While it surprises me that it took two years for Stine to come back to the dummy formula, somehow it's less shocking that he returned a mere ten months later. We started the thirties with Slappy, I guess it's only fitting to end it with him as well. Let's revisit Night of the Living Dummy III.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY III
RELEASE MONTH: February, 1996
FRONT TAGLINE: Every dummy his day—and his night!
COVER STORY
So, the one dummy scared you, did he? Well, you're in luck, because Tim Jacobus added nine more. Each one with their own freakish look to them. And, of course, you have Slappy. Not looking as intensely creepy as his first two covers, but still just as sinister regardless. As usual, a great cover with a great use of shadow and color. And Tim really knows how to design junk in the background, giving this attic an authentic feel. While I like the first two more, this one is still a classic.
WHEN DUMMIES SPEAK... EVERYONE LISTENS!
Trina O'Dell's dad used to have a ventriloquist act. That's why he has all those dummies in the attic. He calls it his Dummy Museum. There's a dummy with freckles. And one with a sneer just like Rocky. Trina and her brother, Dan, think the dummies are pretty cool.
But now there are voices in the attic. And dummies keep showing up in the strangest places.
No way those dummies could be alive! Right?
STORY
Trina and Dan O'Dell begin our story by heading up to the attic to see their dad's dummy collection. Their father, Danny O'Dell, was a former ventriloquist turned camera store owner. But his passion for the medium was so big that he began to collect more dummies and put them in his attic like some kind of dummy museum. This includes a dummy named Rocky, on account of his Stallone-esque sneer. Suddenly, Rocky starts talking and making threats, only for it to be just their dad screwing with them. He then shows the kids another dummy that he found in a dumpster. Yep, it's you know who.
So, the first Dummy book never really explained how Slappy ended up in the pawn shop for Mr. Kramer to find, but this book at least has him still broken after the battle with Dennis, so hey, continuity where you can find it in these sequels. I wish that was the case with stuff like Monster Blood, but whatever. Also, instead of calling him Slappy, Mr. O'Dell gives him the even less stellar name of "Smiley". Trina and Dan see the piece of paper with the magic words and read them aloud, causing Trina to get slapped in the face by the dummy.
But, Slappy is the least of their problems right now. Their cousin Zane is staying over. Zane, to make the obvious rhyme, is a pain. He's easily scared of everything. Doesn't help that Trina and Dan know this and constantly try to scare him. But the O'Dell parents tell the kids to behave themselves this time. Zane and his dad arrive, and things seem fine at first. We also learn that Zane's big into photography, bringing his new camera that will totally not play a part later in the book, I'm sure. However, when Zane unpacks in his room, he screams as Rocky the Dummy falls on top of him. Trina and Dan are blamed for it, but they didn't do anything this time, for real.
Time goes by and more dummy related things happen to Zane. He gets slapped in the face by one of the dummies, he hears noises in the dark. He sees Rocky on the kitchen table, then all of Zane's camera roll is filled with pictures of Rocky. Trina and Dan plead their innocence, but Mr. O'Dell doesn't believe them because... well, we were made aware of their past when messing with Zane, but also because Goosebumps parents. Trina and Dan are frustrated, but they also begin to suspect that the real culprit is Zane himself. That this is all Zane trying to get back at them for, you know, years of psychological torture. Hey, they may be in the clear here, but it's not like they didn't have this coming.
That night, Trina and Dan wait in the attic to catch Zane in the act. They fall asleep, but hear the sounds of moving dummies. They wake up, and sure enough, it was Zane all along. Sure enough, this was all his way of getting revenge. Trina and Dan tell him that they should call a truce, since they aren't trying to mess with him this time, and he agrees. But, now more things keep happening, like Rocky being on top of Trina the next day. When the family holds a party for Zane and his dad. However, things go from bad to worse tout suite. Zane's camera is destroyed, and there's a loud commotion in the dining room. When they all arrive, everything is destroyed and dummies are placed all around, making it look like one big puppet shindig.
Trina and Dan then discover that this time, it isn't Zane, but Slappy who has been messing with them this time. The kids fight with him, but get caught by Mr. O'Dell as Slappy goes inanimate. He forbids the kids from touching his dummies, the children that he truly loves, and they get blamed for everything. Trina takes Slappy back to the attic, to which he winks at her and calls her his slave. The kids try to rip Slappy's head off, but no luck there. So, they instead throw Slappy down a well, only for him to show up the next day. I must say, I'm rereading this after more current books where Slappy has telekinesis and freaking eye lasers, so it now feels jarring how easily he can be overpowered in these older books.
The next strategy that the kids try is to read the paper to put Slappy back to sleep. They read it, but strangely, it doesn't put him back to sleep. However, it now awakens all of the other dummies. The kids fear that now they're in real trouble, but the dummies all turn their attention to Slappy and pile on top of him, beating him down until the dummy stops moving entirely. I guess even they're tired of him by this point.
TWIST ENDING
Zane spots Trina and Dan with the dummies and tells on them, because we needed more proof that he's a little scumbag. As he and his dad are ready to leave, Mr. O'Dell asks Zane if he wants a new camera, but Zane would rather have one of the dummies, to which Trina suggests Slappy. As Zane leaves with Slappy in tow, Trina swears she saw the dummy wink.
CONCLUSION
I'm fairly indifferent to Night of the Living Dummy III. I don't think it's a bad book, but much like the previous Dummy tale in the original run, it's hard to look at it as anything more than just a similar retread. Only this time feeling more in line with the first book's tropes than the second. I do like some of its concept, but I also feel like there's just something missing from the story to make it feel like this more unique take. I mean, you have a cover with all of these dummies, yet they're barely featured, and much like other books, Slappy himself barely feels that involved in the story itself until the end. And, once again, he seems more easy to defeat than he should be for someone who is the most iconic villain in Goosebumps.
I'll say the thing that does work is Zane. He's a good red herring. When it's revealed he's the culprit early on, it does work given his nature as a scaredy cat. And when the mayhem begins, you can at least believe some of it was Zane's doing. The camera break could have been him just trying to get Trina and Dan in trouble. He makes for a decent enough side antagonist who at least seems to get what's coming to him as the twist suggests. Overall, I just wish there was more to this one. It's far from a bad book, but like much of the Dummy series, it just feels so lacking given the series' reverence. But at least we're in Slappy-free waters from here on in with the original 62. But given the next few books, maybe that's not a good thing either.
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