| Title | : | Step Closer (Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights #4) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1338576054 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781338576054 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | First published July 7, 2020 |
Isolation can open up a void. Pete lashes out at his younger brother in the wake of his parents' divorce, falling prey to a gruesome curse. Kasey struggles with the lengths she'll go to survive on the streets after stealing a pair of unusual novelty glasses. Samantha and her sister, Susie, struggle to exist side by side, desperate to connect after a horrific tragedy. But in the grim world of Five Nights at Freddy's, empty feelings often attract hungry monsters...
In this fourth volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length stories from different corners of his series' canon, featuring cover art from fan-favorite artist LadyFiszi.
Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.
Step Closer (Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights #4) Reviews
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This book has a totally different feel to the previous ones but it's still so good! It opens with a bang and then goes smoothly till the end until you get hit with the fourth story and are left with so many questions!
The first story had the best foreshadowing of all the stories in the series and the ending hits so hard! It evokes the fear that everyone can relate to and it keeps you on edge. Interesting thing to note is the violence gets more and more descriptive. In first volumes we had mostly vague descriptions or the stories were cut before the most violent part. Here we really got a lot of very vivid descriptions which added to the feeling of dread, it was great. This story immediately became one of my favourite, seems all my favourite stories will have Foxy in them.
Second story was totally different to what we got used to and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the main character and her background and how her story was told. Also it confirmed a few things about one of the animatronics, which is great.
The thirds story is also unique and really interesting. Since I know the games and all theories I was not surprised about one of the plot twists nevertheless we got SO much info regarding lore and animatronics and everything that is going on behind the scenes! I did not expect to get certain things to be addressed so directly and it's awesome!
And don't even start me on the fourth story, I have so many more questions now! Can't wait for Matt's theory on this.
In general I'm really glad that the stories have better pacing now. In the first volumes introductions to the characters were sometimes so long and exhausting and now everything reads so smoothly and quickly. It's such a shame this volume was so short but the content was top notch! -
Listen, the last story of this set ("Coming Home") made me legit cry, so this book gets 5 stars from me just for that alone.
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Another fun FNAF novella collection!
My favorite of the collection was the last story. Very touching and surprisingly deep.
So glad I have these memories of reading this series with my daughter :) -
Story #1 and #3 is good BUT dance with me is just... not so good. I don't like it, its dull, its boring, and just not my cup of tea (or coffee or cocoa.) The cause and effect that take place make sense but its just boring! step closer had me at tears not go to lie. coming home was confusing. And the S.W.C (stitchwraith chronicles) was real good and less confusing. but it had a lot of dialog.
thats all have to say,
see YOU on the flipside. -
Another great book in this series. This edition draws a lot more from the lore of the games than past editions, but otherwise is on par in terms of quality and enjoyability. I am actually really impatient for the next book to come out in September - these books are addictive.
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damn... that last story wrecked me
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Once, Samantha had forgotten part of a school project. She and her mom were rushing around already because her mom had overslept. They had finally run out of the house and to the car, and her mom had only driven as far as the bottom of their driveway, when Samantha realized what she'd left behind in her room.
"I have to go back," she said.
Her mom hit the brakes so hard Samantha's head shot forward and back. She figured her mom would quickly drive back up to the house. Instead, her mom bent over and pounded her head several times on the steering wheel. She whispered something over and over while she did it. Samantha thought it sounded like, "I can't do this."
In my review of 1:35 AM (Fazbear Frights #3), I stated it was the worst book in the series so far by a small margin. Step Closer is the new worst book in the series so far, and this time by a fairly large margin. It's also in the opposite way to 1:35 AM; while that book had 3 great stories and 1 mediocre one, this book has 3 mediocre stories and 1 fantastic one.
Step Closer, the titular and first story, is a disappointedly simple plot with very strange choices. The premise is that a boy, through bullying his younger brother, accidentally inflicts a curse on himself that causes him to constantly be in peril from specific injuries across many different situations, seemingly part of a plan to permanently deform him. While pretty much every previous main Frights story had some level of complexity to their plot and morals, this one doesn't really at all; it's just a repeated fest of comedic injuries. The characters themselves and their interactions are also very weird, especially when it comes to the protagonist's parents. The horror is decent though, and like with 1:35 AM I do really love the ending, so overall I have no strong feelings. 3 stars.
