''Blind Date'' is a 1987

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

horror

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel by

R.L. Stine Robert Lawrence Stine (; born October 8, 1943) is an American novelist. He is the writer of '' Goosebumps,'' a horror fiction novel series which has sold over 400 million copies globally in 35 languages, becoming the second- best-selling book ...

, and while written as a standalone, it was published as the first book in Scholastic's

Point Horror ''Point Horror'' is a series of young adult literature, young adult horror fiction books. The series was most popular among teenagers.Coles, Martin. Hall, Christine. ''Children's Reading Choices''. Routledge, 1998, p 46. History The ''Point Horro ...

series. The story follows Kerry, a young man who becomes obsessed with the sexy voice of a woman on his telephone despite having never seen her.

Publication

''Blind Date'' was one of R.L. Stine's first horror genre novels for young adults, written as a standalone prior to Stine's 1990s fame due to his ''

Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror novels written by American author R. L. Stine. The protagonists in these stories are teens or pre-teens who find themselves in frightening circumstances, often involving the supernatural, the p ...

'' book series (which was written for much younger readers). According to Stine, his publisher, Jean Feiwel, requested that he write the book after a feud with another author. Stine stated in an article for ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, "I didn't know what she eiwelwas talking about. What is a horror novel for teenagers? So I had to run to the bookstore and buy up a whole bunch of books by

Lois Duncan Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her Young adult fiction, young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pi ...

and Christopher Pike and see. Then I wrote this book, ''Blind Date''. It was a number one best seller. I thought, wait a minute, forget the funny stuff — kids like to be scared. I've been scary ever since." The book was published in various print formats between 1987 (the year of the first edition's release) into the 2010s.

Influence

''Blind Date'' launched the Point Horror series, a Scholastic imprint brand by various authors and one of the first Scholastic brands to cater to the young adult horror genre. Stine has also often credited ''Blind Date'' as his transition from writing comedy to writing horror, as ''Blind Date'' was his debut horror novel.

Reception

''Blind Date'' received mixed reviews from critics. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' stated "though the plot is convoluted and some details are stomach-churning, Stine moves the story along, handling the red herrings with finesse." Lisa Marie Bowman of ''Through the Shattered Lens'' said "the story goes from one strange development to another. It makes for a kind of weird story that doesn't always make sense but it is compulsively readable. And really, that's the thing with the work of both Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. You don't reread these books because they're particularly scary or even that well-written. You read them because they're just so damn strange. It's never enough to have just one twist. Instead, there has to be a dozen twists and if they don't really seem to make sense or go together ... well, so what? That's what life's like when you're a teenager, right? It may not always make sense. It may not always turn out the way you want. But it's still something you miss once it's gone."

References

{{reflist 1987 novels American young adult novels Novels set in the 1980s Debut horror novels American horror novels Young adult romance novels 1980s horror novels Romantic suspense novels American thriller novels Scholastic Corporation books Children's books set in the 1980s