#fits of nostalgia

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!

April Fools features one of the best opening chapters I’ve read in my Point Horror reviews. It flies out of the gate with a very believable and terrifying car accident. I was immediately invested in Belinda’s anxiety around the horrible decisions her friends were making. The rest of the book didn’t quite live up to the promise of this scene, but it was still an enjoyable read. I didn’t predict the ending, so kudos to Cusick for that. I thought for sure I had figured it all out. For most of the book, I was struck by how badly Belinda needed to find better friends. Hildy and Frank sucked on a deep and fundamental level. This was by design and a part of the story arc, but I still think Cusick was way too kind to them. I wish the book had spent less time on pranks and fake scares, even though that was very much in line with the theme and title. What April Fools really needed was higher stakes, more dire consequences, and a better fleshed-out villain than the one we got at the end. I think it would have benefitted from being less of a mystery and more of a true horror story. The book bears some obvious comparisons to I Know What You Did Last Summer, but it was not a rip-off by any means. April Fools is my least favorite of Cusick’s books that I have read (see The LockerandTrick or Treat) but I still had fun with it.

Score: 3

And if you want a deep-dive, snark-filled, recap review with spoilers, gifs, and meme, head on over to my website blog Fits of Nostalgia.

I had heard The Barking Ghost was one of R.L. Stine’s least favorite Goosebumps books, and I can see why. The first act of the story showed a lot of potential and was setting things up nicely. So much so that I was beginning to think that the book’s reputation was misplaced. I was wrong. There was a fun concept hidden, but it was buried beneath a half-baked plot that descended into sheer stupidity by the end. I understand that some kids do find dogs scary. I think those kids were the target audience of this particular book. I was never one of those kids. In fact, I think I wanted to be a dog when I was in third grade. So this whole concept wasn’t exactly scary for me at any age. In many ways, The Barking Ghost was a culmination of some of Stine’s worst tendencies in this series. Too much time was spent on fake scares and not enough time was given to developing the villains or their predicament. This is one of the few instances where the TV adaptation made significant improvements to the book. Which is to say the book really could have been good with a few significant edits. It’s a shame when a good idea suffers in order to meet a deadline. Everything in The Barking Ghost, Stine has done before and he’s done it better.

Score:1.5

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!

I had initially planned on skipping The Surprise Party and just sticking to the paranormal-themed Fear Street books for reading, but I changed my mind. I’m gonna read them, even if it won’t be in order. I thought The Surprise Party was really good. It was certainly would have made for a better launch to the series than The New Girl had been. I would consider it more of a crime thriller than a horror story, but it kept me engaged and guessing right up until the end. There was a large cast of characters, but Stine did a good job at making them feel distinct and believable. I appreciated the complexity and layering of the plot, as well as the themes of guilt and trauma. The ultimate villain had a clear and disturbing motive, which is often not the case with these books. All of this made some of the more convoluted parts forgivable. There were definitely a few moments where certain characters made choices that did not add up, even after the big mystery was resolved. I also liked how the early books in this series had lots of character crossover. Even though I hated The New Girl, I liked the sense of all these isolated mysteries happening around one another. The books definitely didn’t maintain too much of this beyond the early entries. All of this is to say that The Surprise Party surprised me. I enjoyed reading it, and I thought it was one of the better Fear Street books I’ve read.

Score: 4

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog.

The Midnight Club marks the first time I’ve cried while reading a Christopher Pike book. I was expecting it to be sad based on the premise, but I didn’t expect to be so moved by it. It reminded me of the best parts of Road to Nowhere. The whole concept of Rotterham House seemed a bit fantastical, but not in a bad way. It was fantastical in a way that elevated the story and fit the underlying spiritual themes. I am sure similar places exist, but I don’t think they’re in castles by the sea where dying teenagers live apart from their families. I’m hardly familiar enough with hospice care for young people to know one way or the other, but I don’t think it matters in the context of this story. Ilonka was a strong central character in a cast of strong characters. I appreciated the journey she was on. The spiritual elements of the book had a similar ring to what Pike espoused in Remember Me 2, but this time they were far more subtle. Where the latter was sanctimonious and preachy, The Midnight Club felt understated and inviting. The stories that the kids told each other at their midnight meetings by the fireplace spoke to the various ways each of them was confronting death. Pike has a reputation for writing some pretty twisted shit, and I honestly love that about his books. That’s why I was genuinely surprised by the sweet moments in this one. I bumped this up on my list because of the coming Mike Flanagan adaptation, and I’m glad that I did. I’m excited to see what one of my favorite directors does with one of my now-favorite author’s books.

