How many Fear Street books are there?

The Fear Street horror trilogy event on Netflix kicked off Friday, July 2 with the premiere of Fear Street Part 1: 1994.

It’s a deliciously gory movie with a romance at its heart, slick style that makes its aesthetic pop, and a hard lean into what makes teen movies great from their music to the chaotic emotions of youth. So, of course, viewers are interested in its source material.

Based on the book series of the same name by R.L. Stine, the Fear Street trilogy is less an adaptation of a particular story from those beloved works and more of a vibe with story elements taken to shape a new narrative. However, evil haunts Shadyside on screen as well as on the page, so the books are a great place for a horror reading journey.

Though we’ll warn you, Stine is prolific. Once you launch into this series, you’ll have plenty of reading material for the summer and beyond.

The Fear Street books by R.L. Stine span decades

The original book series consists of 51 books published from 1989-1997. They are typically under 200 pages in length and share the connecting thread of being set in Shadyside. Readers will get a closer look at life at Shadyside High and Camp Nightwing.

Don’t worry about reading the books in order, the majority are separate, contained stories that wrap-up within the book. While there are sequels, they’re clearly notated as such i.e. The Wrong Number and The Wrong Number 2.

You can also check out Stine’s spin-off series for Fear Street. There are a total of 12 including The Fear Street Cheerleaders, an interconnected story told in five parts that tells the horrific fate of the Shadyside cheerleading squad after an accident at the local cemetery.

If you’re looking for a place to start with the series of Fear Street books, let the first movie in the trilogy be your guide. Several titles are shown throughout the beginning of the film as Heather (Maya Hawke) closes up B. Dalton’s bookstore before the murders begin.