Dance With Me, the second story, is quite honestly the exact same story as 1:35 AM. A group of thieves including our protagonist steal a woman's handbag, and when our protagonist looks through it she finds a pair of glasses from an animatronic entertainment establishment which reveal to her a holographic character constantly stalking her. Already, it sounds similar to the plot of 1:35 AM, but the similarities get even more frequent; both protagonists work at a fast food establishment which they have trouble at, both attempt to flee their hometowns to escape from their anomalous stalker, and both stories overall are metaphors for fleeing from your past. Dance With Me does not improve much on what 1:35 AM failed at, but it does improve a little. While it's hardly any scarier than 1:35, it does provide a more interesting cast of characters and a better overall meaning to its storytelling, so it ends up a little better, but still not great. Another 3 stars.
Coming Home, the third story, is astonishingly tied (at this point) for the best story in the series with Out of Stock from Fetch. It focuses on a pair of sisters who have been torn apart by the worst tragedy imaginable; one of them has been murdered. It dives into much deeper and darker human complexities than other stories as it realistically and emotionally explores a family tragedy, while even putting in some well-fitting supernatural activity that FNaF fans expect. Fans may also appreciate how the focal character is directly paralleling one of the human characters from the game series; although they are not exactly the same. I give this one 4 and a half stars.
With the bonus epilogue, we return to mediocrity with the new worst story in the series; pretty much just a weak dialogue exchange between two new characters adding some context to the mystery of the previous epilogues' plotlines. The character writing is pretty off in my opinion, but it is at least funny, and there is one event that is pretty terrifying. In the end though, it gets 2 and a half stars.
Overall, it's hard to recommend this one; while it has one of the best stories in the entire franchise, everything else is not really worth reading. Maybe see if you can find a discount on it, or get it at a library to just read Coming Home. -
Best FNaF book I've read so far!!! Even better than the first. I am currently in tears writing this after reading the last stories ending.
The last two FNaF books haven't been great in my opinion but this one really did not let me down.
The first story was gruesome (for me at least). I hated the main character but also related to his emotions throughout the story. The ending was both depressing and terrifying and I loved it.
The second story wasn't really scary but that's not a bad thing. It was a really beautiful story and I loved the ending. It was really sweet and I read through it really quick.
The last one... I just finished it and feel broken. It was so sad, and well done, and its connection to the actual FNaF lore is so prevalent it's undeniable. This detail adds to the story so much more. I felt everything reading it, I was sad, I was scared, I was shocked, even sort of happy at the end. It was a truly beautiful story.
Best one yet, please read this, it was amazing!!! -
3,5🌟
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Ik quote minstens twee keer per maand: 'if you wanna be a pirate, you first have to lose an eye and and arm - yargh!'
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This one was really good. It actually had some happy endings and sadness instead of just fright. Probably the best one in this series I've read so far
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the last story by far my fav out of the three
but ✨foxy✨ -
The first story, I didn't like our main protagonist in all honesty. Didn't want them to suffer like they did, I didn't dislike them that much, but I still didn't relate to them, or have the same amount of heartbreak I should have.
The second story-- the best in my own opinion-- actually has a relatable protagonist and makes me feel bad and confused with them. Probably the least scary in the book, but also the best.
The third story... I have very little idea of what was going on, it honestly took me reading some pages twice in order to understand.
Over all, not a bad book, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anybody that wants to have the same rush as a horror movie, or even the FNaF games themselves. -
In this book, it's a little easier to see how things will come together by the end. Some of the threads have already begun merging to a single point, which is pretty gratifying. Felt really bad for the older brother in the first story (Step Closer), and honestly, like a teenaged boy who was just lashing out because of his parents' divorce and the pressure put on him, I feel like so many of these characters had the capacity for redemption but were denied. But I know that's not the point; I know these stories aren't exclusively about revenge or punishing those who have done minor wrongs. Sometimes, life isn't fair and if any series has touched on that point keenly, it's the FNaF franchise. Tons of innocents have died in this series because of the evils of one man; these books in particular are a ripple effect.
