NNtG: Are You Afraid of the Dark? #23: The Tale of the Horrifying Hockey Team

Oh gee. What recent event could have motivated me to cover the final book in a series I haven't covered yet? Break out the gold medals and shitty Big Macs, because we're hitting the ice for the Are You Afraid of the Dark book series. And yes, I still eventually intend to return to covering the series itself but yeah. You saw how long it took to get back to Baby-Sitters Club, right? But yes, Are You Afraid of the Dark had its own Goosebumps-like book series. Some stories based around tales from the series, while others were entirely brand new. Also, we don't get a lot of hockey horror stories... unless you look at the US Men's Hockey Team immediately after winning the gold medal that is. I'm guessing if Screammates lasted longer than four books, maybe we could have gotten something, but this will do. Is it a goal, or should it spend time in the penalty box? Let's find out with The Tale of the Horrifying Hockey Team.

I love this cover. Very simple stuff, but still very effective. The green, zombie-like hue from not just the hockey players but the ice itself. Although less eerie green, more like they're playing on a pond of frozen piss. The wisps coming off them is such a great touch, adding to the ethereal feel that the cover is going for. You want a cover about evil hockey players, then you really can't ask for anything better.

The Stinal Countdown: Goosebumps House of Shivers #06: One Night at Camp Bigfoot

It's that time of year again. Time to talk about the first of this year's Goosebumps offerings. House of Shivers last year offered some middling books in my opinion. One a frustrating mess, the other really feeling like it intentionally held itself back from being something special. We have a camp book this time and with Stine, he almost always nails the camp books. He's had a couple clunkers, but the ratio skews mostly positive. Plus, Bigfoot's in this one. It's been a while since we've had a cryptid in a Goosebumps book. Hell, the last one was the Abominable Snowman and that book... existed. I hope this book can do more than just exist. Let's talk about One Night at Camp Bigfoot.

Oh right. It's this cover. I talked about it last year shortly after its reveal as it came under fire for feeling like it was made by AI. By all accounts, Robert Ball has never admitted to using AI for his work and some of the early House of Shivers covers do have concept art for them, so I don't buy the idea that he or Scholastic in general suddenly cheapened out and went full slop (Stine clearly has given THAT Instagram post but that's besides the point). That doesn't mean I like this cover. Bigfoot is decent in design, but I wish his pose was more intimidating. Though the burning marshmallows is a nice touch. But what really bugs me is the Bigfoot hole in the cabin in the background. How clean it is. How perfectly Bigfoot shaped it is. I would have preferred a more destructive looking scene that really sells that Bigfoot is a threat. It's a case of being too cartoony but somehow not cartoony enough to feel effective. It's a cover that just feels lacking to me. Again, I don't want to believe it's AI, I'll give the benefit of the doubt, but this just feels off for a Goosebumps cover.

The Stinal Countdown: Nightmare on Nightmare Street

So this one crept up on me. I legit thought this was a book due for later in the year, but nope. Mid-February. But that means that it's that time again. Another Blackstone Publishing R.L. Stine book. So far it's 0-2 for books I've enjoyed from the line. And the information about this book that has come out doesn't exactly make me go "Oh I can't wait for this one." But sometimes the books I've come in cold to have been the ones I've really enjoyed. So let's see if Stine can surprise me with this. Let's talk about Nightmare on Nightmare Street. See, the title also doesn't make me too jazzed. 

I talked about this cover last year not long after its release as, much like the upcoming Goosebumps House of Shivers covers, it's been under fire for AI allegations. We sadly know Stine's stance on AI given the shit he's posted to Instagram, but as for this cover in particular, I don't think it's actually AI. But it's still not an exciting cover. The clearest comparison is Welcome to Dead House as it's a shot of an old house with a figure looking out the front window. The big difference being that Dead House looked much nicer, had a better angle, and a far better use of color. Here it looks like a stock photo of an old house given a really awful looking filter. The orange and red from the windows doesn't help its case either, and the design is just really ugly. It also doesn't give the reader much to really get what this book is actually about. So while I doubt it's actually AI, it's still not that great a cover to be honest. 

