THE SCARECROW WALKS AT MIDNIGHT
RELEASE MONTH: June, 1994
FRONT TAGLINE: It's a field of screams!
COVER STORY
Atmospheric. If I could throw a big fancy word at this cover, I'd guess that would be the one. This cover oozes atmosphere, particularly a farm atmosphere with the lush design of the fields in front of a bright, starry blue sky and a full moon. It's a legitimately pretty piece of artwork. And then there's the scarecrow. Can't say this one scared me. Although the creepy design of the scarecrow is still effective, particularly the sack head that does look like it's coming to life. It's one of Tim's best, especially when it comes to uses of color and shade. We're really still in the golden age.
THEY'RE ALIVE!
Jodie loves visiting her grandparents' farm. Okay, so it's not the most exciting place in the world. Still, Grandpa tells great scary stories. And Grandma's chocolate chip pancakes are the best.
But this summer the farm has really changed. The cornfields are sparse. Grandma and Grandpa seem worn out. And the single scarecrow has been replaced by twelve evil-looking ones.
Then one night Jodie sees something really odd. The scarecrows seem to be moving. Twitching on their stakes. Coming alive...
STORY
Jodie and her eleven year old brother Mark are visiting their Grandpa Kurt and Grandma Miriam's farm for the summer. Upon arriving, they're greeted by Stanley, the farm hand. While the book mostly dances around it, the best way to describe Stanley is not mentally all there. I'm certainly not the person who should label someone's mental problems, so I'll just leave it as more simple minded and superstitious. As he takes the kids to the farm, he tells them that (title drop here) and that he's the one who brought the scarecrows to life with his book. Well, thanks Bob. Way to wuss out on the important stuff on the first chapter. But for now, the kids just shrug it off as weird old Stanley.
They arrive to the farm and are greeted with their grandparents. While it seems all fine and dandy, there does seem to be a bit of an awkwardness in the air. The grandparents seem a bit worried about offending Stanley. They ask about where Stanley's sixteen year old son Sticks is, but he's in town. Jodie and Mark notice an abundance of scarecrows this year where there was just one the year prior. They also notice the corn's gone bad, as if it wasn't picked when it was ready. Stanley says that this all has to do with his superstitions book. He reads it all the time. It even tells him about how to make the scarecrows, as well as the part involving walking at midnight.
Suddenly, a scarecrow attacks Jodie! No, wait, it's just Sticks. Stanley mentions the scarecrows walking again, but nobody believes him about it. At dinner, things still seem weird as the grandparents seem really focused on making sure Stanley is happy. After mentioning a giant stuffed bear that will play no part in this book I'm sure, the kids hope to hear some of Grandpa Kurt's scary stories, but he opts out of doing them, mainly because they scare Stanley. Later, they don't get chocolate chip pancakes, but corn flakes instead, which Stanley likes. Warning lights aren't on for these kids obviously, despite the fact that everything's adding up as to who the culprit is and what he's doing with what object. Worst players of Clue ever. But it doesn't help that Stanley, who was all "look at me, I made the scarecrows walk. Lemme tell you how a dozen times" is now "must've been the wind." WHAT? Then Jodie thinks her grandmother is turning into a scarecrow, but she was just holding a broom. Man oh man did this one fall off a cliff fast.
We get some more stock scares as Jodie keeps thinking she sees moving scarecrows. She eventually assumes it must have been Sticks. Back at the house, the grandparents are still catering to all of the things Stanley loves, but the kids haven't clued in. That night, we get a rather creepy nightmare about Jodie thinking Grampa Kurt is turning into a scarecrow as he enters her room and chases her down. Jodie tries to warn Grandma Miriam, but she's turned into a scarecrow, too I guess. Then Scarecrow Kurt chokes her, I think. Like, after so many weak stock dreams, finally we get one that is legit freaky.
The next day, Mark and Jodie go horseback riding, only for a scarecrow to pop out of the fields and scare them, which causes Mark to fall off and injure his wrist. Now totally certain it's Sticks, Jodie goes to find him, but when she does, he tells her that they have to leave and soon. When asked about the scarecrow attack, he has no idea what she's talking about. Not convinced, Jodie decides to get revenge, which is by having Mark dress up as a scarecrow to scare Sticks. However, that night, as she prepares everything, a scarecrow approaches her. She thinks it must be Mark or Sticks, but it's neither. It's a real scarecrow and it's walking. At midnight... I think?
In the nick of time, Sticks saves Jodie. He tells her what everyone else pretty much got from chapter one. Stanley did indeed bring scarecrows to life. He did it with the superstition book he has. He forced the grandparents to stop joking about him and to do whatever he wants lest he brings them back to life. Only there's a snag. Not all the scarecrows went to sleep when he commanded them. Stanley learns about this and, panicked that some aren't asleep like he wanted, decides to make things worse by bringing all of the scarecrows back to life so that maybe they'll be back under his power. At first Sticks convinces him not to go through with it, but when Mark in scarecrow garb shows up, Stanley runs off, ready to bring the rest to life.
The rest of the scarecrows come to life and surround the family. When Mark sneezes however, the rest of the scarecrows do in kind. They must see Mark as some kind of leader. Now, instead of doing the logical thing and, you know, leading them into a thresher, Jodie gets the bright idea to remove Mark's mask, thinking it'll kill the scarecrows somehow. It doesn't. It just leaves the scarecrows more pissed, ready to go in for the kill. Suddenly, Sticks shows up with a pair of torches and lights the scarecrows on fire, destroying them. Stanley vows from that moment on to never use the book again.
TWIST ENDING
That lasts for maybe an hour as when Jodie returns to the living room, she sees Stanley still reading the book, bringing the stuffed bear to life. Seriously dude, what the hell?
CONCLUSION
I'm still not super crazy about this book. I feel it has a neat concept. One of the scarier concepts if executed correctly. The problem is that the book is all over the place and never feels like it reaches a satisfying conclusion. Stanley telling us everything from the first chapter kills any mystery this book hoped to achieve. You could have played up the idea of Stanley using his newfound powers to keep the grandparents at his command, scared of what he might do to them lest they fall out of line, then reveal the truth by the climax instead of just revealing so much so soon. It's the same issue I had with Say Cheese and Die and the second photo being the totaled Taurus. Let it breathe, Stine.
That being said, Stanley is a fine enough villain. The kind who can wield absolute power and not know how to control it. Using it as a tool of intimidation until it backfires on him. Someone who also doesn't learn his lesson by the end. Still using the book for his own gain, still putting others in danger for his own needs. It's not the most dynamic villain, but for Goosebumps it works. It gives us one of the more okay twists of these past ten books at least, though, again, nobody thought to get that book away from him? You really trusted this guy on his word? Okay, maybe you deserve it.
Jodie is an okay protagonist, while Mark is okay as the younger brother. Never being too annoying thankfully. He's no Luke Morris. Sticks works well as a red herring. The book's paced just fine, and the dream sequence does work in being scary. But, I just feel like something's missing. Like Stine didn't really know what he wanted to do with this book. Particularly when it came to Jodie's growing paranoia and thoughts of her grandparents turning to scarecrows. Like the possibility of that becoming an actual thing before he wrapped the book up in this manner. So the book just ends up being just okay in the end. Frustrating in a lot of aspects, but having some decent ideas that if handled better could have led to a better book. The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight is a book that looks like it'll be a winner, but ultimately winds up a turkey in the straw.
STORY: GGG
SCARES: GG.5
TWIST: GG.5
ENJOYMENT: GG.5
OVERALL: 2.5 Gs
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