Fear Hall: The Beginning

R.L.STINE

Franco Accornero

POCKET BOOKS
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

1997 Parachute Press, Inc.

First Archway Paperback printing July 1997

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

FEAR HALL: THE BEGINNING authorKEYvalue000000

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He's Out of Control …

“You killed my friend,” Angel snapped. She made a move toward the phone on the desk. “I have to call the police.”

“NO!” Darryl screamed. “You can't!”

He moved to block her.

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BOOKS BY R.L. STINE

FEAR HALL

THE BEGINNING

FEAR STREET SAGAS

A NEW FEAR

HOUSE OF WHISPERS

FORBIDDEN SECRETS

THE SIGN OF FEAR

THE HIDDEN EVIL

DAUGHTERS OF SILENCE

CHILDREN OF FEAR

FEAR PARK

THE FIRST SCREAM

THE LOUDEST SCREAM

THE LAST SCREAM

THE FEAR STREET SAGA

THE BETRAYAL

THE SECRET

THE BURNING

FEAR STREET SAGA COLLECTOR'S EDITION

FEAR STREET CHEERLEADERS

THE FIRST EVIL

THE SECOND EVIL

THE THIRD EVIL

99 FEAR STREET: THE HOUSE OF EVIL

THE FIRST HORROR

THE SECOND HORROR

THE THIRD HORROR

Available from ARCHWAY Paperbacks

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The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK
Original

An Archway Paperback published by
POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 1997 by Parachute Press, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-671-00874-9
eISBN: 978-1-439-13702-4

First Archway Paperback printing July 1997

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FEAR STREET is a registered trademark of Parachute Press, Inc.

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Cover art by Franco Accornero

Printed in the U.S.A.

IL 7+

FEAR HALL: THE BEGINNING

part one
 
Hope

A
ll the books you read about Ivy State College tell you that it's a quiet, pretty school. Not a big university, but a good school, with friendly instructors and about three thousand students from all over the country.

That's what the books and pamphlets tell you.

They don't tell you about Fear Hall.

My name is Hope Mathis, and I can tell you about Fear Hall—because I live there.

Fear Hall is the biggest student dormitory at Ivy State. It's a tall, redbrick building. Sort of old-fashioned looking, with a thick carpet of ivy running down the sides, curling into some of the windows.

I'd guess that maybe fifty girls live in the rooms on my floor, the thirteenth floor. Fear Hall is only a block
from The Triangle. That's the big, grassy area in the middle of campus.

But even though our dorm is so close to the center of the campus, it's only half full.

Know why?

Because of its bad reputation.

As soon as I moved my stuff into my room—13-B—in September, the other girls started telling me stories about Fear Hall. Frightening stories.

They told me that the dorm was named after Duncan Fear. He donated the money to have it built. He's a guy from a rich family that lives in Shadyside. That's a town about fifty miles from here.

The Fear family is supposed to be unlucky, or evil, or something. And I guess a lot of unlucky and weird things have happened in my dorm.

I don't mean strange sounds at night. Creaking doors. Stuff like that.

I mean things like girls seeing ghosts. And strange creatures floating through the halls. And kids disappearing and never being seen again.

I'm not sure if I believe any of the stories.

But the campus store sells T-shirts and sweatshirts that say:
I SURVIVED FEAR HALL.

Sure, it's a joke. But a lot of kids at Ivy State don't think it's funny. And I think that all the jokes and weird stories are the reason why the dorm is only half full.

Some floors are totally empty. But my little room on the thirteenth floor is crowded enough.

I have three roommates—Angel, Eden, and Jasmine.

We're all freshmen. We've only been here a month. But we're really close friends. We're like a family. Because we all knew each other in high school.

It's a good thing we're so close. Because the four of us are squeezed into a room that's barely big enough for one!

Should I describe my roommates?

Well, maybe I should start with me. I'm about five seven. Not too tall, not too short. I have blond hair—long and straight, because I don't like to spend a lot of time on it.

I have light brown eyes and an okay face. I think it's a little too round. And I think my eyes are too close to my nose.

I guess I could lose a few pounds. Maybe more than a few. But I don't mind being a little chubby.

Whatever. I'm not the kind of girl who spends a lot of time gazing into mirrors.

At least I don't spend all my time worrying about every bite of food the way Angel does. Angel is skinny and blond and very hot looking. The guys all go nuts for her.

She has a soft, little voice that sounds more like purring. The guys all think that's really sexy. And she slinks around in tights and midriff tops, even though it's fall.

My other roommate, Eden, is sort of the opposite of Angel. She's kind of plain and grungy. You know. She wears a lot of big sweaters and sweatshirts over baggy
chinos. Lots of flannel shirts from L.L. Bean. No makeup at all. She has light brown hair, very curly, that just bounces around on her head.