R. L. Stine

Jane E. Gerver

Embarrassed by her height, Samantha Byrd wishes to be the best basketball player and is granted her wish by a mysterious woman, but the wish backfires when her teammates just play worse than she does. Original. TV tie-in.

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Zackie wants to be a famous horror writer, so when he finds a typewriter in a burned down antique store, he takes it home and starts typing--but what he types starts to come true.

The Blob that Ate Everyone

Colton Ray

Well, here I am, back for more Goosebumps. I never even saw this one as a kid and was expecting this book to be absolutely terrible, but it wasn't that bad. The writing is pretty great and some of the characters are interesting. The protagonist Zackie makes a lot of stupid choices in the book. This reminded me a lot of You Can't Scare Me! with most of the action concentrated in the last few chapters. The ending is just a corny cop-out and then you get to the real ending, which is either incredibly brilliant or incredibly stupid, depending on your mindset. The only thing is that the ending kind of negates the plot of the book. All in all, this wasn't bad, but had way too many flaws to ignore. Easily skipped.

After purchasing a frightening Halloween mask, young Carley Beth tries it on and discovers to her horror that she is unable to remove it from her face.

The Haunted Mask

Kritika Narula

I am not ashamed to admit that I read my first Goosebumps novel at the age of 20. This was the first one I picked from the collection and well, what a scare bump it was in the end. Perhaps I understood why people talked about the Goosebumps series the way they did. 

The twist is always towards the end, with a gut-wrenching moment, and for a while one feels literally speechless. This one was the first, and this was it. A true-blue Halloween read!

Deciding to go to the same Halloween costume store where his friend Carly Beth got her face rearranged the previous year, Steve Boswell searches for the perfect mask and finds it, unaware that the mask is even scarier than it seems.

The Haunted Mask II

Selene Esper

3.5* 
One thing about R.L. Stine is that you can always count on him to leave you with a good cliffhanger - and that's also part of what makes the Goosebumps series so interesting. I really enjoyed this book.

The laughingstock of the girls' basketball team, klutzy Samantha Byrd is determined to pay back mean Judith Bellwood for making fun of her on the court, but she never expects her revenge to get out of hand.

Briar's Reviews

Be Careful What You Wish For... by R.L. Stine is a thrilling (but not as scary?) addition to the always awesome Goosebumps series.

My life goal is to read all of the Goosebumps series, so I shall continue on this resolution! I remember reading this one over and over as a kid, because for some reason we only had a couple Goosebumps available to read in our little library. Still to this day, I don't find this one all that scary. It was thrilling, sure, because you didn't know what was going to happen but definitely not scary. A lot of the other Goosebumps books I live for the little cliffhangers and can see why younger audiences might be creeped out or scared. Just not... this one.

I will say, this is one of my favourite endings for a Goosebumps book. If you aren't already thinking of what might happen by the time the final wish comes about... well, it'll surprise you. It's a good ending that makes you wonder what happened next.

Two out of five stars.

Because twelve-year-old Lucy pretends to see monsters everywhere, no one believes her when she discovers that the librarian in charge of the summer reading program is a real one.

The Girl Who Cried Monster

Ahhh... This book SMELLS like my childhood. Well, not really.

I remember this book way back in my elementary school days. I plowed through so many books in that library (I can still remember the exact layout of that beautiful place...) and the Goosebumps series was one of them. Recently, I decided that I wanted to read more books from my childhood! Goosebumps was at the top of my list (especially since I did not read every single book in that series as a kid. That library was beautiful but lacking). At a local thrift store I found five books from this series and this was one of my epic finds! 

I love these books because they are simple, spooky and amusing (they were scarier when I was kid. As an adult, I've seen too many horror movies and real life horrors to be scared by a man eating flies... forgive me). They are so simple to read but also introduce the reader to some new terminology along the way. 

