As I reach the bottom of the books I intended to cover for the blog, I am admittedly getting to the books that jumped out at me the least. And, I'll admit that's very much my feelings going into this one. That being said, we've got to talk about the Shaggedy sooner or later, what better time than now? So, look out world, Here Comes the Shaggedy.
COVER STORY
STORY
We open the book on a swamp as a couple, Becka Monroe and Donny Albert, are on a rowboat in the middle of the night. Because what better time to be at a spooky swamp than in near-darkness, huh? But their night rowing is cut short when a humanoid-bear-thing emerges from the swamp and attacks them. Oh, you thought this was our protagonists? Nope. Turns out this was a movie called Swamp Beast III being watched by our actual protagonists, Kelli Andersen and her younger brother Shawn. Also, this is a book told in the third person, which was normal in much of the original 62, but became something Stine did less and less of overtime. So it feels more like a rarity.
Just as the movie gets interesting, Kelli and Shawn's father turns it off, unhappy that Shawn is watching a horror movie that will give them nightmares. I am instantly reminded of The Babysitter and how the kid there was allowed to watch freaking Poltergeist. How things have changed. The other reason is that this is a bit too close to home as the family are preparing to move to the swamplands. Deep Hole Swamp to be precise. Kelli's heard stories of monsters in Deep Hole Swamp, but her dad doesn't believe her because not just Goosebumps parents but SCIENTIST Goosebumps parents. And despite being people of science, they sure believe nothing exists a lot. But yes, their marine biologist father warns Kelli to cut it out with scaring Shawn and says that if there's a monster in the swamp they can invite it for dinner.
The family arrives in Florida and the kids head off to school, which is in the swamp. After nearly being attacked by a snake (with Kelli pranking Shawn about a snakebite), they arrive at their school, shocked to see it's the equivalent of two log cabins stuck together. They then see a crowd and some police nearby, studying a strange giant footprint. As Kelli and Shawn watch on, a boy shows up to tell them that the Shaggedy was definitely here. The boy, Zeke, tells the siblings that the Shaggedy is a swamp monster that lives below the water of the swamp. Their teacher, Miss Rawls, shows up to debunk the hell out of Zeke, saying it must just be a prank. A prank that destroyed playground equipment and leads to the swamp, but definitely a prank right?
Shawn is freaked out, especially when Zeke says that he and another kid, Decker, saw the Shaggedy for themselves. After a scene where we learn that Zeke has never had one of them newfangled phones (with a mention of Instagram, which my god I feel my finger bones cracking just mentioning that), Zeke shows them a drawing of the Shaggedy that he made. When Kelli mentions that it looks like Cookie Monster, we learn that Zeke's got a bad temper on him. He doesn't like to be bad mouthed. Zeke's brother Decker shows up and confirms Zeke's story. When the two learn that Kelli and Shawn have never gone fishing, they decide to show them some bait. To which Decker then eats a worm. Well, that delivered more than Go Eat Worms did.
After Shawn gets scared by a spider, the two siblings tell their dad about Zeke, Decker and the Shaggedy. He knows of the Shaggedy legend, but being a man of science, he doesn't believe in superstition. But he does decide to take the kids fishing. When Kelli gets her backpack however, the front has been painted over with the title of this book in front. The three are on a rowboat in Deep Hole Swamp, which gives enough time for Mr. Andersen/R.L. Stine to teach a bit about the flowers and how the swamp is connected to the Atlantic. Mr. Andersen also mentions that Deep Hole Swamp is called that because it's one of the deepest swamps ever, with rumors of creatures so deep underneath that no one has ever been able to see. Nothing that could be a swamp monster, of course.
As they fish, Kelli catches some giant black sea creature that latches on to her face. She falls into the swamp and begins to sink, but gets saved in time. Mr. Andersen has no clue what that was, but it TOTALLY couldn't be a swamp monster or anything. At art class the next day, Zeke and Decker once again mention seeing the Shaggedy emerge from the swamp, cause mayhem, then return to the swamp. Of course, no one believes their story, particularly Miss Rawls. Later, Shawn opens his locker to find it filled with swamp water. He also finds a note in his locker that says that the Shaggedy wants him next. Kelli just chalks it up to Zeke and Decker trying to scare him some more.
