Birthday Party Demon is everything you could want in a 90s nostalgic possession novella! This totally brought me back to my Blockbuster, Delia*s, and ghost obsession teen years which allowed me to connect deeply with the characters. It was cheesy, funny and had some creepy moments. Another hit for Wendy Dalrymple and I can’t wait for what comes next!

This was such a fun read! So nostalgic and I flew through it! I loved the characters and it was the perfect story to read for my birthday haha

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Birthday Party Demon is a quick, nostalgic and fun spoof of a horror read that took me back to my youth and was a nod to 80s and 90s horror at the same time.
We follow a trio of girls who aren't as close as they used to be since attending secondary school. They each have different interests and friends, but when Tina's sixteenth birthday comes around, her mother suggests a Sleepover with her besties like old times. The girls agree to come and they prepare for an unforgettable night (literally).
But the girls accidentally unleash a demon who possesses Lacey and Tina snd Eve find themselves within the pages of a fashion magazine. But their nightmare is only just beginning...
This was so much fun and such a retro read!

I thought this story was ridiculously cute for a ya horror novella. The characters and the story was wildly funny and entertaining.

This was a fun read! The characters are interesting and entertaining. This is fast paced and an easy read. I loved all the nostalgic references and just had an overall fun time. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys horror! Special Thank You to Wendy Dalrymple,Mad Axe Media and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun YA horror novella! This took me straight back to the 90's and Delia's Catalogs. Eve and Lacey are going over to Tina's house for her 16th birthday sleepover. They decide to break out the Ouija Board which never ends well! A demon takes over Lacey's body and they end up in a fashion catalog. Are they able to reverse the curse in time for their first day of 10th grade? Thanks to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for this ARC.

This story so reminded me of to 90's teenage horror books like fear street or point horror. It was fun and very nostalgic.

This book is like totally rad! An epic pink horror, filled to the brim with nostalgia and nightmarish terror. For all of us that grew up obsessing over the next Stine book coming out, going to skate parties, and eating picklesicles while playing pogs, this is like a fun-filled, horror, blast from the past. Seriously, who doesn't want a demon at their birthday party? Like as if!

Also, the Totally Freaked! series from Mad Axe Media is totally epic!

I did not realize this was YA but I definitely figured out when I was reading it. This reads like a Goosebumps version of My Best Friend's Exorcism. I do think I would have enjoyed this way more as a teenager.

It really reminded me of a Grady Hendrix read! I felt immersed in the time period and it definitely had a nostalgic feel to it.

Abolutely loved the feel of this one. The nostalgia is there with the sleepovers and doing things that you shouldn't like trying spells.

This was a fun time travel back to the 90's/early 2000's where all our tech hardware was colorful and see-through, and we still shopped from catalogs instead of being influenced by fast fashion on the internet.
Tina is about to celebrate her 16th birthday and would like nothing more than to celebrate it with her 2 BFFs as a sleepover. Things get a little out of hand when they break out the Ouija board and an unexpected guest shows up.
This felt like Goosebumps meets my Best friend's exorcism, but definitely leans more towards younger audiences. I'm not sure younger audiences will understand all (or any) of the many nostalgic references in the story though. It is a very quick read, and perfect for any nostalgia-based readathons that may take place in April. (cough OSA cough)
Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC for my review.

If you grew up reading Christopher Pike, RL Stine, Diane Hoh, and other teen horror novels, you are going to LOVE Birthday Party Demon.

This is both a tribute to and a spoof of 1990s YA horror novels, and it works perfectly as both. It’s incredibly hard to combine those two things successfully (kind of like a perfectly done comedy roast), but the author did a spectacular job. This is short, sweet, snappy, and does an outstanding job of goofing on the novels it also honors.

There’s all sorts of fun 90s nostalgia tossed into this too, and it’s written in a manner I would describe as deliberately stilted that perfectly mimics our favorites from this era.

This was such a creative way to pay homage, and it’s also genuinely hilarious. Oh, and if I may offer you some advice? If you’ve got any old Delia’s catalogs laying around…beware.

40/100 or 2.0 stars

I was having a hard time getting through this one, depsite the fact that this novella is only 150 pages. I didn't feel a connection to the charcters or to the world-building. The writing was not as strong as I was expecting either. I read as far as I could, but I really didn't want to spite read the rest of the book OR have to post a not so great review on Goodreads, as even though the author has a lot of books released, I didn't want to leave a negative review when I SHOULD have DNF'd, and when I don't finish a book, I do not post it anywhere outside of NetGalley since I do not rate/review books I didn't complete. Simple as that. I got until 29%

Birthday Party Demon is a fun quick read that is reminiscent of My Best Friends Exorcism meets Jennifer's Body but on a scale for a more Middle Grade audience.