This story felt like it was just a little too long. Our lead, Lucy, goes after the monster librarian over and over and over... it was nice to see the typical trope of one fail and one win broken, but it was getting tiring. The premise of the book is absolutely wonderful despite this small flaw. And on top of that, the characters were fun and believable. Who didn't want to scare their friends and siblings with monsters? And didn't everyone feel like their parents didn't enjoy their hobbies? 

The one thing that really does stand out about this book... the ending. It was an M. Night Shamalan-esque ending. Seriously, I doubt ANYONE sees that ending coming.

Overall, this book was cute and fun! I liked taking a break from longer, more serious books to dive into a funny, spooky tale.

Three out of five stars!

I was a bit of a scaredy cat as a child, so 

 isn’t a series I dabbled in much. But it’s a series that my almost 30-year-old cousin still dearly loves, and he convinced me to give them a go as an adult with plenty of horror now under my readerly belt. He chose 4 of his favorites for me to read over the course of the month of October, one per week. 

This was so much more fun than I expected. The pacing was great, and the premise made total sense for the age of the protagonist. I didn’t absolutely 

 Carly Beth, but I found her plight sympathetic. She felt like a wholly believable 11-year-old girl. Her determination to be the scarer for once instead of the scared was relatable. And the mask she used to attain her revenge? Incredibly creepy.

What I didn’t expect was the presence of a moral to the story. Stine did a brilliant job of not beating his young readers over the head with said moral, but instead allowing it to subtly permeate the narrative. Here, Stine guides his readers to an understanding that they should value who they are, flaws and all, and to value the love in their lives instead of dwelling on the ways they’ve been slighted. I also appreciated how things ended, with everything wrapping up nicely while also leaving a door open for further creepiness off-page in that particular story.

 so much more than I thought I would, and I’m looking forward to more nostalgia-laced Halloween reads in the 

Celeste Richardson

I was a bit of a scaredy cat as a child, so Goosebumps isn’t a series I dabbled in much. But it’s a series that my almost 30-year-old cousin still dearly loves, and he convinced me to give them a go as an adult with plenty of horror now under my readerly belt. He chose 4 of his favorites for me to read over the course of the month of October, one per week. The Haunted Mask was his first selection.

This was so much more fun than I expected. The pacing was great, and the premise made total sense for the age of the protagonist. I didn’t absolutely adore Carly Beth, but I found her plight sympathetic. She felt like a wholly believable 11-year-old girl. Her determination to be the scarer for once instead of the scared was relatable. And the mask she used to attain her revenge? Incredibly creepy.

What I didn’t expect was the presence of a moral to the story. Stine did a brilliant job of not beating his young readers over the head with said moral, but instead allowing it to subtly permeate the narrative. Here, Stine guides his readers to an understanding that they should value who they are, flaws and all, and to value the love in their lives instead of dwelling on the ways they’ve been slighted. I also appreciated how things ended, with everything wrapping up nicely while also leaving a door open for further creepiness off-page in that particular story.

I enjoyed The Haunted Mask so much more than I thought I would, and I’m looking forward to more nostalgia-laced Halloween reads in the Goosebumps series.

Maggie Gordon

Cross-posted at: http://mgbookreviews.wordpress.com/20...

Rating: * * /2

Lucy is obsessed with monsters. She’s always looking to learn more about them, and her favourite activity is scaring her little brother with monster stories. However, she talks about monsters so often that no one believes her when she sees a real one! When she stays late in the library one night, she sees the local librarian turn into a disgusting creature that eats flies! Though she tries all sorts of things to prove to her parents that the librarian is a monster, all her efforts fail, and he discovers that she knows what he is. Lucy is convinced that she’s going to get eaten when her parents invite him over for dinner, but the tables are turned rather quickly when Lucy’s parents devour the librarian before the rest of the community is alerted to the presence of monsters among them. As it turns out, Lucy is obsessed with horror story creatures because she is one!

