The advantage of these Goosebumps rereads has been that it gives me a second chance on certain books. For some reason, my first read of this book didn't click with me. Just felt like while there's a cool idea, something is just missing. Maybe I'll find that missing piece in this second helping of The Blob That Ate Everyone.
THE BLOB THAT ATE EVERYONE
RELEASE MONTH: May, 1997
FRONT TAGLINE: He's no picky eater!
Time hits it out of the park yet again with one of the best covers in the series bar none. I love the background, how it looks like a beautiful suburban neighborhood, quaint and warm and then there just happens to be this giant pink blob monster in the middle of the road. And going by what's under it's gigantic pink tongue, it's been causing quite some havoc. The detail of the debris is impressive, as is the blob monster that looks gross and slimy, especially its giant tongue. Although, and maybe it's me, but it kind of reminds me of Krang from Ninja Turtles.
READ IT AND SCREAM!
A famous horror writer. That's what Zackie Beauchamp wants to be.
He's writing a story about a giant blob monster. A pink slimy creature who eats up an entire town!
Then Zackie finds the typewriter. In a burned down antique store. He takes it home and starts typing.
But there's something really odd about that typewriter. Something really dangerous. Because now every scary word Zackie Writes is starting to come true...
STORY
So the first chapter's structure is interesting. We're introduced to Zackie Beauchamp (Zackie?) and his friend Alex Iarocci. We'll get a bit like how "Alex has that weird laugh she does, or did before the monster attacked", then follow that with "Name pronunciation is weird, but when the monster attacked even I forgot my own name." So from the first two pages, Stine really hopes you give a crap. Zackie and Alex are out collecting worms for really no reason other than they like collecting things, when sure enough, a blob monster attacks them! But, that didn't actually happen, otherwise we'd have the shortest Gooesebumps book ever. Oh, what a shame that would be.
Zackie likes to write stories, especially monster stories. He dreams of being a famous horror author. Maybe he'll start with young adult horror about some street then get offered a book deal to write a bunch of horror novellas for kids that people mostly remember for the cover art. But, much like R.L. Stine, Zackie's other friend Adam Levin doesn't think that Zackie's story is too scary. As scary as Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Hey, there are some dark versions of that story where Goldilocks gets killed, so maybe go for a better example.
Zackie and Alex head home from Adam's and notice that the old antique store has been burned to the ground. A woman/exposition device shows up to tell them that it was because of the recent lightning storm. So, with all of this wreckage around, and even Alex knowing it's a bad idea, Zackie decides to peek in the remains anyway. Inside, Zackie finds an old typewriter, perfect for his stories. However, when he touches it, he gets his with a large electric shock. Zackie sees a strange blue flash, then passes out. When he wakes up, he decides that he'll take that typewriter. I mean, he has a computer and a printer, but the kid's got a soft spot for the classics.
With typewriter in hand, Zackie and Alex begin to head out, but soon get caught by the owner of the store, a woman named Mrs. Carter. Zackie asks about the typewriter and Mrs. Carter just lets him have it for free, along with a free pen. Zackie's ecstatic, but Alex thinks it's a bit weird that she would just give him an old typewriter for free. He takes it home and soon sees it glowing blue. But when he touches it, he doesn't get shocked. He does get shocked at school when Adam, along with twins Annie and Emmy, scare him with a fake mouse, making him the laughing stock of the school for the day. Are we sure Adam's Zackie's friend?
When Zackie returns home with Alex, they see that the typewriter has disappeared. But it turns out that his dad just cleaned it and added a new ink ribbon. Now Zackie can save his game before the zombies kill him. He had been working on his blob story, using then pen for his first draft, but now he's going to type it up. He starts to type with the typewriter, starting with a dark and stormy night. Sure enough, a storm brews outside. The power goes out so he writes by candlelight about the strong winds, which causes high winds to rock the house. When Zackie then writes about his parents disappearing, his dad is nowhere to be seen for a bit. Alex begins to suspect something. Everything Zackie's typed has come true, as if the typewriter itself is magic.
Zackie is skeptical of all this, so he types that Adam is at the front door. And as if on cue, Adam is at their front door. So pure coincidence can be tossed out the window. They tell Adam about the magic typewriter, but he too is skeptical. He then types that there's a blob monster in Zackie's basement, then runs off. Again, are we absolutely certain he's Zackie's friend? Zackie and Alex check the basement, but there's no sign of any blob monster. Only Mr. Beauchamp and a rubber glove slapping the wind. The next day Zackie goes to the supermarket, only to be again scared by Adam, Emmy and Annie. Again, just to clarify because he said so in the beginning of the book, are we sure he's Zackie's friend?
As Zackie leaves from that incident, suddenly he sees people running off in a panic. From what? A giant pink blob of course. Turns out that Zackie did continue his story overnight, but we weren't privy to that. Alex was right, everything Zackie writes comes to life. Cops try to stop the blob, but get wrapped up in its tongue and eaten alive. Zackie runs home, but then remembers that he, stupidly, wrote that the blob monster would follow him home. Adam sees the blob and thinks it's a balloon, because this kid is a buffoon, and then gets eaten by the blob. Eh, no big loss there.
Zackie and Alex make it back to the typewriter to write an ending that will kill the blob, but before they can do that, the blob eats the typewriter. So, they seem to be screwed, until Zackie tries one more idea. Maybe it wasn't the typewriter all along, maybe it was Zackie's imagination. He takes the pen he got earlier and writes the ending to the blob story, making the blob disappear and Adam return. I guess the cops survived? I dunno. So, yeah, the zap gave him the power of bringing whatever he writes to life, not the typewriter. So they all live happily ever after.
TWIST ENDING
We then cut to a blob monster showing off his story to a green monster. Yeah, turns out that this was a story within a story. The green monster thinks it's okay, but not so much that he humans survived. So the blob monster says that they'll rewrite it.
CONCLUSION
I think I may have just not been in the mood for this one the first time because this reread changed my feelings on it. I like the premise of The Blob That Ate Everyone. The idea of the power of imagination and the joy of writing stories. I can definitely see this as Stine projecting himself in this story more so than any other Goosebumps book, as much like Zackie he was a kid interested in horror and also used to type up stories with a typewriter. And what we get with the whole story-to-life concept works great. The initial stuff with the storm followed by the blob monster, which delivers in how freaky it is. I said before I felt it was rushed, but on second read, I feel the blob got just the right amount of time to be an effective and memorable monster.
Zackie is a good protagonist, though despite his love of writing, doesn't feel that unique from so many others. Alex is a fine side-character, the more rational of the two. While I rail on Adam for supposedly being one of Zackie's friends, he still works well as the book's central antagonist. Without his pranks we really wouldn't get much of the story off the ground as it is. Pacing of the book is really solid, as are the scares which do feel like they're actually scary. The blob feels like an impactful enough villain. And the twist feels fine. A bit too silly, but it is memorable. And I agree, eat them kids.
So, my mind's changed a lot since on this book. I don't think it's a top tier book, but I was way wrong about it previously. It has a neat premise, some actual scares, a memorable twist, and it doesn't feel like a waste of time to read. If it was intended to be Stine's love letter to imagination and the love of writing, then it worked fine. So, solid recommend. It's a filling book that won't leave you with an empty stomach.
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