The Funhouse of Dr. Freek (lost Ghosts of Fear Street book; existence unconfirmed; 1998)

One of the few listings for The Funhouse of Dr. Freek on Amazon. Note how there are no images available for the book.

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

The Funhouse of Dr. Freek was supposed to be the thirty-sixth and final book in the children’s book series Ghosts of Fear Street. There is a remarkable lack of information on Funhouse. It was reportedly set to release between August and November 15, 1998. However, no photos of the cover exist online, and there is little evidence to suggest it was ever published.

Background

In 1989, children’s author R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series launched with its first book, The New Girl. The series was geared toward young adults, and followed teenagers experiencing bizarre events in the city of Shadyside. Most stories were set at the eponymous Fear Street. Contrary to Stine’s other well-known children’s series (such as Goosebumps), murder, gore, psychological horror, and sexual content were prevalent throughout Fear Street.

As an alternative to the dark content of Fear Street, a spin-off series that catered to younger children, Ghosts of Fear Street, was created in 1995. The series was akin to Stine’s Goosebumps series, featuring pre-teens involved in outlandish supernatural situations. Unlike Fear Street, the series was entirely ghostwritten. Ghosts of Fear Street ran until 1998, amassing over 30 entries.

A typical Ghosts of Fear Street book (left) compared to a typical Fear Street book (right).

The Book

The Funhouse of Dr. Freek was supposed to be the final book in the Ghosts of Fear Street series. According to Goodreads, the synopsis is as follows: “When Joe breaks a funhouse mirror at a carnival, he releases an exact double of himself. Can he stop his evil twin before he takes over Joe's life?”

Very few pieces of information can be found about Funhouse. No copies of the book, used or new, seem to exist. No cover art for the entry has ever surfaced online. (This is unlike other "rare" books in the series, such as the thirty-fifth book, which have cover scans available online.) The thirty-fifth book in the series makes no reference to The Funhouse of Dr. Freek, making it seem unlikely that the book was published. Further adding to the thirty-sixth book's ambiguity, it's not entirely clear where the title and Goodreads summary came from. Strangely, a handful of websites — such as Amazon and Goodreads — have listings for Funhouse.

Possible Proof of Funhouse’s Existence

As stated earlier, a handful of websites feature listings for Funhouse. Amazon provides an ISBN number for Funhouse in its product description. Upon inspection, the book’s ISBN number lists Funhouse as published in November 1998 by Golden Books. Golden Books was an imprint of the now-defunct Western Publishing company. Despite there being an ISBN number, it is possible Funhouse was given a number before it could be produced.

Bizarrely, some of the online listings feature user reviews of the book. An anonymous, somewhat cryptic Amazon review from 2005 states that a contest from a previous Ghosts of Fear Street book, Monster Dog, published that book’s winners in Funhouse. The review also tells readers, “If You [sic] feel like reading [sic] this order it.”

The odd review for Funhouse that seems more like rambling than a review.

Despite this user's broken grammar, it is true that there was a contest promoted at the end of Monster Dog. Pocket Books (the publisher for the series at the time) said:

Grand Prize: A photo of you and your creepy canine will be featured in R.L. Stine's Ghosts of Fear Street® #36 (on sale mid-August 1998). Plus, you'll win 25 copies of the book and a "pawtographed" photo of R.L. Stine and his dog, Nadine.

However, the series switched publishers, and this contest was seemingly abandoned. (Note: Monster Dog never directly gives a title to the thirty-sixth book.)

Even stranger are the ratings on Funhouse’s Goodreads page. As of writing this article (August 2018), there are only seventeen ratings for Funhouse, with the oldest being from 2010, and the most recent from April 2018. While these readers gave the book star ratings, no user has left a written review for Funhouse. It is likely that a number of users rated the book without having read a copy.

On R.L. Stine’s official website, a complete listing of books he published up to 2012 is provided. Funhouse is in the Ghosts of Fear Street section. Though, much of his site is sourced from online information.

External Links

• Amazon page for the book.
• Goodreads page for the book.
• RL Stine Booklist.