The Girl Who Cried Monster is a solid horror book for kids. Lucy is a bit obnoxious, but within reason for a precocious twelve year old. The plot is a fairly typical one, with Lucy getting herself into all sorts of suspenseful situations trying to get proof that the librarian is a monster. However, it is the ending that really makes this particular addition to the series stand out. I did not guess that Lucy’s family were monsters, and it was a delightful creepy ending to a creepy story.

The kids at school think that Carly Beth is a giant scaredy-cat. After one particularly vicious prank leaves her in tears, she decides that she needs to find the most horrifying Halloween costume so that she can get revenge on the two boys who slipped worms into her lunch. She visits a local costume shop, and discovers the most terrifying masks in the backroom. When the owner refuses to sell one to her, she runs off with a mask anyways, and finds out quickly that her Halloween costume is something far more sinister than a piece of plastic. After she puts it on, it fuses to her skin, and she starts to develop a crueler, more monstrous personality…

The Haunted Mask is a Goosebumps classic. It’s probably the most well-known novel of the series, was the first story to be turned into a TV episode, and is one of Stine’s most remembered books. Upon re-reading, it holds up! Carly Beth is a likeable protagonist, and she changes for the better by the end of the novel. There are parts of the story that don’t make all that much sense, but overall, it’s a creepy and scary Halloween story that should feel just real enough to a kid to offer an appropriate number of chills.

Star Rating: * 1/2

Samantha Byrd is an awkward pre-teen who just can’t seem to catch a break. She’s constantly bullied by a fellow classmate, and all she wants is a fresh start. When she helps a mysterious woman, Clarissa, across town, she’s offered three wishes for compensation. As the title suggests, however, wishes must be carefully used. Every time Samantha wishes for something, her desires come true, but with terrible repercussions. She becomes the best basketball player when everyone else on the team falls ill. When she wishes to be left alone, everyone in the world disappears. And when she wishes that her bully was actually her best friend, she ends up with a stalker in her closet. Clarissa gives Sam one more chance, so she wishes that her bully was the one to meet the mysterious old woman. However, the bully’s first wish turns Sam into a bird, giving her a fresh start, but taking away her humanity.

The plot of Be Careful What You Wish For is not particularly innovative. The riskiness of wishes appears throughout many fables and stories, and this particular book does little to add to the mythology. However, it is quite possibly one of the first times that a young child is introduced to the trope, so it is probably best that the message remains simple. What is unforgiveable is the personality of the main character. Sam is whiny and petulant, and she never thinks before she acts. Given the fact that her first wish taught her just how dangerous thoughtlessness could be you would think that even a twelve year old would pause before using her wishes. However, Sam is not particularly talented at patience and forethought, so she suffers through a terrible series of situations, and an even worse fate.

Realizing that he has become lost in a strange part of town, Skipper Matthews, a ravenous comic book collector whose favorite character is an evil super-villain, discovers a building just like the secret headquarters of his idol.

Attack of the Mutant

Skipper is a comic book aficionado who stumbles across the lair of one of the worst evil villains. EXCEPT THIS IS IN REAL LIFE! Of course our hero has to go wandering about in the lair and he gets embroiled in a strange battle that plays itself out both on the pages of his comics and his life. The villains are silly and comic book logic takes over, but it's a fun book for kids for like superheros. Not particularly scary or horrifying, save for Skipper's looming existential crisis trying to navigate being an ink-based life form.

When Amy's ventriloquist dummy, Dennis, is broken, her father buys her Slappy, unaware that the dummy is possessed by an evil presence.

Night of the Living Dummy II

Slappy is back and this time he's tormenting a young girl who just wants to prove that she has talent. Amy's family has a sharing evening where they talk about something they accomplished that week, and Amy often feels inferior to her sister, the great painter. She has been learning ventriloquism, but her dummy keeps falling apart. Finally, her dad finds Slappy in a pawn shop, and like the first novel, he quickly starts causing havoc that is blamed on Amy. It's only when the family finally gets over their disbelief of Amy's stories and band together that Slappy is defeated.

