31 Days of Goosebumps - Book 62. Monster Blood IV

Book 62: Monster Blood IV

It amazes me that I loved the first Monster Blood book so much but lost so much interest in the future installments.

Technically this isn’t exactly Monster Blood but it follows the same characters from the series and focuses on a different slime in a can that goes wrong. 

The simple version is that Evan, Andy and Kermit are all back again (along with bully Conan). They find a can of blue slime which turns into creatures that suck water from everything causing them go to expand and multiple. The more water the drink the angrier they get until eventually the eat each other.

In the end Bully Conan eats the slime and has multiplied into 4 meaner Conans.

And that’s how the Goosebumps franchise ends. Sort of disappointing based on how much I loved the last two books.

THE BAD: It’s just not the most interesting or memorable book so kind of a weak final book.

THE GOOD: I like that they changed up the Monster Blood story and I actually enjoyed the ending.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  NO EPISODE PRODUCED

31 Day of Goosebumps - Book 61. I Live In Your Basement

Book 61: I Live In Your Basement

Much like yesterday’s Werewolf Skin this book was on a ton of “Best Goosebumps Books” lists. Holy shit they did not lie.

Now is this a good book? Not exactly. It tends to have similar twists and turns as many other books and it’s full of fake outs (which usually I hate) but the fake outs have an overly surreal aspect to it.

So Marco gets hit in the head by a baseball bat and wakes up in his living room with no memories of what happened between getting hit and waking up (although he apparently was in the Hospital). He keeps getting weird phone calls from Keith a boy who claims to live in the basement. 

Marco starts seeing Keith, but whenever he goes to show him to someone Keith disappears. A Doctor wants to remove his brain to examine it and a girl throws up until she flips herself inside out.Then Marco walks up still in the hospital, and the doctor rips his tongue out. And he walks up again.

He gets sent home where Keith attacks him and wakes up... only for us to discover that these were all Keith’s dreams. Keith is a Monster (who has a human form) that lives in Marco’s basement. He was the person hit with the baseball bat and has been having bizarre dreams ever since. 

THE BAD: The twist has definitely been done ALOT this round (specifically in The Blob Who Ate Everyone) but I enjoyed it.

THE GOOD: Unlike previous books, Stine takes full advantage of the dream world and puts surreal shit in this. I was hooked the entire time. I knew I had to be reading someone who was dreaming, that was obvious but it’s what made it so entertaining. Everything was so bizarre it could only exist in a dream.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  NO EPISODE PRODUCED

31 Days of Goosebumps - Book 60. Werewolf Skin

Book 60: Werewolf Skin

So this book appeared on a lot of “Best Goosebumps Book” lists and I have to agree. Beyond the fact that it’s a fun little werewolf story (which there aren’t nearly enough of in the Goosebumps Series) it also has possibly my favorite book cover of the 62 books.

The story follows Alex Hunter who is visit his Aunt and Uncle in Wolf Creek while his parents are in France. He’s warned to avoid the neighbor’s house (The Marlings) at all costs. 

Everyone is school tells him that his neighbors are in fact werewolves at first he doesn’t believe it but soon he decides to spy on them at night and get a picture of them as evidence. Despite his desperate attempt to get his friend Hannah to join him he spies from a distance alone.

That night he sees two people climb out of the window and put on wolf skin and immediately transform. He follows the two wolves all night and when daylight comes the wolves shed their skin revealing themselves to be Alex’s aunt and uncle.

Alex and Hannah decide that if they steal the werewolf skins then his aunt and uncle won’t be able to transform and thus will be cured. The plan works and they all celebrate. However when Alex returns to the old house to return the wolf skins he finds one already there. At this point Hannah reveals that she became a werewolf the night prior and bites Alex.

THE BAD: This ending bothers me for two reasons. One is that I can’t figure out when Hannah got bitten the previous night since (a) she refuses to go out and night and (b) Alex followed his aunt and uncle that night and never saw them attack anyone. The other issue is that if one of the werewolf skins was still in the house why didn’t either one of his relatives wear it? It seems to imply that you MUST put on the werewolf skin driven by unknown force. If they could just CHOOSE to not wear it than they should have been cured pretty quickly.

THE GOOD: Despite that long “Bad” paragraph... that’s all inspired by the last 6 paragraphs. The rest of this story is amazing. Then again I’m bias as I love werewolf stories.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  This didn’t need to be an hour but it was a decent adaptation. They definitely seemed to have agreed with too many plot holes in the book ending. While Hannah is still a werewolf in the end the discovery is done differently, I prefer it.

31 Days of Goosebumps - Book 59. The Haunted School

Book 59: The Haunted School

This book just went on and on. It was pretty dull and utterly forgettable. Example, I finished it last night and as of this moment all I remember is the following.