The second story in this book is the only one I can think of that had a happy ending. The last was bittersweet. The sort of epilogue was what really brought things to light, but I won't spoil that for anyone.
I think the only complaint I have about these books so far is a lot of them deal with kids who's fathers pretty much abandoned the family. It just... I don't know, lacks a certain diversity in their experiences. But there were also enough that weren't exactly like that (a messed up, abusive mother, some MCs were adults, others had good home lives) that I can't complain too much. It's just something to bear in mind, I guess.
In any case, a good series so far. Can't wait to see what my daughter makes of them. -
Step Closer 3/5 Stars
I thought that this story was alright. The character/s were sort of boring. Nothing really happened during the whole story. A strange curse or something was put on the main character and I didn't really understand the whole thing of why or how it happened. The ending was dumb.
Dance With Me 3/5 Stars
Every time that she would look through the glasses Ballora would be there. But she wasn't really there. The robot got closer each time that she would look through them. Then nothing even happened, Ballora didn't even get her or anything. The ending was weird and dumb too.
Coming Home 4/5 Stars
I liked the sort of twist that Susie was actually dead the whole time. I liked the creepyness of that. But the overall story didn't really make sense. Why did Chica come to her every night? Why didn't she know she had died? What did the doll have to do with anything. Yet again a dumb ending.
This book was a big let down. The other three previous books were great but this one just wasn't the same. -
Still going strong
I never thought any of thes stories in one of these collections could really get to me, but man Step Closer has shown this is more than just a series of scary tales, it's a series of well crafted characters too. -
Thank goodness all of the stories here were good and I can finally get back into this series. After being enormously disappointed by my inability to finish off the previous book in this series I am glad I can get back with this one. It seems like a lot has happened with the fandom recently and I want to catch back up, but my inability to skip around leaves me the choice of straight through everything I missed.
That being said this was a great collection of stories. It felt good to get back to kids after the last set of stories and it even made me think back to the previous books to see if I could predict the likely outcomes. It was very interesting that siblings were such a big part of this book as so far there has only been one other story involving siblings in the past 9 stories.
Now for some spoiler summaries and discussions.
I overall really liked this book and am so excited to get back into the swing of things with FNAF lore. -
4 out of 5 stars
If I'm being totally honest, this volume was the most messed up and emotionally heavy one yet. I am very glad to have had Dance With Me between the other two because the first was exceptionally messed up and the last almost made me cry.
Sad, I know, but damn was that last story good. Poor Susie and Samantha. -
The three stories in this book were genuinely good stories
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Step Closer is the story of Pete and Chuck. Their mother and father have divorced, and the responsibilities of rearing Chuck have been put on Pete, or so he says. In any case, he feels very much done bad by the world, and chooses to frighten Chuck. This winds him up with a curse by Foxy to remove his eye and his arm. This occurs, but also with death. Chuck, knowing about the curse, obsesses over it and his failure to help his brother, leading to a return to the Foxy animatronic, which has disappeared.
Predominantly, this story is themed around familial connection. This connection requires much sacrifice, and when this sacrifice is denied--when our protagonist, Pete, decides that he cannot take any more--the motions that ultimately end his life are set to run. The tension between Pete and Chuck is consistently shown, with the final nail, as we may say, being hammered in when the two of them have an enormous fight, causing separation and (perhaps) the isolation which allows Pete to be hit by the truck at the end of the story. In some ways, the fight must be seen to parallel what originally causes Pete to suffer (the divorce), and that his death brings his parents together again puts an ironic bow upon the whole of it.
Dance With Me
This is a story about a girl named Kasey. She is a thief and down on rough luck, so, like any Oliver Twist, she joins with a gang of thieves to live off the land, as it were. One day, she steals a wallet that contains a pair of glasses--glasses that allow her to see an animatronic ballerina whenever she puts them on. Ballora (the animatronic) continues to get closer and closer to Kasey throughout the story, scaring the girl deeply, and, incidentally, forcing her to stop thieving and get a job. Ballora is, in this sense, a character that propels Kasey toward a better, more moral life, with Ballora physically blocking Kasey from escaping being caught stealing a dress and seeming to accompany her when she decides to return a stolen purse. By the end of the story, Kasey is completely reformed, and the glasses are given to a young girl named Isabella. The final scene of the story is when Isabella puts the glasses on and sees Ballora. She dances with her.