The Living Dummy books are Goosebumps staples and Slappy is one of the series most memorable characters. As an adult reading this particular book, it treads overly familiar ground, but I think a kid would find some useful lessons in here, particular surrounding the idea that "the grass is always greener on the other size". Part of the central conflict of this book deals with Amy's jealousy over her sister's art talents, but it turns out her sister is equally jealous over Amy's ability to interact easily with people and her many friends. When the two see each other as having what the other wants, Slappy wins because he pits them against one another.

Disgusted by his father's collection of tacky lawn decorations, which include pink flamingoes and plastic skunks, Joe Burton is further upset when a pair of ugly gnomes are added and a number of strange incidents occur.

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes

RL Stine was having another questionably fueled inspiration day when he wrote this book. There are lawn gnomes that come alive at night to make mischief. The main conflict in the book is that the gnomes are destroying the gardens of two competing neighbours, and poor old main character Joe gets blamed. Also, everyone thinks he's crazy cause he blames it on gnomes. Joe stays up one night to catch the gnomes in action, and because 12 year olds are gullible, he, his sister, and his best friend wander off to free a fleet of gnomes from what is describes as forcible confinement in a garden store. Of course the gnomes were lying, and now they are going to mischief the kids to death, but the day is saved by a dog whistle! Because. I have no idea. This was a weird book. Not the worst Goosebumps, but definitely getting to the point of wondering if Stine is burning out on his month to month series. 

Also, lawn gnomes? Aren't scary. Nope.

Though not as good as it's predecessor, The Haunted Mask II is not nearly as bad as other sequels in this series. Steve, one of Carly Beth's tormentors from the last book, has a tiny pack of bullies of his own: the first grade soccer team that he coaches. Once again, Stine writes little children as sociopaths. That's been a theme in the series so far... Anyway, Steve wants to scare them on Halloween, so he asks Beth where she got her mask. She warns him off, but Steve goes to the creepy little store only to find it closed! He breaks into the basement and finds old stock in boxes. Though the owner of the store confronts him, he grabs a mask and runs out. Just as Carly Beth warned, the mask sticks to his face and makes me start feeling like a very old man. Carly Beth tells Steve that he has to find a symbol of love to get the mask off, but no matter what they try, it doesn't work. They race back to the costume store, break in again, and find the suit that goes with the mask. It peels off, happy to have found it's "body" which makes someone where the realm of negative sense. The set-up to this particular novel was a lot better than the resolution. Carly Beth had to learn lessons about self-confidence and love, while Steve just gets tormented and learns nothing at all. Also, the evil mask was a lot scarier than the enfeebled old man with a creepy mask. But hey, this wasn't Monster Blood III so who am I to complain?

Having learned how to fly, Jack Johnson and Wilson Schlame are targeted by scientists who are trying to figure out how they do it, and while Wilson enjoys the attention, Jack considers giving up his power.

How I Learned to Fly

How I Learned to Fly is another bizarre genre switch to Goosebumps. Rather than being a traditional horror, it's more of a cautionary sci-fi tale without a lot of science. Jack constantly feels outshone by Wilson, so when Jack finds a book claiming to teach people to fly, he thinks that it must be the perfect way for him to differentiate himself from Wilson! He mixes up the special recipe, almost loses his dog in the process, but now he can fly! Unfortunately, Wilson saw him and stole some of the secret ingredient as well. He reveals that both he and Jack can fly to the world, and both of them end up embroiled in commercials, public appearances, and being tested by the army. At the start of a big public race, Jack discovers he can't fly anymore, except this is a lie because Jack has realised that he'll never be free again if everyone thinks that he's so unique. Oh, and there's a love triangle in here too (okay, unrequited crushing on the part of Jack is more accurate). Goosebumps, don't do that. You're not good at prepubescent love. 

Once again, kids find some strange chemical that adults don't know about, but the horror, if one defines it as such, is a very adult type. Jack's life is out of his control, and that is scary. Not so scary to a 12 year old though, so this was probably not the most memorable books of the series, even though it may be one of the more mature ones. Ish. Screw the love story.