There are 4 characters that matter. Tommy, Ben, Thailia and Greta. Greta is a goth chick who dresses in all black, Thalia is a new student who wears lots of make-up, Tommy and Ben are Thalia’s new friends. The three are working on the school dance. Apparently 50 years ago a bunch of kids went missing at the school. Just disappeared into thin air.

All this info is presented in the first two chapters. Then it’s about 10 chapters of nothing too important.

Anyway Tommy and Ben need to get tape and get lost in the school. Using a weird elevator they’ve discovered they get taken to a weird black & white world where all the missing kids are (still kids 50 years after the fact).

Finally after a whole lot of nothing happens we find out the following info:

1. They disappeared because of the creepy evil photographer Mr. Chameleon who transported them immediately after taking their picture
2. Thalia is from the Black & White World 
3. Tommy and Ben can escape using Thalia’s Lipstick (confusing I know)

Anyway as soon as Ben and Tommy escape the black and white world the principal brings them to get their picture taken by Mr. Chameleon

THE BAD: It’s a pretty forgettable book, but it’s certainly not a terrible book. I can’t decide if the Thalia reveal is an obvious one or if I just think that because I’m reading it for the first time at 28

THE GOOD: The black and white world is kinda creepy.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  NO EPISODE PRODUCED

31 Days of Goosebumps - Book 58. Deep Trouble II

Book 58: Deep Trouble II

Yeah I’m just not a fan of this series (Deep Trouble I mean). I wasn’t a huge fan of the first one and this second also dragged.

Billy and Sheena are back with Dr. D only this time no mermaids. Instead the keep finding giant sea creatures. They discover the evil Dr. Ritter has created plankton that makes fish grow.

There’s one downside, if a human eats it they immediately turn into a fish. Billy, Sheena and Dr. D capture Dr. Ritter... seeing he has no other options he drinks the plankton and swims away.

THE BAD: Pretty much the whole book. It’s frustrating. I hope these last 4 are better.

THE GOOD: Again not much. Two pretty weak books in a row. Never fun.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  This episode was way too long and drawn out. I almost didn’t watch it all.

31 Days of Goosebumps - Book 57. My Best Friend is Invisible

Book 57: My Best Friend is Invisible

Everyone thinks Sammy is crazy ever since he’s been seen talking to Bren an invisible kid living in his bedroom who wants to be his friend.

Finally he steals his parents light molecular device (they’re scientists) and shines it on Bren revealing that Bren is a monster. Bren is the almost extinct human being. 

Yes. The whole 114 page book can (and just was) summed up in 4 sentences. That’s how much happens in this book. 

THE BAD: Yet again we have a pretty terrible ending. Besides the fact that it’s not a very original twist nor something that can be predicted it doesn’t make sense. In one scene Bren grabs Sammy’s hand and helps guide it for him so he can solve an equation... then it’s revealed Sammy only has tentacles for arms. How would he even hold a piece of chalk? Furthermore... I’m pretty sure this twist has happened like 5 times in the series (a variation of it was two days ago in The Blob That Ate Everyone).

THE GOOD: Not a whole lot really. This book was a chore.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  For whatever reason they turned his female friend into a bitch of a bitch and made Sammy a bit of a pussy. The ending is a little weird in this since it’s Aliens that look like humans. So that’s kinda weird (also they draw it out into a weird political thing)

31 Days of Goosebumps - Book 56. The Curse of the Camp Cold Lake

Book 56: The Curse of Camp Cold Lake

Sarah hates camp. But her brother Aaron loves it. Sarah manages to make a poor first impression on everyone. Everyday the camps mock and tease her.

Sarah decides to fake a drowning to win sympathy but it works too well. She almost drowns for real. She then begins to be haunted by Della (a ghost who died at camp) who wants Sarah to be her buddy.

No one believes Sarah’s story so she decides to run away. That’s when Della informs her that the woods she’s in are full of poisonous snakes. However Sarah is saved by Brianna (on of the girls in her cabin). Apparently Della haunted Brianna last year and she returned to protect the next girl Della haunted.

After Della disappears Brianna reveals she’s also a ghost looking for a buddy and hands a snake to Sarah. 

THE BAD: The ending twist is terrible. Brianna is talking to EVERYONE at camp. If she was a quiet character or something it’d make more sense but she has a best friend at camp! It doesn’t make a ton of sense.

THE GOOD: The rest of the story is paced like a decent Tales from the Crypt story. I guess that’s why I’m so hard on the ending. This was one of the better books until then.

THE TV SHOW EPISODE:  NO EPISODE MADE