#90s child
The Horror at Camp Jellyjam contained all of the elements I crave in a Goosebumps book. It wasn’t afraid to go big and get weird. The book opens with Wendy and her brother Evan arriving at the camp when the trailer that they’re hiding in gets unhitched from their parent’s car and they crash in the woods. Part of me was wondering if the whole book was just Wendy’s ICU fever dream because they were not wearing seatbelts. Buddy the counselor was super-creepy, and the sports-based summer camp sounded like a never-ending gym class. That would have been literal hell for me as a child, so I deeply related to Wendy’s disillusionment as the story progressed. The twist at the end was batshit crazy in the best way. Unfortunately, the book fell short of making enough sense to place it in the upper echelon of Goosebumps classics like One Day at HorrorlandandWelcome to Camp Nightmare. With a few edits to explain some of the plot holes, or perhaps a significantly longer page count, this book could have really worked. Despite its flaws, The Horror at Camp Jellyjam was fun to read and it leaned into its weirdness. It’s hard to stay mad at the messier parts when I was enjoying the ride.
Score:3.5
For my full snark-filled recap with spoilers, gifs, and memes to illustrate my very important points, check it out on my website blog Fits of Nostalgia!
Post link
I know that this is the book that RL Stine got hate mail for. It’s also one of the lowest overall ranked Fear Street books on Goodreads. I guess I disagree with the masses because I fucking loved it. This was one of my favorite Fear Street reads so far. It featured two of my favorite literary elements; an unreliable narrator and a villain that literally made my skin crawl. Sure, Becka wasn’t the most likable protagonist. But even at her brattiest moments, it was hard not to sympathize with her situation with Honey. Honey was unhinged but in very a familiar way. The way she was able to upend Becka’s life and gaslight her was unnerving. Stine did a good job of escalating from “haha this girl is weird” to “holy shit get the fuck away from me.” The “gotcha game” was particularly unsettling. I appreciated the way that this book toiled with some very real fears. What do we do when polite society prevents us from getting rid of a toxic person? How do you get help when no one will believe you? There’s a depth and heaviness to this book that really stands out among its peers. The Best Friend may have polarized YA audiences thirty years ago, but it’s aged better than a lot of Stine’s other works.
Score: 4.5
For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my wordpress blog!
Post link
Trick or Treat does a lot of things well. I enjoyed the way that Cucsick created a creepy atmosphere and played with the idea of houses holding on to trauma. There was a sense of foreboding from the first page that only built as the story went on. That is exactly the sort of thing I look for in these books. The main character Martha was annoying but in a very believable way. I could see where it would be too much for some people, but I like that she got called out on it and showed growth throughout the book. I didn’t see the exact twist at the end coming, but I knew a twist was coming. Cusick does a good job at muddying the waters but I think I’m starting to pick up on her tells. In other words, when someone seems like an obvious suspect, it’s probably not them. The biggest issue I had with this book involves a different character whom I will not name for spoiler reasons. You’ve gotta go to my blog and read my whole post for that. To put it vaguely; I wasn’t sold on this particular character’s motivations. It’s par for the course in these books that we find some pretty dated depictions of mental health. This one was far from the worst but still cringy in that respect. There were a lot of parallels here to Cusick’s book The Locker, which is less popular but far superior in my humble opinion. So if you liked Trick or Treat, go check that one out. Overall, this was an imperfect but still fun Halloween read.
Score:3.5
For my full, deep-dive, snark-filled recap with memes, gifs, and all the spoilers, check it out over on my website blog Fits of Nostalgia!
Post link
The First Horror is a really solid kick-off to the trilogy. It also works really well as a stand-alone novel, and I almost wish that it was. There were some genuinely creepy and brutal moments. It definitely scared me as a kid. I had forgotten the order of things, but I had very distinct memories of several of the scenes. I think this might be where my fear of rats originated from. The sibling rivalry between Cally and Kody worked really well. It played nicely into the strange things happening around them. For the most part, this was a pretty standard haunted house story. It had some really good moments that made it stand out (namely what happened to James) but it fell short of being something truly unique. One of the more frustrating things about Stine is that he rarely gives his villains compelling motives, and the house in 99 Fear Street is no different. It’s evil for the sake of being evil, but I want to know what it wants. This is forgivable to an extent since this is just the first of three books, but that means the next two need to raise the stakes and deliver. I have a sinking feeling that they won’t.
Score: 4
For my full, deep-dive, snark-filled recap with memes, gifs, and all the spoilers, check it out over on my website blog Fits of Nostalgia!
I’ll be reviewing the full 99 Fear Street Trilogy during the month of October. All of those, plus all of my other Fear Street reviews, can be found over on my blog too.
