We Figured Out Which Fear Street Books Netflix's Trilogy Is Based on So You Don't Have To

Despite not being based on one specific book, Fear Street Part One: 1994 draws heavily from the first book in the Fear Street Cheerleaders saga, The First Evil. When Shadyside newcomers Corky and Bobbi Corcoran join the cheer squad, bad things start to happen after an accident at the nearby Fear Street cemetery. It’s up to the sisters to stop the mysterious killer while trying to stay alive themselves.

Much like The First Evil, the protagonists in Part One have an accident involving a bus that leads to cheerleader Samantha Fraser bleeding on top of Sarah Fier’s grave. Eventually, Sam is possessed by an evil spirit and turns murderous because of it. However, The First Evil‘s Sarah Fear isn’t a vengeful spirit that died after being accused of witchcraft in the 1600s. No, the book’s version of Sarah is a vengeful spirit bound to her best friend’s body after a tragic identity switch in the 1800s.

With The First Evil making up the bulk of Part One‘s inspiration, The Surprise Party has more to do with character motivations. A year after Evan dies in the Fear Street woods and Ellen moves away, Meg plans a surprise party to get the gang back together. Eventually, Meg begins receiving ominous threats to cancel the party unless she’s able to discover the truth the Fear Street woods hide.

Part One‘s Sam is very much like Ellen, in the way that they both move away after a traumatic event. For Ellen, it’s her boyfriend’s death, and for Sam, it’s the divorce of her parents. Ellen and Meg drifted apart after the move, while Sam and Deena broke up because of it. Then there’s the character of Brian in The Surprise Party, Meg’s cousin who is very into Dungeons and Dragons. In Part One, Deena’s brother Josh, who is very into video games and chatting on the internet, seems to take up the “weird” mantle that was given to Brian.

Alright, this might be a stretch but The Wrong Number is one of the books seen in Heather Watkins’s book store in the opening of Part One. Deena Martinson and her best friend, Jade Smith, have fun by making sexy prank calls to boys at their school. Things take a deadly turn when Deena’s half-brother Chuck calls a wrong number on Fear Street.

At most, The Wrong Number potentially inspired the name of Part One‘s heroine, Deena Johnson. In the movie, Deena does seemingly answer a wrong number, only for it to be C. Berman calling to warn Deena and her friends, but that’s about it.

You would think that Fear Street Part Two: 1978 would be primarily inspired by Lights Out, the book that takes place at Camp Nightwing, but that’s not the case as it actually has more in common with Trapped. After getting detention at Shadyside High, a group of teenagers decide to explore the hidden tunnels under the school. They should’ve believed the stories about the deaths of the kids partying in the tunnels during the ’60s because history has a way of repeating itself.

From the never-ending tunnels under the school to the red mist that seems to mean danger, it’s easy to make the connection between Part Two and Trapped. However, instead of Shadyside High and red mist, the tunnels are now under Camp Nightwing and red moss is a warning sign for the movie. Both Elaine from Trapped and Alice from Part Two find themselves battling ankle issues as they try to escape the tunnels after a cave-in, although Alice’s are a bit more gruesome. Skeletons coming back to life are also a big and deadly issue for both sets of teenagers.

Also, a name being carved into a rock alerts the protagonists that something fishy is happening in the tunnels of Shadyside. Part Two‘s names are just signifiers of potential killers, while Trapped has a solitary name responsible for the deaths of the kids in the’60s.

It seems like Lights Out is the only mention of Camp Nightwing in the entirety of the Fear Street franchise, so I feel comfortable saying that’s where Part Two gets its camp name. With increasingly frightening acts of vandalism plaguing Camp Nightwing, junior counsellor Holly Flynn is determined to solve a fellow counsellor’s murder. Told it’s an “accident,” Holly has to watch her back lest the killer comes back for her.

Holly has a lot in common with both Cindy and Ziggy Berman in the movie. Cindy and Holly are both counsellors that want to keep everyone safe, while Holly and Ziggy want to be anywhere else but Camp Nightwing, where they’re hated by sh*tty counsellors and campers alike that ultimately try to kill them. Prior to the events at Camp Nightwing, Cindy had a falling out with her best friend Alice, like Holly fell out with Geri. Snakes continuously pop up in the book and movie, with Holly and Ziggy not being big fans. Oh, there’s also the rule of counsellors not being able to date campers, which isn’t really an issue for Holly but serves as an obstacle for Ziggy and Nick Goode.

Who thought the potentially cursed woods would be a great place to have a camp or amusement park? Apparently, Part Two and the first book in the Fear Park saga, The First Scream. Dierdre Bradley’s father doesn’t believe in the ancient Fear family curse and plans on opening his Fear Street theme park in a few days. This proves to be a deadly decision as the hopeful shrieks of joy soon turn to screams of terror.

Part Two‘s Camp Nightwing is nestled nicely in the woods that have grown since Sarah Fier’s death in 1666. The curses in the book and movie aren’t exactly the same, but they do involve the Fier/Fear family name. Eventually, it’s this Fear/Fier curse that causes a somewhat innocent teenager – Tommy Slater in Part Two and Richard Bradley in The First Scream – to pick up an axe and start murdering everyone in their path.