Ah the forties. I'm indifferent to the forties. It's really where I feel you get the slog effect of the series. Especially in books 41-44. And no book best exemplifies what I mean than our first foray into the next ten. It's magical tale, or should I say tragical? Hocus Pocus, it's time for Bad Hare Day.
BAD HARE DAY
RELEASE MONTH: March, 1996
FRONT TAGLINE: He's no Easter bunny!
COVER STORY
I can imagine that it wasn't easy for Tim Jacobus to come up with a cover for this book. Mainly in that it has to make a rabbit look really scary. And, while I say it's harder to do that with hamsters, it's a little easier to make a rabbit look somewhat scary. However, giant monster jaw was not what I think anyone was expecting. It just comes off more as goofy than a scary work of art. But it certainly is memorable, which you can't argue that at least. So while I was mixed more before, I feel it's more of a "just okay-ish" cover.
PICK A SCARE. ANY SCARE.
Trick cards, floating scarves, disappearing doves. Tim Swanson loves magic tricks. Someday he wants to be a real magician.
Just like his all-time favorite hero, Amaz-O.
But when Tim goes to Amaz-O's show. And he finds out that his hero is a total grump. That's when Tim decides to steal the back of tricks. Amaz-O's bag of tricks.
The one with the multiplying red bals.
And all those hissing snakes...
STORY
Tim Swanson is really into magic. Especially the world famous magician Amaz-O. It's Tim's dream to be just as great as Amaz-O one day. But for this point in the story he's at least testing his tricks on his friends. However, he does have a bratty kid sister named Ginny who bothers him. And since she knows karate that also means he's usually her victim for kicks to the gut and chops to the throat. Because we really can't have likable kid siblings anymore, can we? Later, Tim stops at Malik's Magic Shoppe with his friend Foster Martin, or Foz as the book calls him. At first I wondered if this was a bad nickname, but I mean, it's still a step up from "Hat".
Malik's is where Tim buys all of his magic props and he has a good rapport with Mr. Malik. He gives Tim two passes for Amaz-O's upcoming show at the Midnight Mansion, then screws with the kids by using a mini guillotine to cut off Foz's hand for our stock chapter stinger. Because of course it doesn't actually hurt Foz. It was a literal case of slight of hand. Tim's excited about the free passes, but the show is at night and he knows his parents wouldn't want him going to some fancy club to watch a magic show. Both because that makes logical sense, but also given they're parents that let Ginny threaten and beat him up, they still count as Goosebumps parents.
After a magic trick with a friend's rabbit goes wrong, he accidentally mentions the passes to Ginny. She now wants to go, and of course, Tim has no choice but to take her with him due to, again, the fact that she would likely be able to snap his neck. They sneak out that night and arrive at the Midnight Mansion. And Amaz-O indeed sounds amazing with all of his magic tricks. Including one where he threads a bunch of needles with only his mouth, which I can only imagine the hell his intestines went through when he was learning that trick.
Tim gets invited on stage by Amaz-O to perform a disappearing trick. The trick works and he disappears... into a room backstage . In fact, he's stuck in that room for a long time, even after the show ends. Tim manages to escape, but sees Amaz-O talking to a rabbit. He hears Amaz-O tell him to go away, which angers Tim enough to just steal Amaz-O's magic kit and head home with Ginny. Reader beware, you're in for kleptomania. That night, Tim opens the case and finds Amaz-O's jacket. However, the jacket is filled with snakes! No, wait, robot snakes! Robot snakes that can be turned off, so it's not as big an issue as it sounds.
Tim wants to give the kit back, but still ends up showing Ginny and Foz the contents instead. And things get worse, like multiplying rubber balls, flying doves and more robot snakes. It gets so bad the kids have to run from the attic and continue outside. And, despite the fact that they should really just stop screwing with the magic kit, Ginny finds a carrot inside and just eats it. Because nothing sounds tastier than an old carrot from some guy's dirty old suitcase. Upon eating the carrot however, Ginny turns into a rabbit. So, that happened. Tim and Foz try to get her to eat the carrot, but she doesn't. And when they try to find the paper to reverse the spell, it ends up blowing away and getting washed up in a stream.
With no other options, Tim decides that now he really should find Amaz-O to fix this. Tim and Foz find Amaz-O, but he is silent and still, leaning against a wall. They soon learn that Amaz-O is just a giant puppet. They also find another rabbit, the one from earlier, who talks to them. Turns out he is the real Amaz-O. He used to be human, but a rival magician used a spell to turn him into a rabbit. And, I guess not wanting to quit showbiz, Amaz-O managed to create a human puppet and control it, despite, again, being a rabbit. Tim asks if Ginny can be turned back, but Amaz-O says he can't do that. By which he means that it's only a temporary spell and Ginny will be fine soon enough.
TWIST ENDING
Before they can leave, Amaz-O asks Tim if he has any interest in being part of the magic act. Tim easily agrees as it's his dream. And we end the book with Tim in the rabbit body now performing for Amaz-O. But Tim doesn't mind. He's just happy to be in showbiz. Plus, given his human life meant dealing with his violent sister... happy ending?
CONCLUSION
I started this blog by saying that we're in a slog for a while and while this book is no exception, it also isn't the worst book of the bunch either. It just feels really lacking. Like, you have this great book about magic, but aside from some scares, there isn't much in it that's really interesting. I like the concept, I even don't mind the idea of stealing the magic kit and the chaos it could cause, but I wish the chaos felt more interesting. Like, snakes and doves and rubber balls can be creepy, but you could have had way more fun with this. Even doing something like a story where Tim steals the kit and actually learns how to do the spells. But all of his spells are out of control, but he can't control himself. It would make for a more exciting climax than just Ginny becomes a rabbit.
And that remains my problem with the book. It just doesn't do anything interesting with magic. Aside from Amaz-O's magic act, there really is never these really fun moments that involve magic that could be used for effective scares. Tim's okay, but nothing special. Far dumber than most protagonists, especially how easily he lets himself become Amaz-O's rabbit partner. Ginny isn't likable, and Foz just exists. The twist is fine, but predictable as well. Again, it's not my intent to be negative with this one, but it also just feels like a book that Stine didn't have that much interest in. It feels like a quota book in every conceivable way. Meaning that in the end, Bad Hare Day is more of a mediocre hare day.
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