About
Update June 2019
Welcome to the Devil’s Elbow, where evil twins and friends come together to lovingly snark Point Horror and other teen genre fiction. Many thanks to Dove for all the work she did here, and a huge thank you to the guest recappers who joined us in 2017. We’re working our way through a variety of media, from Diane Hoh’s Nightmare Hall series (Dade is doing an excellent job there) to the Friday the 13th series (the ever delightful Virgin, watching them for the very first time) to R. L. Stine’s ridiculous amount of books (Goosebumps and Fear Street and Point Horror, oh my! — this is a group effort, because Stine is so prolific).
We’re always interested in guest recappers, authors who want us to take a look at their books, and essays about Point Horror and other teen genre fiction. Email wing@nostalgicbookshelf.com if you want to pitch an idea. We do not pay at this time.
The recap master list has not only existing recaps, but media that will be recapped at some point in the future. The trope counter definitions will come in handy for some of the recaps. You can find us on social media on Facebook and Tumblr. We are a part of Nostalgic Bookshelf, which includes snarky recaps of all sorts of nostalgic media. Finally, we are twinned with Sweet Valley Online, where evil triplets are recapping their way through Sweet Valley, starting with Sweet Valley Twins; if you want something saccharine and pastel to clear your palate, maybe that will fit the bill.
Who we are:
Identical twins (or at least sisters from another mister), Dove and Wing, created this site in January 2013 so we could come together to snark Point Horror. We like our fiction dark, fast-paced, and humorous. We love snappy dialog and strong female characters. Diversity: super important… so why are we reading Point Horror again?
Here’s why. We love the idea of Point Horror. Teenagers having adventures with killers and monsters and supernatural events sounds like the greatest thing ever. Add to that, cute front covers and whimsical rhymes [Wing: shut up Dove, we were doing really well], and Point Horror had a lot of potential. Sadly, it did not live up to it, and it is our jobs to list all the ways it failed.
We love these stories. Sometimes, we love them because we hate them. We just want teen horror to be a better place.
(also, we’re taking back the word “bitches”.)
If anyone wants to give us gifts for writing this blog, we accept ISUZU TROOPERS, BITCHES, and nothing else.
And, we’re out.
Guest Recappers
As of May 2017, Dove is taking a hiatus from recapping. Wing is pleased to welcome a cadre of regular guest recappers. They’ll be tackling everything from Nightmare Hall to Goosebumps to horror movies. Many thanks to Dove for all the work she did over the years, and welcome to the guest recappers!
Bat
bat doesn’t know why bat needs a bio but here’s one written in third person. bat is here for the snark, to write alongside Wing for their SNARK AT THE MOON! werewolf-centric series, and to recap really bad movies. Also to write epic, deep-dive recaps for (horror) films she loves. Do not ask her about Kiefer Sutherland.
Dade
Coming soon.
Donna
Donna’s been an avid reader since she found out what books were and she’s had horror on her shelves since way too impressionable of an age. Some might say so much horror at such a young age adversely affected her development in some weird, as-yet-unknown way. She’ll just tell you she’s nearly completely desensitized to the horror genre and only has irrational fears of the dark and clowns and refuses to sleep with the closet door open. That’s not that abnormal.
From Goosebumps to Fear Street to everything Christopher Pike, it was all on her shelves. And then it wasn’t and it wasn’t until years into adulthood that she realized she made a big mistake in purging all that glorious cheese all those years ago and feverishly started re-collecting it all again. Right down to that first edition Fear Street #1 signed by the master himself.
Because of a rather unfortunate nose-to-chin collision in high school that rattled her memory a tad, she can’t remember her original reactions to these books, but as an adult she revels in all the gouda gloriousness that they are. From Stine’s incredibly elaborate and creative death scenes to the caricatures that these authors thought human beings (especially teenagers) were, she loves it all. To varying degrees, at least.
She’s reviewed cheese at her own review blog, www.litbites.com, since 2009 and she looks forward to recapping some of her favorite (and not so favorite) cheese brands among such lovely like-minded folks at The Devil’s Elbow.
Jude Deluca
Name: Jude Deluca
Real Name: Like I’d tell you.