The story ends abruptly. The question of whether Ballora is a 'good' character or not is seemingly not addressed, and there is something of an open-ended question as to what it means for Isabella to begin to dance when seeing Ballora. In all probability, a young child dancing at seeing a dancing figure--through glasses, one must add, which state that Ballora will dance when once they are put on--suggests to me (as the reader) that her dancing is completely normal, even expected. One must also think that the ending of the story--in which Kasey reforms and has a good time eating with someone she formerly harmed--suggests a sort-of happy ending, and, hence, finishing with a child dancing in happiness over seeing Ballora, the main cause for the reformation, would suggest to me also that this was not meant to be in any way sinister. Yet, this is a Five Nights at Freddy's book, so who knows.
In any case, this story seems to attempt to sympathize with criminals--in the sense that we see reasons why some people may become thieves, and are shown a few examples of clemency meaning more than punishment or hatred--but is ultimately unwilling to say that such criminals are morally just, hence Kasey's reformation. A message such as this is not a bad one, and one must think that Ballora being frightening rather than something else suggests a certain perspective on law which means a) fear and b) leeway, for it is only through Ballora having latched herself to Kasey and not harmed her (only existing as something that may harm her) that reform happens. If Ballora were particularly vindictive or punishing, one must think nothing good would have come out of the exchange. In this way, I view Ballora's method (if one can call it such) as one that rides the line between punishment and clemency, between total disempowerment and force, which is maybe something worth thinking about when it comes to criminals in our society. Although, in my mind, (and this is more a propos of nothing than of anything related herein), but we should probably be looking at how Kasey became this way and not how we can solve it now that she is. The beggar should not be forced into beggary; we should be able to give everyone basic necessities.
Coming Home
Perhaps the most competently written story in the whole book. It concerns the after-effects of the murder of a young girl named Susie on her family, with the main message being, in some sense, the idea that some things must be put behind us and for new things. This message is attached to a tree named Oliver in the work, who must lose his leaves each winter to be prepared to spring again in spring, which allows for the final moment--when his final leave falls off, and the ghost of Susie is laid to rest--to be very meaningful. Lovely. -
Spoilers!!
I was very sad when Pete died at the end of the first story, and I related to it (no I know Fnaf is not real so I didn't die when it happened, and I am not immortal lol.....or is it *insert dramatic music* Ill explain after the interview of what I mean) because I have been hit by a car before and while the vehicle was not a car but a truck, I know kinda how Pete felt...I can't believe that this all started with Foxy! And not to bully Foxy, but you don't need to get rid of an eye and an arm to be a pirate! Wanna know how I know this? Well, that's because I have fixed him before! And I saw both of his eyes and two arms! And yeah sure one of them was smaller than the other because of his hook, but it's not like his hook is at his elbow or shoulder! Now I am not saying I dislike the book because of that reason, I really enjoyed the book! Now onto the second story, Dance with Me. When I hear the words Dance with me, the song ¨Dance to Forget¨ by TryHardNinja plays in my head. And poor Kasey! She had to steal for survival! Leading into the cause of the conflict, Kasey stole from a mother from Circus Baby´s Pizza World, and along with the lady purse came a young girl's goody bag with goggles that have a Ballora picture on them and have the glasses lense blue. Later in the book, Ballora appears every time Kasey puts on the glasses. Kasey has had enough of this and she returns the glasses, goody bag, and purse to their rightful owners, but first, she had to get in shape, so she paid for some shoes and attempted to steal a very pretty dress, but the alarms went off and she got caught... but thankfully one of the customers paid for the dress, then she got the job. The last story made me a little bit confused but then I understood that poor Susie was murdered and her soul has been roaming around with her sister and mother! (Going back into the game Purple Guy killed 5 children 6 including Henry Emilys daughter Charlotte Emily, and Susie was one of the five children, she possesses Chica while her friends possess the others like Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy, and Golden Freddy) Chica would come every night and Susie would go outside and take Chica by the hand, then they would walk slowly away from Susie's house. Susie's sister Samantha had a doll that she and Susie needed to share, the doll is I'm going to guess is what set Susie's soul free, but I am not certain. When Samantha found out what the drawings that Susie made, she set off to find the doll, but then... oh no! Here comes Chica! Stomping up the steps trying to stop Samantha from freeing Susie's soul! Later on, Samantha outsmarted Chica and found the doll, Chica then left and took Susie´s hand, but Susie wanted to say goodbye to Samantha, and Samantha saw her! They hugged each other, and then Susie was gone...
