The Stinal Countdown: The Goosebumps Haunted Library

So, we've covered every mainline Goosebumps single narrative story in some form and fashion here on this blog. That's what I always think at least because I then get reminded that "Oh right. There's still the Haunted Library". And if you think Screams in the Night feels like the most obscure Goosebumps story item, then this is probably a close second. Because at the very least, the Haunted Library books were far easier to find, at least when they first released in 1996. 

So, what is the Goosebumps Haunted Library? Well in 1996, the peak year of the Goosebumps mania, Goosebumps ran a promotion with Hershey, Doritos and Pepsi that featured a "haunted library" box that contained three brand new short Goosebumps tales by R.L. Stine. With UPC codes and mail-in delivery you would receive the box and the stories, or could find the stories within specially marked Frito-Lay, Pepsi or Hershey products. These three stories are Bad Dog, Don't Make Me Laugh, and The Halloween Game. And these are REALLY short stories. As in about 20 pages, but given each page is generally tiny, it doesn't exactly mean the lengthiest item ever. But how do they fare? Are they decent short stories? More importantly, are they decent Goosebumps stories? Let's find out.

NNtG: Shivers #06: The Haunting House

Time to spin the wheel once more with another edition of the Russian Roulette of kids horror books, Shivers. Time to circle back to early Shivers this time with a book about a haunted house. Or, in this case a haunting house. A house for haunting. I mean it's no Dead House, but what really is? Now the question can be asked if we're getting a normal experience or something wild? I mean the next book after this is The Awful Apple Orchard and that's still the apex of fucked up endings, even for Shivers. Let's see what's in store for us with The Haunting House.

I like this cover, and in fairness it is an earlier book in the series, but I will say that when you look at the series as a whole, this cover feels very in line with most of the covers in the series. Big moon in the background over a starry sky, dead trees and ominous yellow light. There's even a skull on the cover because almost all of them have a skull on the cover. So judging it on the merits of the other covers it feels very straightforward and safe. On its own merit I still really like it. It sells the creepy vibes of the house which given what the book is about is kind of necessary. There's even some ominous crows and eerie eyes in the mailbox which I honestly love. So if it's your first Shivers cover it's great, if it's your twentieth, then it's nothing too unique but still good.

NNtG: Deadtime Stories #16: Night of the Pet Zombies

We covered Billy Baker's Dog Won't Stay Buried earlier this year. Spinetinglers' attempt at a story about dead pets returning from the grave to cause chaos. And it was one of my favorite books that I covered this year so far. Of course nothing, especially in kids horror, is ever fully original and there will always be others who do something similar. And that brings us to Deadtime Stories. Around the same time they too had a story about pets coming back from the dead. How does it compare? Did the Cascones do a better job? Or would it have been better to keep this book buried? Let's see with Night of the Pet Zombies.
 

This is another solid Broeck Steadman cover. Gets the point across very easily that we have pets coming back from the dead with their glowing red eyes. I love the fully skeletal dog in the back and the deep red sky. I will say I have some issues. The cover does feel very cramped with less of a chance to do much with the art. I also, I dunno, wish the pets looked more zombie-like with rotting flesh and whatnot. But maybe that was verboten from Troll so one skeleton dog and that's all you get. Still it's an enticing cover and does what it needs to sell you on a book about pet zombies.

The Stinal Countdown: Shark Night

So, with the new Goosebumps books of 2024 out of the way, we can focus on some more Stine standalones. Stine-dalones if you will. Last year was Slime Doesn't Pay! which was the story of a prize winning Goosebumps title from the 90s being in limbo for over a quarter century. This time we don't really have that, but we do have sharks. We had a shark in Deep Trouble, but barely. So it should be interesting to see what Stine does with this premise. It's time we get chummy with Shark Night.

Also yes, this was intended at one point for (Woo!) Party Summer 3, but I couldn't find a physical copy anywhere in time so screw it. Bought the ebook months later. 

This cover is decent. We have a decent shocked kid face with Liam's reaction to an oncoming hammerhead shark. Definitely the right kind of reaction to such a situation. I have a bad feeling I'm going to say this a lot, but this does give me Deep Trouble vibes. Kid in the water about to be attacked by a hammerhead. It does honestly feel like what you'd get for an alternate take on that cover. But for a book about sharks, it's fine.

