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Contrary to Rumors, I am Still Alive

  Well, I didn't realize so much time passed between my last post and today. Things were pretty bad there for a while. I got through COVID and then my world just fell apart. I'm hoping I can start posting again at least semi-regularly. If anyone is still out there, expect to see a new post a month.

Sweet Valley Twins #78: Steven the Zombie

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  In social studies class, they're working on a unit on the Civil War and the antebellum period. For some reason, this makes all the kids obsessed with Gone with the Wind . They need to do a final project, so Lila decides to throw a GWTW themed party. She naturally plans on dressing up as Scarlet and plans on holding a contest to see who can pull off the best Scarlet costume. Jessica finds the section on voodoo fascinating and makes a voodoo doll of Steven. This happens after he ruins her favorite poster of Johnny Buck. She even cuts up his favorite shirt for the doll. Though Liz sees her, she makes her promise that she won't tell anyone. Before long, everything she does to the doll happens to him. Everything from spilling honey on his shirt to phantom pains in his leg. Jess plans on using her voodoo work for her project. Meanwhile, Liz is volunteering at a shelter and gets along really well with this kid Benjamin. He has leg pain and can't find a reason for his

Nancy Drew Case Files #69: Running Scared (1992)

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  Since George is the absolute best athlete of all time, the girls are off to Chicago to watch her compete in the Heartland Marathon. On their first day in the city, they see Annette, the top women's marathon runner in the country. She nearly gets hit by a car, but Nancy steps in and saves her. Kevin, her trainer, feels an instant connection with George and makes plans to see her at dinner. Derek, her agent, gets Nancy alone and reveals that someone started sending her threatening notes. They make plans to get together later and talk. Bess also randomly runs into this hot guy named Jake. They spend a few hours together before he gets super busy and leaves. He starts to talk to her at dinner that night but gets distracted by Gina, another runner. After a bad encounter with “ace reporter” Brenda Carlton, Nancy catches Annette and Gina fighting, with Gina vowing to get her revenge. During her meeting with Derek, she realizes that Gina didn't write the notes. Gina is It

Ghosts of Fear Street #35: Horror Hotel Part 2: Ghost in the Guest Room (R.L. Stine)

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  Joe and grandpa switched bodies at the end of the last book. As they attempt to do a spell to switch back, grandpa disappears. Joe hears strange noises in the wall and thinks he might be in there. When he touches it though, weird good appears on his hands. His mom then wanders in and reminds him to put on his costume for the night. She tells him that if things don't go well, they might lose the hotel. When he finally gets ready, she asks him to go out and get some ice for the opening night party. Joe has no idea how to drive and almost causes a massive accident. He survives and does well at the party, only to wake in the middle of the night with the feeling that someone is trying to suffocate him. It's the goo again, which covers his face and slides down his throat. Joe tries to run away and runs into the wall. It becomes soft and lets him go through it. There he finds a bunch of webs covering every square inch as well as grandpa. Joe gets to him and fights off the web

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #154: The Legend of the Emerald Lady (2000)

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  Jack and Emma Isaac are friends of Carson who bought the Sugar Moon Plantation in the Caribbean and fixed it up. Nancy heads down with Bess and Ned to be their first visitors. Not long after getting there, a man dressed as a pirate pops up. The parrot on his shoulder warns them of the full moon in two nights before the man laughs and they wander away. Jack explains that it's Old Ironbones, a fisherman who had an accident and kind of lost his mind. He now wanders around the island, teaching his parrots new phrases and feeding stray animals. While Jack doesn't like him, Emma keeps defending him. They also learn that the couple bought the plantation from the former owner's estate and met with Duncan, the owner of a local antique shop. Duncan estimated the value of some of the things they wanted to sell and seemed especially interested in silverware with the old owners initials. Emma locked them away. They head into town to rent snorkeling equipment and meet Pierre, a Fre

Ghosts of Fear Street #34: Horror Hotel 1: The Vampire Checks In (R.L. Stine)

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  Joe just moved to Shadyside with his parents and brother Neddy to open a hotel with their grandfather. Grandpa claims that they're related to the Fears and wants to open a hotel on Fear Street called Hotel Howie named after him. Joe quickly makes a new friend named Nick and invites him over for dinner. Grandpa delights them with family stories, but it's Nick who notices a portrait of a boy who died in the 1800s who looks exactly like Joe. He then joins his friend's new club where they hunt monsters. They all claim that they believe in monsters and hunted them before. Robin, one of the girls, goes missing at the end of the meeting and seems a little strange when she comes back. The next day, she comes up to Joe in school and tries to bite him. No one really believes him since she seems normal, but they do notice that she has a drop of blood on her shirt. Joe then heads home and finds his brother acting weird. Neddy's hair is sticking straight up, and he's su

The Nancy Drew Notebooks #4: Bad Day for Ballet

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  Most of the small girls in River Heights are in Madame Durgrand's ballet class. Bess was sick and missed a few classes, which explains why she keeps messing up her steps. She needs to figure it out because they have a big recital coming up. Their teacher picked some kids to have solo dances from Peter Pan and arranged group dances for everyone else. Nancy and her friends get to be mermaids. Brenda is unhappy that the teacher gave the Wendy solo to her friend Alison and stops talking to her. When they get ready for a rehearsal, Dugrand finds that someone stole the only tape of their music. Brenda immediately blames Bess because she was the last person backstage. Jerry, the janitor, is also a suspect. He has to keep putting off his personal life because of rehearsals and has to give up concert tickets he bought for his girlfriend's birthday for the big show. Nancy sees Paul, their teacher's young son playing around, too. The only clue she has is an Eiffel Tower charm