Each time Matt sleeps in the guest room, a reality warp causes him to wake up the next morning as a different person.

Don't Go to Sleep!

What the hell did I just read? Don't Go to Sleep features a family of three kids and an overly stressed mom who doesn't have the time to care that her teenagers pick on her youngest, and she certainly doesn't want to deal with the mess of moving the kid into the bigger spare bedroom. So Matt goes and sleeps in the room to spite his mom (rebel!) and ends up in a weird reality loop. Each time he wakes up, something is different, and the reality police are after him so that they can put him to sleep FOREVER!

The book might have actually worked if Stine had not decided to create such absurd scenarios. When Matt first wakes up, just little things are changed. But as the story progressed he ends up a lizard beast monster thing, a squirrel, and a circus star. Instead of being scary, it just seems silly. Additionally, the reality police include a 12 year old girl because child labour is fun, and why would they put Matt to sleep forever instead of having him just try a different room to sleep in? Killing him seems like a much better idea :l Whatever, there are less than ten books left...

While lost in a maze of empty classrooms in his new school, Tommy Frazer begins to hear the voices of kids crying for help from behind the walls.

The Haunted School

Nica

Creepy even for a young adult like me. And sad thinking about those children who were lost on the other side of the wall, their parents have no idea what happened to them.

Neveen Badr

This was my first children book read after the Tales from Shakespeare (for children). This book was my introduction to the lovely fogy world of horror and I am thankful to enter through the black door.

It was a gift from my father to me when I was 9; the cover freaked me out so I kept it hidden for a year but after that I wanted a touch of horror so I looked for my old scarey book and started reading it. I could not put it down untill the end.
This part is so special to my heart; it was my door to horror novels...

"The unique search for the perfect scary mask for Halloween but always be careful for what you wish for."

They're baa-ack! Make way for the bestselling children's series of all time! With a fresh new look, GOOSEBUMPS is set to scare a whole new generation of kids. So reader beware--you're in for a scare! Kris's twin sister has just gotten a ventriloquist's dummy and it's all anyone - their parents, their friends - seem to care about. Kris is tired of being ignored so she gets a dummy of her own. But double the dummies start to mean double the trouble...and horror.

Night of the Living Dummy

Grace Gloria McCubbin

classic! though one of the most famous goosebumps books, it definitely isn’t the best (explaining the 4/5). i remember developing a significant discomfort for dolls after reading this for the first time. such a good kids scary story.

Discover the original bone-chilling adventures that made Goosebumps one of the bestselling children's book series of all time! Something scary is happening in GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, the all-new, all-terrifying series by R. L. Stine. Just how scary? You'll never know unless you crack open this classic prequel! Discover the fan-favorite thriller and chiller that first introduced the world to the wooden face of fear. The puppet who pulls all the strings. None other than Slappy the Dummy! Now with all-new bonus material revealing Slappy's secrets and more.

Night of the Living Dummy (Classic Goosebumps #1)

Jawahir M

Nia C

This is my favorite R.L Stine novel. Though not very scary or terrifying, this is one of his more moving novels. I absolutely loved every twist and turn of this beautiful book. The end is marvellous as well. A book well written, a book for my childhood memories.

Amy’s ventriloquist dummy, Dennis, has lost his head … for real. So Amy begs her family for a new dummy. That’s when her dad finds Slappy in a local pawnshop. Slappy’s kind of ugly, but at least his head stays on! Amy loves practicing her new comedy routine. It’s like this dummy knows what she's thinking. Like he can move by himself. And it’s a lot of fun — until Slappy starts a routine of his own. A nasty horrible, routine that isn’t funny at all. Slappy may have a new owner, but he’s up to the same old tricks ...

Gabriela Roxana 

1.5

That was soo lame. Nothing scary whatsoever. That's a shame. I was actually looking up to this one.
Won't read the next ones.