Cover for "Broken Hearts"
Erica McClain was the villainess of "Broken Hearts", the 4th Super Chiller in R.L. Stine's original Fear Street series (published on February 1, 1993).
History[]
Erica was the sister of Rachel and Josie McClain, who were friends with classmate Melissa Davis. When Erica was 14, the four girls went to the Shadyside Riding Club to ride horses, but Erica became scared and backed out, claiming she had a stomachache. But while the girls were riding, a dog spooked Rachel's horse and bucked her off, causing her to fall and hit her head. The injury caused Rachel to digress to the mentality of a child. With their parents out of the house for work frequently and Josie unwilling to help, Erica was left to care for Rachel mostly on her own--often having to sacrifice her own personal life. This caused Erica to grow resentful towards her sister, along with her belief that Josie was responsible for Rachel's accident.
Events[]
Five months later, with Valentine's Day approaching, Erica decided to finally take her revenge against Josie when Josie began receiving threatening Valentines (later revealed to be from her ex-boyfriend, Dave Kinley). After killing their dog Muggy with a letter opener, Erica killed Josie by attacking her outside the Shadyside Ice Rink, stabbing her in the back with a skate. Later on, to stop the police from finding the cards that would implicate himself in Josie's murder, Dave broke into the McClain house while they were all at Josie's funeral to retrieve them. But unbeknownst to him, Erica had stayed behind by claiming she was too upset to attend. When she found that Dave was in the house, the evil Erica called the police before stabbing herself with the letter opener, making it appear that Dave had in fact killed Josie and attempted to kill Erica as well, resulting in his arrest.
A year later, when Melissa began dating Rachel's former boyfriend Luke, Erica turned her vengeful sights onto her and began sending her threatening valentines, using Dave's valentines to copy his handwriting to frame him again. Dave ran away from the boarding school and returned to Shadyside to clear his name, breaking into Melissa's bedroom late one night to see her. When Melissa showed him the valentines Erica had sent, Dave realized that Erica was the killer and left. Dave presumably confronted Erica with her secret, and Erica killed him to keep him quiet. Later on, Erica committed her last threat against Melissa by painting a heart inside her locker along with the message "You're Dead". Later on, at a Valentine's Day ice skating party being held at Fear Lake, Erica (disguised in a hood and red wig resembling Rachel's hair) attacked Melissa on the lake with a knife, with her villainous reveal coming when Melissa was able to pull off her wig. Unmasked, Erica revealed her resentment for both Josie and Melissa as well as her murderous schemes, saying that she'd had to give up her life to be Rachel's caregiver and that neither of them cared about her or Rachel. When asked by Melissa about the wig, Erica claimed that she was getting revenge for Rachel as well and wore the wig so she could symbolically be part of her plot. Erica again tried to stab Melissa, causing the ice beneath them to break and for both girls to fall into the water. While Melissa was pulled out by Luke, Erica stayed under the water, making no effort to swim to freedom. Erica's official fate is never revealed, but it is strongly implied that she died.
Quotes[]
- "When Dave started sending those awful valentines, I saw my chance to kill Josie. Those valentines gave me the idea. I knew when I saw them that I could pay Josie back for ruining my life, for ruining Rachel's life. And I could get away with it." (Erica revealing how she had begun plotting to murder Josie)