Tag Archives: horror

Review of “The Haunted Mask” by R. L. Stine

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Title: The Haunted Mask
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #11
Genre: Horror
Pages: 144
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 3 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

How ugly is Carly Beth’s Halloween mask? It’s so ugly that it almost scared her little brother to death. So terrifying that even her friends are totally freaked out by it. It’s the best Halloween mask ever. It’s everything Carly Beth hoped it would be. And more. Maybe too much more. Because Halloween is almost over. And Carly Beth is still wearing that special mask…

MY REVIEW

It was a while ago I read any Goosebumps now. And honestly, it was because I had one book to reach my Goodreads’ goal of 20 books. I reached the goal before finishing this, but it’s nice to read a variety of books.

I have to admit that this book was not as predictable as the previous ones. All the chapters still end with a huge cliffhanger and some were super easy to know what the following page would read. I had no idea how it would end though. I had an idea and it was in the ballpark, but not entirely.

There was one thing that really bothered me though. When she first takes on the mask, she gets super angry and can’t control her feelings. But those feelings are completely gone later on? It feels like either Stine forgot about it, or he had a deeper meaning of it. But since it’s a children’s book, I doubt the latter.

It was an enjoyable read and gets a 3.

Review of “The Ghost Next Door” by R. L. Stine

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Title: The Ghost Next Door
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #10
Genre: Horror
Pages: 124
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 2 out of 5 ghosts

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Hannah Fairchild is startled to wake up from a horrific nightmare to find that the empty house next door has suddenly been sold, as if overnight, and the son of the family somehow has the ability to survive a series of near-fatal accidents. The more she investigates, Hannah discovers to her shock that the new neighbours might be ghosts.

MY REVIEW

After reading the title of this book and the first couple of pages, I knew what the twist at the end would be. Super obvious! How the ending exactly would play out was still a mystery and I have to admit, that even if I was dissapointed that it wasn’t a typical Goosebump ending, it was kind of refresshing o having a happy ending as well. The twist didn’t come at the very last pages, but about 20 pages earlier.

Since it was so obvious and I basically just waited for it to be revealed, it will only get a 2, even if it was an enjoyable story.

 

Review of “Welcome to Camp Nightmare” by R. L. Stine

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Title: Welcome to Camp Nightmare
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #9
Genre: Horror
Pages: 136
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 rifles

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Welcome to Camp Nightmare It’s the little camp of horrors! Next summer you’ll stay home … if you survive! Billy thinks that life at camp is a bit creepy, but when other campers start to disappear and his parents do not answer his letters, Camp Nightmoon becomes Camp Nightmare.

MY REVIEW

Like with the previous Goosebumps, The Girl Who Cried Monster, this book had a very twisted ending too. But perhapsa not as good one.

In every other way it was a new type of story. It was “scary” from the very first start, the mysterious things that happened didn’t have a logical explanation in the next chapter. Refreshing with a new type of story. And a little spaced out, haha!

It gets a 3.5 out of 5.

Review of “The Girl Who Cried Monster” by R. L. Stine

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Title: The Girl Who Cried Monster
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #8
Genre: Horror
Pages: 144
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 4 out of 5 monsters

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Lucy likes to tell monster stories. She’s told so many that her friends and her family are sick of it.

Then one day, Lucy discovers a real, live monster: the librarian in charge of the summer reading program.

Too bad Lucy’s told so many monster tall tales.
Too bad no one believes a word she says.
Too bad the monster knows who she is…
…and is coming after her next.

MY REVIEW

This was a refreshing Goosebump story. Well, up until the last chapter it was similar to the previous ones, “scary” cliffhangers after every chapter that then turned out to be nothing. What was different was the ending and that was what gave the whole story a 4 instead of a 3. It is very similar to “The Fever Code” by James Dashner (a prelogue to the Maze Runner trilogy) in the sense that it made me see the story completely differently. That was a whole series, this was just a 100-page book. But still. It is a fun an interesting feeling!

