The Stinal Countdown: Goosebumps Slappyworld #11: They Call Me the Night Howler!

Comic book themed Goosebumps books have always felt disappointing to me. The concept of dealing with comic book characters seems like a perfect idea, yet Stine has almost always failed. Well, let's find out if his take in SlappyWorld improved on that. It's also a book Stine says is his best work in years. Does that bode a gem or a turd? Let's discover with They Call Me the Night Howler!

I'm in the middle with this cover. I like the atmosphere of it, the use of shadowy purple curtains and the well detailed gloved hands. I do find the yellow eyes in the darkness to be a bit too silly. It feels like it lacks something as well to make it feel memorable. Which is a shame as SlappyWorld for the most part has had some of Dorman's best covers in quite a while. This isn't anything bad, just okay.

We open the story with Mason Brady telling us that he'd love to write his paper about being a superhero to his sixth-grade teacher Mrs. Stuckhouse, but that's tricky, as he's an actual superhero and that would require spilling his secret identity. How is he a superhero? Well, Mason informs us of just how he gained super powers. We cut back to where this all started as Mason and his family are headed to the Comic Book Characters Hall of Fame Museum. Yes, another comic book museum. Kind of like in that last book I posted. However, despite Mason being super excited, he also has to deal with his ten year old sister Stella who isn't a superhero fan, but loves to mimic Mason and even look like him. Not sure if I can put her in bratty sibling territory, but we're only on chapter one so far.

Mason looks around at all the images of superheroes like White Raven, The Flattener, Harvey the Horrible and Guppy Girl. All while being annoyed by Stella, particularly when she critiques the design of The Masked Orangutan. Wait, didn't the last book I covered have a comic named The Masked Monkey? Nah, I'm sure these are all happy coincidences. Mason tries to ditch Stella, but she catches up, much to his chagrin. The kids head through a door and see a statue facing behind them. Suddenly the door locks behind them. They then examine the statue of a man in a leopard cape... and white boots with yellow... feathers... OH FOR FU-

Yup. The statue is of Dr. Maniac. Dr. Maniac is in this book which features a comic book museum and similar elements. I'm getting some bad deja vu. But hey. It's still early. This could be a make good for how bad Dr. Maniac Will See You Now was. Let's take this one step at a time and move forward. Sure enough Dr. Maniac steps out of the shadows and greets the kids in his own, maniacal way. He also says Don't make me Larf a lot like he's Mr. Burns thinking of taking candy from a baby. He then threatens Mason (who he calls Herman) by making him eat his boot, but that's all just him being so cuh-raaa-zaaay! Because he's just acting crazy because he's just an actor playing Dr. Maniac. He gives the kids gift certificates for the gift shop and lets them out of the room.

After looking around some more, Mason bumps into another superhero in a blue and black costume. When Mason asks if he too is an actor, the superhero seems confused, and particularly unhappy when Mason mentions Dr. Maniac. The hero tells Mason that he's the Night Howler. As in the actual Night Howler, not an actor, and more importantly, he's retiring. He's sick of spending every night dealing with bad guys, not having time off, just living the worst life ever, so he's donating his costume to the museum and moving on. Mason doesn't like this idea and mentions some of Night Howler's powers, like being able to move invisibly through the dark and trap enemies in his cast shadow. Night Howler tells Mason about his victories over all his foes, except for Dr. Maniac. But since he's given up the fight, and Mason is so enthralled, he gives Mason his costume, dubbing him the new Night Howler.

Mason is hesitant to take the costume, but the former Night Howler, Cory, says that it'll be fine. The powers come from the costume as it contains the magic powers. It will also fit whoever wears it. There's only one catch. He can't let anyone know that he's the Night Howler. If  he does, the suit will lose its powers. The only loophole being the previous owner passing the costume on, so that doesn't cause the power loss. Mason's only concern is Stella since she's a snoop, but otherwise he's on board. Cory mentions that Mason will know he's needed when he hears a low buzz on his phone and a text will pop up from someone that the Night Howler is needed. After stuffing the suit in a shopping bag, Mason accepts the offer and Cory leaves, telling Mason to practice his howling noise. 

Mason meets up with his parents, but no sign of Stella. He hears screams and goes to investigate, only to see she's getting piggyback rides from a guy in the costume of supervillain the Living Larva. She checks Mason's bags, but doesn't see the costume. Mason smartly put it in his backpack. When he gets home, there's conveniently a loose floorboard in his bedroom which he decides is the perfect hiding spot. However, Stella sees the loose floorboard (not the costume) and Mason has to make up flimsy excuses as to why the board's so loose. The board gets nailed down, causing the costume to be trapped underneath. That night, he gets visited by Cory in another Night Howler costume who tells Mason that he's being careless with the costume. They get Mr. Mason, and Cory uses the powers of the Night Howler to cloud Mr. Mason's mind and make him reopen the loose board. 

Now in full Night Howler costume, Mason is ready to fight crime. Using a shadow cloud to sneak out of the house and to the park, Mason learns that his first enemy is a thief named The Quitter who is trying to rob an old couple. He easily defeats the Quitter, who gives up at just the howl of the Night Howler. Turns out he means it when he calls himself the Quitter. Mason returns home and removes the costume, only for Stella to show up and inquire. But Mason lies and says that it's just an oversized Halloween costume from their grandma.

