Retromorphs: Animorphs #15: The Escape

So far Marco's 2 for 2 when it comes to Animorphs books. Aside from Tobias he's been the character written the best so far, especially with everything we know so far about him, as well as learning that his mother is the controller for one of the most powerful Yeerks. Will we score a hat trick? This one is an underwater book though and they're always a mixed bag. It's time for The Escape.

The Stinal Countdown: Fear Street: The Stepsister 2

Previously, we covered The Stepsister, a 1990 book in the Fear Street series which featured a girl having to deal with incidents that may involve her new Stepsister, only to find out it was her actual sister. So Stine, never the one to not milk something for all its worth, would bring about a sequel in 1995. Which has me worried because, especially in Fear Street, Stine's sequels are usually pretty bad. Could this one buck that trend? Stranger things have happened. Let's find out with The Stepsister 2.

I like this cover a bit better than the first one. I think what makes it work better is that it feels more unassuming. Emily brushing her hair, not really paying attention to Nancy staring at her with an intent to kill. Having it be more sinister and dark compared to the weird glow of Jessie in the last book makes for a better piece of art overall. More memorable at least, as of the two Stepsister covers, this is the one I remember more often. Good stuff.

The Stinal Countdown: Fear Street: The Stepsister

It's time for another trip to Shadyside. And we have some extended family issues to deal with this time. One that has a sequel and a concept Stine would reuse later when New Fear Street came around. So clearly this is a concept Stine had a lot of ambition for. And anytime I think of Stine and ambition I immediately dread what I'm getting myself into. Will that be the case here? Let's find out when we learn about The Stepsister.

This cover is fine. Not exactly the most exciting or dynamic, but one that at least feels like a scene from the book. Our protagonist Emily clearly about to read something shocking about her stepsister Jessie. Though her facial expression is more low energy surprised than shocked. What does work for the cover is Jessie. Her cold, more evil expression and this sort of supernatural glow that radiates from her. Very much a case of making it clear "Oh, well the blonde is clearly the book's villain". Overall, does an okay job selling it, just feels like a lower energy cover than we usually get.

NNtG: Bone Chillers #17: Why I Quit the Baby-Sitters Club

No, that title is not any admission when it comes to my output of BSC blogs (I swear I'll try to have the next one done soon), but rather the interesting title of the Bone Chillers book we're covering today. It's been over a year since I've covered anything Betsy Haynes related (even if this is actually written by David Bergantino). We have monster babies to deal with this time. So by the end of the book we can see why our protagonist would want to quit. Is this book as easy as taking candy from a baby, or a rude rugrat? Let's find out Why I Quit the Baby-Sitters Club.

This is a great cover. Plenty of Jacobus staples from the ooze to the creepy hand to the weird looking doll to the lush, lush oh-so-lush Jacobus trees. If you want a cover about a monster baby, it's hard to think of one that lands better in terms of being enticing. Though, like I said with Scare Bear, there's just this weird feeling to some of Tim's outside Goosebumps works of this era, as much like how Scare Bear feels like it would have been a cover for the Tales to Give You Goosebumps story "Mr. Teddy", this feels like it would have been the cover for "Strained Peas" were it an actual book. I'm certain it's all highly coincidental, but just a neat thing to think about with covers like this. Great stuff.

NNtG: Spooksville #01: The Secret Path

Time to take a trip to another book series. And it's been one I've been wanting to talk about for a while but never got around to getting to. I think it has to do with the author of said book series. Yes, it's finally time to talk about Spooksville, the Goosebumps-like that was written by our old friend Christopher Pike. Now, if you know me, I'm pensive around covering Pike since nine times out of ten I get struck with subject matter that I'd rather not have to review for the blog. But this being a book series intended for a child audience, I don't think I have to worry about stories surrounding abortion... I hope. 

Yes, in 1995, Spooksville was released by Minstrel Books and would go on for 24 books. Not a bad run. The thing that would differentiate this series from Stine and Goosebumps would be a continuing storyline that features the same characters in the same setting dealing with new threats and freaky stuff. I mean, it's not the first series to do so, Weird Zone being an example, but it at least feels like more of a hook than a lot of Stine's stuff. So let's see what we have in store and how Pike fared in the kiddy book scene as we take a trip down The Secret Path.

Apologies on the rather washed cover art, but finding like really good rips of some of these covers is surprisingly tricky. But what we get is a really cool piece of art. Lee McLeod creates some really impressive looking art that doesn't feel like it's just ripping from Jacobus. It's busy, but not in a way that's too distracting, more in you might miss stuff. You'll be so focused on the witch's face, or the bird, or the castle, that you might not even notice the skeleton arm rising from the grave. I love the colors coming off the setting sun, the random lightning over the castle and wafting mist over the tombstones. It's a great mixture of enough little elements that make you really want to read on and see what's going on in this book. So for that alone, it's a top notch cover.

Quick Thoughts on the New House of Shivers Cover and Fear Street: Prom Queen

It's been a bit since I've added anything new to the blog. Not by intention, just a lot of mental burnout when it comes to pumping out a book blog every now and then. New stuff is in the works, and I hope to once again be blogging on some books for the annual Summer event. But while that's all in the works, I figured I'd talk about a couple Stine-related things that were in the news this week and give my feelings on both. Since I talk so much about the works of Jovial Bob Stine, I figured hell with it. Let's talk about some Goosebumps and Fear Street news. 

NNtG: Graveyard School #08: Let's Scare the Teacher to Death!

It's been a while since we covered anything Graveyard School. A series that I've mostly enjoyed but haven't quite found the book I loved yet. We've covered headless bike riders, skateboarding skeletons and possible cannibal lunch ladies. Maybe what's been missing is possible murder? In this case we have a tale of a petrified teacher who is about to be REALLY petrified. As in stone cold dead. At least that's what the title is suggesting, and titles have NEVER overexaggerated before, right? Let's see if this book can get away with murder. Let's Scare the Teacher to Death! (also known as the less exciting Terrify the Teacher in the UK)

I love this cover. It feels very Jacobus in the warping and point of view, though it's not actually a Tim work, so props to Barry Jackson. What makes it work is the very obvious reference to The Wizard of Oz with the Wicked Witch of the East being crushed under Dorothy's house. With the curled shoes I guess selling the idea that this teacher is really old and witchy. Rocks the striped stockings though I will say. And I have to assume this was an awakening cover for some soon-to-be foot fetishist, so I guess that's either less points or more points in the cover's favor, depending on your point of view.