Point Horror is a series of young adult horror fiction books. The series was most popular among teenagers.

History

The Point Horror series was launched in 1991 by Scholastic Inc, with the publisher re-releasing several of its previous titles under the Point Horror banner. Authors who published under the label of Point Horror include R.L. Stine, L.J. Smith (author), Diane Hoh, Richie Tankersley Cusick, Christopher Pike, and Caroline B. Cooney. The series was notable as Blind Date was one of R.L. Stine's first works and helped launch his career. After an eight-year absence, Scholastic announced their plan to release three new titles in May 2013, with more to follow later in the year.

Literary criticism

While the Point Horror series did not attract much serious attention, British children's novelist and literary historian Gillian Avery noted the series was "invariably structured around oppositions" in that teen horror novels "does not 'put an end to the opposition between the real and the imaginary' but, instead, affirms the distinction". Roy Fisher wrote the series embodied and represented "the fears and anxieties of young people about their lives in general and about school in particular". Others noted the series' similarity to Stephen King, saying that there "was little difference between the approach and design...other than length". Will Davis of The Guardian attributed the decline of the series to higher standards from teen readers and the series' lack of real-life issues. The series has received negative criticism for its portrayal of female characters. British educational historian Mary Hilton wrote in her book Potent Fictions: Children's Literacy and the Challenge of Popular Culture (Routledge, 1996) many young readers viewed the female characters as the ones who get "upset, killed, or dumped".

Offshoots

There have been three offshoots of the Point Horror series that, while all showing the "Point Horror" Logo, are often regarded as separate series in their own rights. They are Point Horror Unleashed, Nightmare Hall and Mutant Point Horror. Nightmare Hall is unique amongst the offshoots as the entire series was written solely by Diane Hoh.

Television

In November 2019, it was announced that Point Horror would be adapted into an anthology series for HBO Max.

Publications

1979

1980

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2013

2014