Score: 5

And if you want a deep-dive, snark-filled, recap review with spoiles, gifs, and meme, head on over to my website blog: https://www.danstalter.com/the-midnight-club/

It is worth noting right off the bat that this is the one book in the main Fear Street series that is confirmed to have been ghostwritten. I’m no forensic expert in writing styles, but the narrative voice definitely felt different than the plethora of Stine’s books that I have read. All of that aside, The Thrill Club was a mixed bag. There were a few too many characters for how short the book was; which makes me think it would have been a better fit for the Super Chiller spin-offs. The best parts of it reminded me of Christopher Pike’s stronger books. There was an interesting idea at its core, but it was ultimately bogged down by its very dated notions around race. The othering of indigenous cultures in American media is hardly a rare phenomenon, and this was especially true in 1994. Hell, that was pretty much the entire basis of the beloved Indiana Jones franchise. The Thrill Club might not be as egregious as Temple of Doom, but it was still a bad look and it did not age well. Even worse was the book’s treatment of the first black character to grace the cover of a Fear Street book. I’ll save the spoilers for below the jump, but I doubt it will surprise anyone who pays even the tiniest bit of attention to these things. All of this clouded what was an otherwise creepy concept with a complex villain. With more pages to tell the story and a few small but very significant changes, The Thrill Club could have been a really good book.

Score:2.5

You can find the full snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; onmy website blog.

Dream Date was stronger in concept than it was in execution. I really liked the ideas that Sinclair Smith was playing with here. There were some genuinely creepy moments, and there was even an example of a good boyfriend. That’s a rare find in these books. Katie’s journey was relatable for me, and I could see that being the case for a lot of teenagers. I was once painfully shy myself. That being said, Katie was quite bland for the main character. I wish she had a hobby or something that she felt passionate about. Heath felt like he was based on an awful person that the author knew. He had more than a few moments where he made my skin crawl; reminded me at times of Killgrave in Jessica Jones at the best of them. I wish he had been a bit more dynamic, but he still worked well as a villain. I also really wanted the dream space to be more imaginative. It was a missed opportunity to get surreal, which could have given this book a sense of atmosphere. I’m also not the biggest fan of third-person narration with tons of italic first-person thoughts, but that could just be me. The ending worked aside from one minor contrivance I’ll save for below the jump. I didn’t love it, but it worked. Dream Date may have over-promised with its ideas and under-delivered with the details, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Score: 3

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog.

I had high hopes for this one. I love stories that play with dreams and a shifting sense of reality. Bad Dreams was all set up to do exactly that… and then it just didn’t. It ended up feeling like a book just going through the motions. Everything that happens here, Stine has done before and he’s done it better. Both of the main characters were irritating. The sibling rivalry stuff led to a few good scenes but for the most part, it was exhausting. Maggie’s boyfriend was useless, which is pretty typical in this series. The “twist”  at the end felt lazy and tacked on. The “villain” had completely implausible motives. So was there anything I liked? I liked the lesson learned at the end, which was perfect for the intended audience of these books. I liked Maggie’s unwinding sense of reality as the story went on, I just wish it had gone much further than it did. Ultimately, the stakes never felt high enough, things never got weird enough, and I was bored. Something I am noticing is that when the Goosebumps books are bad, they are still (mostly) entertaining and ridiculous. When Fear Street books are bad, it takes a concerted effort to finish them. Bad Dreams is easily one of my least favorite Fear Street books so far.

Score:1.5

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog.

The Cheater had a really solid beginning but it got lost in the weeds about halfway through. The premise was immediately relatable; the pressure to impress demanding parents can lead a kid to do some reckless shit. I think this might be the first Fear Street book I’ve read in which blackmail was a central part of the story. RL Stine came close to almost saying something profound about class, privilege, and power but never delivered. All of the right elements were there, but the nuance and execution were lacking. Given my present-day lens of racial disparities in our justice system, it is impossible not to read this book with that context in mind. But what this book really needed to do was get weirder, darker, or both. I know Stine can deliver on all of these elements so it’s a shame that it didn’t happen here. There’s an event midway through that killed the slow-building tension, and the story just never really recovered. The twist was underwhelming and relied on the main character leaving out important details in spite of being our narrator. I get the necessity of that plot device sometimes but it will always bug me. I also wanted way more dire consequences for certain characters that I won’t name here. The Cheater could have been one of the Fear Street greats, but it ended up being kinda forgettable.