If you are reading this section of the Review I am talking about what I said earlier on in the review, So when I said ¨Or is it¨ I wasn't talking about the immortal part, I don't really think you can become immortal, but if you could, sign me up! Anyway I was talking about how (From what I have heard, if I heard miss correctly or something don't attack me for it-) Chuck-E-Cheese is going bankrupt, and people want Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) to buy it and make the Freddy Fazbear Pizzaria. If I could I would visit that place every day no matter if I am the age I am or not! Also, this is off topic on what I was talking about specifically but I think FNaF 4 and 3 are hard! I only have FNaF 1, 3,4,5 (Sisters Location), and UCN (Ultimate Custom Night). FNaF 4 is hard because you have to listen very carefully for sound cues, and my house is pretty loud...and if I want my volume up I am risking throwing my phone across the room and screaming- Sooooo yeah. For Fnaf 3, I was on night 4 or 3 when my friend came over, I told him to play while I use the restroom...(Get prepared for a sad moment), and he pressed New Game! Not Continue, but New. GAME!!! I was so sad! And I can hardly see Springtrap! So I am stuck on night 2... I was a very sad child. I have played Fnaf 2 on my sister's tablet, and you have to multitask A LOT! It goes from winding up the music box, to checking the halls for the Animatronics whether they are the Toy´s or the Withered´s, to putting on the spare Freddy mask, to making Withered Foxy´s eyeballs burn to death because he apparently isn't fooled by the mask-... Fun Fact, I have Fnaf VR and AR too! Fnaf VR is scary- and I get jump scared a lot, mostly by the Nightmarionne...Well, time to start reading the next book and rest my poor fingers. Bye! -
Czwarta część i dalej nie zmieniam zdania, że opowiadania trzymają swój poziom. Pierwsze opowiadanie, gdzie Pete miał własne Oszukać przeznaczenie doprowadziło mnie prawie do łez, drugie opowiadanie, gdzie złodziejka Kasey została zmuszona do zmian w swoim życiu przez pewne okulary stanowiło przyjemną odskocznie na pewne złapanie oddechu, a trzecie opowiadanie miało bardzo przykrą bazę pod całą historię. Jednak w przypadku 3 opowiadania czuję pewien niedosyt, bo mimo że było ono najdłuższe w tej części, to uważam, że powinno być jeszcze dłuższe, żeby mogło w pełni wybrzmieć. Miałam wrażenie, że tempo trochę tam nagle przyspieszyło. Plus był pewien wątek, który mógłby zainteresować osoby, które nie siedzą w grach i nie bardzo się orientują, o co chodzi. Dla osób zaznajomionych jest raczej oczywiste co się stało, mniej więcej dlaczego i co to ma wspólnego z tym konkretnym animatronikiem, ale dla osób niezorientowanych są to szczątkowe informacje i pewnie chcieliby przeczytać na ten temat więcej (ja właściwie też). Trochę mnie zdziwiło, że wspomnienia matki z tamtego dnia były dość ubogie.
Ale z satysfakcją stwierdzam, że dalej nie przestaję się dobrze bawić. Przyjemna książka do pochłonięcia w jeden, maksimum dwa dni z pewnymi swoimi morałami.
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Disclaimer: I bought this book! Support your authors! All opinions are my own.
