Stine, and while written as a standalone, it was published as the first book in Scholastic's Point Horror series.

The story follows Kerry, a young man who becomes obsessed with the sexy voice of a woman on his telephone despite having never seen her.

According to Stine, his publisher, Jean Feiwel, requested that he write the book after a feud with another author.

So I had to run to the bookstore and buy up a whole bunch of books by Lois Duncan and Christopher Pike and see.

I thought, wait a minute, forget the funny stuff — kids like to be scared.

Publishers Weekly stated "though the plot is convoluted and some details are stomach-churning, Stine moves the story along, handling the red herrings with finesse.