It's the penultimate edition of the first HorrorLand saga and with it comes the end of the structure we've seen in the previous ten HorrorLand books. From here on in, we're focusing entirely on the events of the kids at the park and the mystery surrounding The Menace, Panic Park and everything else. And we kick this off with Escape From HorrorLand.
COVER STORY
STORY
Lizzy Morris is our focus for this chapter. We leave off where we were at the end of the previous book. The Morris siblings have run into the remaining kids, Matt, Carly Beth, Robby, Jillian, Jackson and Julie. Lizzy tries to tell the kids that they have to stay in HorrorLand, but of course the kids are none too pleased at this idea, thinking that Luke and Lizzy are working for the horrors, specifically The Menace. So yeah, this is the same Luke and Lizzy from One Day at HorrorLand. It's been one year since that event, but they soon received an email from a horror at the park mentioning that fourteen kids were being given suspicious invitations. The two studied what was going on, and put out a blog in hopes of warning the kids, but to no avail. Now eight of the kids are in Panic Park and the Morris kids are trying to keep the remaining group from ending up there as well.
The kids advance on Luke and Lizzy, but suddenly Byron the horror shows up. He tells the kids that they're in danger with other horrors looking for them and leads them to a black building. This includes Luke and Lizzy, who the kids still don't trust. Not to mention Jillian is keeping what can essentially be considered a psychic gun to their head should they say something they can't trust. Michael uses the keycard and the building opens. It's the hall of mirrors. Byron vanishes again as the kids are all ready to go to Panic Park. Luke and Lizzy have reservations, but since it seems that Byron can still be trusted and he thinks Panic Park is the place to go, they leap in with the other kids. And sure enough, they all wind up in Panic Park.
The park is all black and white, including the people within it. A little girl runs up to the kids, crying, asking to be found. When Lizzy tries to touch her, her hand goes right through the girl. The parents explain that their bodies have gone missing along with the park. That they're just shades now, but want their bodies back. Not only them, but all the people still in the park. The kids check the entrance, but see that it's been closed since 1974, due to disappearances and disasters in the park. So, not only are they in some strange limbo, but they've also traveled back to 1974. Luke and Lizzy suggest going back while they still can, but the others are more focused on finding their friends, Jillian and Jackson still claiming that the Morris kids are still not on their side.
Lizzy tries to cool things down, when Julie grabs her camera. She takes a picture of the group, but the picture doesn't show them in it. Robby suggests it may have to do with them being in the past, so they didn't exist yet, which is definitely quite a take on time travel. They find an information booth, which still has a park guide inside, still in full color. More importantly, there's a map inside. But their attention gets taken from them when they spot a dummy sitting in the booth. No, not Slappy but Rocky. You remember Rocky, right? From Night of the Living Dummy III? No? Just me? Okay. They press a button to get information, but Rocky just opens his mouth and screams that the park is closed, while a giant worm crawls out his mouth.
Robby gets to thinking a bit more. That this isn't just a time travel back to 1974, but also a parallel universe. Well, this series has felt like worlds colliding, but I didn't mean like that. The kids then think that maybe they can find Britney and Molly if they head to the flaming carousel. As they head there, they traverse up a rocky hill. As they get higher up, they find Billy and Sheena. Suddenly, the ground starts to rumble and rocks fall on the kids. Papier mache rocks, but still. Also, Billy and Sheena seem higher up. And no matter how high the others get, they can't catch up. Eventually Jackson remembers he has telekinesis, and levitates Billy and Sheena to them. Billy and Sheena explain that the rest of the kids got separated as they went on the cleverly-titled "Tunnel of Hate".
The kids head to the Tunnel of Hate boat ride in hopes of finding the others. And the ride is as advertised because as soon as they start rowing, they all immediately begin insulting one another until Julie and Carly Beth fall into the water. Lizzy has the wherewithal to go in and rescue the two along with Luke, but the rest of the kids are still at each other's throats. Lizzy tells them that the Tunnel of Hate emits a hatred energy on the kids making them irrational. But suddenly they spot another boat, stuck on the water. It has Boone, Michael, Sabrina, Abby, Britney and Molly inside. That is, until they start to snarl and acting like wild beasts. The others, still angry and hateful, use their canoe to push the other canoe out of the tunnel. Doing so finally negates the hatred effects. But most importantly, all the kids are finally in one place. Julie and Carly Beth thank Lizzy and Luke for saving them, but Jillian is still giving them a bad case of resting witch face.
