Sometimes, my choice for which blog to cover next as a lot to do with its cover. And a solid example for that is the book we're covering today. So, with another trip into Most Wanted, let's string it up with Night of the Puppet People.
So, as stated, my reason for picking this book came fully from the cover. I like this cover. There's some great detail going on with these puppets. From their look to their sinister faces with razor sharp teeth. Like they're clearly attached to strings, but that doesn't mean they don't look like they won't come to life and eat your brains. I've made no bones about my feelings on the Most Wanted covers, but this is an exception.
We open the book with a prologue. Twin protagonists Ben and Jenny Renfro are celebrating their fifth birthday and their mother has set up a party for them complete with a puppeteer named Wizzbang the Wizard. He pulls out a marionette from his robe dressed like a princess. He brings it over to Ben and Jenny, but suddenly the princess bites Ben in the ear. And there's my dated as hell Tyson/Holyfield reference for this book. Ben panics, while Wizzbang claims he didn't mean for that to happen. He apologizes and pulls out a second marionette named The Sultan. But thankfully not the WWF one. He has Jenny control the puppet, when the sultan suddenly raises its arm and punches Jenny in the nose. Wizzbang panics and runs out of the house faster than you can say "lawsuit". But, the incident did at least give Ben and Jenny severe trauma and a fear of puppets. Happy birthday to you?
Flash forward seven years into the present, where Ben and Jenny are now twelve. Now their biggest problem is a pair of mean girls named Maria Salinas and Anna Richards, who mock the twins for their looks before bringing up the upcoming talent show. Top prize is five hundred dollars and the two plan to do a puppet act with marionettes. This sends shivers down the spines of Ben and Jenny, since the puppet fear stuck with them, even if the inciting incident did not. Annoyed by the pair, Ben and Jenny promise that they'll somehow show up Anna and Maria. That night they go over to their friend Jonathan Sparrow's house to come up with ideas. Due to his last name and bird-like appearance, Jonathan is nicknamed... Oh god, really? Another one?... Bird. Dude, Sparrow is in his last name for pity's sake! Like, the book even mentions that everyone calls him Bird BECAUSE his last name is Sparrow. J-Just call him Sparrow! Oh well, at least this Bird won't have his head caved in by an errant baseball.
As the three of them come to the realization that they have zero talent, Bird's dad shows up early from teaching soccer due to an oncoming storm. Bird then believes that there might be something his dad owns in the attic that might be perfect for them After mulling about in the attic with some of Jovial Bob's parented fake outs, the kids find an old wooden cabinet. When they open it, a puppet falls out, which makes Ben and Jenny panic. Two of the puppets are a princess and a sultan, with another puppet being a knight. These are of course the puppets from their birthday and Mr. Sparrow was Wizzbang. But since they were five, it makes sense that the triggering incident is a faded memory. Bird suggests using them, but the twins are hesitant since the whole Puppet paranoia stuff. Eventually they choose to do so, despite having concerns that maybe the puppets are alive. Due to the storm, Ben and Jenny stay at Bird's for the night. Ben hears noises and believes that the puppets must be alive. But when the three go to check, they just find a squirrel. This book is getting nutty already. What? It was the lowest hanging squirrel pun.
The next day, the three audition for the talent show, while still having to deal with Anna and Maria. They go to get their puppets, but suddenly they're not where they should be. Ben panics again, thinking they moved on their own, but nope, they were just misplaced. After performing with the puppets, they watch some of the other acts. Not too long after, Anna and Maria start blaming Ben and Jenny for ruining their puppets. Ben then spots the strings of Anna and Maria's puppets cut off, then notices the sultan is holding a pair of scissors. Bird, Ben and Jenny are sent to the principal's office. The new principal Ms. FUH-HUH-HUH-HEENEY (Just gonna date this blog even more). They plead their case, though Ben slips out his belief that the puppets must have done it. Despite that, Ms. Feeny believes them. When they go to retrieve their own puppets, they discover that the wall of the art room now has "PUPPETS RULE" written on the wall in permanent marker. And once again, the evidence is on their puppets. The kids try their best to clean off the marker, but get caught by Ms. Feeny.
Cut to one week later. Ben, Jenny and Bird had been suspended from school for a week and kicked out of the talent show. They finally return to school, but of course get immediately mocked by Anna and Maria, who reveal that they were the ones behind the sabotage, that they got Ben, Jenny and Bird suspended and kicked out of the show. Not only that, but they made sure that their alibis were so tight that even if they tried to call them out on it, nobody would believe them. Damn, that's some diabolical stuff. Regardless, the three vow to make them pay. And how? By puppet-bombing their performance. They plan to run on stage during Anna and Maria's performance and perform with the puppets, because I guess a second week's suspension sounds pretty cool.
