R.L. Stine's "Temptation"

R.L. Stine's "Temptation"

There's a reason behind the old addage "Never judge a book by its cover", and this is it. The cover - awesome. The contents - what's the opposite of awesome? not awesome... 

To say that R.L. Stine's "Temptation" was a letdown is putting it mildly. Of course, this may be my own fault. I may have romanticized R.L. Stine to be better than he was. Afterall, I haven't read a book of his since I was probably thirteen. I didn't even know he was still alive.

When I was a kid, I remember thinking that "99 Fear Street: The House of Evil" was the scariest book of all-time. (Prior to that, it had been "Wait Till Helen Comes"). So, when I was doing a little Santa shopping, looking for books for myself, and I came across "Temptation", I thought, "R.L. Stine + Vampire romance?? It's like they reached into my head and made the perfect book!" (Please don't let that last comment effect your opinion of my taste. I am who I am.)  Boy was I wrong. During the reading of this book, I found myself referring to it multiple times as "the worst book ever." You'd think I'd just stop reading it, but nope. I'm a glutton for punishment.

To add to the deception that was the pretty sweet cover, there was a sticker that said "It's a mixture of (something) and The Vampire Diaries." (I didn't really read that first part. I saw "The Vampire Diaries" and yanked that business off the shelf.) Let me be perfectly clear, it is NOTHING like the Vampire Diaries. Maybe if the Vampire Diaries were written by a twelve year-old in a middle school creative writing class.

So, what's it even about? The book is comprised of two stories, both of which take place in Sandy Hallow, a touristy beach community, conveniently located by a small island which is home to bats and vampires. In the first story, a group of teens from Fear Street visit Sandy Hollow on summer vacation and fall victim to two evil vampires who have made a bet to see who can be the first to turn one of the teens into a new vampire.

The second is about a group of teenage boys returning to Sandy Hallow for summer vacation. One of the boys is there to hunt the vampires, but ends up spending most of his summer trying to convince his two friends that vampires exist and that the girls they are dating are evil blood-sucking fiends. Oh yeah, these girls ALSO have a bet to see who can be the first to make a new vampire.

The formula for the book is pretty simple. Group of teens + making out + vampire bites + stupid bets = best-selling book. It actually sounds like classic R.L. Stine, so like I said, falling for it is my own fault. It should have been a red flag from the very beginning.

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