All 158 Fear Street Books in Order by R.L. Stine | Ultimate Guide

R.L. Stine is synonymous with frightening and creepy. Even if it was never his original intention, he’s been scaring children, young adults, and grown-ups since 1986. Along the way he’s written more than 400 books, more than 100 of which are part of the Fear Street series. Keep reading to find out how to read the Fear Street books in order.

Fear Street is a young adult horror fiction series that is much more brutal and gorier than Stine’s equally famous Goosebumps series. However, the books were just as iconic at Scholastic book fairs. Whether you’re looking for a dose of nostalgia, to hook someone on the series for the first time, or just hearing about the books, this will be your ultimate guide to the Fear Street books in order.

About the Fear Street Series

There are more than 150 Fear Street books published across four decades.

Whilst R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series is middle grade horror, Fear Street is decidedly young adult. The dial is turned up on the fright, gore, and death. However, you can read this article on the Goosebumps books in order if you’re interested in finding out more about that series.

The Fear Street series originally began in the late-1980s until the 1990s with the continuation of the main series. There are also many spin-off series taking place in the same small city that were published during this time. The series then took a hiatus before Stine returned to Fear Street in the 2000s with more books.

The books take place in Shadyside, which is a fictional city in the US on the East Coast. On a particular street within this city, Fear Street, danger always seems to lurk. Despite the horror stories that emerge time and time again from this street, Shadyside’s teenagers can’t quite seem to evade its clutches for long and inevitably end up navigating its dark terror.

Each book within the series tends to follow a new character and a new mystery. The exception to this is when a book has a direct sequel, which will be clear with its title.

However, while each book contains a new murder mystery or paranormal event, the books do tend to build upon one another. The publication order of the Fear Street books is the same as the chronological order.

Unfortunately, many of the Fear Street books have gone out-of-print during the last 30 years. Therefore, it can be difficult to acquire every Fear Street book ever written. However, if you intend on attempting to read all 161 Fear Street books, by series is the recommended reading order.

Who is R.L. Stine?

Robert Lawrence Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1943. As a child he says he was shy, fearful, and often felt like an outsider. He frequently taps into those memories of anxiety and panic when writing his horror stories.

Due to his shyness and fearfulness, Stine often felt most comfortable at home in his room writing when he was younger. He found a typewriter in the attic of his family home at the age of nine, and his life was forever changed.

Despite having a name that is now synonymous with children’s and young adult horror, Stine never planned to write horror. That is despite reading horror comics such as The Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, and the Witch’s Cauldron as a child.

Stine loved these comics so much he would go to the barber’s every Saturday for a haircut to read them, because his mother wouldn’t let him take the comics home.

But Stine initially wanted to write humor, which he began to do in 1978, writing more than 100 joke books under the penname Jovial Bob Stine.

To this day Stine is very passionate about the similarities between laughter and being scared, referring to it as the same visceral reaction. However, the rest was history when Stine wrote his first horror novel in 1986 and it was an instant bestseller: Blind Date.

A few short years later, in 1989, Stine wrote the first Fear Street book. According to his website, it became the bestselling young adult series in history.

Collectively, Stine has sold more than 400 million books which have been translated into 35 languages, making him one of the bestselling authors in history.

Fear Street Books in Order

But let’s finally take a look at the books. At the height of the Fear Street and Goosebumps craze in the 1990s, R.L. Stine says he was writing a Fear Street and a Goosebumps book every month. That’s one short novel every two weeks.

Consequently, the number of Fear Street books is vast and can be a bit overwhelming. In this guide the books are organized by series. The original series began in 1989 until 1997 with nearly 50 books published and is the best place to start with your Fear Street reading journey.

Please note that as with many long-running series, some of the below books may now be out-of-print. Where possible links have been included, but keep an eye out at second-hand bookstores for some of the rarer titles.

Now, discover — or rediscover — some classic horror reads with these lists of the Fear Street books in order.

