For a sixth grader seeking thrills, the original Fear Street novels sometimes felt a bit too tame. The craving was for something more intense, something that really pushed the boundaries of young adult fiction – more blood, more chaos, more outright murder. The Fear Street Sagas spin-off series, with its dive into historical fiction, offered exactly that. These books explored the shadowy past of Shadyside and the infamous Fier (later Fear) family, beginning with Fear Street Sagas #1: A New Fear.
While technically not the absolute beginning of the Fear family saga, A New Fear serves as a fantastic entry point, especially coming after the initial trilogy. We’re immediately thrown into the deep end with Nora Goode, newly widowed and confined to an insane asylum – a classic horror setup.
Spoilers ahead!
Cover of Fear Street Sagas #1: A New Fear featuring a woman with short hair looking concerned
If that unsettling gaze from the man in the brown suit on the cover isn’t a red flag for Nora, what is? Nora Goode’s marriage to Daniel Fear ends in tragedy with the entire Fear family perishing in a fire, except for Nora herself. (Subtlety in names? Not Fear Street’s forte.) Nora’s insistence that the fire was malevolent is enough to have her, a pregnant woman, committed to an asylum. In that era, such flimsy reasons were sadly believable for institutionalization.
What strains credulity is the asylum’s decision to entrust an infant to a 12-year-old patient. Meanwhile, the staff relentlessly tries to gaslight Nora into believing the fiery figure she witnessed was a mere hallucination. A desperate escape attempt involving a rope of braided hair fails, resulting in a brutal haircut.
The asylum’s plan to sell baby Nicholas to a wealthy family intensifies Nora’s desperation. As orderlies attempt to wrest Nicholas from her, the amulet Daniel gifted her at their wedding begins to glow.
The fire crackled and blazed. The flames grew higher and higher. They reached past the hearth. They climbed the wall. The flames lapped greedily at the ceiling. They grew higher until all Nora could see was a wall of fire.
A man emerged from the writhing flames.
“Daniel,” Nora gasped.
Her husband had come back from the grave.
…
“Come and join me, Doctor,” Daniel rasped. He reached past Nora and drew the doctor into the raging inferno.
Screaming, the doctor fell to his knees. His eyes bulged. Bulged out farther and farther. Then, with a moist pop, his eyes flew from their sockets and rolled across the floor. They hissed as flames devoured them.
This is the kind of over-the-top horror that the Fear Street books sometimes lacked! Ridiculous body horror and spectral fire-ghosts? Yes, please.
Nora seizes the moment and flees with Nicholas as the asylum burns. Their escape involves stowing away on a ship and a particularly grim scene where Nora resorts to eating a rat for survival. Discovered, the crew brands her a witch, and the ship promptly sinks. Miraculously, mother and child wash ashore, still in possession of the amulet.
She turned it over and read the inscription: DOMINATIO PER MALUM.
“Power through evil,” Nora whispered. “Your father gave this to me as a symbol of his love, Nicholas. The amulet was special to him, because it had been in his family for a long time.”
Nora sighed. “Your father’s family had power and money. But they paid a heavy price. They let evil into their lives, and it destroyed them.”
Nora stared down into the ocean for a long moment. “I do not want that evil to be a part of your life, Nicholas. I do not want you to suffer the same fate your father did.”
The amulet felt heavy in her hand. Heavy and warm.
Nora brought her arm back and flung it into the calm sea.
Relief swept through her. She hugged Nicholas. “Now the Fear evil cannot touch you.”
Nora stared down into her baby’s face. “We are going to start a new life – with new names. From now on, we will be known as Nora and Nicholas Storm.”
But that’s just the end of part one. Fast forward eighteen years. Nicholas Storm, now a fisherman who ironically dislikes fish, is in love with Rosalyn. Marriage is off the table due to Nicholas’s perceived lack of wealth in the eyes of Rosalyn’s father. Nora, in her dying breath, hints at Nicholas’s true legacy, uttering, “Your father left you a legacy of…”
Driven by this cryptic clue and the desire to marry Rosalyn, Nicholas leaves Shadow Cove. A bizarre encounter with a ghostly figure who vaguely resembles him shouting “Shadyside!” inexplicably directs his path. Rosalyn gifts him her lucky charm – an amulet found on the beach, bearing a Latin inscription. Yes, it’s the amulet.
Arriving in Shadyside, Nicholas immediately notices the ominously named Fear Street. He’s drawn to a burned-out mansion that seems to “whisper” to him. Entering, he’s confronted by a woman who mistakes him for “Daniel Fear!” and attacks him with a knife.
