Wow. Not too much to say except for the most part this was enjoyable. The book drags at times and the character development beyond a few people wasn't really there, but this was a good representation of young adult horror books from the late 80s/90s.

So "Trick or Treat" follows 16 year old Martha. Martha's father has recently got married and is now moving him and Martha to move in with his new wife and his stepson in the town of Bedford. Martha hates the scary old house that they move into, and when she finds out that almost a year ago (Halloween day to be exact) a young girl was murdered in her bedroom, she's ready to move back to Chicago. A voice keeps calling Martha and saying "Trick or Treat' and telling her she's going to die. 

So Martha at times I thought was bratty. I get it though. Her father got married without even telling her and moved her and him from Chicago to a small town in the middle of nowhere. The house is a mess, her stepmother can't cook, and her father then rushes off to Hawaii for an assignment and dumps the kids alone. I did laugh a few times how often it's mentioned the parents haven't called. I know this book was written in 1989, but seriously though, I can't imagine my parents taking a weeks long trip and not calling the house once. Martha is kind of hysterical though and tries to do some amateur sleuthing with her new stepbrother Conor when things keep happening in their home. 

Conor is kind of annoying I thought, and at times it seems as if Cusick was implying that Martha had a crush on him and vice versa. Probably because Martha keeps calling Conor her stepbrother and correcting anyone that called him her brother. 

Martha makes friends with the Chambers family which consists of Blake, Wynn, and Greg. Greg is a teacher at Bedford and hangs out way too much with his teen cousins, Blake and Wynn. So outside of these three people, Martha and Conor don't interact with anyone else in the town. 

I got a creepy vibe from Blake and from Greg too. Who hangs out with teens and tells one of them how pretty they are? 

The parents are barely developed beyond being selfish and we hear third hand accounts about the girl who was murdered and her ex-boyfriend who stands accused of killing her who disappeared.

I thought the writing was a bit disjointed in parts and the flow needed to be a bit cleaned up. That said, this is a different type of book and I rated it based on that. Young me who read this at the age of 9 (the age this was published) would probably have been scared to death the whole time and had nightmares for weeks.

The setting of Bedford was definitely creepy and hearing about the backstory of the Bedford family and the young girl who was murdered really set the mood for the book. I wish that Cusick had given us more details on Bedford. I am still puzzled if this is in the mid-west or not. I also wanted to know more about other people in the town adults, kids, etc. There was bare bones with regards to developing this past enough to keep readers engaged with Martha's story.

The ending was a surprise to me though and kind of gruesome. I think it definitely echoes the types of YA horror that was coming out that time though. 

So I never read this book back in the day. Shocking I know since I inhaled Cusick and R.L. Stine like no one's business back in the day. I think because it was hard to find Cusick's books at the store when I was a kid and Stine was all over the place.

"Trick or Treat" follows Martha who has moved from her home in Chicago to go live with her father and his new wife in some rundown home in a small town. I am going to just assume this is in the mid-west somewhere though so far no one has given any clues what state this new place is. I am staring to lean towards the east coast because of the mention of the style of house with a gabled roof and all. I could be wrong. Martha's dad kind of sucks. He eloped and had his new wife buy a house and moved his daughter away. Martha has a new stepbrother named Conor who she seems "intrigued" by (I need bleach) and hates the new home that also has a cemetery on the grounds. Martha so far has only met one family in this whole place and has been told her home called the Bedford House had a murder in it years ago. Dun dun dun.

Here are the squares you can read for if you finish this book and why:

Oh you got the scary house with gables, it's creeky, dark, and a new stepbrother who is talk, dark, and handsome. There's also some weird mystery going around that centers around a heroine. 

There's a cemetery on the property. Enough said. 

Book starts off in October and there's already mention of jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, and decorating for Halloween. And there's the title. 

This would be a perfect book to read by flashlight or candle light. The setting of this house is creeping me the heck out.

Going by the way the house is described. I wish someone would say where this is located. So this one is a maybe.