Fear Street Books in Order: Original Series

1. The New Girl (1989)
2. The Surprise Party (1989)
3. The Overnight (1989)
4. Missing (1990)
5. The Wrong Number (1990)
6. The Sleepwalker (1990)
7. Haunted (1990)
8. Halloween Party (1990)
9. The Stepsister (1990)
10. Ski Weekend (1991)
11. The Fire Game (1991)
12. Lights Out (1991)
13. The Secret Bedroom (1991)
14. The Knife (1991)
15. The Prom Queen (1992)
16. First Date (1992)
17. The Best Friend (1992)
18. The Cheater (1993)
19. Sunburn (1993)
20. The New Boy (1994)
21. The Dare (1994)
22. Bad Dreams (1994)
23. Double Date (1994)
24. The Thrill Club (1994)
25. One Evil Summer (1994)
26. The Mind Reader (1994)
27. Wrong Number 2 (1995)
28. Truth or Dare (1995)
29. Dead End (1995)
30. Final Grade (1995)
31. Switched (1995)
32. College Weekend (1995)
33. The Stepsister 2 (1995)
34. What Holly Heard (1996)
35. The Face (1996)
36. Secret Admirer (1996)
37. The Perfect Date (1996)
38. The Confession (1996)
39. The Boy Next Door (1996)
40. Night Games (1996)
41. Runaway (1997)
42. Killer’s Kiss (1997)
43. All-Night Party (1997)
44. The Rich Girl (1997)
45. Cat (1997)
46. Who Killed the Homecoming Queen? (1997)
47. Into the Dark (1997)
48. Best Friend 2 (1997)
49. Trapped (1997)

Fear Street Books in Order: 2010s Relaunch

1. Party Games (2014)
2. Don’t Stay Up Late (2015)
3. The Lost Girl (2015)
4. Can You Keep a Secret? (2016)
5. The Dead Boyfriend (2016)
6. Give Me a K-I-L-L (2017)

Super Chiller Series

1. Party Summer (1991)
2. Silent Night (1991)
3. Goodnight Kiss (1992)
4. Broken Hearts (1993)
5. Silent Night 2 (1993)
6. The Dead Lifeguard (1993)
7. Bad Moonlight (1994)
8. The New Year’s Party (1995)
9. Goodnight Kiss 2 (1996)
10. Silent Night 3 (1996)
11. High Tide (1997)

Super Chiller: Cheerleaders Series

1. Cheerleaders: The First Evil (1992)
2. Cheerleaders: The Second Evil (1992)
3. Cheerleaders: The Third Evil (1992)
4. Cheerleaders: The New Evil (1992)
5. Cheerleaders: The Evil Lives! (1998)

The Fear Street Saga Trilogy

1. The Betrayal (1993)
2. The Secret (1993)
3. The Burning (1993)

99 Fear Street: The House of Evil Series

1. The First Horror (1994)
2. The Second Horror (1994)
3. The Third Horror (1994)

Ghosts of Fear Street Series

1. Hide and Shriek (1995)
2. Who’s Been Sleeping in My Grave? (1995)
3. The Attack of the Aqua Apes (1995)
4. Nightmare in 3-D (1996)
5. Stay Away From the Treehouse (1996)
6. Eye of the Fortuneteller (1996)
7. Fright Knight (1996)
8. The Ooze (1996)
9. Revenge of the Shadow People (1996)
10. The Bugman Lives! (1996)
11. The Boy Who Ate Fear Street (1996)
12. Night of the Werecat (1996)
13. How to Be a Vampire (1996)
14. Body Switchers from Outer Space (1996)
15. Fright Christmas (1996)
16. Don’t Ever Get Sick at Granny’s (1997)
17. House of a Thousand Screams (1997)
18. Camp Fear Ghouls (1997)
19. Three Evil Wishes (1997)
20. Spell of the Screaming Jokers (1997)
21. The Creature from Club Lagoona (1997)
22. Field of Screams (1997)
23. Why I’m Not Afraid of Ghosts (1997)
24. Monster Dog (1997)
25. Halloween Bugs Me (1997)
26. Go to Your Tomb – Right Now! (1997)
27. Parents From the 13th Dimension (1997)
28. Hide and Shriek II (1998)
29. Tale of the Blue Monkey (1998)
30. I Was a Sixth-Grade Zombie (1998)
31. Escape of the He-Beast (1998)
32. Caution: Aliens at Work (1998)
33. Attack of the Vampire Worms (1998)
34. Horror Hotel 1 (1998)
35. Horror Hotel 2 (1998)