The Stinal Countdown: New Fear Street #04: The Bad Girl

We have reached the end of New Fear Street already. Yep, a mere four books is all that Stine pumped out for this series. It does make me wonder though, if Stine really had any interest in this series or if all four books were just stuff from the original Fear Street that he didn't finish in time. We know that of The Stepbrother at least. So we have one more book left to go. And given the last book ended with a zombie girl, it feels a bit soon for another book about zombies. But life, AKA R.L. Stine, finds a way. Does he stick the landing, or is this just a pump-out before he gets to Fear Street Seniors? Let's find out with The Bad Girl.

I really like this cover. After the cool to bland feel of the last cover, this feels like a solid horror work. The girl's body strewn about, gray and lifeless, her clothing torn and decaying, the glasses on the ground. It's a solid enough creepy corpse cover and feels more horror than most of the Fear Street covers do. For a final cover for this series, it's a strong way to go out. That usually doesn't bode well for the book itself more often than not.

The Stinal Countdown: New Fear Street #03: Scream, Jennifer, Scream!

It's time for another trip into NEW Shadyside. Even more interestingly, we're almost finished with this series. Yep, New Fear Street really is that quick of a book series. And this time we have a book about cheating students, a possible snitch, and potential murder. Could this all lead to a good book, or will I be screaming in anger? Let's find out with Scream, Jennifer, Scream!

This cover is fine. I like the large shot of Jennifer screaming, which means the book cover at least doesn't lie. I like the shattering glass giving off this more horrific look and feel (and it's plot important too). What I don't like is the teens up front. It makes this cover feel less like a really cool horror book cover and more here's the cast of a failed Fear Street series pilot, which is surprising that never happened. I mean we got the movies but still. Overall, fine, but not amazing.

Club-Read: The Karen Tax: Baby-Sitters Little Sister #06: Karen's Little Sister

One thing I will say that bugs me about BSC is due to the structure of the series we really just move on from certain events and it takes a long time for that event to really matter in the grand scheme. Like, you'd almost forget at this point that the Thomas-Brewer family adopted a two year old Vietnamese girl. So leave it to the Karen books to be the series that actually talks about this. Which I guess if there's any benefit to the Karen books existing it's that we can at least build on some of that continuity for the Thomas-Brewers that the main series drops the ball on. So let's finally get a book focused around the arrival of Emily Michelle and how that affects Karen. Time for Karen to get jealous over a toddler. I expect nothing less. Let's talk about Karen's Little Sister. 

Interestingly, this is one of the Little Sister books that didn't get a graphic novel adaptation. The likeliest reason is that the mainline graphic novels have yet to make it to Kristy's Mother's Day Surprise at this point, so I could see the reasoning being that they wanted to avoid some confusion as to why the Little Sister books introduced Emily Michelle while she's yet to arrive in the mainline graphic novels. Feels like something they could easily circle back around to after she debuts in the mainline, so not really a big deal to be honest. Both covers are decent. The reprint is fine and sells the concept easily. Karen is jealous and frustrated that Kristy has been giving Emily Michelle more attention than her. The art's cute and does what it needs to do. But the original is the best here. It's the shirts. It's such a goofy little addition that makes this such a fun piece. And of course Karen's has to stand out. Kristy and Emily Michelle get the yellow with red text while she goes red with yellow text. It's very cute. Also there's a little bird on the ground, so that makes this a 10/10 piece. Doesn't quite sell Karen's conflict, more the resolution, but it's a solid work.

NNtG: Bone Chillers #11: Toilet Terror

It's time for another trip into Bone Chillers. Really down to the last few I can find online and, like I've said, some of the prices online for some of these books makes my eyes twitch. But we still have a couple left and one of them is about a monster in a toilet. Look, given some of the downright maddening monsters we have gotten from these books, a toilet monster feels a bit middle of the road. But can I be proven wrong? Or will this be a book I should have added to the much underused The Depths section? Best jiggle the handle because it's time to talk about Toilet Terror. 

A solid Tim Jacobus cover as usual, but also a little forgettable in the grand scheme. Don't get me wrong, some things in the cover do work. The POV being super warped, the garish checkerboard floor which, I'd imagine a red and blue bathroom floor would be super ugly. I like the strewn about magazines. Then there's the monster in the green muck complete with tentacles because that seems concerning when you're about to squat down. It's all good visuals, but feels super safe, super "This is a cover that Tim made without too much fun involved. Just pump out a cover with a toilet monster and accept the paycheck" feel to the whole thing.