Score: 3

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review: check out my wordpress blog!

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!

The Third Horror was a really interesting way to close out the 99 Fear Street trilogy. The main character this time is Kody, Cally’s twin sister from The First Horror. Kody has returned to 99 Fear Street in order to play her sister in a movie adaptation of what happened to their family. This seems like a really traumatic thing to put herself through, but she made a promise to return for her sister and this seems like the best way to keep it. I appreciated that this wasn’t a tired rehash of the first two books, even when its plausibility was a stretch and the execution got messy. There were some truly brutal kills and some great scares, which is something that The Second Horror was lacking. The ending was alright, but it could have been better. I really wish it had gone darker. It relied a bit too much on some characters making incredibly stupid decisions and ignoring the consequences. I was never sold on the characterization of Cally as an evil ghost. I keep wanting a more nuanced version of evil to show up in these books and I think it’s just too much to expect. The Third Horror was almost great; the elements were all there but it needed significant tweaking. I could say the same thing about the trilogy as a whole. Overall, the 99 Fear Street trilogy falls somewhere in between its predecessors. It couldn’t live up to The Fear Street Saga, but it was way more consistent than The Fear Street Cheerleaders. It’s messy but memorable, and it would be excellent source material for future Fear Streetmovies.

Score:3

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!

The second outing of the 99 Fear Street trilogy brings a few new things to the mix, but not as much as I had hoped. I enjoyed the addition of Brandt’s character, and the ending was one of Stine’s better WTF moments. This is to say that my favorite parts of the book had very little to do with the titular house. Most of the haunting elements felt like a tired rehash of the first book, and we didn’t learn anything new about the motives or origins of 99 Fear Street. Cally is back as a ghost and totally evil now. I was frustrated by the lack of nuance with her character. I wanted to see the internal conflict between who she used to be and who the house had made her, but unfortunately, we never got to see that. It was a missed opportunity. Stine continues to demonstrate his hatred of house pets; I won’t spoil the particulars here on this recurring trope of the Fear Street series. You’ll have to wait until after the jump for that. Brandt’s storyline saved The Second Horror from being a forgettable slog, so kudos to that. It all made for a book that wasn’t nearly as bad (nor as good) as it could have been.

Score: 3

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.

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.

I’ll start out by saying that I have yet to give a negative review to a Christopher Pike book, so this will be my first. While Remember Me is rightfully celebrated as one of his best (and scariest) books, Remember Me 2 was a problematic mess. Its existence stands as a testament against making unnecessary sequels, even if the fans and publishers really want one. The book goes back and forth between the story of Jean Rodriguez, a Latinx girl living in a rough part of Los Angeles, and Shari Cooper, our protagonist from the first book who is now becoming further enlightened in heaven. While Jean’s story was both boring and laced with problematic representations of Latinx, queer, and disabled people, Shari’s chapters in heaven were insufferable, sanctimonious, and preachy. Literally, the only thing I liked about this book was the short story about the troll muse. It was shoehorned in and didn’t really fit with anything else, but I genuinely loved that story. The entire concept of Shari, the spirit of a rich white girl, being placed as a “wanderer” in the body of a troubled Latinx girl is problematic as fuck. This is a white savior narrative taken to a spiritual level. I get that it’s a product of its time, and that comes up a lot in these books, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one where the entire premise was this flawed. If you loved the first book, I recommend just stopping there and thinking of it as a stand-alone. I, however, am a glutton for punishment and will continue reading to see how this all wraps up in the final book of the trilogy.

Score:0.5

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!

Monster Blood III is the sort of sequel you get when you start with a shoddy concept and then stretch it beyond any reasonable length. The Monster Blood books boast more sequels than any other in the original Goosebumps run, and it’s slightly baffling when you realize how none of them is particularly good. My theory is that the badass-sounding title and beautiful Tim Jacobus cover art of the first Monster Blood drove the book to best-seller status in spite of its weirdly bad plot. This brings us to this book. It was tedious. Andy and Evan, the one strong point of the first book, are stuck in a painfully stupid cycle in which they keep using Monster Blood in spite of its dire consequences. They have horrible ideas, and it’s hard to feel anything for them when things go awry. This time we add Kermit to the mix, who is a new kind of awful. There is nothing scary about green slime that keeps growing. It’s not even as gross as it could be. Also being a giant sounds fun, but that only happens for a relatively short section of the book. Most of it is Kermit being terrible to Evan and Andy. The ending could have been satisfying, but Stine has done similar twists and done them better. I also just didn’t care. Three books into a mini-franchise titled Monster Blood and we still have never seen a single monster from whom the blood supposedly originates. That, I believe, is the most unforgivable thing of all.