Favorite Horror Characters: Alice Johnson, Greta Gibson, Joey B., Niki Meyers, Danielle Cortez, Stacy Malcolm, Mary O’Connor, Harry & Alex Altman, Hope Mathis, Margaret Fier, Cornelia Van Gorder, Jordie Flanders, Vickie Wheilson, Molloy Book
When it comes to horror I love nothing more than watching horny teenagers getting butchered, old ladies solving brutal murders, and beautiful women being subjected to and overcoming psychological torment.
And also… I love the smell of fresh laundry, and helping the elderly, and my favorite Care Bear is Treat Heart Pig *giggles*
Okay in all seriousness, I’m one of those people who never grew out of reading Goosebumps, and I’ve amassed a small collection of YA and children’s horror novels from the 90s which is still growing. Along with wanting to be a professional comic book author, I hope to write and publish YA horror stories, if not someday be able to write actual Goosebumps books, and I hope to demolish many of the harmful stereotypes that littered most teen fiction in the 90s and still pervades stories to this day.
Nieve Hearity
Coming soon.
Virgin
Popping her horror cherry by watching classic 1980s horror film franchises, the Virgin plans to take notes and snark her way through the slaughter to be the last woman standing!
Site Credits
- Dove is the creator behind our site layout and images
- Daz3D – for the backgrounds (using Cirque du Macabre) and avatars of Dove and Wing
- WordPress – for the blog
- WPAudio Plugin with fix from WendyCholbi.com
I love referring to your master lists as I build my collection of 90’s nostalgia. I was wondering if you plan to add some other popular series from z-fave horror? The Scream Series, The Nightmare Club, and additional stand alone novels. Not z-fave, but there is also Horror High, Terror Academy, and Baby-Sitter’s Nightmares. I’m sure your followers would appreciate seeing those as well! I even have a collection of Avon Flare horror.
I need to hear more about Avon Flare horror, that’s not familiar to me! I plan to add Nightmare Club to the list, some of my faves are in it, and I’ll take a look at all the others. At the very least, I can update the master lists, which I use for book shopping, too, when I find used bookstores.
I’m so glad we can help!
Awesome site, just one recommendation. For those ebook lovers out there, could you create a list of all of the Point Horror books that are available as ebooks as not all of them are?
I’ll see what we can do.
Have you managed to find any of R. L. Stine’s Point Horror in ebook format? I know he wrote loads (cos some of them I have!) but he doesn’t even mention them on his website!
(Apologies if you addressed this elsewhere, only just starting this site – well, once I finish Sweet Valley that is…)
I’ve been reading Stine’s Fear Street in ebook, but I’ve not looked for the Point Horror ones, really. I’ll have to look into this!
Welcome, by the way!
Hi Wing, I am Alex from Germany and I have a question regarding the recap „Rock‘n‘Roll Nightmare by your author bat. Bat discusses the scene where Mary and Randy do the dishes the day after Phil disappeared:
„Roger runs in and grabs Mary, who jokes she’s afraid she’s married an octopus. Hardly. I didn’t see dude doing shit last night, especially compared to “Stig”. WAIT HAS ANYONE CHECKED ON LOU ANN???“
https://pointhorror.com/8823/rocknroll-nightmare-1987/…
Now my question: what does Mary mean when she says that she is afraid to have married an octopus? Is it because he comes from behind grabbing her with his long arms – much like an octopus would attack and grab its prey? Some of the jokes are pretty bad but this one I’m not sure if I got it right. Maybe you can help me out or forward the question to bat and send me the answer. Or I can give you my email address. I’m looking forward hearing from you. Thanks, Alex
Hi Alex, thanks for commenting! I’ll point bat in this direction. Really interesting question.
Hi, Alex!
Thanks for your question! I think what Mary is saying is she’s afraid that Roger is always “handsy” – meaning that he constantly wants to touch her and be physical in a romantic way. It’s kind of a joking sexual innuendo that I’m not sure translates in other languages/cultures. It isn’t meant that he’s attacking her like an octopus.
I hope this helps!
-bat
AYYY I am one of those people who make the “did you really read this book” quizzes (that usually suck) that they have in the libraries at public schools and I spend a lot of time researching odd teen books. so fucking stoked I stumbled on your site. you are true public servants x
Welcome welcome welcome! We always love meeting another fan of teen books.