But before long, nasty things start happening, both to Margaret and to the store. Margaret is surprised when Mitch, one of the most handsome, popular guys in school, starts showing interest in her. Who killed Stephanie, and why? There are so many candidates. Then the senior picnic comes along, and Stephanie is shoved off a watchtower onto the rocks below. (Not that anything would dare stick to the bottom of these girls' shoes.) They rule the school and make everyone else feel like something stuck to the bottom of your shoe. There's sleek, bitchy Stephanie perfect overachiever Kiki elegant, sophisticated Liza and sweet, pretty Beth. The Pops are the bane of her and her friends' lives. Margaret is an intelligent, soft-spoken, not-especially-popular girl who works in her beautiful mother's dress store, which at this time of year is filled with the Beautiful People (known as the Pops) who are all trying on prom dresses. I'm happy to say that Prom Date is a delicious return to those golden days. Some of them are memorable, with wild plots often involving supernatural stuff, and a handful are excellent - The Stranger comes to mind (although that's not a great example, I have no idea why that one was released under the Point Horror imprint at all) - but the majority of the books released post-1994 don't hold a candle to classics like Trick or Treat, My Secret Admirer, Beach Party or The Train. I've certainly noticed - and I'm not the only one, this is something I see echoed in just about every Point Horror blog I've read - that the later PH novels are just, well, not great.

Blessed be!Įxcuse me, I'm being facetious.

Oh good Lord, a later Point Horror that's actually really good. Even if you’re a cis hetero guy who’s never worn dresses.

Prom Date by Diane Hoh