Any sane person would abandon this ill-conceived quest. Not Nicholas. He persists, questioning the woman about the mansion’s former occupants. Her tearful revelations about Daniel Fear and Nora Goode finally connect the dots for Nicholas. His mother changed her name! His father was Daniel Fear!
Lightning lashed. “I know who I am at last!” Nicholas cried over the booming thunder. “I am Daniel Fear’s son.”
He clenched his fists. “I am Nora Goode’s son!”
He threw his head back.
“I am a Fear!” he shouted. “Nicholas Fear!”
Peak dramatic irony in a downpour.
Unable to inhabit the Fear mansion, Nicholas rents a room from a woman and her forward daughter, Betsy Winter. The next day, he seeks out Mr. Manning to inquire about his supposed inheritance. Manning dismisses the inheritance notion, revealing only unpaid taxes on the land. However, Manning, a sawmill owner, offers Nicholas employment. Leaving Manning’s office, Nicholas is nearly run down by Ruth Manning, Mr. Manning’s daughter, on a bicycle.
At the sawmill, Nicholas meets coworkers Jason, a fussy, small man, and Ike, a friendly giant. Both Ruth and Betsy make separate visits to the sawmill, making their romantic interests in Nicholas abundantly clear, while simultaneously setting up Jason’s jealousy, particularly regarding Betsy. He is clearly being positioned as a red herring.
A rock, accompanied by a note warning Nicholas to leave Shadyside, is hurled at his head. The absurdity of this attack – the weak throw, the close proximity required – is almost comical.
While Betsy tends to Nicholas’s minor head wound, she reveals her Goode lineage but insists she harbors no animosity towards the Fears. This tidbit becomes relevant later.
At the sawmill, Ike loses fingers in a gruesome accident. Ruth’s pursuit of Nicholas intensifies, but he remains uninterested. Betsy’s affections also become more pronounced.
Returning home, Nicholas discovers Betsy’s horrifying demise in the kitchen. She’s bound and gagged next to the stove.
He noticed something thick and white pushing its way out of her mouth. Nicholas dropped her wrist. He parted her lips and teeth.
The gooey white substance billowed out of her mouth.
Dough.
Nicholas checked her nose. Thick white dough filled it, too.
Someone had stuffed Betsy’s nose and mouth with dough. And left her by the stove with her hands tied behind her back.
As the dough rose, she suffocated.
Death by dough. A truly Fear Street method.
At Betsy’s funeral, Jason loudly proclaims that Nicholas should be in the casket instead of his cousin. Jason, a Goode himself, reveals he warned Betsy against Nicholas and believes Nicholas is responsible for her murder. Jason is also the rock-thrower.
Then, Mr. Manning is found dead. Ruth announces her father’s dying wish: that she marry Nicholas. Reluctantly, he agrees, ostensibly to support her in her grief. Nicholas, convinced Jason killed Betsy and Mr. Manning disliked Jason, deduces Jason must be the murderer.
Confronting Jason escalates into violence. Suddenly, Ruth intervenes, fatally stabbing Jason in the throat. She reveals her manipulations: marry her, or she’ll frame Nicholas for Jason’s murder – a newcomer and a Fear versus the grieving daughter of a respected citizen? No contest. Ruth confesses to murdering Betsy out of jealousy and her father to force Nicholas into marriage.
Nicholas marries Ruth but plots to poison her post-wedding. However, Rosalyn arrives, spotting Ruth wearing her amulet. Ruth, inadvertently drinking the poisoned beverage intended for her, succumbs. The book concludes with Nicholas trapped with Ruth.
“Together, we shall make Fear Street all it was meant to be,” Ruth vowed. She ran her fingers over the words engraved on the back of the amulet. POWER THROUGH EVIL.
Nicholas gazed over at the remains of the Fear mansion. Yes, he thought. Soon everyone will know the name of Fear Street.
The moral? In Fear Street, evil sometimes triumphs.
Despite its ludicrous plot twists and convenient plot devices, A New Fear is undeniably entertaining. It’s a strong start to a formative series, boasting a perfect horror movie ending that paves the way for countless sequels. The melodrama, the relentless reveals, and the spectacularly gruesome deaths are quintessential Fear Street and wonderfully enjoyable.
Next up: Fear Street Super Chiller: Broken Hearts
Find more reviews of Baby-Sitters Club, Goosebumps, and Fear Street books at RereadingMyChildhood.com or on Twitter RereadMyChildhd. Learn more about Amy A. Cowan at AmyACowan.com or on Twitter: amyacowan.
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