Between 1989 and 1999, YA author R.L Stine scared children and teens with his seminal series Fear Street. The original series has 51 books, and there are several spin-offs including the Fear Street Sagas, 99 Fear Street, and Cheerleaders.
Netflix's trilogy of Fear Street movies, loosely based on the book series as far as fans can tell, is set to scare on July 2, 2021. If they are successful enough, maybe Netflix should consider adapting these stories for future sequels.
Halloween Party
In Halloween Party, Stine tackled Agatha Christie's famous format of strangers being brought together by a host's ulterior motives. In this case, new girl Justine invites only a select amount of students from Shadyside High School to her Halloween get-together at the Cameron Mansion on Fear Street. The exclusive guest list raises suspicions from the protagonist's girlfriend, who soon learns why they were all invited to the creepy, old house.
If Netflix wants more Halloween movies for young people, this book is a good template to adapt or build upon. It may need to increase the body count to ensure its slasher potential, though.
Bad Dreams
Haunted houses are a pretty common horror trope, but what about haunted beds? The two sisters in Bad Dreams move to Fear Street after their father dies, and one of them inherits the luxurious bed left behind by the previous tenants. Unfortunately for her and everyone else, the bed is evil.
Netflix has done wonders with The Haunting of Hill House and its sequel Bly Manor; it could do great things with Bad Dreams just as well.
Lights Out
Summer camps are a frequent destination of doom for unsuspecting horror movie characters, and Lights Out would be great for nostalgia. It would not be too difficult to turn this into a modern Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp-like movie.
In Light Outs, Holly experiences a series of frights at Camp Nightwing one summer. Each time one of her fellow counselors is attacked, the culprit leaves behind a lone red feather as a signature. Who is doing this? And is Holly next?
The Fear Park Trilogy
Amusement parks have become less and less frequented in horror movies, so adapting the Fear Park trilogy would be a quick and effective way of reviving the location as a creepy venue. The garish designs and dangerous rides would make for some valid on-screen scares.
Fear Park sees what happens when the present messes with the past. Sixty years ago, someone tried to build an amusement park in Fear Street Woods, but a dozen people were killed before the place even opened. Now, someone is opening another park in the same exact spot. History is bound to repeat itself.
The Fear Hall Duology
Fear Hall was unique because it was not an offshoot like Super Chiller or The Cataluna Chronicles; the two-parter was included in the original series as back-to-back entries. Also, this story was set in college as opposed to Shadyside High School. Using this as a springboard, Netflix could revive interest in horror movies about college life.
In Fear Hall: The Beginning, freshman Hope and her friends are shocked to find out someone close to them is a murderer. Then in The Conclusion, the truth about Hope's possible haunted dormitory is revealed.
Sunburn
Both the beach and summer camp are backdrops in this delightful whodunit-style Fear Street book. Similar to Prom Night and I Know What You Did Last Summer, something the protagonists did in the past is now affecting their future in Sunburn. Netflix enjoys telling stories using flashbacks.
In Sunburn, four friends from summer camp reunite at a house on a private beach. When weird things start happening though, they suspect their host is trying to get back at them for whatever happened at summer camp.
The Thrill Club
In what is basically a more mature version of the Midnight Society in Are You Afraid of the Dark, a group of discordant Shadyside students form a club where they all tell scary, original stories to one another. Their aim to fright goes too far when the events of Talia's story come true; one of their own is murdered.
While it is true Netflix is adapting Christopher Pike's The Midnight Club with Mike Flanagan at the wheel, Stine's The Thrill Club is different enough for a self-contained, supernatural mystery.
Bad Moonlight
Werewolves are making a slow but steady comeback in horror. And with filmmakers using lycanthropy and other supernatural maladies as the lens to view female maturation and transformation through, the Super Chiller book Bad Moonlight might be a perfect way to join the pack.
In Bad Moonlight, Danielle has the chance to sing for a popular band. She should be happy, but something is not right; she has visceral and violent nightmares. When people start to die from brutal animal attacks, Danielle has to ask herself — is she responsible for the murders?
The Silent Night Trilogy
By now, it is no surprise Christmas and horror go so well together. There is something about the season that makes those wintry chills so unnerving and those footprints in the snow more ominous. Netflix has yet to really bank on holiday horror, and Stine's Silent Night trilogy is one way of doing just that.
In Silent Night, the wealthy Reva is considered the snobbiest person in Shadyside. Because of that, readers have since commented on how despicable she is and how much they enjoy what happens to Reva in these books. After someone scares Reva into behaving properly, she is stalked yet again and again.
The Cheerleaders Series
Of all the spin-offs in Fear Street, no set of books has the potential to do great things like Cheerleaders. What began as a trilogy later turned into five books total plus a grisly prequel in the Fear Street Sagas. With every new entry, Cheerleaders cemented its status as one of the best stories in the overall series. Netflix would be foolish not to want to adapt this.
After an accident at the Fear Street Cemetery, the malevolent spirit of Sarah Fear is stirred up and targets the Shadyside High School's cheerleading squad. Who among them is possessed by the ghost and who will die?