We enter 1995 and it's time for the twenty-seventh foray into the Goosebumps reread. And it's another book I remember really liking, or at least finding enough positives to consider it a top favorite. Can this second excursion continue good fortune? Let's find out with A Night in Terror Tower.
A NIGHT IN TERROR TOWER
COVER STORY
This cover ranks high in my all time favorite Goosebumps cover. I love the shadows, the medieval feel of the stone stairway, and then there's the imposing Lord High Executioner. A hulking hunchback with a giant axe, primed and ready for chopping heads. It gives off a really imposing feel that few covers really nail. And it's sad that Tim Jacobus isn't a fan of it. Though a lot of that is blamed on it being a rush job. Regardless, it's top tier in my book.
ALL LOCKED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO!
Sue and her brother, Eddie, are visiting London when they run into a little problem. They can't find their tour group. Still, there's no reason to panic. No way the tour guide would just leave them. All alone. In a gloomy old prison tower.
No way they'd get locked inside. After dark. With those eerie sounds. And a strange dark figure who wants them... dead.
STORY
Sue and her brother Eddie are part of a tour group visiting London. Led by a man named Mr. Starkes, the group visit the titular Terror Tower, a large medieval tower filled with torture devices among other things. Racks, thumbscrews, the whole gamut. This first bit definitely feels like "Mr. Educator" R.L. Stine in full force. The kids notice a tall man in a black cape and wide brimmed hat, staring at them intently, but don't think much of it. We also get confirmation that Eddie is a pickpocket as he swipes Sue's camera when she doesn't notice. So that will be his one trait for later. They get led to the top of the tower to a small cell. Mr. Starkes tells the group that the prince and princess of York, Edward and Susannah, were put in this cell until they were smothered to death. Sue goes to take pictures, but her camera breaks. As the two kids argue, they miss what else Starkes had to say.
Eddie and Sue look around the cell for a while until they notice the group has disappeared on them, but the man in the cape arrives. He grabs the kids and starts to clack three white stones together. The kids manage to make a run for it, but the man keeps chasing them. He almost catches them, but they escape into the sewer. The man follows, but gets attacked by a wave of rats. Sue and Eddie escape the sewer, only to learn their bus left without them. They call a taxi to drive back to the hotel to meet their parents, but all they have is old gold and jewels. They make it to the hotel, but see that their parents are gone too. But that's not the only thing that seems to be missing. They can't remember their last names, or who their parents even are. Or any memories other than today.
After dodging the taxi driver they stiffed with doubloons, the kids end up caught by the man in black again who grabs the stones that Eddie had managed to swipe. He chants something which causes the kids to pass out. When they awake, they find themselves back in time. Back to the medieval times. Eddie suddenly disappears on Sue, who almost gets caught by the man yet again. She escapes and asks a woman to hide her from the man, but the woman just sells her out for gold because screw you, kid. The man finally reveals himself as the lord high executioner. He grabs Sue and takes her back to Terror Tower. Back to the small cell from earlier where Eddie is also stashed.
After the executioner leaves, another man enters the cell. It's an old man in a purple robe with a white beard. He introduces himself as Morgred, the royal sorcerer. He also reveals the obvious, that Eddie and Sue are really Edward and Susannah of York. The two royal children who were killed by the executioner. Their parents, the rightful rulers, were murdered by their uncle, with the two of them next to be executed. However, before the executioner could do away with them, Morgred cast a spell that would send them to another time period with their memories erased, in hopes it would save them. But the executioner used the three time stones to follow them to the future. Eddie, who swiped the stones again, give them to Morgred, but the sorcerer tells them that he cannot send them back, for he'll be murdered if he does. Then he freezes the kids in place and leaves, readying them for their death. Suddenly, Eddie, who has the stones again, chants the spell.
TWIST ENDING
Mr. Starkes then enters the room. The kids realize they managed to make the spell work and have returned to 1995. They then run into a man in the group. It's Morgred, who tells them that they should be safe now. He adopts them and the family renames themselves as the Morgans, who go out for some burgers and fries.
CONCLUSION
A Night in Terror Tower still remains one of the best in the series. It's mostly in part for being a very breezy book to pick up and read. It never slows down too much, which is what you'd fear given the subject matter. The first act is probably the slowest overall as it has to be both early exposition and a fun way to teach the reader about old timey torture methods. The scares are minimal, but there is some effectiveness to what we do get. Some of the settings like the rat filled sewers, or the executioner chasing the kids as they're confused and afraid, right down to the kids suddenly realizing they have no memories at all of anything. I just wish the book hadn't played its hands too early when we learn about Edward and Susannah. That's a case of making the pre-end twist a bit too obvious. But it still works as we build the mystery of the kids being chased and losing their identities, or lack thereof in the first place. There's also the logistics of the executioner waiting around constantly to execute Sue and Eddie. But you'd have a short, grim book if that were the case, I guess.
If there are any real flaws, one is definitely a lack of any major end twist. I guess Morgred returning to the present with them works, but it's pretty mediocre. I'll also say there's too much chasing. They get chased by the executioner so many times, then at one point get chased by a taxi driver. It makes the book flow quicker, I guess, but does suffer from redundancy. Though the final chase seeing Sue get sold out by one of the villagers is a genuinely hilarious touch that I will always respect. Sue and Eddie are also just okay for protagonists. Likable and rarely bicker, more feeling like normal siblings then over the top nightmare siblings. No, Stine will give us that in the next book. Overall, I'd say this held up for me. I don't think it rose any higher, but still remains one of my favorite books. It's excellently executed.
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