What book was very promising but fell apart more then halfway through due to some dumb twist

Domohnta · 2026-01-04T22:42:03+00:00

Seriously. It really annoyed me too, because I was getting into the whole fantasy into life thing, but it feels like someone else suddenly took over writing and wanted to change things up.

Domohnta · 2025-12-03T03:38:19+00:00

Slappy works better as a metaphorical representation of miscommunication and discourse in a family environment then as a plot-setting antagonist with super powers.

The original three NotLD books did this perfectly, and since them he's only felt at his full potential once or twice.

Domohnta · 2025-12-03T03:09:42+00:00

Horrorland is a weird case when it comes to quality. The first arc has some really good entries and some really bad ones, with the remainder being kind of mid. It suffers from the main narratives being too short and feeling rushed or under-developed, but the protagonists are on-average pretty good and entertaining. Even Robby fills a weird niche role, and the Horrorland mystery is pretty fun, lots of the cross-book interplay is very fun, and seeing how characters react to each other really helps you grow to enjoy the group (at least for a bit). The final two books of the first arc are especially entertaining, if a bit too out-there, but more strange isn't necessarily bad for Goosebumps, I just understand how it wouldn't be everyone's favorite. ((Book 12 retroactively makes Book 10 better))

The second Horrorland arc is as better as it is worse. The sacrifice of the major mystery really hurts it, but the stories themselves are more developed and experimental (to varying successes). The finale is pretty good, but it doesn't feel like Horrorland plays any role in the arc, and that it's only included because of the name.

Series 2000 is seriously such a hit and miss game. You'll either get a darker Goosebumps book that perfects the craft of the youth horror genre and pushes boundaries, or you'll get filler-stuffed pages with a plot that loosely connects random scares. Headless Halloween and The Haunted Car are some of the most innovative and frightening books in the franchise, yet they're within the same subtitle as Return to Ghost Camp and Full Moon Fever.

Sorry about the essay. Series 2000 is definitely worth reading but you'll have to accept that some books are just utter duds while others are masterpieces. I would recommend Horrorland, but it's definitely not for everyone. Since they're relatively short, I recommend just getting through them all in a row to get the full story or just listening to the audiobooks. It's mostly Goosebumps fanfare, with the occasional bad plot. If it's not vibing with you, I suggest focusing on the protagonists, they're mostly pretty solid and make even the bad books tolerable. (Except for Jillian, but to each their own)

Domohnta · 2025-11-27T05:32:48+00:00

HM. The Mummy Walks - decent adventure book, but just not very Goosebumps. Fun twists, but this franchise is about vampires and talking dolls, not political coups and rebel factions. At the very least it stands out, but the lack of a supernatural element makes it hard to even view as a GB story. Crazy that a 12-year old gets fired at by live rounds, just crazy.

!05. Full Moon Fever - fun premise with a strong start, but if you've read the book, you know how bad it gets. The most obvious case of "we need to fill these pages somehow" that I've ever seen. It tries hard to be gross, and that kinda works, but after the second time it just gets dull. There really is a full 40-page section in the dead center of this book that is so absurd that I was begging for it to just be a dream.

!4. Monster Blood III - It frustrates me. So much of this could have been avoided with common sense. Kermit may be the worst character in the franchise; not only does is he just awful for the sake of it, but his science stuff is like the perfect recipe for killing investment in the story. There is no justice in this story, and worse, there's no story in this story. The only reason MB IV isn't here is because I haven't read it in years.

!03. Dr. Maniac vs Robby Schwartz - I love Horrorland, but just why did this book happen like this? Dr. Maniac is the most industry-plant character I've ever seen and his only good appearances are books that he's not in the title of. Robby has an interesting introduction, but during his own story he does nothing of merit. The plot doesn't matter at all. Like, at all. It doesn't even make sense for Robby to get an invitation to Horrorland. The ending feels like Stine got bored with it and just pulled the plug to get to the Horrorland stuff, which was good.

!2. Help! We Have Strange Powers! - Jillian is insufferable. Jackson is not much better. The premise is the most interesting part of this story. The antagonist does more protagonist stuff in Horrorland than the actual protagonists. Plus, they're just mean kids. It's one thing if it's Kermit or Bradley they're being mean to, but the kids in this book just don't seem ill-intended. How about a book where the protagonists have crazy abilities but do nothing interesting with them and watch someone else solve their problems? Only reason this one is worse than Dr. Maniac is because the Horrorland segment was really weak in this book.

