When the words 'YA' and 'novel' are mentioned these days, everyone automatically thinks of the likes of The Hunger Games or 13 Reasons Why. But, decades earlier, teenagers were reading thrillers written by authors Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine, and more.
Although YA thrillers still exist, they're certainly nothing like Fear Street. For anyone who has read those vintage suspensers will find comparable horror movies on this list.
R.L. Stine's The Hitchhiker / The Hitcher (1986)
In R.L. Stine's The Hitchhiker, Christina wants to pick up a handsome hitchhiker despite what her friend says. What follows is proof that, sometimes, one should only keep driving when they see a stranger on the side of the road.
In The Hitcher, a man driving across the country needs something to keep him awake. So, he picks up a man in need of a ride. Unfortunately for the driver, his passenger is a serial killer who's only just begun his murder spree.
R.L. Stine's Fear Street: The Cheerleaders Saga / All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
Throughout R.L. Stine's Cheerleader Saga, bad things start to happen to the Shadyside High School cheerleaders after new members join the team. Is a killer really out to get them, or have they accidentally summoned an ancient evil?
In All Cheerleaders Die, the pep squad wants to overthrow the misogynistic captain of the football team. As the war between cheerleaders and football players grows, a supernatural force is awakened.
Sinclair Smith's The Boy Next Door / Bad Ronald (1974)
Sinclair Smith's The Boy Next Door has a teenager named Randy being scared of being home alone. It doesn't help that her father goes away on a trip, or that a creepy new guy named Julian moves in next door.
In the made-for-television movie Bad Ronald, the story's troubled namesake commits a crime. It's so bad his mother has him hide in the walls of their house so the cops can't catch him. However, the mother dies, and Ronald remains inside the walls when a new family moves in. Now, Ronald becomes obsessed with the latest residents' daughter.
Christopher Pike's Slumber Party / Cold Prey (2006)
Eight years after a terrible fire that maimed one girl and killed another, friends reunite at a ski resort in Slumber Party. In Christopher Pike's debut, an unexpected visitor pays the characters a visit they will never forget.
In the Norwegian slasher movie Cold Prey, a group of friends seeks shelter at a seemingly empty snow lodge when one of them gets hurt. As they wait out the blistering cold weather, the party learns they're not so alone, after all.
The movie spawned a sequel and a prequel.
Diane Hoh's The Train / Terror Train (1980)
On train for their school's cross-country trip, four friends are disturbed when they find out there's a coffin aboard. The coffin belongs to a classmate they all teased before he died. Now, terrible things happen during their train ride. Has their dead classmate somehow returned from the dead to take revenge?
In the classic 1980 slasher Terror Train, college students throw a train-set costume party on New Year's Eve. As everyone celebrates, someone from several partygoers' dark past shows up to take revenge. The assailant goes unnoticed as they keep switching costumes.
R.L. Stine's Hit and Run / I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Despite the fact the 1997 slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer is based on a book of the same name by Lois Duncan, the film is a disparate adaptation. R.L. Stine's Hit and Run is a better companion. In it, teenage friends commit the eponymous crime and try to cover it up. Then, someone makes it painfully clear they know what really happened.
In I Know What You Did Last Summer, friends on the cusp of college go their separate ways after committing a similar offense. When the four reunite the following summer, they each receive threatening notes from a murderous stranger wanting to expose the teens' sin.
Two sequels followed: I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.
Richie Tankersley Cusick's April Fools / April Fool's Day (1986)
Richie Tankersley Cusick's April Fools finds teenagers witnessing a crime after they attended a party they should not have been at. There are no survivors, and the friends swear not to tell a soul what they saw. Next, the three witnesses are subjected to scary pranks. Who's behind them?
In Fred Walton's 1986 whodunit April Fool's Day, a rich girl invites her friends to a weekend getaway at her remote island mansion. It's all fun and games until people start to die.
R.L. Stine's Fear Street: The Wrong Number / I Saw What You Did (1988)
Two friends, who enjoy calling boys from their school and playing pranks on them, are forced to let a sibling in on the fun. Otherwise, he'll tell their parents what they've been doing. While he adds a a thrilling element to the games, he mistakenly calls someone on Fear Street.
In the 1988 TV-made remake of I Saw What You Did, a teenager befriends a classmate and invites her over to hang out. They, along with a sibling, prank call random numbers in the phone book. When they tell one unsuspecting party "I saw what you did," the girls fail to realize they just called a killer.
Carol Ellis' The Window / Disturbia (2007)
Jody has an accident during her ski trip and is forced to sit out the rest of her vacation in The Window. As she recovers in her cabin, she eyes something peculiar next door. Jody can't believe her eyes because she believes she saw a murder take place.
In Disturbia, a grieving 17-year-old son is sentenced to three months of house arrest after he assaults a teacher. His boredom gives way to paranoia as he now suspects his new neighbor is a serial killer.
R.L. Stine's The Babysitter / When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
In R.L. Stine's The Babysitter, Jenny is taking care of the Hagens' child. Should be relatively easy, but she starts to receive threatening phone calls. If what the caller says is true, is someone really on their way to visit Jenny?
There are three sequels to this popular novel.
In the made-for-TV sequel to the 1979 cult hit When a Stranger Calls, the director shifts the focus to the victims rather than the killer. This time around, a high school student is tormented by a man outside the house she's babysitting at. Years later, she believes the same man is back to finish what he started. Luckily, she's aided by someone who went through a similar experience when she was younger.