The Stinal Showdown: The Headless Ghost

While I don't review much of the Goosebumps TV show, sometimes one concept I do like to dabble with is the idea of which medium told the work better. Stine's original novelization or the television series. And with The Headless Ghost having enough in both takes to feel drastically different from one another, why not dig this back up. It's time to go head to head, literally and see which did a better job. It's Headless Ghost vs Headless Ghost. 

The Headless Ghost was published in November of 1995. Ten months later, its television adaptation would be released in September of 1996 during the second season. So, in comparison to a bunch of the early series episodes, this one had a far quicker time frame. Enough time to develop the episode and fix any issues that may have plagued the book, or ended up for the worst as we'll see. We'll start with the episode recap, then mention the notable differences. Finally, we'll grade both on several subjects to ultimately choose a champion. 

The episode follows the book pretty close up until Duane and Stephanie get kicked out of Hill House by Otto, who instead of just being annoyed by their antics straight up banishes them from returning. They meet Seth and the trio sneak back in similar to the book. The book also recaps the stories of the sea captain, the headless boy Andrew Craw, and the boy who liked strawberry ice cream and died falling down a dumbwaiter shaft. Where the book differs is its climax. In the book, Seth pretends to be Andrew Craw and scares Duane and Stephanie. The kids head down a ladder to a tunnel when the ladder breaks on them and breaks open a wall containing Andrew's head. We learn that Seth is Otto's nephew and later in the story, I guess they all died or were already ghosts? To be honest, the book does a weak job in recapping that.

In the episode, we learn that Otto, the man who runs Hill House was the sea captain all along and resides in Hill House along with Andrew Craw and Seth, who was the ice cream boy. While Duane manages to escape, Otto begins to paint Stephanie's portrait, causing her to disappear as he works on it. Duane saves Stephanie in time as they get chased out of the house by the ghosts. The episode ends with Otto showing off Hill House to an interested couple looking for a fixer-upper. He promises the couple that they'll be very happy there. So, I guess it's now a literal tourist trap? 

So, yeah. A major attempt to overhaul the book's conclusion. But, how do I feel about it? Let's get grading.

 I'll give the first grading challenge to Hill House itself. Comparing how it was handled in both book and episode. A strength to the book is that much of Hill House's history is brought up through the story. Much more than the episode ever gets around to. We learn not just about Andrew Craw, but his sister and parents' demises. Each in grisly and depressing fashion. The episode doesn't get to those, but given that the Craw family is mostly a superfluous addition, the book focusing on the main three ghosts for its horror actually works a bit better. Less of a redundant feel to everything given what we need to know for this story. So, point goes to the episode. 

EPISODE 1 - BOOK 0

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Next up, let's talk about the supernatural elements of both book and episode. There really isn't much in the book itself aside from the ending with Andrew Craw and the stories of the hauntings of the sea captain. In the episode we get to see a visual of Andrew Craw's demise, while the ending focuses on the three main ghosts and ending with them still being around to haunt their newest victims. So, if you're actually looking for more scary elements, the episode adds while Stine lacked. Another point for the episode.

EPISODE 2 - BOOK 0

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Flow for the book vs flow for the episode is up next. I think both move at a brisk enough pace. Though the book takes a bit to get to any notable point. A lot of recapping the lore of the house, the hunt and finally the search through the house with Seth to the ending. In the episode, we get the history, the search, Duane and Stephanie being kicked out, meeting Seth and the finale involving the ghosts. It's tricky to say either was better than the others, but I feel the book flowed a bit better and the episode ramped things up a bit too quick. Point to the book.

EPISODE 2 - BOOK 1

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Horror elements up next, and it comes down to whether the book was scarier or the episode. I think the episode's finale is more interesting, but also feels a bit more silly than a lot of the built up horror in the book. Yes, the ending is flatter, but the history and stories involving the victims of Hill House stand out as more memorable in the book. Granted, I wish the Craw family stories mattered more, but they come off as more gruesome than the stories we get in the episode. So, with that thought in mind, I give the point to the book in terms of actual scary elements.

EPISODE 2 - BOOK 2

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And with one pick left, we have to go with the endings. I like how the book ends on this ambiguous note. That Hill House is still haunted by the ghosts of Otto and Edna, though no clue what befell Seth. Ends on a note of being both melancholy and eerie. The episode's twist is a bit more confusing. Similarly the tours for Hill House clearly ended, and the ghosts still haunt it, so I guess they now lure unsuspecting couples to their deaths? I guess the sea captain really loves painting those portraits. So it comes down to sad or sinister, which does it a bit better? And, surprisingly, I'll go with the book for that. Book ekes out a win.

EPISODE 2 - BOOK 3

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In a surprise victory for me, I ended up choosing book over episode. I feel the episode's strength is adding more horror elements and a bigger feeling climax by making the ghosts mentioned in the episode matter. But I also feel while the book feels flat in that climax and could have stood to make the ghosts aside from Andrew matter more, the book's atmosphere, creepy stories and twist make it the better of the two. It was a close call, but in this case, the ultimate head case is the book.