It's time to talk once more about the weird two-year stint for R.L. Stine post the ending of Goosebumps. In the span of those two years, Stine put out six standalone books. All about roughly the length of Goosebumps proper and all feeling like they were definitely scrapped concepts. A sextet of books I've dubbed "The Un-Bumped Six". And it's time to talk not just about any book, but one that definitely is connected to the end of Goosebumps.
In January of 2000, Ghost in the Mirror was released. The final officially released Goosebumps Series 2000 book before Stine left. However, it wasn't the last book Stine was working on, as he was in the works for the twenty-sixth book, The Incredible Shrinking Fifth-Grader. Much of the book's early planning stages were complete and Tim Jacobus even completed the cover art for it, as seen above. A pretty strong cover too as while I maintain you can't make a hamster scary, oh a rat you can really make scary. However, Stine chose to leave Scholastic after the tensions between both parties were at their most toxic. And thus, The Incredible Shrinking Fifth-Grader was scrapped... Momentarily.
In the midst of Stine's exit from Scholastic, Stine released a book that seemed similar in concept to what would have been The Incredible Shrinking Fifth-Grader. That book was The Adventures of Shrinkman. And, eventually, Stine confirmed that much of what Shrinkman became was based from The Incredible Shrinking Fifth-Grader. It also may have inspired 2011's Night of the Giant Everything, but that's never been confirmed. So, yeah, a book with history behind it. Certainly enough to make the pre-cover story intro beefy for once? But is this book a big winner or a teeny-weenie? Let's find out.
COVER STORY
We get an introduction from Stine that says that he was inspired to do this book because he and his brother Bill were always measured when they were growing up, and somehow Stine was an inch shorter once. He also name drops growing up and watching The Incredible Shrinking Man and gives some love to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. He goes to describe the events of the movie as if some kids probably never saw the movie, which might be true in 2021, but the early 2000s, that baby was still airing on the reg in syndication. In other words, at least Stine's honest in where he's cribbing.
We open with our protagonist, Danny Marin, in the school science lab annoying his friend Megan Burleigh about his love of the superhero Shrinkman. He's a superhero who can shrink and grow. So, pretty much either Antman or The Atom. This annoys Megan both because she's more focused on their science fair project, as well as the fact that she's also ultra competitive, so she doesn't want to lose in said science fair. Especially when said science fair had a thousand dollar prize, which, like, what science fair is just handing out a grand? Like, I remember getting things like ribbons and maybe a Dairy Queen gift certificate at best.
Danny really loves Shrinkman. He draws him all the time. He even admires Duke Barnes, the character's creator, and wants to go to art school to get better. So, at least he has goals. He also knows that Megan should have their project on lock to win the prize since she's the smarter of the two. Danny would rather draw a comic book for the science fair, but that wouldn't fly with their teacher, Mr. Clarkus, who is described as being super heavyset and mean, mainly because Danny called him Clarkus the Carcass, which, yeah, crappy thing to do, but it's a school-wide colloquialism. Danny calls him it again and gets in trouble but not before drinking some liquid that almost makes him choke on his gum.
The next day, Danny and Megan head to the theater for the new Shrinkman movie. Turns out it's a successful enough character given he has a whole bunch of movies about him. And this is pre-MCU "throw whatever's at the wall and see what works before having a plan" era superhero movies, so the quality I'd assume is shaky. And given that they aren't the most successful movies, it's at least interesting they keep being made. They're described as being very low budget, so I'd imagine they'd be something from a Roger Corman or even a Bert I. Gordon style. Clarkus told Danny to shape up and actually have something of value for the science fair or else he'll be cut from the basketball team, which is another thing Danny likes.
As Danny and Megan get tickets, Danny spots a strange vending machine with the words "Shrinkman Cola" on it. Like some sort of weird promotional product that's been tucked away in the theater. Danny gets a bottle and drinks it, only to spit it out immediately for tasting weird. They watch the movie, Megan mostly seeming to Rifftrax her way through the film, not really enjoying it to the level of Danny. She even tells him that maybe his obsession is going too far, especially if it's going to cost him his spot in the basketball team, but Danny doesn't quite get what she means since he's full Shrinkman Stan. A ShrinkStan if you will. He visits the projection booth where his dad works when suddenly the projector hits him like a hot, burning beam.
Danny practices for his team, the Tigers (boy, that's a team name Stine really likes) with his teammates Rommy and Jake. Danny practices, but feels slower and the ball feels heavier. As if he's off his game. And, because it's a given that this happens in a Stine book, Danny's shorts end up falling to his feet. He heads off, just as Megan catches up and remarks about how maybe Danny's getting smaller. Maybe he's the real Shrinkman. All while she studies him in a way that feels like classic Stine giving us the obvious answer way too early. That night, more clothes falling occurs as Danny's pajama pants are now too big for him. To which I can only imagine Danny in his pajama top looking like David Byrne in the big suit.
So, Danny right now thinks this is all just some silly joke. A jape from Megan and his dad by somehow giving him larger clothes. Although, like, you wouldn't notice other things being taller than you? I get it, still early and we're in full blown denial. Also Megan's in his house again and still studying him. Danny thinks little of it as they head to school. When he notices the desks are taller, he realizes that no joke's this elaborate. He must really be shrinking. He heads to the nurse and his parents arrive to find out he's three feet tall and getting smaller. So thankfully no situation where somehow Goosebumps parents haven't noticed their child is getting shorter.