The Cataluna Chronicles

1. The Evil Moon (1995)
2. The Dark Secret (1995)
3. The Deadly Fire (1995)

Fear Park Series

1. The First Scream (1996)
2. The Loudest Scream (1996)
3. The Last Scream (1996)

Fear Street Sagas

1. A New Fear (1996)
2. House of Whispers (1996)
3. Forbidden Secrets (1996)
4. The Sign of Fear (1996)
5. The Hidden Evil (1997)
6. Daughters of Silence (1997)
7. Children of Fear (1997)
8. Dance of Death (1997)
9. Heart of the Hunter (1997)
10. The Awakening Evil (1997)
11. Circle of Fire (1998)
12. Chamber of Fear (1999)
13. Faces of Terror (1999)
14. One Last Kiss (1999)
15. Door of Death (1999)
16. The Hand of Power (1999)

Fear Hall Series

1. The Beginning (1997)
2. The Conclusion (1997)

New Fear Street Series

1. The Stepbrother (1998)
2. Camp Out (1999)
3. Scream, Jennifer, Scream! (1999)
4. The Bad Girl (1999)

Fear Street Seniors Series

1. Let’s Party (1998)
2. In Too Deep (1998)
3. The Thirst (1998)
4. No Answer (1998)
5. Last Chance (1998)
6. The Gift (1998)
7. Fight Team, Fight (1998)
8. Sweetheart, Evil Heart (1998)
9. Spring Break (1999)
10. Wicked (1999)
11. Prom Date (1999)
12. Graduation Day (1999)

Fear Street Nights Series

1. Moonlight Secrets (2005)
2. Midnight Games (2005)
3. Darkest Dawn (2005)

Return to Fear Street Series

1. You May Now Kill the Bride (2018)
2. The Wrong Girl (2018)
3. Drop Dead Gorgeous (2019)

Fear Street Adaptations

R.L. Stine’s Fear Street books have experienced a recent resurgence with a 2021 Netflix adaptation. In July 2021 a Fear Street movie trilogy premiered on the streaming service with weekly installments. The three movies are Fear Street Part One: 1994, Fear Street Part Two: 1978, and Fear Street Part Three: 1666.

The movies do not adapt any novel, or novels, in particular, but rather borrow elements from throughout the series. Stine says it was interesting watching other writers approach his Fear Street world. The adaptations have made up a 300-year history for Shadyside, dating back to colonial times, as one might expect from the year 1666 in the final installment’s title.

While the adaptations aren’t faithful to a specific book, Stine says the movies are faithful to the feeling of the books, which are about a cursed place inside a very normal town. He also says the adaptations are scarier than the novels.

The movies star Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke, Kiana Madeira, Julia Rehwald, Olivia Scott Welch, and Benjamin Flores Jr.

A Summary of the Fear Street Books in Order

Now that you know all of the Fear Street novels that R.L. Stine has published, let’s look at the summaries for the first 10 Fear Street books in order. These summaries will remind you of what takes place if it’s been years since you first read these books, or let you know if these books should make it onto your reading list.

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1. The New Girl

The new girl is as pale as a ghost, blonde, and eerily beautiful — and she seems to need him as much as he wants her. Cory Brooks hungers for Anna Corwin’s kisses, drowns in her light blue eyes. He can’t get her out of his mind. He has been losing sleep, ditching his friends…and everyone has noticed.

Then as suddenly as she came to Shadyside High, Anna disappears. To find a cure for his obsession, Cory must go to Anna’s house on Fear Street — no matter what the consequences.

Anna may be the love of his life…but finding out her secret might mean his death.

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2. The Surprise Party

It’s been a year since Evan died in the Fear Street woods. A year since Ellen moved away, and “the gang” split up.

Meg Dalton felt as if she’d lost her best friends. Everyone changed. Even her boyfriend Tony was acting moody, strange.

But when she heard that Ellen was returning for a visit, Meg had the answer: She’d bring them all together again with a surprise party for Ellen!

That’s when the terror began…the phone calls…the threats…the bizarre acts of violence. “Cancel the party — or else,” the whispered voice on the phone told her.

Meg was scared, and with good reason. Whoever wanted the party stopped would try anything — even murder! But why? The dark Fear Street woods held the answer…if Meg dared to discover the truth!

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3. The Overnight

“Nothing bad will happen,” Della O’Connor assures her friends in the Outdoors Club. So what if their advisor can’t go on the overnight to Fear Island — won’t it be more fun with no adults around?

But it’s no fun at all when Della gets lost in the woods, and the dangerous stranger appears, whispering threats, driving her to a violent act.

Suddenly all of her friends are involved, prisoners in a conspiracy of silence, trying to conceal the terrible truth. But someone saw what Della did. And he’s threatening them all, forcing them back to Fear Island to find the evidence they forgot to bury…

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4. Missing

What would you do if your parents didn’t come home, didn’t call, left no note? At first, Mark and Cara Burroughs aren’t terribly alarmed. Their parents have stayed out late before.

