Night Terrors

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

NIGHT TERRORS

Alice Henderson (2005)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Two

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Willow, Cordelia, Xander, Angel, Joyce, Giles, Principal Snyder, Oz, Ethan Rayne

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: The Night Terror (demon)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “Banished to the realm of dreams, the Night Terror stalks its victims as they sleep. By replacing another’s soul with its own, the demon can assume anyone’s body and wreak havoc in the real world. But the effect is short-lived. Human bodies soon break down under the tremendous stress of the transfer, and the Night Terror is forced to find a new body to inhabit. That is, until it discovers Buffy’s secret and imagines the Slayer would make an ideal—and permanent—host. . . .”

REVIEW

Night Terrors will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s the first Buffy Choose-Your-Own-Adventure (“Stake Your Destiny”) book I’ve successfully completed on my first try. Indeed, one of the aspects that sets this book apart from most others in the series is the wide range of possible endings, ranging from complete success to mediocre survival to outright death.The core plot of the book is an attempt by a demon, the Night Terror, to take over the bodies of residents of Sunnydale by entering into their dreams. This leads to some really interesting and fun dream sequences with Buffy, and shows us examples of how White Hats like Giles, Joyce, and Angel would be like if evil (of course, this last one we know all too well).The writing is smooth and the dialogue is appropriately quirky. In addition, crisp action scenes and a well-researched bad guy help keep the plot moving. Definitely one of the better Stake Your Destiny books.