They take Danny to Dr. Hayward, who also has no idea what's going on, but wants to administer some tests on him to see what's up. They take some brain scans and X-rays, but still have to wait a few days, which by then Danny could be the size of an M&M, or an M&M Mini. Then later, Megan makes a joke about her shrinking too, which nobody, not even the parents, laugh at given, you know, their kid's rapidly shrinking. She tries to tell them something, but they tell her to leave. As they go inside, Danny gets tackled by their Irish Setter dog Rocky, who almost kills him under his weight.
Danny continues to shrink. At one point he's sitting in his chair when he gets too small to get off. He's now at two feet and still going down. He then thinks about other movies about shrinking and how they could be his fate, since, again, this plot isn't that original. The next day, he wakes up on the floor, now about four inches tall. He then hears the booming of footsteps as Megan enters the room to look for him. She almost steps on him, but he manages to dodge in time. Eventually she finds him and is astonished by him being so small so fast. She gives him a birdcage to sleep in while his parents receive a call from Dr. Hayward who may have some answers.
As they rush out the house however, Danny ends up falling out of the cage just as his parents get in the car and drive off, meaning he's stuck in the front yard. So we move from the Incredible Shrinking Man tribute right in to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids one. He spots Rocky who snarls at him before licking him. But the dog's attention goes away as another dog notices Danny as well. After the dogs go away, Danny tries to wonder how the hell he's going to get to Dr. Hayward's, only for him to then suddenly be attacked by a grasshopper, giving us our cover.
Danny fights off the grasshopper until he ends up falling into a pile of ants. One getting its head in Danny's mouth, which... okay? Danny eventually gets out of the yard and makes it to the street as his next plan is to take the bus. But when he sees how big the bus is, as well as the people going into the bus, that plan is out the window. One woman wearing jeans drops her token, which almost kills Danny. He manages to get on her shoe and hitch a ride. So, yeah. He manages to get off the bus and cross the street, getting him to Dr. Hayward's office.
He also gets found by his family and Dr. Hayward, so he awaits his answers. Unfortunately, the answer is there's no cure. Danny then thinks that maybe it was the projector light that did this to him, so they try that, only for it to fail. His parents take him home, then leave him there as they go to see a specialist. Instead of, you know, taking him with them. But given the last time, maybe this is a case where I can't go all Goosebumps parents on them. They dropped the ball once and maybe don't deserve a mulligan. This gives Megan enough time to take him with her as we find out that he was her science project the whole time.
See, when they were in the school science lab, Danny drank a formula that made him almost choke on his gum. That was a shrinking formula that ended up working. Okay, maybe she deserves that thousand dollars. She indeed takes him to the science fair, just as a rat from another one of the projects gets loose and attacks Danny, sort of giving us the Series 2000 cover too. Megan saves Danny, just as everyone else notices the tiny child. Megan wins the science fair and is going to be famous for this, which makes Danny angry.
But Megan gives him what's left of her formula, hoping it will turn him back, but alas. They then begin to realize it might not have been Megan's formula, but the Shrinkman Cola. They head back to the theater, only to see the vending machine is gone since nobody liked the drink. But the machine wasn't taken away, so Megan gets another bottle and gives the drink to Danny which sure enough makes him grow...
TWIST ENDING
And grow. And grow. Until he's nine feet tall. But he sees this as a good thing since now he's definitely going to be a part of the basketball team.
CONCLUSION
The Adventures of Shrinkman is really good. Probably one of the more fun books that Stine's done. As an homage to the shrinking genre, it does a good job with enough harrowing moments and a lot of great set pieces. Though, granted, for as much as we get with the big adventure to Dr. Hayward's, there is a real case of running out of ideas as we just gloss over how Danny got out of the bus and across the street. But that's fine when what we get is still solid. Stine does a fine job in giving everything a sense of scale, especially the smaller that Danny gets in the story. So it definitely gets a chance to feel imaginative. If this were the final Goosebumps Series 2000 book released, it would have at least ended on a more fun note.
Danny's a decent protagonist, but very basic. He has an obsession that we see end up coming true in the story. Though a lot of the Shrinkman stuff does seem to just stop mattering halfway through, making the title feel meager at best. Megan is an interesting character. Someone who clearly doesn't know much about boundaries when it comes to her science projects. Case in point not letting Danny know of her intentions to shrink him down. Literally making him her guinea pig. And all to win a science fair for a thousand dollars. Though the revelation that even she didn't create the real shrinking serum makes for a decent enough twist.
Though that does beg the question, if other people drank the Shrinkman cola, did they shrink too? Or was it some weird combination of Megan's formula and the cola that caused the process to happen? Or even the cola and the blast from the projector? And if it's Shrinkman cola, why did it make Danny grow? Definite asspull feeling of this ending. But then again it's like asking if Radioactive Man was injected with shrinking serum in issue 234 why did his costume shrink too? Or like asking how Danny could even survive as a shrunken person. Maybe some suspension of disbelief is allowed for the book where a child fights a grasshopper. The twist ending is also predictable, but fine.
So, comparing this to Night of the Giant Everything, which one of Stine's shrinking adventures is better? Shrinkman bar none. I like Giant Everything, but that one does fly a bit too off the rails and lacks a lot of the more unique moments that Shrinkman provides. Shrinkman has a more likable protagonist, the shrinking adventure is more fun, there's more interaction with the giant world and giant people and there's a sense of Stine really wanting to pay tribute to this genre of science fiction. So, this one's a strong recommend. It's biggest flaw is being rushed, but if that's the worst thing I can say about it, then that just feels like small talk. Two Un-Bumped books down, four to go. Let's hope we haven't peaked. The Adventures of Shrinkman gets an A.
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