The kids press Britney and Molly for any answers, but both of them don't really know what's been going on. It's like they've been in a fog. They mention the carousel and how it didn't burn despite being on fire, as well as being with Robby in the HorrorLand arcade. They check the map again to find the exit, but Byron shows up, telling them to follow him. Jillian checks his mind, and he seems to be truthful. However, Luke and Lizzy still have their doubts. He leads them to a thorny maze called The Midnight Maze, where time has permanently stopped at midnight. He stays to guard the entrance while the kids are tasked with making it to the exit together. After a quicksand scare, they find their way blocked by six giant eggs. Michael knows what's up and tries to warn them, but the eggs begin to hatch and the reptile creatures escape, attacking Lizzy. Michael begins to eat the egg yolk and turns into a monster again and brutally tears the other monsters apart. He then eats the yolk and returns to normal. Where the hell was this in My Friends Call Me Monster?
The kids progress further, when Carly Beth screams. Suddenly a line of masks begin to surround her, including the haunted mask. Carly Beth, almost hypnotized to it, almost needing it, begins to put the mask on, much to Sabrina's horror. She begins to destroy the other masks, but is still in a rage. Only Sabrina knows that an act of love can stop it so she KISSES CARLY BETH ON THE CHEEK! HOLY CRAP, THE CLOSEST THING TO A LESBIAN SHIP IN GOOSEBUMPS! STINE YOU MAGNIFICENT JOVIAL SON OF A GUN! I mean it could just be innocuous, but dammit. If there was a pairing that should be a couple, it honestly should be Carly Beth and Sabrina. Oh my god, I'm talking about Goosebumps crack ships. The final, ultimate confirmation that I have absolutely zero life.
Sure enough, the kiss seals the deal and the mask falls off. This is enough for Michael to realize that every encounter has been something they've dealt with in their past. They are in the boss rush before the final level. The kids find a beach in the maze, but their calm is stopped by a ship headed their way. The Ship of Long Ben One-Leg. The kids take a boat (What is this, the third boat scene?), hoping to avoid the ship, but the ship takes a mind of its own and drags them to Long Ben's ship. The kids are put aboard and trapped by the skeleton pirates. Long Ben shows up and gloats about his capture, promising that The Menace has promised him revenge. He has the kids all walk the plank and thrown into the water. Jillian is last as she can't find the others, that is until she's sucked underneath, down a long tube and out to another area. An area with a HorrorLand banner.
Before they can celebrate returning, more Horrors arrive, not sure what they're celebrating about, and why they're calling this place HorrorLand. The kids tell Jillian to read the horror's minds, but she can't, which angers Lizzy considering Jillian claimed to have read Byron's thoughts and was spending all this time having the others distrust Luke and herself. Before they can fight over it, a man shows up. He congratulates the kids for passing the first of his tests. He commends them for everything they've encountered in the midnight maze, but what's to come will be really scary. He then introduces himself as Karloff Mennis, AKA The Menace, the creator of Panic Park. He tells them that they have to stay in Panic Park forever.
CONCLUSION
Escape From HorrorLand is perhaps one of the more compelling Goosebumps books I've ever read. Mainly for the simple reason that it, for the most part, breaks from a lot of the staples of the book series in favor for more of a thrilling adventure. And there are definitely a lot of them. From the mountain, to the tunnel of hate, to the several showdowns inside the midnight maze. Granted, this means the book feels like it recycles some things, like so many parts that require boats (even counting the last book with the bottomless canoes). But the meat of the story still works to keep it moving at just the right pace. Also, holy crap, that moment with Carly Beth and Sabrina, even if it was meant to be innocuous, feels like the greatest piece of fanservice this series has ever offered. I'll pertain from my thoughts on things like the large cast and the overall mystery and everything else until next time, but for the first part of a two part story, Stine knocks it out of the park. Let's hope he doesn't leave us in a panic. Escape From HorrorLand Gets an A.
Next time on the Gooseblog, we wrap up HorrorLand's first arc story as we return to The Streets of Panic Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.