31 Days of Goosebumps: Book 37. The Headless Ghost

Book 37: The Headless Ghost

Duane and Stephanie love haunting their town. It’s pretty easy for them to do living near  a famous haunted house. They’ve gone on the tour (ran by Otto and Edna) so much they can memorize it. One night Stephanie decides they should try to find a real life ghost. They love the story of the Headless Ghost (named Andrew) and plan to find his head.

On the tour they meet Seth who claims to have sunk in and seen a ghost previously. THey agree to sneak in the following night together. 

Seth then tells them his real name is Andrew and he wants Duanes head. He pulls off his current head and chases them. They accidentally find a secret passage and stumble into a room with Andrew’s head in it. Then Andrew (as a ghost appears) just as Seth enters. Turns out Seth was just joking.

Otto arrives and yells at Seth (revealed to be his Nephew) for scaring Duane and Stephanie.

They stop haunting the town and get involved in school activities. Then they decide to visit Otto. They have a good tour and as they leave a police officer asked them why they’re trespassing as the house has been unvisited for 3 months and Otto/Edna no longer live there.

THE BAD: What the fuckity fuck! Nothing makes sense with this story. How did Seth pull off his head? What does that ending mean? Was Otto killed or was he a ghost all along? If he was a ghost all along HOW?! This is earth-scatteringly sloppy writing!

THE GOOD: I actually liked the characters and setting. I just wish things made SENSE in this book. It’s insanely unclear throughout.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  The Episode follows the book pretty closely until the end. They try to “up the ending” but they go a little too crazy. I don’t really understand/get/like the painting thing at the end. It’s a weird way to avoid trying to kill someone on a kid’s show.