Fear Street returns again

I see that the Fear Street franchise is getting a second reboot. I read all 6 books in the most recent relaunch - "Party Games", "Don't Stay Up Late", "The Lost Girl", "Can You Keep A Secret", "The Dead Boyfriend" and "Give Me A K-I-L-L". Only the latter really felt like a Fear Street book of yore. It seemed as if Stine (or his ghostwriters) missed the memo on what an actual Fear Street book was. Essentially, 90% of the time, they were murder mysteries with a female protagonist, written in third person omniscient. The reboot was largely supernatural, with stupid out-of-left-field surprise endings that felt more suited to the Goosebumps franchise and made you want to throw the book across the room.

It was surprising that after "Give Me A K-I-L-L", the only one that actually read like a Fear Street book, the reboot was abandoned. However, Fear Street has been revived as "Return To Fear Street", with retro-style covers for those who are fans of Stranger Things.

Huh? Stranger Things is set in the 80s. Although the first three Fear Street books were published in 1989, Fear Street is largely a product of the 90s (and my favourite decade). I'm not sure I understand the relaunching of a 90s franchise and trying to shoehorn it into the 80s nostalgia revival. It feels like they're completely missing the boat again. Just like the last six book run, which felt much more like Goosebumps books, but with more gore, I worry that this latest reboot is going to lack all the ingredients that made a Fear Street book a Fear Street book. The synopsis of the first title, "You May Know Kill The Bride" sounds decidedly supernatural.

I remember what I loved about the original series. There was a book a month. They were the old-fashioned size of approximately 17cm x 10.5cm (or the other way around, whatever the proper order should be). I could save up lunch money for a couple of days and be able to afford to buy the latest. I still remember catching the train home after school and popping into Myer to buy the latest release before my mum would pick me up from the train station. I also remember staying up late on the weekend to read it. I guess those memories can never be recaptured. But the last reboot certainly got that element wrong: they were released in hardback, and large format, and cost about the same as an adult book.

Apparently the new franchise is releasing the books in softcover, and hopefully at a reasonable price. I'm also hoping they'll be in that small format edition, although that doesn't seem to exist anymore, except for Harlequin Mills & Boon books. I'm not sure of the release schedule, although "You May Now Kill The Bride" is due for release July 2018, "The Wrong Girl" is set for September 2018, and "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is slated for February 2019, according to the Fantastic Fiction website. That sounds like they'll be a bit more frequent than the two books we got a year in the last reboot.

I'll definitely be reading the latest relaunch, there's absolutely no doubt about that. But after the last round, I can't help but be a little pessimistic, because so many opportunities were missed. I'll also see what I can do to actually get the books in book format. I got the last lot on Kindle, because they were impossible to find in bookstores in Australia, and something was lost in the translation. I've said before, I think the publishers need to realise that the people primarily reading these will be those who loved the books in the 90s. I'm 38 now, so if that's any indication, a large proportion of readers will be well into their 30s. Today's young adult fiction is so different to what it was in the 90s, and I don't think Fear Street will ever really catch on in today's market, which is why they need to focus on hooking in and satisfying us oldies.