Post link
The Cuckoo Clock of Doom holds the distinction of being one of the sillier Goosebumps books, and yet it pulls off one of the darkest endings in the series that I’ve read so far. I was reminded of Groundhogs Day at more than a few points throughout. Michael was a frustrating main character, but it was fun to watch him struggle as the book took him through an endless series of ridiculous events. Stine is rarely kind to his characters, and this was no exception. Michael’s predicament was relatable, but his lack of agency could be tedious at times. His sister Tara was capital-A awful. I was reminded of my one babysitter’s son from my own childhood. The kid was a straight-up terror, but he was a perfect angel in mom’s eyes and never got in trouble. I had a hard time believing that Michael’s parents could be that oblivious, but oblivious parents are the bread and butter of most Goosebumps books. The time travel mechanics made for some really funny scenes, but the mechanics of how it worked was very inconsistent. It’s something that could have easily been remedied. I was left with some genuine questions at the end. The Cuckoo Clock of Doom might not be the strongest or the most original book in the series, but it did manage to deliver a good balance of fun and scary.
Score: 3.5
I’ve got a longer spoiler-filled review up on my blog, where I take a deep dive and contextualize things with memes, gifs, and snark. Check it out:
https://www.danstalter.com/the-cuckoo-clock-of-doom/
Post link
My Hairiest Adventure was a mess of ideas that never really added up to a coherent story. I did appreciate the humor in it. The band practice scenes were funny and very believable. Dr. Murkin’s name might be the dirtiest joke ever slipped into a Goosebumps book, especially given the hair-centric plot of the book. The characters were fine, there were just too many. It’s hard to articulate without going into major spoilers, but there were so many missed opportunities to tie the various elements of the plot together. A few relatively simple changes could have made a huge difference. The kids finding an expired bottle of INSTA-TAN and excitedly putting it on was an odd choice for many reasons, but it really didn’t work as a catalyst for the eventual twist. This could have been a really fun book in the vein of One Day at Horrorland, but it ended up reading like an afterthought.
Score: 2
A full review with memes, spoilers, and snark can be found over on my wordpress blog:
https://www.danstalter.com/my-hairiest-adventure/
Post link
Phantom of the Auditorium is one of the more solid Goosebumps books I’ve read so far, though it is not without significant flaws. It had a few scary moments, but it mostly kept things light-hearted. I would say it was more entertaining than truly scary. It was even surprisingly sweet at times. I liked the character dynamics of the kids, even though it was way too easy for them to break into their Middle School at night. The sloppiest parts of the story revolved around the villain and their motives. Bad guys in Goosebumps books tend to make some really baffling decisions. Phantom is no exception. Ultimately this didn’t detract too much from the story, however. That’s because Phantom’s strength is in the layered storytelling, with multiple plotlines interconnecting. This allows it to succeed on some levels even as it falls flat on others. That’s about as specific as I can get without dropping major spoilers.
Score: 3.5
For more thorough analysis on the plot motives of villains in children’s literature, I have a spoiler-filled review up on my blog:
https://www.danstalter.com/phantom-of-the-auditorium/
Post link
Ghost Beach was almost as creepy as I remembered it being. It did a great job of making the beach scary, built an excellent atmosphere, and delivered some truly spooky scenes. That being said, the overall concept ended up being half-baked. Jerry and Terri were two strong main characters, but almost every other character had really unclear and contradictory motives. I was reminded of Welcome to Dead House, where I was left wanting a better explanation behind the creepy town and its people. It frustrating because with another round or two of edits I think this could have been one of the best books in the series. It had all the right elements, but it fell apart when it came to actually making any sense. These issues clearly didn’t bother me when I was a child, so maybe it’s less of a problem than I am making it out to be, but I stand by my rating. Ghost Beach falls frustratingly short of the book it could have been.
Score: 3.5
For more frantic questions about the politics of ghost communes and the science of dogs recognizing ghosts, I have a spoiler-filled review up on my blog:
https://www.danstalter.com/ghost-beach/
Post link
what’s the first movie you remember seeing in theaters? don’t try and be all edgy and cool and say like tetsuo: the iron man. be honest.
Go!!
Mine was Pocahontas.
“Let our powers combine! Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart!”
“With your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!”
Post link
Anyone know how to speak Furbish? The Original Furby was one of the top selling toys of the 1998 holiday season!
Post link
Anyone know how to speak Furbish? The Original Furby was one of the top selling toys of the 1998 holiday season!
Post link
Remember Amanda’s biggest fan, Penelope Taynt? How about Judge Trudy? The Girls Room? A Hillbilly Moment? I miss The Amanda Show!
Post link