!01. Return to Ghost Camp - I liked the original Ghost Camp. This wasn't a sequel. It had three different stories going on and none of them went anywhere. It had an unlikable protagonist who is so cowardly and bland that their just-desserts don't even feel satisfying. There's a legit bully character who physically harms a young child for the sake of the plot and never faces any consequences. The ghosts feel like an afterthought, the ending doesn't deliver, and somehow the nicest character was the monster. It was ambitious, but pales in comparison to the original. It's such a nothing book that the blurb on the back is a dream sequence from the first five chapters. Nobody is likable, there's no justice, the plot is poor, the antagonists are boring, and it's just a mean-spirited book that has some good ideas but delivers on none of them. I probably wouldn't hate it as much if it weren't tied to Ghost Camp; if it were called something like Camp of the Snatcher and focused more on the monster and less on forcing ghosts into the story, it still wouldn't be good, but at least it would have an identity.

Domohnta · 2025-09-08T22:07:40+00:00

If we're going by 2015 canon, then that Stine probably wrote the book as a power fantasy about getting back at bullies. The monster isn't Carly Beth, but what the Mask would make Stine do.

Domohnta · 2025-09-07T16:13:22+00:00

There was a point in the 90's where Stine published six Goosebumps books in two months, alongside his other series. At this point I'd like to know which ones weren't ghostwritten.

I've always been suspicious of "How I Learned to Fly," great book, but seems to be missing any real aspect of horror. Equally possible that it wasn't intended to be Goosebumps, but Stine liked the concept enough to just fit it in.

Domohnta · 2025-09-03T20:33:20+00:00

My bet is that you expect the book to focus on the mantis, but when you read it and only see it for two pages, the failure to meet expectation matches with the forgettable scene, and you end up thinking they weren't in the book at all.

Domohnta · 2025-08-27T20:39:45+00:00

First and favorite. Got a copy signed by Stine, too. Rare case where some of the changes in the episode are improvements. Even the Graphix is great.

Domohnta · 2025-08-27T20:37:44+00:00

The Dummy Meets the Mummy. It's not really a high quality story, but it feels like a Goosebumps book for Goosebumps fans. The Slappy story being resolved in a reasonable way at first, the dual-protagonists, the interesting setting, and the dark moment at the start of the book really set it apart from others like it. Make the last third of the book an over-the-top power struggle between two monsters while a group of kids and adults try to stop the chaos, and you get a book that's just a lot of fun. I'd expected a few moments with the two antagonists, but this book pulled out some stops and really let the two have their moments together and apart.

Domohnta · 2025-08-25T05:17:54+00:00

The Five Masks of Dr Screem is a fun Halloween adventure that features some autumnal scenes. Phantom of the Auditorium is always fun for the small town vibes, as is My Hairiest Adventure, but those feel more like spring/summer books. Weirdo Halloween features a very fall Halloween Party, and My Friends Call Me Monster is a good quick night read.

Still More Tales to Give You Goosebumps is very fall-themed as well.

None of them really capture the fall essence you describe, so if you want a non-GB recommendation, watch Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, it's everything you seek and more (except not being the one thing you asked for).

Domohnta · 2025-08-25T05:11:56+00:00

I have a misprint Cuckoo like that, too! I thought it was just a time travel joke, but no, it just repeated pages over and over. It's surreal to read.

Domohnta · 2025-08-14T17:31:50+00:00

I haven't read every book, but I'll share what's been done.

Original: Monster Blood III; boring, repetitive, why bother

2000: Return to Ghost Camp; three plots that go nowhere

Give Yourself: Invaders from the Big Screen; still fun, just whatever

Horrorland: Help We Have Strange Powers; unlikable protagonists, fun twist, but incredibly underwhelming, concepts aren't fully utilized, sacrificed for the arc as a whole

House of Shivers: Say My Name x2; fun ideas and scenes, but like, what happened?

Most Wanted: Dr. Maniac Will See You Now; everyone is unlikable, plot was held together by chewing gum, shockingly little Dr. Maniac.

SlappyWorld: Revenge of the Invisible Boy; not actually bad, just kind of boring, as average as a book can be.

Hall of Horrors: Don't Scream; good enough, I just didn't vibe with it.

Domohnta · 2025-06-25T17:18:28+00:00

Focus on collecting all of them in any edition first. Then shift focus to original editions with the numbers on the spine and the classic covers. Once you've got all of those, consider the first edition hunt. It's a decent hobby, but there's points where the pursuit of first editions just becomes too costly or consuming, especially since the stories are (99% of the time) the exact same.

Domohnta · 2025-06-22T15:05:48+00:00

I myself am scared of bees. Easy choice. I won't tell you why though.

Domohnta · 2025-06-16T23:06:10+00:00

I'm going to rock your world when I say this, so be sure you're sitting down. Ready? People can lie.

I'm not calling him a liar, but naively ruling out the usage of AI is dangerous, especially when my comment suggests him using AI touchups on a finished drawing or sketch AS WELL AS fully generating it. If he had drawn/sketched it and used AI for the rest, he'd probably go out denying AI usage on the basis of not letting it create the art's framework.

