Don't Forget Me! (The Nightmare Room, Book 1) (Nightmare Room,...

You hold in you hand the key to a shadow world of shivers and screams. Take a step away from the safe, comfortable world you know. Unlock the door to terror. There's always room for one more in...The Nightmare Room. Danielle Warner was only pretending to hypnotize her brother Peter. So why is Peter acting so strange...so Terrifying? Doesn't Peter realize it was all a joke? Danielle and her brother are about to learn a frightening lessons: It's not a good idea to kid around--in The Nightmare Room. What will you find in The Nightmare Room next time? Find out in book 2: Locker 13.

Amazon.com Review

Fifteen-year-old Danielle Warner was just kidding when she said she wanted to be an only child. And she was only pretending to hypnotize her little brother Peter. But when he starts acting very peculiar, Danielle realizes she's entered... the Nightmare Room! The Nightmare Room is the place "where true horror waits." It could be anywhere--under a tree, in your basement, at school, in your mind. Soon, Danielle is in a desperate race to save her brother's life, his memory, and his soul. R.L. Stine, master of the macabre, needs no introduction. His Goosebumps and Fear Street series have been sending chills down readers' spines for years, and the Nightmare Room books are sure to keep those chills coming. Haunted cellars in creaky old houses, a teenage heroine who wonders if she's going crazy, slime-covered zombies whispering and beckoning lost souls through a trapdoor to be forgotten forever... any red-blooded kid is going to devour this book. Stine's writing is brisk and thrilling, if formulaic, with introductions that seem inspired by TV's Twilight Zone. The formula works, though, as countless fans will attest, making bookworms out of nonreaders. Wondering what you'll find in the Nightmare Room next time? Watch for book 2, Locker 13. (Ages 9 to 13) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

The author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series is up to his kid-pleasing, tried-and-true tricks in the first installment of The Nightmare Room series. Fittingly creepy cover art will catch youngsters' eyes and the plucky plot should hold their attention. Fifteen-year-old Danielle and her family have just moved into a rambling, 100-year-old "fixer-upper" house. When her parents take off on a business trip, they leave the teen in charge of her nine-year-old brother, Peter. Danielle practices her school talent-show act and pretends to hypnotize him. She finds it a bit scary when he doesn't wake up immediatelyAand scarier yet when he finally does come to and seems to have lost his memory. Shortly after the author sends the parents off on their trip, Stine adds a man dressed in black, skulking outside the house, and the sounds of moaning and whispers emanating from the basement (where Danielle finds slime-covered, zombie-like children) to set a spooky stage for the eerie events that follow. Effectively laced with foreshadowing, appealing Danielle's first-person narrative keeps the tale moving at a quick clip. This may not bring on nightmares, but it's likely to make readers think twice about venturing into dark basements and may well bring them back for the next installment, Locker 13, also releasing this month. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) FYI: A Web site, www.thenightmareroom.com, offers related games and information about the 10 planned forthcoming titles; a story published exclusively on-line, Dead of Night, is also available on the site (Children's Books, Aug. 7) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-The Warner family has moved into the proverbial last house on the block. Appropriately named, Forget-Me House is having a strange and dangerous effect on its inhabitants. Danielle, 15, wishes her pesky younger brother Peter would just disappear. When her best friend suggests they do a fake hypnotism act for the school talent show, things quickly go awry. It seems Danielle has actually hypnotized Peter. He can't remember how to play his favorite video game or what he likes to eat for breakfast. Before long, other people begin to forget him. With their parents out of town, Danielle is in charge and she desperately tries to get him back to normal-before the curse of Forget-Me House gets her, too. Stine does a terrific job of building suspense and sustaining the macabre mood. Unfortunately, the characters are stereotypical and flat. The absent parents and other inept adults round out the cast of characters. Still, the story is entertaining and will quickly hook readers. This series, with its creepy horror but not too much gore, will likely be a big hit with the preteen set.-Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GACopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

