Published: October 1993
(Earlier review thread here: https://www.hardyboyscasefiles.com/forums/index.php?topic=1660.0)
Plot: It's October 31, and the Hardy's have just learned that they've won a free trip to Washington, D.C. the following week --- in order to testify at the trial of the recently captured Assassin, code-named, "Boris". However, until then, the boys are free to go out and have a great Halloween party with their friends.
Unfortunately, on their way to the harbor, where the Hardy's and Callie are to board a boat to go to a haunted house across the bay, they witness the boat explode---with Joe's girlfriend, Vanessa, at the wheel as the boat goes up! For Joe it's deja vu of the death of Iola---and pretty soon he starts seeing Iola all over Bayport, even though Iola is suppose to be dead!
Review: I started re-reading this after I finished The Gray Hunter's Revenge. Anyway, I found Dead of Night to have been written even better than TGHR. It also offered an interesting look at what the Hardy's do after a case is solved.
Of course Dead of Night picks up the Iola Morton storyline that was started all the way back in Dead On Target, and the battle between the Network and the Assassins also started in that book. Dead Of Night also seems to be the final book in the Iola Morton story arc, and doesn't seem to resolve whether or not Iola was alive or dead. Plus you've got Callie wanting to help the Hardy's with the case, which is another storyline from the See No Evil story. Plus at one point Joe seems to reference Collision Course during his drug trip in the graveyard.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
I remember being really scared when I first read this book. Even after having it read and reread it many times, it's still quite spooky every time I look through it. It's also one of the best Hardy Boys books I've ever read. It's definitely a favourite from the Casefiles. Dead of Night serves as a great epilogue for the Ring of Evil trilogy and also adds further insight to the Iola story arc. It would have been neat to see a conclusion of the series that had her still alive and do a Winter Soldier-type storyline, a la Marvel Comics' storyline with Captain America and Bucky.
Hey, this year the Hardy's have one extra hour to solve this mystery! Considering that Halloween 2020 falls on a Saturday this year, and the clocks also go back an hour at 2 a.m. November 1 (unless you live in Saskatchewan or another place that stays on Standard time year round).
Neat!
Even though I don't really celebrate Halloween per se, this book is one that I like to pull out and reread this time of year. I also like to put on Halloween-themed or just scary episodes of shows I like. :) 8)
Hard to believe that it's been 5 years since "Dead of Night" turned 25.
Now it's been 30 years since the Assassins were playing their tricks!! (1993-2023)