It's Tina's birthday but it's no ordinary birthday it's her Sweet Sixteenth, a birthday she'll never forget after her best friend accidentally gets possessed by a demon, you know regular birthday stuff...

Whilst being a short read it manages to pack in a ton of references to the 90's, I just wish it was longer.

Can we also acknowledge how cool the cover is!

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“There is no Lacey. Only Zozo.”

Tina’s sixteenth birthday has arrived and all she wants to do is have one night of fun with her two closest friends. At least she thinks they’re still friends. As the night progresses, they decide to play darker games including talking to an ouija board and playing what they believe is an innocent game of ‘Light as a Feather.”

But when the seemingly innocent game turns out to be a real spell that lured a demon, they’ll stop at nothing to close what they had opened. Absolutely a fun demonic story full of friendship and 90s nostalgia that dragged me back to my childhood.

I am already a huge fan of Wendy and her fun YA Horror books! Another recommendation for readers looking for something with a bunch of 90s nostalgia!

Absolutely loved this and it very much reminded me of a old school goosebumps books! I would love to read more from this author!

For fans of Christopher Pike books and 90s nostalgia. As someone who grew up circling everything I wanted in delia's catalogues, this was a blast. It was definitely nostalgic for me back to when I would check out a stack of horror novels from the library.

Review to come at the end of the month on my blog/other places.

I received this book from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I am becoming such a huge fan of Wendy Dalrymple's works!  And so I was excited when I saw this one on Netgalley, this is one of the books I was most hyped about in early 2025! I was even more excited when I was approved to read it, eep!

In this book we meet Tina (full name Christina) who is about to turn 16, Sweet Sixteen. She is unsure about doing anything because she and her two besties have been drifting apart, but thankfully there is mom who tells her to just invite them. I am normally not a fan of moms who push their kids like this, but I am happy she did (or well, given the rest of the book maybe not so happy haha, but before everything hits the fan I was happy) because the other two girls are actually excited and have also missed the days of doing things together. Plans are made and the girls are all excited to get ready for a wonderful fun sleepover!

And for most of the time the sleepover was just that, a sleepover. Doing nails. Watching movies. Eating popcorn. The girls are bringing up memories, talking about their friendship. Things are fun and I just loved seeing the girls together and I was so happy for Tina because she was so worried about the friendship falling apart, but Eve and Lacey are such sweet girls and I love the bond these girls had. But then one mentions doing something spooky and the Ouijaboard is there. And then a lot more happens (and kids remember not to mix things together, just like drinks, mixing up your supernatural summoning stuff is also a very big no-no) and things get increasingly scary (and I am not talking about a wild opossum in the attic). Oh no. I am talking about possession. Yup. And this demon is determined to ruin the party, hardcore. I loved what happened next and while it did sound like a dream, I knew thanks to reading more of Wendy Dalrymple's books, that things would get very WHELP in just a few. I had a few ideas on how this one would go, and I am happy with the direction it went. It was the perfect way and it definitely had me on the edge of my chair, or well, crawling deeper in my bed haha. 

I love seeing the girls band together and try to fix things, get things right again, make sure everyone is safe, but I am even more in love with the ending! That kind of ending doesn't always work with me to be honest, but in this case it was just perfect and I really liked it! 

All in all, I can only recommend this book a lot to everyone who loves the 80s/90s and loves horror + demons doing demon stuff.

Birthday Party Demon is the perfect love letter to all of those kids who grew up reading Fear Street and watching Are You Afraid of the Dark?.

Tina's sixteenth birthday is approaching, and she decides to have a slumber party with her two childhood best friends, who Tina feels have been slowly drifting away. When Eve suggests to try the game "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" (who hasn't, though?) it works a little too well and an uninvited demon joins the girls' sleepover.

This book is steep in nostalgia, everything from the trips to the mall, dELiA*s catalogs, and video rental stores. It brings the reader such a comfy feeling that couples great with the R.L. Stine-esque horror. The story moves quickly, but never leaves the reader behind. BIRTHDAY PARTY DEMON has such a tightly written plot and can be read in one sitting. It's easy to get caught up in the girls' adventures, especially when things take a weird twist.

Wendy Dalrymple is an impeccable voice in pink horror, and BIRTHDAY PARTY DEMON is a prime example of the love she has for the genre. The story is centered around Tina and her friendships and we get to see each girl for who they are. While the three girls may have drifted apart socially, their friendship and love they have for each other really shines through all parts of the story.

BIRTRHDAY PARTY DEMON is reminiscent of films like Clueless, The Craft, and Jennifer's Body, each building on girlhood. This would be an excellent story for anyone who grew up in the 90s or a young reader who is wanting to read more horror. It would be an excellent book for a middle grade reader who is starting to branch out into new genres.