The kids head home, but have forgotten the path to take to get home, so they end up getting lost in the swamp just as a convenient storm emerges. And in case this already sounds very Hansel and Gretel-ish, the kids find a cabin. Only instead of a cabin made of candy, it's one with skulls on the wall. Snake skulls, that is. They also find a jar of snake eyes, so they deduce whoever lives here is some sort of snake hunter. And, just as conveniently, the man arrives. He's a large man with leathery skin and strange silver eyes. This is Ranger Saul. The former ranger of the swamp who was fired for reasons he doesn't want to talk about, mainly because we're just 59 pages deep into this 140 page book. And then he pulls out a knife, but he was clearly just inspecting it and, you know, not about to murder two children.
Saul mentions that he used to be part of animal control, until he was fired from that as well. He particularly has a thing for skinning snakes and keeping their skulls as trophies. He mentions how there's plenty of pythons in the swamp, which scares Shawn, but everything in this book scares Shawn, so nothing new on that front. That's enough for the two siblings as they run off. But Saul soon catches them, just to direct them to their house and to tell them to be careful. However Kelli thinks this is no warning, but a threat. They relay this to their dad, as well as the locker threat, to which their dad suggests they play a prank back at Zeke and Decker. Because, given these kids already seem maniacal and quick to anger, this will totally not backfire on them.
That night, Shawn hears a whispering voice from outside. He finds Kelli who goes outside to investigate. She finds Saul outside, which is enough of a red flag, and even more so when he says he's out hunting. For what, he won't answer. Kelli mentions the Shaggedy and sure enough, Saul believes it's real. That it lives in a cave deep underneath the swamp. He's never seen it, but he knows it's real due to eyewitness reports. That it has reptilian skin, with large humanoid hands and feet. And that it is usually covered in mud, which often drips off it. He then says that there's an urban legend that states if you spill 50 drops of animal blood on a piece of black paper then yell [TITLE OF THE BOOK] ten times, the Shaggedy will appear to do your bidding. Again, he says he's never tried it, but given he believes all of the stories, he believes that one as well.
Suddenly, a snake attacks Saul. Being the hunter he is, he grabs the snake's neck and snaps it. That's more than enough for Kelli to run back inside. So she's convinced that Saul is a definite threat. The next day, Kelli and Shawn spot giant footprints by Shawn's window. Now they're also convinced that the Shaggedy was there the previous night. Of course, their dad thinks it's not real because at this point convincing this guy about anything is like talking to a brick wall. Also, he constantly talks about how because they're New York kids they should be braver, and, okay I guess?
He takes the kids on another boat ride, but Shawn just panics over everything while Kelli sees what appears to be the water moving erratically, like something is going to emerge from it. They get home and Kelli's room is torn up, with yet another warning that the Shaggedy is coming for them. But Dad just chalks it up to Zeke and Decker yet again. Oh those crazy kids and their breaking and entering/graffito tagging. Mr. Andersen heads off to the school to confront the boys, but Kelli stops him and tells him that this was all her. Everything. The backpack, the locker incident, the voices, the footprint, trashing her room. All her work. Why, you may ask? Well, she hoped that if she kept making these threats that Shawn would be so scared that their dad would have no choice but to take them back home to New York.
So, that didn't work. Kelli's indefinitely grounded, Shawn doesn't trust her, and now if she actually sees the Shaggedy, we know how that's going to end up. At school the next day, the kids are out in the swamp to study the nature, when Zeke and Decker confront Kelli and Shawn about their dad blaming them for everything. They then take the two kids further away from the group to a part of the swamp called Monster Hole where they claim to have seen the Shaggedy a second time. The creature even ate a squirrel in front of them. Shawn is freaked out and Kelli scolds them for scaring him (hey, glass houses). Zeke and Decker then knock the siblings into the swamp. Miss Rawls helps to get them out, but Kelli is covered in leeches, which the kids now call her "leech girl".
Kelli's life is now hell. Her friend Marci from New York doesn't respond to her texts, and the leech girl thing is all over Instagram. But she figures that maybe there is one way to fix all of this. And that, of course, is the dumbest way. She decides to summon the Shaggedy. I mean we only have 35 pages left. Summoning anything would at least make this book interesting. Kelli and Shawn find a dead bird which they can use for the fifty drops. Shawn's afraid, go figure, but Kelli says that if this doesn't work then that at least confirms there's no such thing. Or this could just be the ramblings of a manic hermit and there's still a Shaggedy, just not one you can summon.