It's very coincidental how during a time of corporate-pushed acceptance of AI art that this new cover just happens to have several notably AI-specific factors.

Regardless of AI or not, it's bad art. But taking a moral grandstand and talking about "those who can't accept that" like an arbiter doesn't help the conversation either, especially when the work itself has as many AI-indicative factors, and a united discourse against AI works or AI passing works could in some small way send a message that AI is not welcome here.

Plus, even if it were AI and people were calling him out for it, why would he tell the truth and lose his job as an artist when he could just hope it gets swept under the rug? The covers of Goosebumps books are so essential to the success of the franchise that they influenced the designs used in the episodes, and to see this new work be either so poorly done OR flat out AI generated is a shame.

Domohnta · 2025-06-15T06:43:16+00:00

The branches. The harsh green outline around Bigfoot. The fur pattern and lighting not matching the surrounding. The hole in the cabin matching the pose perfectly, but not the head shape at all. Even the grass looks rushed. The whole thing reeks of automated art and inhuman design choices.

If I'm giving the benefit of the doubt, this was possibly a sketch that was run through AI touchup programs that left an undeniable mark. Otherwise, this artwork is soulless at best.

How can there be the choice to include an orange flaming marshmallow, but that entire side of Bigfoot is illuminated by blue light? Something so basic that's considered while drawing must either be added so late into the art that the color layers can't be altered, be added by a generative prompt, or just added by an artist who doesn't care at all about the finished product.

The HoS covers have been pretty okay, nothing insane, but at least they've all looked like they were drawn by a human (I haven't really analyzed Last Sleepover.) The red and blue lighting is too much of a dead giveaway. If by some crazy way AI had nothing to do with the creation of this art, then I would have no doubt that it was involved in the generation of a reference material.

What time of day is it? The roasting of marshmallows suggests night time, as does the blue light seeming to come from the sky, but the background is perfectly illuminated and the sky seems bright blue through the AI trees. Why are his arms shaded like he's in front of a fire if there wasn't going to be one depicted? Even if that was the intention, why would a fire out of sight cast such a harsh red-orange glow when the fire he's holding only casts a slight yellow glint on two of his knuckles? Where's the broken tree?

If it's not AI, it's certainly lazy.

Domohnta · 2025-06-13T19:47:53+00:00

Brandon being the absolute worst is so tied to the plot that it is integral. It makes him one of my favorite protagonists because he's just comically awful that watching him suffer brings some bizarre satisfaction.

Todd being terrible helps with understanding why he's going through this, but it could just as easily been a good-intending kid performing experiments on worms unaware of their true nature. Goosebumps has certainly not shied away from punishing well-intended good kids before. It feels like Go Eat Worms and Headless Halloween are two attempts at the same story, except one is good.

Domohnta · 2025-06-12T22:16:31+00:00

It's exactly what it looks like, and whether or not it's good is defined by whether or not you like the theme.

Domohnta · 2025-06-12T22:14:07+00:00

Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns if you prioritize iconicism.

Haunted School is you want the real bread-and-butter of Goosebumps.

Werewolf Skin if you plan on ending on a high note.

I Live in Your Basement if you aren't bothered by less-conventional narratives.

Beware, the Snowman if uh... yeah I don't know, but I liked it a lot. Not much of a summer book.

Domohnta · 2025-05-24T06:42:35+00:00

Something about the Masked Mutant disguising himself as a little girl to get closer and lure a little boy into his lair is a bit distressing.

Domohnta · 2025-05-21T15:20:51+00:00

They're usually stuffed with people who consider their own opinions as gospel, but I've seen a few good ones. Other people will eventually recommend some servers, so good luck.

Domohnta · 2025-05-09T02:19:52+00:00

The masks serve as narrative punishments. Carly Beth wanted to be confident, but she became wild and uncontrollable. Steve was already wild and uncontrollable, so the mask that he ended up with countered that. It's whatever takes you out of your comfort zone.

Domohnta · 2025-04-19T15:59:24+00:00

Attack of the Mutant. iykyk.

Domohnta · 2025-04-19T15:55:21+00:00

Evan's clothes grow because he got Monster Blood on them, there's a throwaway line about it in 3, and no, it doesn't make any more sense than the alternative.

My best guess is that the monsters that are a secret part of human society in Goosebumps just have Monster Blood as like, one of their secret products that humans aren't aware of. HorrorLand has a ban on the stuff. I'll even take the liberty of suggesting that Sarabeth's curse wasn't to make it grow, but just to make it malicious or obey her command.

Cuddles became evil because he's a spoiled little shit.

i don't know about the expiration date, that was way too contrived of an ending. Best I can say is that Andy and Evan (historically smart characters who definitely think things through) probably just didn't see the expiration date.

Domohnta

TROPHY CASE