It's time for yet another foray into SlappyWorld. I'll admit the book I'm covering this time isn't one I'm super interested in reading, but like I've said before, those usually wind up surprising me. Or in some other cases just proving my point that this wasn't as interesting to me as I thought going in. We're really in Russian Roulette territory with the remaining books I have to read, huh? Let's see where the bullet lies with Escape From Shudder Mansion.
Our protagonist Riley Shiner and his twin sister Scarlet are heading through the back of Shudder Mansion. Riley is rather freaked out by Shudder Mansion as the house just looks frightening and foreboding, and it reminds him of his favorite video game, *title of this book*. It seems that the video game Escape From Shudder Mansion is actually based on his neighborhood. In the game, the mansion is filled with evil spirits. Some human, some beasts. But the goal is to accumulate weapons and destroy them before they destroy you, making you the latest spirit trapped in the mansion. So, kind of Resident Evil, kind of Luigi's Mansion?
Riley's played the game a lot, but he can never make it past the fifth level without dying. Scarlet thinks it's just a dumb video game, but Riley wonders where the idea came from. Are there really monsters inside Shudder Mansion? As Scarlet tries to get him to stop looking at the house, Riley spots something in one of the windows, almost like a strange smoke monster. This sequel to Lost is starting rather strangely. Although the monster has a triangle shaped head. Oh crap, this is actually the lost Silent Hills game, isn't it? Suddenly, the monster attacks Riley... only for it to be a black cat. Or, perhaps a monster disguised as a black cat as it seems to vanish into smoke as it runs off.
The twins then spot a young girl about their age leaning by the back wall of the mansion. The girl introduces herself as Mia and she just moved into the neighborhood. Riley asks if she knows about the stories of Shudder Mansion, which gives Scarlet enough time to mock him for believing his game is real. Mia then dares the two to go into the mansion to see if it really is as scary as Riley claims. She then laughs, but Riley sees her head change into a laughing skull. But Scarlet doesn't see it, and Mia's face then quickly goes back to normal. Riley starts to wonder if he's seeing things, and maybe he is going crazy.
Scarlet invites Mia to their house for dinner, while Riley can't stop staring at Mia after the whole skull thing. When they get home, Scarlet tells Riley to leave Mia alone and go back to playing the video game, which is what Riley does. It sounds like a first-person action game with motion controls, demonstrated as one of the monsters Riley fights is an alligator head on a human body. Riley's avatar throws a laser spear at the monster, killing it. He then heads into a treasure room and grabs a goblet that's filled with spiders that kill him, ending his game. Clearly he chose poorly. Before the game ends, he sees a girl enter the room in the game. A girl who looks like Mia.
He tries to tell Scarlet, but she doesn't believe him because... well, not Goosebumps parents this time since she's his sister, but given Riley's constant paranoia throughout this story so far, she doesn't believe him on account that he's likely been hallucinating these things out of his fear of Shudder Mansion. So, for once, a reason, at least for now to not believe someone. And given Scarlet has no reason to believe anything Riley says about Mia, that's another point to add. Scarlet and Mia do see the girl in the game and Mia acts more flattered than frightened. Riley returns to the game and again sees the girl, but now he also sees the black cat.
At school, Riley talks about his hatred for one of his classmates, Carter Burwasser, who recently went on safari with his parents in Africa. Okay, if it's one of those families that hunt innocent animals and take their god awful selfies, then I'll hate this kid too. Riley also mentions that Carter has a round, pink head with blond hair, looking like a Jack-O'-Lantern. Look, maybe all the kid wants is some respect, and a new candle now and then. Also Carter has a pet llama. Okay then. Carter talks about how he was chased by a rhino until the rhino got bored and left. That's a perfect allegory for a lot of Goosebumps books now that I think of it.
But Carter's story gives the teacher, Mrs. Blume, an idea. She wants her class to do reports on having an adventure. They'll be loaned cameras and different groups of students will have to do a film documentary. One kid suggests spending the night in the mummy room of a museum. Calm down, that's three books from now. And, of course, she suggests that Riley's group spends the night in Shudder Mansion. The group consists of Riley, Scarlet, Two other classmates named Cheng Lee and Danitia as well as, to Riley's annoyance, Carter. In fact, Carter is the most excited to visit the mansion, saying he has his own paranormal detective kit.
Riley and the others arrive at Shudder Mansion. Of course, Riley's still the only one worried, while Carter brags about all the equipment he has. Riley looks for an emergency exit if needed, but then sees his shadow transform into a lizard person. Of course, no one else sees it. And Carter decides to start calling Riley crazy and make quacking noises at him. You know, maybe Riley's right to hate this kid. They go back to the front doors, but they can't open them. The doorknob is rusty and they won't budge regardless. Suddenly a voice yells at the kids, causing them to run off, with Riley smacking into a tree branch. But now the doors are open just enough for him to get inside. So 14 chapters and almost half the book aside, we're finally in the frigging mansion.
