Goosebumps YA series creator Stine fails to compel in his first horror novel for adults. After a destructive hurricane, travel blogger Lea Sutter encounters homeless 12-year-old “twin angels” Daniel and Samuel on a South Carolina island and brings them home to Long Island. Stine quickly immerses the family in tension and horror as the boys’ presence and supernatural abilities provoke conflict in Lea’s family. Although Stine makes the twins’ malicious intentions very clear, most of the adults seem astonishingly oblivious. Lea’s husband’s assurances to their children (“We’re all safe here. You don’t have to be scared”) ring hollow as the twins pursue their dark goals. Lea, whose devotion to Daniel and Samuel is described as “love at first sight,” becomes increasingly protective of them and immersed in nightmares of her island experiences. A predictable and disappointing conclusion is upended by a final tantalizing image that feels like a movie-viewer’s reward for sitting through interminable credits. (Oct.)

RED RAIN is a slam-bang, stay-up-all-night, leave-the-lights-on thriller. R.L. Stine has scared kids for years. Now it's our turn...

This is the moment I've been terrified of — when R.L. Stine decided he wasn't just going to scare children, but that he would focus his power on frightening the rest of us. Ready to be haunted by the master? RED RAIN proves he's got nightmares for us all.

Leave the light on and the door locked. R.L. Stine is now scaring the bejeezus out of grown-ups. RED RAIN will put goose bumps on even the toughest adult.

Come on! There's simply no need to frighten somebody that much. But what else should we expect from the undisputed master of fear. R.L. Stine is a name synonymous with excellence. He's made a career out of scaring children. Now he's turned his attention to adults in a dark, all-too-real-tale, that brings the unimaginable to life. Make sure the doors are locked and all of the lights are on in the house before you open this one up."

I picked up R.L. Stine’s RED RAIN and for the life of me couldn’t put it down. From the opening scene—which is plenty shocking—a terrifying and original story unspools that draws the reader in like a moth to flame. The suspense builds to the breaking point and goes beyond... and beyond. This is a sophisticated thriller with real characters, crisp writing, and a wicked sense of humor. Keep this book far, far away from your kids.

With this brilliantly written novel "Red Rain", Stine proves that he definitely has it in him to challenge the greats in the Thriller/Horror genre ... think Dean Koontz, Douglas Preston, Harlan Coben and then amp-it-up by a hundred!

It's a page turner until the end, with short chapters that help increase the pace. Stine enjoys himself writing not for kids but about them.

Stine has a freshly terrifying story to tell, and he tells it with gusto, ratcheting up the chills until we’re frozen in our chairs. Parents, be warned: this is emphatically not for younger readers.

Stine has a freshly terrifying story to tell, and he tells it with gusto, ratcheting up the chills until we’re frozen in our chairs. Parents, be warned: this is emphatically not for younger readers.”

“It's a page turner until the end, with short chapters that help increase the pace. Stine enjoys himself writing not for kids but about them.”

“Stine’s story is a creepy, fun read.…"

“With this brilliantly written novel "Red Rain", Stine proves that he definitely has it in him to challenge the greats in the Thriller/Horror genre ... think Dean Koontz, Douglas Preston, Harlan Coben and then amp-it-up by a hundred!

YA fearmonger Stine tries his hand at adult horror, with decidedly jejune results. When travel blogger Lea Sutter (ignoring urgent forecasts) visits a Carolina coastal island just before a hurricane, that is only the first of the foolhardy decisions that Stine's plot demands. (What if horror characters went on strike and refused to throw caution to the wind?) After the hurricane levels the island, Lea witnesses carnage, lovingly described. While walking in an ominous post-hurricane red rain, she's approached by two angelic-looking twin boys, Daniel and Samuel, who utter anachronisms in brogue. Instead of calling Child Protective Services, Lea takes the 12-year-old twins home to Sag Harbor over the objections of husband Mark, a child psychologist and the author of a controversial parenting book. The Sutter offspring, Ira, who is also 12, and teenager Elena, resent the interlopers, as does Mark's sister, Roz, particularly when Daniel, the obvious sociopath of the duo, keeps comparing her young son to a monkey. The book occasionally switches point of view to the twins, so right away readers know they are scamming the well-meaning Long Islanders, but to what end? At the same time, they seem to have a plan for world domination, starting with ruling their new middle school. In fact, the child characters take up so much space that, but for the sex and profanity in the adult sections, this could easily be another Fear Street or Goosebumps chapter book. Aside from wondering when the police (who also share narrative duties) and the Sutters are going to catch on to who is responsible for some bizarre and garishly depicted mayhem, readers will be puzzling over exactly which horror stereotype fits the twins. Are they zombies from the past, as a bit of foreshadowing hinted? Are they demons or just your garden variety bad seeds? Bottom line, they cannot wreak havoc without the witless collusion of the adult characters, who are definitely not on strike. More icky than scary.