Although I don't think any other LJ Smith book will top Dark Visions for me, this was definitely better than The Vampire Diaries or The Secret Circle. 
 The problem, I think, was not in the premise, but the characters. I found most of them to be flat. Jenny was the most fleshed out of them all, but even then she was boring because she's too much of the "good girl". Even when their friend dies, they barely react. I get that they have to concentrate on getting out of the Game alive, but they're teenagers! Most adults would have problems keeping their emotions in check if one of their friends died in front of them. 
 Some of the teens' deepest fears were actually pretty dark (especially Zach's), or understandable. That being said, sometimes they seemed to conquer those fears a little too easily. In fact, the most ridiculous fear, which was Summer's (a messy room that can never be cleaned), was the one that ended up killing her. Not the aliens, not the dark elves, the messy room. *unimpressed face* 
 Of course, this is all just a roundabout way to show that Jenny's grandfather was a sorcerer, magic exists, and the youngest Shadow Man, who calls himself Julian, is apparently madly in love with Jenny because... I have no idea, she's as interesting as a piece of toast. Okay, fine, she's supposed to be pure light and him pure darkness, whoopity. 
 Honestly, they should have burned the Game as soon as they returned to the real world. But of course, then we wouldn't have a cliffhanger ending with the two guys that were stalking Jenny at the beginning of the book because of reasons. They steal the Game from Jenny's house because they felt compelled to, and then opened it. TO BE CONTINUED. 
 I get it, this is from the 90s and Young Adult. I didn't expect brilliant literature, but I was hoping for more fleshed out characters and an indepth story.