The Girl Who Cried Monster is slightly better than the ones I have previously read and gets a 4.

Review of “Night of the Living Dummy” by R. L. Stine

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Title: Night of the Living Dummy
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #7
Genre: Horror
Pages: 134
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 3 out of 5 ventriloquists

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

When twins Lindy and Kris find a ventriloquist’s dummy in a Dumpster, Lindy decides to “rescue” it, and she names it Slappy. But Kris is green with envy. It’s not fair. Why does Lindy get to have all the fun and all the attention? Kris decides to get a dummy of her own. She’ll show Lindy. Then weird things begin to happen. Nasty things. Evil things. It can’t be the dummy causing all the trouble, Can it?

MY REVIEW

When reading a hard cover book that I don’t have as an epub book, Goosebumps are the perfect side read when commuting. An easy read and the characters felt realistic and not “too much” as some of the previous main characters did.

And what was best about it was that I couldn’t forsee the ending at all. Maybe that was the same with the other ones? Can’t really remember. But it was unexpected and I didn’t know how it would end until the very last page which supposedly left me with goosebumps. Fun reads! 3 out of 5.

Review of ” Let’s Get Invisible!” – by R. L. Stine

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Title: Let’s Get Invisible!
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #6
Genre: Horror
Pages: 160
Published: 1993, Scholastic
My Grade: 2 out of 5 light bulbs

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

On Max’s birthday, he finds a kind of magic mirror in the attic. It can make make him become invisible. So Max and his friends start playing “now you see me, now you don’t.” Until Max realizes that he’s losing control. Staying invisible a little too long. Having a harder and harder time coming back. Getting invisible is turning into a very dangerous game. The next time Max gets invisible, will it be…forever?

MY REVIEW

Maybe I have read too many Goosebumps in a row now, so this will be the last for a while. But I honestly didn’t really enjoy this one. It is a cool story, getting invisible and trying to be responsible about it and what follows. However, the story is flat and repetitive. They go invisible, they bully each other, feel bad, and do it all over again. The kids previously in the series have been surprisingly smart for 12-year olds but these I truly hated. All of them were bullies and even if the main character had doubts, he was a wuss and never said no.

So I only give this Goosebump story a 2, it was an okay read, but definitely not more than that. The flat story and the awful characters dragged it down.

Review of “Monster Blood” by R. L. Stine

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Title: Monster Blood
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #3
Genre: Horror
Pages: 144
Published: 1992, Scholastic
My Grade: 2.5 out of 5

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It’s fun to play with at first, and Evan’s dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!
But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy stuff. It seems to be growing.
And growing.
And growing.
And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite…

MY REVIEW

This Goosebumps story was not as good as the previous ones. Might be because I wasn’t really in the mood to read this type of book now? Or maybe because the plot was not as intriguing as the other ones?

After 3 read books, I can now state that Stine is clearly a dog person. There is a dog in almost every story so far. And horrible things always seem to happen to them. Sad.

Short review today (might be because I have already finished 60% in the next Goosebumps book, or because I have worked non-stop for the past week). But not much else is needed. These books are becoming more and more predictable the more of them you read.

Review of “Stay out of the Basement” by R. L. Stine

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Title: Stay Out of the Basement
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #2
Genre: Horror
Pages: 144
Published: 1992, Scholastic
My Grade: 3 out of 5 sylvari

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Dr. Brewer is doing a little plant-testing in his basement. Nothing to worry about. Harmless, he says. But Margaret and Casey Brewer are worried about their father. Especially when they… meet… some of the plants he is growing down there. Then they notice that their father is developing plant like tendencies.

MY REVIEW

Such a short and easy read, but still very much enjoyable. It is scary, but not too scary that I will get nightmares as a 26-year old. I might have had them when I was younger. I don’t think I haev green thumbs, but I have always loved plants and planting stuff and I have always preferred green plants to flowers, so this was a fun book.