Mason gets invited to a sleepover with George Browning and his twin brother Walter. The pair are usual troublemakers and one of them even had a laughing fit that went viral on Instagram. God it feels so weird to read a Goosebumps book that was actually released in the 2020s. Like Stine having to really learn what's "with it" for his books. I get that was always the case, even in the 90s, but it feels weirder now. Give him a few years, he'll be referencing Big Chungus. The sleepover is joined by Alonso Ferrer and Mickey Rowse. But where's Monald Muck? The twins want to make a horror movie for Youtube. They also mention Netflix, and I swear my joints are turning to dust just reading this. Suddenly, the message comes in for the Night Howler. In the fracas, the boys discover Mason's Night Howler costume, but he just calls it a costume he got at the museum and not the actual Night Howler costume. Mason manages to cloud their minds so he can escape with powers in tow. 

The villain this time is named Wreckage, formerly partnered with Damage, but that's gone south. After balancing atop Wreckage's car, Mason sees the villain enter a jewelry shop. Mason howls and confronts Wreckage, only to learn that the villain is flanked by a new partner, The Juggler. A villain who juggles flaming knives. Mason manages to grab the knives and juggle them, forcing the villains in a corner. Then he gets stopped by a female supervillain named Blue Strawberry who stops Mason by... dropping fruit on him, allowing the villains to escape. Okay then. 

The next day, Mason manages to excuse his absence from the sleepover by claiming he was sick, which manages to work. Mason is loving being a superhero. It's his dream come true. However, he gets the notification that Dr. Maniac has been sighted, and it's time for him to finally confront the villain once and for all. He thinks he sees where Dr. Maniac is and sneaks inside, only to find himself at a kid's birthday party and now he's forced to be entertainment. Good misdirect Stine, I approve. He finds Dr. Maniac and confronts the villain, who is indeed a maniac as we've pretty much figured out. Dr. Maniac is seeking a safe filled with a fortune in jewels, but Mason tries to stop him. However, Blue Strawberry returns again. After pelting Mason with pineapples, the pair make their escape with the jewels. 

After trying to fight a villain named Overtime, whos power is being really good at working overtime, Mason is again defeated by Blue Strawberry. After dealing with George and Walter again, Mason heads home, but sees no sign of Stella. He looks around in her room and discovers something that looks like a rolled up costume. Sure enough, it's the costume of Blue Strawberry. His own sister is a supervillain, one who has been actively trying to stop him. He confronts her, but she claims to not know what Mason is talking about. That night, it's Randy Revenge that Mason has to defeat. But now he also has to worry about his own sister trying to stop him.

Randy Revenge is a buff villain who wants to get revenge on the rest of the world. Mason confronts him in a fishing shop, but the villain easily gives Mason a blow to the breadbasket. He awakens to once again Randy Revenge gone, but he does see Blue Strawberry. Mason says that he knows about who Blue Strawberry really is, but she seems confused. Mason grabs Blue Strawberry's mask and rips it off... only to reveal some other woman's face underneath it. It wasn't Stella after all. Okay Stine, nice misdirect there. 

Mason realizes that he's been a failure as a superhero. He goes home and apologizes to Stella, who tells Mason that the costume was her Halloween costume. A few nights later, Mason is once again in Night Howler regalia, when he sees that Dr. Maniac is in Stella's room. He shines a light which blinds Mason. But before things can go bad, he sees Blue Strawberry once again. He tries to use his powers to stop a distracted Dr. Maniac, but they don't work and the villain escapes again. It was Stella in the costume this time and she had discovered Mason as the Night Howler. Because of that, the powers of the costume are gone and he's back to being a normal kid again.

Mason returns to the museum with the costume, intending to donate it like Cory was. But he runs into Dr. Maniac. Not the actor this time, the real deal. Dr. Maniac then tells Mason that he's giving up the job. He hands the costume to Mason, who since he sucked so much as a superhero, easily accepts the job as a supervillain. 

Yeah, this one is really good. Far from perfect and it does feel a bit too long. We could have cut a few of Mason's failures and we still would have gotten the point, but for a Superhero story in Goosebumps, this is the first one I've read that actually works. There's enough action to satisfy, there's some good misdirects, and even villains like Dr. Maniac feel less annoying. Mason's okay, a bit of a jerk, especially to Stella who really doesn't do anything wrong. She at least seems to want to show interest in the things he's into, but he's got that lame gatekeeping mentality that Skipper Matthews had. Though nowhere as bad. I like the concept of the Night Howler and the powers. I do feel like the book using the mind cloud powers feels like a flimsy loophole, but it at least makes more sense in the end why he couldn't just do the same to Stella. Twist is even okay as this kid kind of sucks, so why wouldn't he end up the villain? I'd say this book's only true issue is a lack of any scary moments, but given the concept, it's not a big deal.

The similarities to Dr. Maniac Will See You Now thankfully end early on, but this book definitely felt like an attempt to amend that book. As if even Stine saw that book as a mess and wanted to do a second take on the idea of comic museums and a world where superheroes and supervillains exist. I can even see why he finds this his best work in a long time, it feels like one he put effort into. One he actually cared about and didn't treat as a quota book. I wouldn't say it's my favorite of the revival era, but it at least succeeded where prior Dr. Maniac books failed. Although this book was sorely missing Purple Rage. And of course, the whole thing with Dr. Maniac being the creation of Robby Schwartz initially but just now exists as this famous character devoid of the input of his creator. But this is the same book series that ignores the origin of Monster Blood, so I can't get that mad. So, in the end, I'll put this in the win column. It's not super, but it's certainly heroic enough.

STORY: GGGG

SCARES: GG

TWIST: GGG

ENJOYMENT: GGGG

OVERALL: 3.5 Gs