But then other things start to go wrong. Mark’s girlfriend Gena breaks up with him and suddenly disappears. The police don’t seem at all interested in finding Mark and Cara’s parents. And their mysterious cousin who boards with them seems to be spying on their every move!

When murder strikes, Mark and Cara learn their terror is only beginning. Someone wants them to disappear too! But why? The answer lies deep in the Fear Street Woods. But will they live long enough to find it?

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5. The Wrong Number

It begins as an innocent prank, when Deena Martinson and her best friend Jade Smith make sexy phone calls to the boys from school. But Deena’s half-brother Chuck catches them in the act and threatens to tell their parents, unless the girls let him in on the fun.

Chuck begins making random calls, threatening anyone who answers. It’s dangerous and exciting. They’re even enjoying the publicity, and the uproar they’ve caused. Until Chuck calls a number on Fear Street.

To his horror, Chuck realizes he has called the wrong number. The jokes are over when murder is on the line. The murderer knows who they are and where they live — and they have nowhere to call for help.

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6. The Sleepwalker

One week after she starts her summer job on Fear Street with old Mrs Cottler, Mayra Barnes begins to sleepwalk, waking up in the dead of night not knowing where she is. Mayra becomes even more terrified when she discovers Mrs Cottler may be a witch…

Is the old woman casting spells on Mayra? To add to Mayra’s horror, she is being followed by a menacing stranger who seems to recognize her — but she’s never seen him in her life!

Mayra’s sleepwalking is leading her into more and more peril. She soon realizes she must take action. She must find out what is happening to her — or she may never leave Fear Street alive!

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7. Haunted

Melissa woke up screaming. The prowler was at her window…or was he? The recent headlines about a Fear Street prowler had everyone on edge. Her father now kept a loaded pistol in his bedroom. That made it even more frightening — and real.

Then the haunting began: Her new car driving as if someone else had taken control; her birthday presents ripped open by unseen hands; an invisible force trying to push her out the bedroom window.

Out of the shadows of her bedroom came a menacing figure. Who was he? Did he really come from beyond the grave? And why had he come to kill her? If Melissa doesn’t solve the mystery fast, these questions will haunt her — to death!

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8. Halloween Party

The invitation arrived in a black-bordered envelope. Inside, the card showed a coffin with the inscription “Reserved For You.”

It was perfectly fitting for an all-night Halloween party on Fear Street. But Terry and his girlfriend Niki wondered why they had been invited. They barely knew Justine Cameron, the beautiful and mysterious transfer student who was throwing the party.

The party was well under way when the lights went out. That’s to be expected at a spooky Halloween party. But when the lights come back on, there was that boy on the floor with the knife in his back.

Just a Halloween prank? Maybe. Maybe not.

For Terry and Niki the trick-or-treating has turned to terror. To their horror, they realize that someone at the costume party is dressed to kill!

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9. The Stepsister

Emily wants to like her stepsister, but it hasn’t been easy. As soon as Jessie moves in, she takes over Emily’s room, steals Emily’s clothes, and lies to everyone. Then Emily picks up Jessie’s diary and learns a horrifying secret. Is Jessie really capable of murder?

Emily tries to tell her parents, but no one believes her.

So it’s up to Emily to expose the real Jessie — if she can stay alive.

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10. Ski Weekend

“Red” Porter was a stranger they’d met on their ski weekend. But Ariel Munroe, Doug Mahr and his girlfriend Shannon Harper were grateful he was there when they set out for home on the icy roads.

Thank heaven for Red! He spotted the hilltop lodge when they were stranded by the blizzard. He took charge when they stumbled into strange surroundings, scared, tired, and looking for refuge.

But can he save them when their refuge becomes a trap? Suddenly their hosts are acting very sinister.

Doug’s car is gone. The phones are dead. And the house is full of guns. If they steal one, maybe they can escape! Until a shot is fired and the real terror begins…

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Final thoughts on Fear Street books in order

So there you have all the Fear Street books in order, and the best way to read the series. These books are classic young adult horror novels. Furthermore, R.L. Stine is the perfect precursor, and complimentary, author to a fellow king of horror: Stephen King

Did you read the Fear Street books in order when you were younger? Did it spark your love of reading, or are you setting out to read the books for the first time? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking for more books in order?

Check out this list of Stephen King books in order.