| Jenny Jeffers | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "The Babysitter" (1989) |
| Last appearance | "The Babysitter IV" (1995) |
| Created by | R.L. Stine |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Jen, Jennifer |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Babysitter, High Schooler |
Jenny Jeffers is the main protagonist in the Point Horror Series of young adult suspense/horror novels by the American author R. L. Stine. Jenny would be the character that would form the base for his later works and success. Her character is similar to the babysitter's from the classic folktale "The babysitter and the man upstairs".
Contents |
Jenny Jeffers is introduced as a typical teenage girl who often babysits to make extra money. One day she meets a cute child's parents who ask her to babysit on Thursday. Because the child is so adorable, she says yes. While at their isolated home, she begins to receive menacing phone calls and notes. She realizes she is being stalked by a serial killer who preys on local babysitters. She comes up with a list of suspects, one being Chuck, a handsome jock who often plays pranks. However, it is ultimately revealed that the boy's father, Mr. Hagen, is the actual killer, who kidnaps her and takes her to an abandoned rock quarry where he attempts to throw her into the depths. However, she resists, causing him to lose his footing and fall to his death.
In the sequel, she is shown to be going through a great period of distress and shock, as she appears to be suffering from a series of horrific nightmares featuring Hagen, who has come back from the dead. To try and stop the nightmares, she goes to a psychiatrist named Dr. Schindler, who tells her that she should overcome her fear by accepting a new babysitting job. Jenny is reluctant, but she eventually decides she will never heal unless she faces her phobia. Her child that she is watching is an egotistical ten year old brat named Eli, who is a self-proclaimed genius. Eli pushes her limits by making practical jokes at her expense, and scaring her. The next morning, she finds Eli has been attacked. She later discovers that the culprit is Dr. Schindler's receptionist, Miss Gurney, who takes her to the exact quarry that she had earlier almost been killed. Miss Gurney wrestles Jenny into the water at the bottom of the quarry, and nearly drowns her. Dr. Schindler arrives with police and her love interest, Cal just in time, and Cal saves Jenny. Dr. Schindler explained that Miss Gurney had earlier been treated by him for sudden attacks. She had been deemed safe when the tapes from Jenny and Dr. Schindler's sessions, went missing, and he knew that Miss Gurney was up to something. Cal jokes at the end about seeing a movie about zombies as the two kiss.
Jenny is still shaken because of the two attempts on her life by the maniacal serial killers. She decides to stay with her cousin Debra Jeffers for a while to relax and hopefully pull herself together. One night, she discovers that Debra is also a babysitter, and although this disturbs Jenny, she dismisses it. However, she finds that her cousin is receiving menacing phone calls and notes, just like she did. She begins to get frantic, knowing that a killer has tracked her down. Later, it is found that Jenny was making the calls, as Mr. Hagen had taken over her mind completely. Jenny is then taken away to be institutionalized.
Jenny narrowly survived her encounter with a crazed killer and decides to move to a different town. She decides to babysit the neighbor's children, as she is in a different area, and there should be no danger. When Jenny goes to babysit, she finds that strange, unexplainable events are happening, and she begins to fear that her killer has come back from the dead. However, this book contains a different plot line, as it involves two ghost children terrorizing her.