"Fear Street: Haunted" and Raven Considers What It Is Like to be a Ghost

This book was a weird gateway to me getting into Dark and Paranormal Romance. There isn't a more poetic way of me putting that in all honesty. I read this book in high school and had a lot of thoughts for 100-something pages. The book is not a romance. There isn't a lot of implied romance between our two leads and there's a lot of anger. So maybe this could also be the gateway to my obsession with enemies to lovers. Either way, this book has been one that has stayed with me well past the first read. Years later I'm still thinking about it.

"Fear Street Haunted" was labeled as #7 in the series and in my opinion it is such a strong start to the series. The whole series covers many different styles of horror and topics. The best ones of this series share certain attributes in my opinion. The best stories in this series have our main characters living on Fear Street. This is of course no exception.

Our main character, Melissa Dryden, lives on Fear Street and suddenly finds herself the victim of many strange occurrences. These things are first chalked up to The Fear Street Prowler and her overactive imagination. Yes, there is a prowler in this story. I've always given credit that the "Fear Street" Series has always been a great teen novel series because it can both be immature and also handle very adult issues. This one leans much farther into the adult side but is still pretty true to the "YA Novel" label on the spine. In particular, this one handles issues relating to sexual assault and coercion. Now I want to be clear here, that is not the part of the story that I am referring to in our opening paragraph. I am not romanticizing assault. The story takes a complicated twist with some of our characters which we will get into in a moment. It's as always up to your own interpretation of the story. And in my opinion, the complications of this story are what make it such a stellar entry.

Melissa while living in fear of a real-world danger now finds herself facing a paranormal threat as well. She grows more and more anxious as everything around her seems to be wrong. Just as she thinks she is going mad from the constant feeling of being watched, whispery voices, and even invisible forces throwing her around she then comes face to face with a ghost named Paul.

Hard to imagine a teenage ghost named Paul. I kept picturing this.

Paul when revealed to her is clearly about her age, angry, and confused. Melissa is continually startled by him appearing and disappearing until he seems to finally take full form and can move about in clear view of her. When she confronts him after having enough of being scared he informs her that she killed him. He however has no other details other than he is dead and its her fault. Melissa has absolutely no idea who he is or how she could have possibly killed someone. Despite neither of them knowing the details Paul makes it clear he is here on revenge-related ghost business.

Paul has next to no memory aside from his first name and that Melissa somehow killed him. He's indignant towards her not only for the death but also because Melissa is from a very wealthy family. Paul is physically described in many ways to highlight that he lived a very different life from Melissa, highlighting that he is somewhat dirty and his description reminds me of a lot of alternative styles from the late 80s and early 90s. All complimented with tattoos of course. A bad boy ghost accusing you of murder? What more could you want out of a YA Novel?

Paul seemingly enjoys making her life miserable despite wanting to kill her. She tries to bargain saying she could help him figure out how he died or who really did it. He agrees to this purely on the idea of getting to scare and torment her longer. Melissa begins to go on this bizarre task of trying to understand Paul while also hiding her situation since Paul isn't going to let anyone think Melissa is anything but crazy.

When Melissa tries to let others know about Paul she learns no one else can see him. This is interesting since at times he is able to physically interact with things. Paul was able to pull up a chair but when he hits his fists on the chair no sound forms. Paul attempts to attack Melissa's boyfriend but nothing seems to work, The rules of him as a ghost are not entirely clear, but in most stories that works for the better and this is another case of that. Paul at times claims he can control when he is visible and then at times he seems to fade against his will. I'm more inclined to believe he can mostly control it.

So in the beginning I mentioned this being the start of my interest in enemies to lovers. We are going to have make this all complicated now in order for me to explain myself. And in order for this to make sense I have to spoil just about everything. Consider this more than a review. If you are able to pick up a copy of this and read it yourself I would ask you to do so before continuing on. Spoilers lie ahead.

You have been warned.

