Back from the Dead
Hey there. It's been about 4 years since my last actual review post. I think basically what happened is because I was taking so long to write each entry it felt more like a chore than a fun hobby, because I could read the books so quickly, but write about them so slowly. This is an experimental entry. I'm going to be much more brief. I think it's my only way forward. I hope you enjoy it anyway if you are still around reading this.
Getting Goosebumps
So this book starts out with a laugh filled intro by none other than Slappy the Dummy himself. He has a lot of bad jokes and a lot of "hahaha" ended sentences. It does set the stage I guess.
Then we are whisked away to Egypt. A man of science is off to unearth the tomb of a would be prince who died some 5000 years ago. The tomb is rumored to be cursed. Is it actually cursed though? Yes. After reading some words on the tomb the mummy immediately rises and literally rips the scientists mustache off. It's actually quite gruesome for a Goosebumps book. His face is ripped up quite badly, and while he is recuperating we find out that he no longer has interest in dealing with the mummy. Can't imagine way.
Back to America. A young boy is delighted to be bringing a free ventriloquist dummy home. But there has to be some catch, right? Yes. That dummy is, of course, Slappy. He starts spouting off his evil jokes and vomiting pea soup. Dad valiantly vows to "get rid of him" after the words are read again, which originally brought him to life.
The perspective shifts again. We are at Cathy O'Connor's dad's haunted museum. It just got a new mummy. You'll never guess where it came from! And he got a great deal on it! It just so happens to be cursed, and tried to kill them. But never fear, they read the cursed words again and it went back to sleep. It's fiiiiine.
Oh also mysteriously a creepy dummy got left on the door step? It'll fit right in! The kids also say it came to life, but why would dad believe that. What are the odds a mummy AND a dummy would both be evil and come to life?
Anyway, there is a school class sleepover at the museum that absolutely can't be cancelled because reasons. I am sure it will all be fine.
Nevermind, it wasn't fine. The mummy came to life. It's trying to kill some kids. One of the kids brings Slappy to life to try to get him to stop the mummy. It doesn't work too well. Luckily they are armed with the surefire cure to a mummy infestation. Tickling. Yes. Tickling. Stupid? Yes. But apparently it worked. Meanwhile Slappy is put to rest by the reading of the magic words. Wait... were they the right words?
My Thoughts
Ok lets talk about it. This is the newest Goosebumps book I think I've ever read, published in 2019. I believe it's also the first SlappyWorld book I've read. The main difference seems to be splitting things up into parts with some different perspectives, including a few narrative check ins from Slappy himself.
The tone of the book is largely the same as the Goosebumps I'm used to. That said, it was a little be more gruesome at the beginning, with a little bit of graphic maiming. It also seemed to not include any talk of Slappy wanting to make people slaves. HAS GOOSEBUMPS GONE WOKE? (Kidding, I'm kidding.)
It is a bit interesting at all this time later, Goosebumps seems largely unchanged. There have been countless new Slappy books but Slappy seems the same as ever. It is interesting that now his can be explained away and disbelieved by recorded voices and robotics. In the modern world that's plausible. And while there is something kind of nice about the same old same old, part of me kind of wonders if perhaps Goosebumps should have evolved more by now?
The mash up screams of classic movie monster crossovers. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, or even more Abbott and Castello meet Frankenstein. If anything I wish they would have done more with the 2 different entities meeting up. The most interesting thing they could have played with more are how both are awakened and put to rest by magic words.
One thing I notice reading these as an adult, is that a lot of time Slappy comes across more annoying than scary. Because he is a relatively small wooden doll, he is not physically scary. When he comes right out and in your face alive, it kind of negates the scariness. So much of the original fright was "is he alive, or isn't he? He is doing sneaky things and nobody believes me." Of course as the millionth Slappy book, I suppose you can't keep doing that. He's alive and people know he's alive.
My absolute least favorite aspect of the book is defeating the mummy with tickles. I know these are books for kids but couldn't they come up with literally ANY better conclusion. Maybe combining the magic words of both the mummy and the dummy will defeat them both? I don't know? Maybe they have to trick Slappy to stop the mummy? Maybe the mummy becomes Slappy's slave?
There is a lot more they could have done with this, but it was silly good fun. Goosebumps are still Goosebumps, and there is something comforting about that.
Rating: 2.5 bowls of gross pea soup
I don't know man! It's been 4 years since I've done one of these. I have no idea if anyone still even reads or can find this blog. I have no idea if people that do like my less in depth entries. I would, ideally, like to maybe do another one of these for Halloween. I might go back and dig out one of the original series ones I haven't read yet. I want to, at least, finish all the OG books I have in my possession, and, ideally, find the ones I'm missing and read those too. We shall see I guess. If you read this, please drop a comment, let me know, it genuinely would help me gauge whether I should bring this back. Thanks, and catch ya next time!