So, eighty pages in, we can finally get to some supernatural stuff. While practicing with the puppets again, the sultan puppet trips Ben, then climbs over to his ear, emitting some sort of buzzing sensation. Can I go for the hat trick and make an "electric ear cleaner" reference from the 1989 film Parenthood? Sure! Suddenly Coach Sparrow arrives and tells the kids that they're in grave danger. It's then that Ben and Jenny finally remember the birthday party. Coach Sparrow tells them that he had dreams of being an entertainer and wanted to perform for their party. He bought the puppets from a puppeteer and rushed to the show. However, when he performed with them, it was like they had minds of their own and caused the traumatic incidents. He hid the puppets in the attic, never planning to use them again. Why not just trash them? Because he feared someone would find them and it would spread the ev-This REALLY just feels like a Slappy book at this point-il to someone else.
The next day, Ben wakes up, but his body is stiff and immobile. He manages to get to the breakfast table, but his hands and face start to get more wooden overtime. Jenny panics, and the two rush to Bird's. Ben believes that whatever the sultan did to him, it's turning him into some sort of human puppet. He attacks the puppet, trying to get it to speak or move, but of course the sultan remains motionless. They find a business card in the sultan's robe for the puppet builder, Eduardo Caleb, the man who gave Mr. Sparrow the puppets. Also, bigger concern, Ben is now growing silver rings in his limbs to place strings. The kids make it on a bus with the puppets and head to the address of Eduardo Caleb, only to find that it's been condemned. Ben is now pretty much full Pinocchio at this point and has given up.
However, they see what appears to be someone still inside the building. They knock on the door, but don't get an answer. So, the obvious solution: Head through the back. They enter through the back and find a room filled with human faces. They are greeted by Eduardo Caleb, who looks in horror at Ben's condition. He tells Ben that he's been infected with... get this... Puppet Cells. FOR GOD'S SAKE VACCINATE YOUR KIDS! Last thing you want is your kids to get measles or polio or pinocchiolio. He tells Ben that he can cure him, then focuses on the three puppets brought back to him. A trio of failures he created that he hoped wouldn't spread the evil of puppet cells.
He takes Ben to be healed, but Ben notices the puppets shaking their heads. He puts Ben on an operating table as Ben gets covered by a strange green dome. Ben panics, believing he can no longer breathe, but sure enough, the operation appears to have worked. Ben is back to looking human. But shocker of shockers, he just "sucked the bad puppet out and still plans to turn Ben into a good puppet-WHAT AM I EVEN READING?" Suddenly, the knight, princess and sultan puppets rise up and start to attack Caleb, while the three kids make a run for it.
Ben, Jenny and Bird watch the talent show, pretty much ready to jeer anyone who performs, including Anna and Maria. Suddenly a strange performance goes on as two kids in ski masks perform with puppets. Puppets that look like Anna and Maria. They followed the three of them to Caleb's place and ended up being turned into puppets. But, even the three of them admit, they are some damn talented puppets.
Night of the Puppet People is a strange book. On one hand, it follows so much of the stock formula of a lot of these living toy books, particularly the Living Dummy books. Right down to the kids thinking the puppets are alive, only for it to be the work of someone else, so the actual puppet action doesn't befall anyone until eighty pages into this 136 page book. On the other hand, it gets weird. Quite weird. When we get to the supernatural, it does present a rather scary scenario with someone turning into a living puppet. I just kinda wish it felt like it mattered more, or that we had enough time to build up Eduardo Caleb, who pretty much kidnaps children and turns them into puppets. I mean, it's almost a notch close to Mr. Toggle when it comes to straight up wrong and freaky, but not so much. And then we get to the puppet cells, which honestly was the unintentionally funniest thing these books have given me in a while. But at least this means that at least Stine appears to be pro-vaccinations, so that's a win in his column.
In the end, the book is fine. Paced well enough, no real scares aside from the whole puppet infection, but otherwise serviceable a Goosebumps book. My only wish was that this book would have focused more on the kids facing their fears with the puppets other than it feeling brushed off so suddenly. Well, that and I wish we actually got the puppets on the cover over the dull ones in the book. But, other than that, it's an okay read, some strings attached. Night of the Puppet People gets a C+.
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