt a deeper connection to the characters. The story is also quite different and more fully fleshed out. The movie was enjoyable, though, and it sparked my interest in reading the books.

[Tanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

>>Diese Rezension und viele mehr findet ihr auch hier: http://wort-welten.blogspot.de/

Zusammenfassung:

Für Lizzy erfüllt sich ein Traum, als neben ihr selbst auch noch ihre Freundinnen Simone, Elana, Dawn und Rachel für die Wahl zur Ballkönigin nominiert werden. Schließlich gewinnt so auf jeden Fall jemand, dem Lizzy die Krone auch gönnt. Oder es sollte zumindest so sein. Denn als Simone spurlos aus ihrem eigenen Zimmer im Haus ihrer Eltern verschwindet und recht bald festzustehen scheint, dass sie von einem Mann ermordet wurde, der auch schon zwei andere Mädchen in der Gegend auf dem Gewissen hat, ist das erst der Anfang eines wahren Albtraums, der auf Lizzy einstürmt, ehe der Abschlussball überhaupt in Sicht ist ...


Fazit:

Ein klassisches Buch aus der Fear Street-Reihe, dem es jedoch ein wenig an Raffinesse fehlt, wie ich finde. Die Handlung ist allzu schnell durchschaubar und es gab nicht wirklich viel Überraschendes. Alles in allem sicherlich nicht das allerbeste Buch der Reihe - aber eben auch nicht das schlechteste. Die Protagonisten waren okay bis langweilig und auch nicht gerade ein Highlight. Demnach dann auch meine Endwertung ...

[scar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. a high school prom slasher is all i've ever wanted and this was pretty nice. i was surprised by how likeable the characters were, i even had a favorite i was rooting for. i also feel very stupid for not figuring out who the killer was, but it happens to the best of us. another fear street book i enjoyed.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read many series when I was a kid from The Saddle Club to Sweet Valley Middle/High but one of my favorites was the Fear Street Series so for fun I thought I would add a few of these books on here. I would recommend them as great and age appropriate thriller/horror books for young adults.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Another good book. I could never understand the importance of prom though. Not really into the whole dancing thing. Glad the girls had fun though. Or, at least the ones who weren't murdered. Hope Simone will get the help she needs.

Can't wait to read more Fear Street books!!!!!

[kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

just like watching slumber party massacre 2!

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s revealed on the very first page that theirs been a murder in Shadyside, a young girl is found dead in Fear Street woods. That instantly impactful revelation instantly draws the reader end.

As Lizzie and her friends are nominated for prom queen, but as more an more deaths occur Lizzie seems to think theirs a connection between the two.

One of the best Fear Street books, plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. With a shocking but satisfying ending it’s the perfect 90’s slasher horror reads!

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly fine re-read, but I did find the tension pretty lacking.

I do love that they all went to a Christian Slater movie. So 1992.

And undoubtedly, one of the best Fear Street covers ever.