Score: 1

Check out my website blog my full review with memes, spoilers, and snark:

https://www.danstalter.com/monster-blood-iii/

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/

This was the first Goosebumps book I read as a kid. I distinctly remember getting it for Christmas in 1994 and starting it that night. I loved it then, and I’m really happy to say that fro the most part it holds up. It struck a near-perfect balance of horror and adventure. From being chased by a creepy man to then being left by their tour group in a strange foreign city, there was a great escalation in scares with each scene. The memory loss bit was particularly frightening. I blame this book for planting the seeds of my first existential crisis as a young adult. My biggest issues in the book had to do with the actions of the adults around Sue and Eddy. The first and most obvious is the way the kid’s tour guide left without them. That place would be crawling with police if two kids went missing while on a tour. I won’t get into specifics on the rest because of spoilers, but you can read my thoughts on that after the jump. I was also a bit frustrated with the rushed ending and felt it could have been done better. A Night in Terror Tower stands out from the pack for the way it was based on actual historical events; the only other books in the series that do anything like that are Curse of the Mummy’s TombandReturn of the Mummy. Overall, it mostly lives up to my nostalgic love and was still fun to read in spite of knowing all the twists. A Night in Terror Tower is easily one of the strongest books in the series.

Score: 4

A full review with memes, spoilers, and snark can be found over on my wordpress blog:

https://www.danstalter.com/a-night-in-terror-tower/

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/

I first read Road to Nowhere when I was 10, and oh boy was I way too young to handle significant parts of this subject matter. I just remember seeing an awesome book cover on a classmate’s desk and seeking it out at the library. I was thrilled when I came across the (very minor) swearing. All of that context aside, this is a really good book and one of Christopher Pike’s best. It’s a bit of a slow mover, but the ending is more than worth it. I really liked all of the main characters, both the ones in the car and the ones in the stories they were telling. The “campfire” style of the narrative allowed for each story to take its time and resonate. There was also a really powerful message here aimed at the teenage target audience that I think was tastefully done. I appreciated that it wasn’t too heavy-handed with themes that could easily get sappy and sanctimonious. In total, Road to Nowhere scratched my nostalgic itch, turned out better than I had remembered, and made me want to dive even deeper into Christopher Pike’s twisted canon.

Score: 5

My full review and recap with memes, snark, and spoilers can be found on my blog:

https://www.danstalter.com/road-to-nowhere/

Attack of the Mutant was a lot of fun. It was more of an adventure story than a horror story, but I was perfectly fine with that. I like it when a book succeeds at being the book it’s trying to be. Skipper was an annoying character but was highly believable. I knew that kid in school and so did you. I look forward to him growing up and finding out that his comic collections are likely worth the same amount as his collections of Pogs and Beanie Babies. My biggest beef had to do with the villainous motives of the Masked Mutant. On one hand, I appreciated the silliness of it all and just enjoyed the ride. On the other hand, there were a few too many sloppy and contradictory moments to simply let things slide. This is a common trend I’m finding in these books, and it’s a shame because some of them are just a few minor tweaks away from being great. I suppose that’s one of the downfalls of a massively popular series that churns out so many books in a single year. Flaws and all, I still think this was one of the better and more creative books in the series.

Score: 3

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/attack-of-the-mutant/

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/

Return of the Mummy picks up one year after the events of Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb and sees Gabe returning to Egypt to visit his archeologist Uncle Ben and know-it-all cousin Sari. It’s got some good scares like the first book, and the setting lends itself naturally to a sense of adventure. There were some good comedic bits in there, too. I really liked the fake mummy who was there to shoot a gum commercial. The core characters had a good backstory to build off of from the first book, and no harm was done bringing them back for book two. However, so far as the other characters go… Stine has a tendency to write villains whose motivations are little more than vague notions of world domination. This makes sense to a degree when you consider the strong overlap of Goosebumps readers who religiously watched shows like Power Rangers. Complex villains weren’t exactly something that was sought out by this readership. And yes; I’m counting myself among them. Return of the Mummy felt like a missed opportunity on this front. Without getting into spoilers, the villain(s) had a great setup before stumbling into this vague and predictable cliche. Overall, Return of the Mummy was fine. It was a mild letdown after the first book and lands firmly in the middle of the Goosebumpspack.

Score: 3

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/return-of-the-mummy/