They head to the spot where Zeke and Decker claim the Shaggedy resides and do the ritual, and sure enough the Shaggedy rises. Shawn suggests they run, but Kelli believes she can control the Shaggedy. Guess what? She can't control the Shaggedy who shoves her out of the way and storms through the swamp. So, Kelli's just had some great ideas in this book, hasn't she? It arrives in town and starts destroying houses. Saul shows up and Kelli tells him about summoning the Shaggedy. Saul's confused because that's not the Shaggedy. You see, she only dripped 48 droplets of blood, not fifty, so she botched the summoning and summoned a completely different monster. Reader beware, you're in for someone who can't freaking count!
Saul says that only Kelli can stop the monster. To do so she has to be at the center of Monster Hole with his snake powder and when the monster respawns, sprinkle it on his head to defeat it. Shawn decides he'll go as well, even though this really is mostly just Kelli's fault. But good sibling moments are always appreciated.
The three head to the Monster Hole and sure enough the monster rises. Kelli goes to spread the dust, but misses. The monster then grabs Shawn and drags him to the lagoon. So now they really have to summon the Shaggedy. They do so, with the right amount of drops this time and suddenly Zeke and Decker show up. And like freaking Station from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, the two fuse together and turn into the Shaggedy. Yep, the monster was them all along. Points to the book, I didn't see that coming. The Shaggedy fights the monster and eventually defeats it, sending it back into the water.
TWIST ENDING
The Shaggedy turns back into Decker and Zeke who tell the others that they were trying to scare them off, in hopes they'd never find out the truth. Saul then reveals the truth about himself. He's not a former ranger, but a federal agent, sent there to find out about the Shaggedy. But since they saved Shawn's life he promises them that they'll get preferential treatment... at the science lab of course. Zeke and Decker decide that doesn't sound like a good idea and turn back into the Shaggedy. It grabs Saul, but Kelli tells them to stop, and they obey her. Kelli is excited about this monster controlling power, but that gets cut short as their dad saw the whole thing and tells the kids they're going back to New York.
CONCLUSION
This one's not too bad. It's another book that feels longer than it needs to be. Sometimes you don't need 140 pages to tell your story, Stine. Shave 20 pages and you'd lose nothing. I like that the book goes for a third person feel, but I think the only reason it does that is so we can pull off the mid-book reveal that Kelli was the one doing all of the Shaggedy scares. Without that, it feels superfluous. Kelli is a decent protagonist. You do feel her plight for being stuck in a swamp far from her home of New York. While she does scare Shawn, she also seems to have a good rapport with him and vice versa. Shawn's also not bad for the younger sibling. Though his "scared of everything" shtick wears thin super quick.
This book reminds me a lot of The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. And not just because it's also a book about a swamp. The hermit, the super skeptical scientist parent, the mystery surrounding the monster, and the ultimate reveal of the local kid being the monster (or in this case two local kids being one monster) all feel like they were ripped from that book. And while Fever Swamp isn't one of my top favorites, it's still a book I think is one of the more solid books in the early run of the original 62. And this book feels like a decent enough compliment to that concept. Zeke and Decker make for good villains, while Saul also is a decent red herring. While yes, it's bizarre to turn the two kids into the one monster, I'll take that over what I was almost expecting, in that Saul was the Shaggedy.
The swamp setting is one Goosebumps doesn't do much, but when they do, it usually succeeds. And this is no exception. I like the detail of the flora and fauna. The general sense that this is a large, foreboding place. And it works for some decent enough scares. And then there's our monsters. I like the misdirect of Kelli summoning the wrong monster. It's a fine misdirect. The Shaggedy is interesting. Kind of like a swamp monster version of a Golem that is meant to do the bidding of whoever summoned it. Though, if Decker and Zeke were concerned about keeping their secret, maybe they shouldn't have mentioned it so much. Especially since it seems the Shaggedy only comes out when summoned. But it's one of the better "monsters all along" twists I've read in a while, so points there.
In the end, Here Comes the Shaggedy was one of the better Most Wanted books. Nothing super special and really could have been better managed with some edits, but what's there works fine enough. A decent enough Swamp Monster mystery with some decent action and some okay scares. It's as serviceable a book as you can get and a decent recommend. Here Comes the Shaggedy gets a B+.
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