The future of the blog

So, this was a blog I was hoping to not have to make, but given recent news, I'll have to post some quick thoughts. Internet Archive has lost its appeal in the Hatchette vs Internet Archive suit. Which more than likely means the death of OpenLibrary along with pretty much every book and text that the site has. Which in turn affects this blog. As many of the books on Openlibrary were used for this blog as a way to access and review them. With that outlet most likely gone, it might mean that the blog is going to take a considerable hit in terms of posts and additions. I was planning on a break after blog 500, but now that may be forced upon me. 

I still want to continue this blog, but for a lot of the books I want to cover, access isn't so easy. It comes down now to hoping to find a copy at a thrift store or used book store, hoping there's an ebook via Kindle, or, and what would ultimately be the nuclear option, opting out for an Ebay copy, which given some of the psycho prices on books isn't as feasible as I'd hope. Like, for example, the lowest cost of a copy of Fear Street's "Cat" is 35 bucks on Ebay. And that again constitutes a low price there. Stuff like Ghost of Fear Street's "Go to Your Tomb Right Now" can go for 50-60 bucks with shipping included. So, unless I get super lucky and a copy winds up at a thrift store, I'm kind of screwed. 

But we still have stuff I can cover. I do own every Animorphs book so I can finally get back to them. I also have ways of accessing other books and series, so I can cover stuff as well. And since I've been putting more focus on A Case of the Bumps lately, there's always some stuff to do with that. So, while it's going to be a wall if/likely when OpenLibrary is shuttered, the blog at least has stuff to cover any notable hump. Though, if so, expect far less frequent updates and new blogs. Likely scaling back just for the excuse of having stuff to take us over the hump for another year or so. 

So, just for clarification, the blog is still going to have content and new books to cover. Some series may be fewer and further between, but I'll keep trying to add what I can from them if I'm lucky enough to get a copy on the cheap. This situation sucks, but to say I'm surprised that this is the outcome, of course I'm not. I'll keep you all posted on where this blog will go, but for now, it's going to be touch and go and that really stinks. 

If you want to help out, sign the Petition over at Change. 

The Stinal Countdown: Goosebumps House of Shivers #03: Night of the Living Mummy

It's that time again. Time to get wrapped up in another edition of House of Shivers. The last one of the year since we're now at two per year. Meaning we're going to be as dry as the Sahara for new Goosebumps content to mine. But we do have ourselves some mummy action. Stine's usually more hits than misses on mummies. And with this being the brand new, ramped up, big boy pants Goosebumps, I can only imagine what he has in store. Though granted, the last time we had mummies in a ramped up Goosebumps series, we had actual gunfire. This book's got some big, bandaged up shoes to fill. It's time to talk about Night of the Living Mummy. I'm sure that was a title Stine wanted to use for years. 

Robert Ball strikes again with another really good cover. I like the use of the reds in the background, giving off this more sinister vibe. Like something is definitely going wrong in this mummy exhibit. Then there's our titular living mummy and his design is pretty cool. The sickly green of the wrappings, the one bloodshot eyeball, the very obvious child build. Perfect front and center monster. So much so that you might miss the hand holding the pedant which is clearly going to be our MacGuffin of the book. Strong stuff all around.

NNtG: Shivers #21: A Waking Nightmare

It's time for yet another trip into Shivers, which means load up the gun with the one bullet. It's the Russian Roulette of kids horror! And this time we have monsters and bad dreams aplenty. Or, I guess more specifically what goes down while the protagonist is dreaming. What awaits us in this one? Is it a dream come true or are we sleepwalking into disaster? Let's not snooze on A Waking Nightmare.

I like this cover a lot. A strength to a lot of Shivers covers is how detailed they can be and this is definitely up there in terms of detailed. What with the destroyed shelves and the kitchen being a mess. I also love the design of the beast of the story, with their freakish claw scratching at the fridge door. No hidden skull, at least none I can find. But I guess cow magnet is equivalent exchange. Great stuff.