The Stinal Countdown: Goosebumps #6: Let's Get Invisible!

It's time for our sixth book in the original Goosebumps series. And it's one that I honestly feel doesn't get talked about a lot. When I reviewed it the first time, I remember finding it to be pretty decent, but will that follow into the second trip around? Let's see if this book really does have lasting appeal, or if it will succeed in a disappearing act. Let's get in to Let's Get Invisible!

LET'S GET INVISIBLE!

RELEASE MONTH: March, 1993

FRONT TAGLINE: Now you see him. Now you don't.

COVER STORY

I think this cover is pretty bland. After five good covers, with a couple that I think are all-time greats, we get one that lacks any scares at all. Yes, the kid on the cover (Presumably Max) going transparent does as fine a job portraying the invisible gimmick of the book, but it doesn't leave you with a cover that really makes you ready to dive into this book. Also, Tim Jacobus is great, but when he adds kids to covers, they usually have pretty goofy facial reactions and this is no exception. Also, on the original cover, someone added a giant spiderweb and a spider on the cover. Guessing they really hoped that would make this cover at least a little scary? I'll at least say the positives are again the colors, particularly the use of blue for the darkness of the attic, and the design of the junk, but that's really it. 

DISAPPEARANCES CAN BE DEADLY.

On Max's Birthday, he finds a sort of magic mirror in the attic. It can make him become invisible.

So Max and his friends start playing now you see me, now you don't. Until Max realizes that he's losing control. Staying invisible a little too long. Having a harder and harder time coming back.

Getting invisible is turning into a very dangerous game. 

The next time Max gets invisible, will it be...

forever?

STORY

You know a book is going to hold up when you read it in 2020 and within the first few sentences you read "It was all Whitey's fault". Max Thompson is our protagonist and as we open the tome he's celebrating his twelfth birthday. He has a tendency to meticulously brush his hair. Doesn't help when his ten year old brother Noah bugs him over it. He calls Noah "Lefty" because he's left handed, which unlike so many of Jovial Bob's lame nicknames will actually kinda matter in the end. Also arriving to his party are his friends Zack, who is ultra competitive, Erin, who is described as being mousey and April, who is more shy. Other kids arrive and they have the party, which culminates in a bunch of children watching The Terminator. God I miss 90s "don't give a crap" parents.

Everyone leaves until it's just Max, Erin, April and Lefty. After dealing with Whitey, Max's dog, who is part terrier (That's three in six books, Stine!), the kids end up going into the attic. After looking around for a bit, they find a hidden door. Opening it, they find a strange old mirror with a light switch above it. Max stands under the mirror and turns on the light. Suddenly, he disappears. He's still there, but has gone invisible. He turns off the light, and he reappears, not believing anyone's claims. Erin is about to prove it to Max, but Erin's mom calls them down, meaning the girls have to leave. 

Max doesn't think much about the mirror for a while until eventually his curiosity gets the better of him and once again he's up in the attic. Lefty follows him up and scares him, but the two calm down and decide to test the mirror again. It works and both Max and Lefty are invisible. They screw around for a while until they decide enough is enough and turn off the mirror, only they don't come back immediately. The kids panic until eventually they become visible again. Despite this clear example of not to mess with this mirror anymore, Max is stupid and decides that the next time he uses the mirror will be to scare Zack.

Zack arrives a few days later with a new haircut that is shorter on the left side for no reason other than it'll matter later. He gets led up to the attic where Max goes invisible and scares him for a bit. He then turns off the mirror, but once again it takes a while for him to reemerge. Erin and April arrive, still interested in the mirror, but in the commotion, Zack then turns on the mirror, turning himself invisible. Max turns off the mirror and we end another chapter with paranoia over if they screwed up, but Zack becomes visible again. He found it cool, then says this would be the perfect tool to use to spy on the girls locker room, because "what's the point of being invisible if you can't spy on girls". Okay, R.L. why don't we have a little talk...

However, instead of using the magic mirror to engage in invisible wanking, Zack gets another idea. The kids could use the mirror to get invisible, then race to see who can stay invisible the longest. Erin goes next and lasts for about three minutes until she suddenly starts to feel strange and asks to be visible again. Max, not wanting to be considered a Chicken, goes next. He stays invisible for about four minutes until he starts to feel as if he's being pulled further away. He panics and tells Zack to turn off the light, only for Zack to break the chain. Erin manages to get just enough of the chain to turn it off and slowly Max is visible again. Max and Erin are freaked out from their experience, Zack is more annoyed that his record was broken and Lefty just wants to go invisible again, but their mom calls, as their grandparents have arrived ending Lefty's chances for now.