Riley enters a room in the mansion to find an empty room, save for dead flies in cobwebs and the skeletal remains of mice. He thinks he sees Mia, so he continues to wander down a hall. He also hears the cries of a cat, so that might be in here as well. But his attention turns to a skeleton in the middle of the hallway. Then, suddenly, the skeleton begins to dance a jig. Riley is aware of this dancing skeleton as it was in the game. Sure, it seemed harmless, but soon enough the skeleton would literally dance on you til you died. Riley tries to run for it, but the skeleton soon attacks him. When he comes to, he sees Scarlet who came back for him after he entered the mansion. When she helps him up, she turns into the skeleton.
But it turns out that none of the events actually happened yet. Riley had been knocked out by the tree branch, which knocked him out. We then go to actual present time as Riley and Scarlet are being driven to Shudder Mansion. The parents are accompanying the kids to this, since that would be less of a possible liability for the school to send kids off to somewhere they could get hurt at. The other kids arrive, as well as Mia who Scarlet invited. Scarlet then says her parents will show up later, because we can't make what's to come too obvious yet. Though Stine kind of already did that, huh?
As the parents hang out downstairs, the kids head upstairs. Being an old mansion there's only candlelight to light their way. No electricity either, but of course Carter brought a generator. But that doesn't last long as the generator blows up super fast. Riley then gets grabbed by a mouse. The kids think he's overreacting, until the mouse grows to the size of a German Shepherd. And this time the others do see it. Riley says that they're on level two, but they're getting closer to the deadliest creature from the game, The Beast. And wouldn't you know it, the beast arrives.
The kids make a run for it, entering the kitchen, only for their shoes to get stuck on the floor. With the beast approaching, Riley tells the others to take off their shoes and socks. After a chapter stinger where it doesn't work, it ends up working. The kids make a run for it, but in the fracas, lost Scarlet. As the kids look around, they then see all of their parents, and even some grandparents, run out of the house, leaving their kids behind. Okay, NOW because Goosebumps parents.
As the kids try to understand what's going on, a voice booms, asking if they're ready to be fed to the beast. That's their cue to exit but, of course, the front door is locked. And Mia is now M.I.A. The remaining four are panicked, but decide they need to find the emergency exit fast. They hear Scarlet in the basement screaming and head down there to save her. However, three shadowy figures show up as well. Mia, her small, but powerful mother Margo, and her father, the beast. He wears a purple robe, but his face looks very wolf-like.
The beast tells the kids that this was indeed all part of the game, Escape From Shudder Mansion. But they can't celebrate because the kids are about to be in the sequel, Death at Shudder Mansion! Well thanks for the spoilers. Riley and the others want to leave, but the trio tell them that millions will watch as the three are to be fed to the beast. Riley then spots a cup similar to the goblet of spiders in his game. He runs to get it and use it on the beast, but nothing happens. The beast then starts to feast on Riley, but Riley smashes the cup over the beast's head, destroying it instantly.
Riley looks through the stone wall to find button to press. He finds it and presses it. And then he's back with Scarlet in their parents' SUV, ready to go inside Shudder Mansion. Turns out Riley pressed the reset button, which turned the time loop back to just before they entered the mansion, with no recollection of what just occurred. So I guess they're trapped in an eternal time loop? Or this world was a video game within a video game?
It also feels like after so much build for the game, we never get a chance to see many of its monsters in action. The skeleton, a rat and the beast family is all we get. That's due in part to a very slow build to get to the mansion. I think the book would have benefited going full ride book. Go from one set piece and monster to another set piece and monster until the end. You could even keep the reset end twist. It feels like a cheat twist, but it's better than if they had ended the book right when Riley hit the tree branch. Now THAT would have sucked.
As for the other characters, Scarlet is fine. There mostly to debunk and dunk on Riley until we get to the mansion. Carter's an interesting character. Your standard snobby rich kid who brags about his exploits and expensive gadgets, which don't even help in the story. Cheng and Danitia feel superfluous though. It could have just been Riley, Scarlet and Carter and nothing would have been lost. Mia as the villain all along was way too obvious. Once we're introduced to her, it's not hard to realize what her character is meant to be. And sadly the beast and Margo don't get much time to really present themselves as a memorable threat.
So, in the end, Escape From Shudder Mansion is serviceable. Nothing in it will wow you, and it spins its wheels too much before we get to the actual mansion, but it's also not super aggravating either. The definition of a milquetoast book.
STORY: GG.5
SCARES: GG
TWIST: GGG
ENJOYMENT: GG.5
OVERALL: 2.5 Gs
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