You hold in you hand the key to a shadow world of shivers and screams. Take a step away from the safe, comfortable world you know. Unlock the door to terror. There's always room for one more in...The Nightmare Room. Danielle Warner was only pretending to hypnotize her brother Peter. So why is Peter acting so strange...so Terrifying? Doesn't Peter realize it was all a joke? Danielle and her brother are about to learn a frightening lessons: It's not a good idea to kid around--in The Nightmare Room. What will you find in The Nightmare Room next time? Find out in book 2: Locker 13.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Nightmare Room #1: Don't Forget Me!By R.L. StineHarperCollins Publishers, Inc.Copyright © 2006 R.L. StineAll right reserved.ISBN: 006440899XChapter OneI wrapped my hands around my brother's throat and started to tighten them. "Die, monster, die!? I screamed.Peter spun out of my grasp. "Danielle, give me a break," he groaned, rubbing his throat. "You're about as funny as head lice."My friend Addie laughed. She thinks everything Peter says is funny."I know what we can do for the talent show at school," I told her. "A magic act. We can make Peter disappear."Peter stuck his tongue out at me. It was purple from the grape soda he was drinking.Mom appeared in the kitchen carrying a tall stack of dinner plates. She set them down on the counter next to the piles of bowls and cups she had unpacked. She blew a strand of hair off her forehead and frowned at me. "Danielle, stop saying things like that about your little brother. You'd feel terrible if anything happened to Peter.""Yeah. Terrible," I said, rolling my eyes. "But I'd get over it in a minute or two.""Mom, do you know what Danielle said?" Peter asked in a tiny, hurt voice. "She said her birthday wish is to be an only child!"Mom scowled at me. "You didn't really say that to Peter, did you?""Of course not," I replied, glaring at Peter, who was still pretending to be hurt. "I mean, maybe I said it. But it was just a joke.""Your face is a joke!" Peter said.Addie laughed again. Why does she think Peter is such a riot? Why do all my friends think he's so adorable and funny? Mom narrowed her eyes at me. "Danielle, you're fifteen and Peter is nine. You're supposed to be the grown-up. You have to take care of him.""No problem," I said. I raised my hands to strangle him again. "I'll be glad to take care of him!" I dove at him.Peter laughed and squirmed away.It was the kind of kidding around brothers and sisters do all the time. Nothing to it, really. It was all so innocent and good-natured. I had no idea what was to come in the next few days. I had no idea I really was about to lose my brother.It all started that day, the day Addie came to see our new house.Mom had picked up a stack of china saucers and was carrying it to a cabinet above the stove. "Danielle, are you going to help me unpack this stuff?" she asked. "We've only got about a hundred more cartons to open.""I'll open some!" Peter volunteered eagerly. He chugged the rest of his grape soda and tossed the can to the counter. "I'll open all of them!"Mom shook her head. "I don't want to open all of them now. Just the ones for the kitchen.""Let me help!" Peter cried.I motioned to Addie to follow me. "I'll help right after I give Addie the house tour," I told Mom. Addie tossed her blond ponytail behind her shoulders and hopped down from the kitchen stool. "I can't wait to see your new house, Mrs. Warner," she said cheerfully. Addie is a very cheerful girl. That's her thing. She even wears cheerful colors. Today she had a silky pink vest over a blue T-shirt and bright orange capri pants she bought at some thrift store for two dollars. Outrageous colors! But Addie always looked really together.The red-and-blue glass beads she wore every day clattered as she started across the kitchen. Addie has a lot of style. I like things kind of plain and simple. My favorite color is gray. She always makes me feel brighter just walking beside me."Whoa." Mom stepped in front of Addie, blocking her way. "Did you get your ears pierced again?"Addie nodded.Mom carefully examined the white and gold hoops in Addie's ears. "Three in each ear?"Addie nodded again. "Yeah. Only three."Peter pushed in between Mom and Addie. "Hey, Mom, can I get my nose pierced?"Mom's mouth dropped open but no sound came out.I picked up the hammer Dad had been using. "Here, Peter," I said. "I'll do it for you."Peter stuck out his purple tongue again. "Stop picking on Peter," Mom said. "Boohoo." Peter rubbed his eyes and pretended to cry. "She hurt my feelings."I dropped the hammer, grabbed Addie's arm, and tugged her to the kitchen door. "Come on. The grand house tour. I'm showing off this magnificent mansion." I stepped over a pile of carpentry tools."Be careful," Mom called after us. "The molding in the back hall was just painted. And there are still a few floorboards missing back there.""We'll be careful," I said. "I want to give the tour!" Peter shouted, running after Addie and me. "We can start in my room. I have the coolest window seat. When we unpack my binoculars, I can sit there and spy on the neighbors. And my closet's bigger than my old bedroom. And I think there's a secret compartment in the wall!" Continues...Excerpted from The Nightmare Room #1: Don't Forget Me!by R.L. Stine Copyright © 2006 by R.L. Stine. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

About the Author

R.L. Stine has more than 350 million English language books in print, plus international editions in 32 languages, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written other series, including Fear Street, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and his Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Minnie. Visit him online at rlstine.com.

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