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

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

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

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

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

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 “Monster Blood” by R. L. Stine

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

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

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 ‘The End’ by Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket - The EndTitle: The End
Author: Lemony Snicket
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events #13 (of 13)
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 337
Published: 2006, Scholastic, Inc.
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 grapes

Since this is the last book in a series of 13, and I didn’t come up with the idea of expanding my blog and writing reviews during the first 12, I will try to write this review on the whole series with this one as the base. Here’s a link to all the books on Goodreads.

 

 

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Dear Reader,
You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of THE END. The end of THE END is the best place to begin THE END, because if you read THE END from the beginning of the beginning of THE END to the end of the end of THE END, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope.
This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous twelve volumes, you probably can’t stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents.
It has been my solemn occupation to complete the history of the Baudelaire orphans, and at last I am finished. You likely have some other occupation, so if I were you I would drop this book at once, so THE END does not finish you.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

 

MY REVIEW

It is always a strange feeling that comes after finishing a book series. And especially a long one. The End was the thirteenth book in the series about the unfortunate events the Baudelaire children experienced.  Even if they are considered books for children, I am glad I decided to read them now, as an almost-adult. But I can also see the benefits of reading them as a kid since the books are not only intriguing, but they are written in a rather educational way. It would probably be appropriate to add ‘dictionary’ as one of the genres since the books are always describing both difficult words and sayings and honestly, I have learned a lot. While at the same time they were easy to read and follow.

The characters felt a bit unreal, but it is a story meant to entertain children, and a normal 14-, 13- and 1-year old would not be fun to read about, so I did not bother to think about that at all after the first two books. Their personalities are interesting though, age aside, and my favorite would be Sunny, the baby, she is cool.

Something I didn’t really like about the books was that the first five or so, had the exact same story. And it got a little boring and a little hard to want to continue like that for thirteen books. But, it changed and all the rest of the books had different stories. Another annoying thing that I found while reading these books these last few months, was that the mysteries the siblings were trying to figure out, made me curious and eager to read more. And then it made me very frustrated when no real answers were given, but rather more questions. Sorry for that spoiler.

To sum up, the series was really good, no time was wasted while reading it, but I don’t really feel that a straight 3 or 4 would be correct, so I will give a 3.5 as the final grade for this book/series.