Book: Step Closer
Author: Scott Cawthon, Andrea Waggener, Elley Cooper, Kelly Parra
Book Series: Five Nights at Freddy’s: Fazbear Frights Book 4
Rating: 5/5
Recommended For...: horror fans, FNAF fans
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Genre: Horror
Recommended Age: 14+ (gore, death, child death, child abduction, violence)
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Pages: 224
Synopsis: Isolation can open up a void. Pete lashes out at his younger brother in the wake of his parents' divorce, falling prey to a gruesome curse. Kasey struggles with the lengths she'll go to survive on the streets after stealing a pair of unusual novelty glasses. Samantha and her sister, Susie, struggle to exist side by side, desperate to connect after a horrific tragedy. But in the grim world of Five Nights at Freddy's, empty feelings often attract hungry monsters...
In this fourth volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length stories from different corners of his series' canon, featuring cover art from fan-favorite artist LadyFiszi.
Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.
Review: I am in love with these books! I love the premise and the stories. They’re well crafted and written. The stories are also very spooky and I’ve been having so many nightmares. Definitely recommend for the spooky season. The main takeaway of this book is that the world is expansive and they follow you outside of their normal lengths. This also plays into what powers some of the animatronics have.
The only issue I had with this book is that the last story did drag on but was the most interesting that I have read. The last story went into the kidnapping and murders, but are the characters the same in the graveyard?
Verdict: I need more -
Book 4 of things I’m reading to impress my cool niece.
The first one, Step Closer, left me cold. I know I’m probably in the wrong fandom here, but is anyone going to explain why just going to Fazbear’s will get you haunted? I’m getting rather tired of these stories because it basically goes: kid interacts with Fazbear’s; kid gets haunted.
I think my problem is that I don’t like accepting that Fazbear’s is like the haunted house in The Grudge. Just being there will unleash hell on your life. It gets kind of tiresome, because the house in The Grudge was a house, not a bustling food chain with an endless churn of people in and out.
Also, Step Closer felt like Final Destination fanfic.
The next story, Dance With Me, did have interesting characters and a good message – and the lead is female – but it just seems like these stories are meaningless. It’s like they’ve taken a random selection of unpublished ghost/supernatural/uncanny stories, and randomly attached FNAF, with very little thought as to why. I’ve watched a lot of lore videos on YouTube. Oddly, not one of them mentioned that the animatronics hold a staunch view against theft. And even if they did, screw them, they murder children. I’m not taking life-lessons from haunted murderous monstrosities.
The final story, Coming Home, was fine. Overly long without saying much, but it was fine. I don’t think it was particularly well-written – it spent way too long revelling in the halfway twist, which just made it all the more obvious, and when the story did get going, I was a bit bored because it dragged out too long. However, this one does tie into the lore properly, so major kudos for that one.
The teaser story just left me with more questions than answers. But in a good way. It was short and baffling enough in equal quantities that I was interested to see more on that one. -
Done! And yeah, this one is my favorite. Not every story was the best ever (I’m looking at you, Dance With Me), but they were all largely solid and the final story, Coming Home, has to be my favorite in the entire series so far. So this one gets the rare 5 from me, because reading that last one I legit felt a lot of things.
So, summaries and thoughts?
Step Closer: Being an older brother is hard, but Pete is about to discover that trying to survive is harder. (This one punched me pretty solidly right at the end, and gave me that moment of “omg, omg, oh no this can’t happen”. It was terrible but great horror! Definitely one of the better ones so far.)
Dance With Me: Kasey has had a raw deal for a long time, but things are about to get much worse for her anyway. (Another story featuring a Sister Location character, wonderful! This wasn’t a bad story at all, it was just riding on the coattails of an arguably much more fast-paced one, so it didn’t shine as well as it probably would have alone. A fun story anyway, with a bit of a surprising ending.)
Going Home: Susie needs to help her sister figure something out, but Samantha never listens to her. Somehow, she must find a way. (This was a Susie story! Yay! And it was good, it made me cry. This is probably my favorite story out of them all, so far. It was fun seeing Susie living her life and recounting memories. Oh, and this story also had knitting in it. Once again, as another knitter, I give this one bonus points.)
Serial story chapter: some really interesting things happen. If I said anything it would be spoilers, so I won’t. Plot progression is occurring!
