The Babysitter (novel)

The Babysitter is a novel by R. L. Stine published in 1989, which led to establish Stine as a prominent author in the children's horror genre.^[1] It follows a simple premise of a babysitter who finds she is the next in a series of babysitting victims to a crazed killer. Three sequels of this book were published, The Babysitter II on July 1991, The Babysitter III on October 1993 and The Babysitter IV on June 1995.

Plot summary

Jenny Jeffers, a sixteen year old girl, takes a babysitting job for a child named Donny. While babysitting, she gets menacing phone calls from someone and finds a threatening note in her backpack. She soon figures out that Donny's father, Mr. Hagen, was the one making those calls after finding a stash of newspaper clippings in his closet. Apparently, Donny had a sister when he was younger, but she died in an accident when a previous babysitter wasn't paying attention to her.

After Chuck, Jenny's love interest, comes over while she is babysitting, Mr. Hagen catches them kissing and becomes angry, having told Jenny never to invite over friends while she was babysitting, explaining how his daughter had died due to neglect. Mr. Hagen then offers Jenny a ride home, but she soon finds out that he is actually taking her out to a rock quarry that had been deserted for years. When they get out of the car, Mr. Hagen forces her to move to the edge of the quarry right beside a deep pit. He tries to push her, but he misses and falls to his inevitable death.

Reception

It was listed as the 37th most enjoyable book for girls in a 1997 survey on literacy.^[2] It is also known as one of R. L. Stine's most popular books.^[3]

References