Well it's a mystery. Someone is calling Martha going "Trick or Treat" and we know a murder happened in the home. 

Hmm. I guess that Martha and Conor may start to investigate their home. We will see. This one is a maybe too.

It's mentioned a bunch of times this is a house set in the country and not in the town.

Should fit too since we now are hearing about the murder.

Martha thinks the house is haunted and it seems that way based on the cold spots and the whispering.

Same reason as above.

Martha is in high school and attended school already. Also I think the school is called Bedford and that's the name of her house too. Weird.

The cover is black!

Book was written in 1989!

Book fits the horror category.

Fits for Fear Street description!

There is mention of how small this town is. Whose name I am still unclear on. 

This takes place in America. 

"Girls, I am not sure it is a great idea to read this book to you while I'm babysitting!"

"Who brought the random head?"

"I guess we can read this, but you sure you don't want to pick another book?"

"What are you whispering about, Belle? Pay attention! You guys asked for this, after all."

"Hope, Alice... this is too scary for you, right? Fine...fine, I'll read it!"

The dolls are:

I haven't been a professional bookseller all that long, but its still easy to get jaded about all the arcs that come in every month, but sometimes something like this book happens!

As a thirty-something woman who read everything he could get his hands on growing up, and that included Sweet Valley High and Baby-sitter's Club, this book is pure nostalgic gold. And while they might not have been great, sometimes those pink and lavender covers had some meat in them! Heck, I still will look twice at any old Apple Paperback, etc. title at a book sale just in case its offers up some vintage goodness.

This will be a lot of fun and I'm hoping Quirk is planning on a boy-series retrospective, too.

Not really the best R.L. Stine book, I had expected lots of excitement, lots of horror or creepy things.

Sadly, the cover is pretty much the only horrific thing, that and some event that happens near the end. Other than it, it is a pretty tame and calm story. Sure there are some events happening that could give you a case of small goosebumps, but mostly I was wondering when the real excitement would start, and as the pages went by, the end was coming nearer, I wondered if a few threats, a few arguments here and there would be all to the story.

Sure, it kept me excited to find out who did it. I had a list of people who could be possible suspects, but I can say that finding out who did it for real was quite a twist for me. I didn't have that person on my list. I didn't think that person would be capable of this, and even looking back on the book, I don't think I could ever have known. Maybe there were hints, maybe they are quite obvious, but it wasn't obvious to me.

I didn't like Jonathan or how he acted around Annie. They were together, yet also not. I get, he lost his girlfriend, but really, he was mostly just being quite weird, with mood spells even girls would be jealous off and I didn't feel any romantic sparks coming off him. None at all. The only thing I felt coming off him was moodiness and also a bad case of Hey-this-girl-is-hot.

Annie. *sighs* Annie. Urgh, I just didn't know what to do with the girl. All kinds of stuff happens, but as is typical in these kind of books, she just jumps around like nothing happens.
I also really, really got tired of her: Oh I don't know how a PC, sorry a Mac works thing. Yes, I can imagine it is really hard, but then just ask for help, from either a teacher or someone else. I know this book was written during a time that computers weren't that common place as the current time, but come on.
Also her constant: I am such a jerk, or I am acting like a big jerk got soo frustrating. It didn't sound like a girl saying it, it sounded more like a guy saying it. And she said it soooo often. I was wondering what was wrong with her.

The plot, as I said, was pretty boring. I was expecting lots of ghosts, lots of horror and hauntings, but well, meh.

The ending was pretty decent, but it felt like it was cut off short. I won't spoil anything (of course), but it was just a shame. It was all kinds of awesomeness and then bang, over.

I also feel that that one event (near the end, after the birthday party), was just too much and I felt like it wasn't even needed to add that, it was beyond disgusting and sick.

Would I recommend this book? On the one hand, yes. But it is also quite a bit of boring and blandness. If you are looking for a scary book, I would recommend other books by this author. He has written some amazing stuff.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/