But that doesn't last as not too long after, during dinner with the grandparents, Lefty gets invisible and messes with the food on the table. But everyone just thinks it's Max screwing around because what, are they gonna believe it was an invisible child? He manages to get Lefty back in the attic and turns off the light. Max is annoyed but Lefty is happy that he is now the champ, lasting at least ten minutes. Max talks to Erin later that night and really has no idea what the mirror is, or what it could do if given to the wrong hands, so he at least has more of a reason to keep this secret than the evil future camera. He studies the mirror later that night, but now begins to hear something whisper his name. 

The next day, Max wakes up to Lefty, invisible again, throwing clothes around to prank him some more. Suddenly, Lefty seems to stop talking, which scares Max. He manages to pull the chain and soon Lefty returns, though not as energetic and annoying as he usually is. Max tells him not to use the mirror again, to which Lefty seems more than fine with. But Max brushes it off because what else will the twist to this book be? A few days later, Zack, Erin and April are back once again, ready to break their record. April goes invisible for a sec, but so does Whitey, meaning they have to stop after a second because of the dog.

They restart, this time with Erin going first. She talks for a while, then disappears, giving us yet another of the same chapter end scare, but she just went downstairs for a Coke. She then stops talking again for a while and when she is visible again starts to act kinda off. Zack goes next and goes outside, messing with a neighbor's garden before he's brought back. Max notices something's off about Zack too, noticing that his haircut seems flipped. Erin and Zack tell Max it's his turn and try to force him to the mirror. Max gets turned invisible and soon feels weird again. He soon notices that he's being pulled away again, and soon sees a strange figure. It's himself. His reflection.

Max tries to run, but sees a bunch of strange reflections, including Erin and Zack's. Mirror Max then tells him that he plans to switch with Max, to take his place in the real world alongside Erin and Zack. Suddenly, the light switch goes off and Max escapes. However, Mirror Erin and Zack notice he hasn't switched and try to force him back into the mirror. However, just before the switch can be made, Lefty arrives and throws a baseball at the mirror, smashing it. The mirror forms disappear and the original Erin and Zack return. 

TWIST ENDING

Max decides to go outside and play catch with Lefty, now happy to be done with the magic mirror. However, as Lefty throws the ball, Max realizes that Lefty is throwing with his right hand. 

CONCLUSION

At one point in time, it was possible that this would have been the final Goosebumps book ever. Stine had initially been signed to a six book run, not expecting the series to go gangbusters. However, the success continued to grow and here we are now. It's important to start with that because Goosebumps could have ended on Let's Get Invisible! And what I said in the intro about how this one feels the most forgettable in the original ten is important. Goosebumps could have ended on kind of a flat note. Nowhere as bad as the original 62 did end, but still not exactly in an incredible way. Now, while it sounds like I'm calling this book bad, that's hardly the case. Let's Get Invisible! is probably one of the better books of the original ten and one that still holds up. 

It's concept is really interesting with a mirror that can turn people invisible. And unlike Say Cheese and Die! the book doesn't feel it needs to give us any information on its creation or how it ended up in the Thompson house, or how it even works. The book is already long enough as it is, actually being the longest in the original 62. As such, this book is less about the mystery and more about the experiences. In this case, having kids use a potentially dangerous object like a game without really feeling the consequences until it's almost too late. I stated that the book kinda makes it feel like a drug allegory. Like an addiction that seems great at first but ultimately sucks away at you more and more until you aren't the same person, but a far different reflection. And I still hold to that in this re-read. Oddly, I thought I recalled there being more mirror races then there were when I first read this. 

Max is an okay protagonist. He feels like a kid that does at least try to be rational, but is a victim of peer pressure, working well into that drug allegory I mentioned. Zack and Erin are decent side characters whose roles work in pressuring Max into continuing the dangerous game. April is superfluous unfortunately. And then there's Lefty, who serves as the annoying little brother you get tired of early in these books. In fact, given the reflection version seems to be more calm and rational, and actually saves Max and the others in the end, I'd say this was more a happy ending than dark.

The book flows well enough, though the ending cliffhanger being the same for so many chapters does begin to make this book drag. Does work to provide some scares I guess, but when it keeps happening it feels redundant. The climax with the reflections is decent and the description of mirror world is freaky, but sadly there isn't enough of it to really make an impact. But I will say the twist, while predictable, is pretty memorable and one of the better twists so far. So you're left with a book that isn't perfect by any means, but is still a fine read. More of what I want out of Goosebumps than the more wacky monsters or Stine just being a weirdo. I don't think I liked this one as much as I did the first time, but it's still a recommend. It's a book that shouldn't just vanish into thin air.

STORY: GGG

SCARES: GG

TWIST: GGG

ENJOYMENT: GGG.5

OVERALL: 3.5 Gs