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Superstitious (novel)

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Wikipedia article




'Superstitious' is a 1995 horror novel by author R.L. Stine. This was the first adult novel by Stine, most famous for writing children's fiction such as the 'Goosebumps' series. This book deals with Sara Morgan, who falls in love with Liam OConnor. It was published on September 14, 1995[http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/fiction/rl-stine/superstitious/ "Supersitious"]. 'Kirkus Reviews' (July 15, 1995). Retrieved on December 7, 2010. by Grand Central Publishing in the United States.

R. L. Stine began writing this book after an agent offered him a one million dollar advance.Tabor, Mary (September 7, 1995). [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F6061FFC3D590C748CDDA00894DD494D81&pagewanted=1 "AT HOME WITH: R. L. Stine; Grown-Ups Deserve Some Terror, Too"]. 'New York Times'. Retrieved on December 7, 2010. It took him four months to write.Cohen, Joel. [https://books.google.com/books?ei=ebT1TPCTNYSdlgfqh7WbBg&ct=result&id=e4xJiF0ejf8C&dq=superstitious+stine&q=superstitious#search_anchor 'R. L. Stine']. Lucent Books, 2000. p.55.[http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/stine.html "A chat with the best-selling children's author"]. 'CNN.com' (October 28, 1999). Retrieved on December 7, 2010.

Plot summary



Sara Morgan, a graduate student who has left an abusive relationship with Clip, starts a new relationship with a handsome professor named Liam O'Connor. Liam is extremely superstitious and lives with his sister Margaret, to whom he is very close. Sara does not mind these quirks and marries Liam. Shortly, people start dying in grisly ways, and it turns out the professor knew all of them. Sara begins to wonder if her husband might be the killer, while Liam's superstitious behavior increases.

One day, after Sara discovers Margaret and Liam in bed together naked, she smashes the mirror out of protest and runs out of the house. She returns later to retrieve her keys only to find Margaret dead; she leaves afterwards in search of her boss' house. There, she spots her boss dead and Liam glaring at her. He explains to her that Margaret was his wife and that the demons of superstition living inside of him can pass through Sara to the child she bears. He went on to explain that when the demons slip away, they kill someone he knows; when Sara broke the mirror, the demons slipped out, murdering Margaret.

Sara, who wants to show Liam that there are no demons, shatters a mirror in the house; the demons slip outside of him, he says it's okay because with his death Sara will be safe, and they murder Liam. Sara is knocked out afterwards by the demons, and later awakens in the hospital. Sara then finds out she is pregnant, causing her to scream in horror.

Reception



The novel was not as well received as his young adult novels,[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20102454,00.html "R.l. Stine"]. 'People.com' (December 25, 1995). Retrieved on March 22, 2009. selling 150,000 in its first 8 months.[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB32D44D89B8BB9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "The Stephen King of preteen readers R.L. Stine knows how to give kids 'Goosebumps.'"] 'Philadelphia Inquirer' (May 12, 1996). Retrieved on December 7, 2010. Nonetheless, the book was featured on 'USAToday's bestseller list for 7 weeks, attaining a peak position of 80[http://content.usatoday.com/life/books/booksdatabase/default.aspx?sortBy=author&searchType=3&searchValue=superstitious&groupBy=2 "Best-Selling Books Database"], 'USA Today'. Retrieved on December 7, 2010. and was a main selection of the Doubleday Book Club.From the back flap of the 'Superstitious' book published by Warner Books.

Sue-Ellen Beauregard from 'Booklist' stated that "readers who can accept scary supernatural beings and evil demons as forces to be reckoned with will find this a satisfying, although somewhat superficial, page-turner".Beauregard, Sue-Ellen (August 1995). [http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=138579 "Superstitious."]. 'Booklist'. Retrieved on December 8, 2010. Barbara Hawkins from the 'School Library Journal' stated "the book is a long way from "Fear Street" (Pocket), and sure to be as popular".[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0446603503/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books "Superstitious"]. 'Amazon'. Retrieved on December 8, 2010.

Douglas E. Winter from the 'Washington Post' stated that the book had a "tired plot" and wasn't good.Winter, Douglas E. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=U20aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DS0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6739,176073&dq=superstitious+stine+washington+post&hl=en "'Goosebumps' author fails at adult chills"]. 'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'. Retrieved on December 8, 2010. 'Publishers Weekly' stated that the book had a "crude yet functional casting, plotting and prose".

Film



In 1995, Miramax bought the film rights for this book before it was published, with Brandon Tartikoff in negotiations to produce at the time.Kelly, Katy (September 19, 2005). [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/72743451.html?dids=72743451:72743451&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+14,+1995&author=Katy+Kelly&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=A+Stine+misstep+//+`Superstitious'+plots+too+silly+for+adults&pqatl=google "A Stine misstep // `Superstitious' plots too silly for adults"]. 'USAToday'. Retrieved on December 7, 2010.[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AC&p_theme=ac&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAEABECC563D753&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "It's luck, 'says the creator for Goos'bumps'"]. 'Press of Atlantic City' (December 31, 1995). Retrieved on December 7, 2010. However, R. L. Stine stated on his Twitter page that 'Superstitious' was never released as a movie.Stine, R. L. (September 30, 2010). [https://twitter.com/RL_Stine/status/26016259495 "The IMDB listing for Superstitious is a hoax. That film was never made. Someone is having a good laugh."]. 'Twitter'. Retrieved on December 7, 2010.

References




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