The best thing about these books? (I assume all of them end similarly, that’s how I remember it anyways) The last page of each book is a goosebump-y cliffhanger. It is awesome! This is not a book I want everyone to read, so therefore I don’t give it a 4, but these 2-3 hours was time definitely not wasted.

Review of “Welcome to Dead House” by R. L. Stine

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Title: Welcome to Dead House
Author: R. L. Stine
Series: Goosebumps #1
Genre: Horror
Pages: 126
Published: 1992, Scholastic
My Grade: 3 out of 5 ghosts

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Amanda and Josh think the old house they have just moved into is weird. Spooky. Possibly haunted. And the town of Dark Falls is pretty strange, too. — But their parents don’t believe them. You’ll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends. — So Amanda and Josh do. But these creepy new friends are not exactly what their parents had in mind.

Because they want to be friends…

… Forever.

MY REVIEW

When I was a kid, I loved Stine’s Goosebumps. I read a few books, watched the TV series every now and then when visiting a friend who had the right TV channel. I loved horror back then. I enjoyed horror movies and Stephen King eventually became my newest favorite author. But that was many years ago, and now when I am reading a big hardcover book (Illuminae by Amie Kaufman) which I unfortunately can’t bring everywhere, I am for the first time ever, reading two books at the same time. I decided that I would read easy books on the side so I wouldn’t get confused or don’t understand as well. So far everything’s good. But I will try to stick to one book again after I am done with Gemina (the second book in the Illuminae Files series which is also a hardcover). But for now, I will read a few Goosebumps on the side.

So, I have to say that even though I hate horror now as an adult, and don’t find this book particuarly scary, it truly must have been for a ten year old kid! It is kind of gory. But also very well-written. Easy language to understand for a young one, but still very well written that an adult could enjoy it.

I give it a 3 because it was enjoyable and short and easy to read.

Review of “Stjärndamm” by Lars Wilderäng

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stjarnklart-03-stjarndamm-lars-wilderangTitle: Stjärnfall (~ “Stardust”)
Author: Lars Wilderäng
Series: Stjärnklart #3
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic, Horror
Pages: 296
Published: 2016, Massolit
My Grade: 5 out of 5 shiny vampires

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION (translated to English by me)

The civilization which was slowly  but steadily rebuilt, 10 years after the Shutdown, has been completely shredded. No bullets in the world can protect them against the enemy which was close to exterminate them all. And who proved way worse than the most horrific nightmare.

Some of the few survivors have once again gathered at Carlsten’s fortress, trapped like rats surrounded by threathingly black eyes. There has to be a way to stop this threat, even if it is the last thing they will do. The question is how will they get out of captivity, and if there are more survivors out there?

MY REVIEW

As always when I finish a series I feel sad. Especially when it is such a great series as this one. I am satisfied with the ending, it was extremely unexpected. Or maybe I have been too stressed while reading this, about school stuff that I just read it without thinking about what could possibly happen next? In either case, I found this last book in the amazing trilogy very unexpected (it was hard to guess what would come next in the first two as well). Lars Wilderäng really makes you sit on the edge of whatever you are sitting on and he totally makes it impossible to put down the book unless you fall asleep with it in your hand (yes, that has happened almost every night).

The finale was shorter than the other two and it was noticeble, but it was still full of action as the second, until the very very end.

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone and since I am new at writing reviews, I haven’t really learned how to write reviews further along the road of a book series. But, I loved this book, I loved the series, I loved all the excitment, and most of all; I loved the realism of the story. Like I said in my previous reviews, this feels feasible, this is how the world could end one day and I wouldn’t be surprised.

I want to thank Lars Wilderäng for this experience I got, reading the Stjärnklart series for the past three weeks. I hope I will be able to enjoy other books after this, haha! I also hope that Wilderäng wants to continue writing in this universe, I see great potential for more books! (I also can’t wait for the TV show!) Anyway, easy five out of five! Everyone should read these three books! I MEAN IT! READ! IT!