Top 10 Fear Street Novels That Should Be Adapted Next
Netflix made a trilogy of Fear Street movies in 2021. They weren’t based on individual Fear Street novels, but took inspiration from the series universe. They followed this up with Fear Street: Prom Queen in 2025.
Sadly, the negative reception to Prom Queen has left the status of future adaptions unknown. Hopefully Netflix (or someone else) is interested in adapting more stories, because there are many more with cinematic potential.
Don’t listen to the stories they tell you about Fear Street. Wouldn’t you rather explore it yourself…and see if its dark terrors and unexplained mysteries are true? You’re not afraid, are you?
Here are my top ten Fear Street novels that should be adapted next. Each entry features the original cover artwork, which is vastly superior to the modern reissue versions.
10. The Surprise Party (1989)
Meg is planning a surprise party for her friend, Ellen, who is returning to town after an extended absence. But somebody doesn’t want the party to take place.
A shocking volley of threats and violence ensues, threatening everything that Meg holds dear.
There are plenty of horror movies about parties that go terribly wrong. Like many of Stine’s novels, The Surprise Party has a straightforward plot that could easily be adapted in many different ways.
9. Bad Dreams (1994) 
Maggie moves to a new house with her annoying sister after the death of their dad. They’ve transitioned from the rich part of town to the poorer area of Shadyside.
She begins having recurring nightmares. It’s the same terrifying dream each night – a mysterious girl being brutally murdered. It just a dream, or is their new house haunted?
This is the closest Fear Street came to a Nightmare on Elm Street kind of story. Bad Dreams is rather soap opera-ish, but it would be a fun ghostly murder mystery movie.
8. Sunburn (1993)
A group of teen friends who met at summer camp decide to spend the weekend together at a beach house near a boardwalk theme park. One of them had a sister who recently passed away. People die in freak accidents that, of course, are not really accidents.
Beaches have been a classic horror movie setting since Jaws (and indeed, Sunburn features a shark attack scene). This would be a fun summer horror flick. It has a silly twist ending, but so do most of the books in this series.
7. The Stepsister (1990)
Teenage Emily’s mom has recently remarried. She tries to get along with her new stepsister, Jesse, but Emily is worried that she has a vendetta against her. Emily suspects that Jesse has a dark, murderous secret in her past – and she could be targeting her next!
The Stepsister is dated in some ways (just like all the books in the original series), but the ‘evil stepsister’ trope is a classic. This would be a fun thriller movie. It was followed by a sequel, so there is series potential here.
6. The Wrong Number (1990)
The Wrong Number is about the dangers of prank calling. Teens Deena and Jade make prank calls to boys from school, but things take a dark turn when they overhear somebody being murdered. After the police arrest the wrong guy, the girls must track down the true killer before it’s too late.
Stine wrote this in an era when mobile phones were rare and social media nonexistent. A film adaption could keep the ’90s setting if they want to make it faithful to the novel, or update it to discuss modern texting and cyber bullying. Either could work.
5. Missing (1990)
Siblings Mark and Cara are searching for their parents, who have mysteriously disappeared. The Shadyside police are characteristically unhelpful, so the teens launch their own investigation. A series of bizarre occurrences keep them on their toes as they search for answers.
Missing could be developed into a suspenseful, creepy movie. The concept of adults as the victims, and the teens as the potential rescuers, is a nice reverse of the usual plotline.
4. The New Girl (1989)
This one is about Corey, a teen boy who falls in love with Anna, a mysterious newcomer. Things get weird when Corey realizes that nobody else can see Anna. Has he fallen for a ghost?
The New Girl is the first Fear Street book, and it’s one of the few with a male protagonist. I’m not sure why R.L. Stine decided to mainly use female main characters from here on out, but it’s probably due to the final girl trope.
This novel could easily be adapted into a spooky romance, and the story fits well in any era.
3. Silent Night (1991)
Reva, a snobby rich girl, is targeted by a mysterious stalker during the holiday season. She’s made many enemies in her life, but is one of them capable of murder?
Silent Night, which is darker and more violent than most of the series, is the first of a trilogy. Stine uses an anti-hero protagonist here – an unusual choice for a ’90s YA novel that would fit well with modern horror films. Christmas horror stories are always fun!
2. Lights Out (1991)
Holly, a plucky camp counselor, investigates the mysterious death of a fellow counselor. The police say it was an accident, but Holly knows better (the police are never very bright in these books). Can she track down the killer?
We’ve already had a Fear Street movie set in Camp Shadyside. Lights Out would work well as a follow up. This has obvious potential as a summer camp slasher. If it gets adapted, I would prefer they keep the early ’90s setting. Summer camps are much creepier when the characters are truly isolated, with no smartphones or GPS to help them escape.
1. Halloween Party (1990)
A young couple, Terri and his girlfriend Nikki (who is deaf), decide to attend a late-night Halloween party hosted by Justine, a mysterious student at their high school. The party is spooky fun, until things start to get weird. Are people really dying, or is someone pulling a prank? Can Terri and Nikki survive Halloween night together?
It would be easy to make a great adaption of Halloween Party. Fear Street and Halloween are a perfect match. To me, this novel has the creepiest atmosphere of any in the series.
That said, the portrayal of Nikki would have be updated. It was progressive of Stine to include a deaf major character in 1990, but the use of her deafness as a plot device (she’s an expert lip reader) is problematic by today’s standards.
Dated In Some Ways, Immortal In Others
In fact, many of the Fear Street books show their age in similar ways. I don’t think Stine had any ill intent, but some of his character portrayals are sexist and even a bit racist (like racial minorities being described as “exotic”) by modern standards. Not to mention that the original version of Shadyside is almost all White and has zero LGBT characters.
The portrayal of mental health is dated as well. Characters who take therapy are often portrayed as crazy and dangerous. The series is definitely a product of its era.
Still, Stine’s storylines stand the test of time. They’re classic horror fare. Here’s to hoping for more quality adaptions of Fear Street novels in the future.