Alright gang, let's unmask this Paul ghost for who he really is

As Melissa is dealing with Paul's ghost we see he has jealous flare ups. Paul at times says that he would have been a better boyfriend to her than her boyfriend, Buddy who for our purposes is there to make Melissa feel insane and highlight how creepy the boys of this town are (there are brief scenes of Buddy sexually assaulting Melissa). When Paul goes on this rant he again says that Melissa is a stuck-up rich girl who would never have given him a chance in life. Melissa really doesn't know what to make of the situation other than arguing with him.

Now the complication comes when Melissa really meets Paul. After a fight with her boyfriend, she flees a nightclub (a teen nightclub?) only to be catcalled in the parking lot by a group of guys. To her shock and confusion, Paul is there in the group. She tries to figure out how Paul can be here in the flesh when his ghost has been trying to kill her for a few days now. Her dumb questions both confuse and amuse the both as they make not-so-subtle implications as to what they want from her. They take her confusion as her being into him. She manages to flee the group, but the problem is she keeps coming back to them intentionally and they clearly are not the type to understand "no".

Melissa confronts Ghost Paul and after a long confused strong of questioning they come to the conclusion that Ghost Paul is from the future and that Paul isn't dead yet. Melissa starts promising that he isn't going to die because she would never kill him. They come up with the idea that maybe Ghost Paul is here to warn Alive Paul he is in danger and needs to help him. This plan quickly falls flat as Ghost Paul is losing strength and is unable to be seen by Alive Paul. However here we get the shocking revelation that 1. Paul knows where Melissa lives and 2. He is the Fear Street Prowler.

Melissa attempts one final time to confront Paul and tell him to stay away. This only confuses and angers Alive Paul more. Ghost Paul is wrought with emotions of now remembering his past life and watching Melissa try so hard to keep him from dying in this timeline. Due to circumstances Melissa is left home alone one night and Alive Paul manages to break in. She tries to reason with the not very sober Alive Paul who clearly is trying to force her into something. She grabs her father's gun but is unwilling to shoot him. Alive Paul gets it away form her and they try to gain control of it. Right as Alive Paul gets it and is about to kill Melissa Ghost Paul intervenes and gives the gun back to Melissa who fires immediately, making Alive Paul into Dead Paul.

In these next few short moments, Ghost Paul comforts Melissa telling her that she shouldn't be upset and that he cares more about keeping her safe than changing what has happened. Does this create a strange time paradox? Yes. Is that simple exchange enough to change the chemistry of my brain forever? Yes.

I've seen plenty of reviews that seem to despise this one for its content and Paul's redemption arch. I'll give my two cents on it. When I read it, I saw Ghost Paul and Alive Paul as two completely different characters. I thought of them almost like twins and judged their actions independently while understanding they are linked in that way of cause and effect. Maybe that was why I romanticized the character of Ghost Paul and considered this a pathway into enemies to lovers without glamorizing the abuse Alive Paul causes. I understand that the direct implication is that Ghost Paul did all of the horrible things Alive Paul did. But maybe this also ties too much into my spiritual beliefs of how our spirits change after death so its easier for me to forgive. Either way, this was my cup of tea. Maybe it's not yours, but I thank you for hearing me out either way.

To sum up my feelings I understand why some do not like this one. I can understand why some would choose to skip it, and why others after reading it do not think highly of it. I have spent enough time thinking it over and making my own decisions on it now that I would say I still recommend this work to others with some caution. I love it when a work is challenging to process. This one certainly makes its mark.

Final Rating: 5/5 stars. My Blog, My Rules. This book when I read it in high school left me questioning so much. I remember wanting it to go on for another hundred pages and being so devastated that it was over. I understand why some don't like it, but this cup of tea was brewed for me and that's good enough. I think the fact that I was excited to reread this one and that I thought about going back to it almost immediately to start this project speaks volumes.

-Sincerely, Raven