The Stinal Countdown: The Definitive Ten #02: Night of the Living Dummy II

Honestly, given what Goosebumps has become, the least surprising thing about doing this definitive ten was that I'd have to add a Living Dummy book into the pile. The more shocking choice for some is my choice. While the first book has its strengths and one of the most iconic covers ever, when you get right down to the nitty gritty, it's the second book that really sets things in motion. The book where the face of the franchise takes the reigns of mischievous mannequin. My second book pick for the definitive ten is none other than Night of the Living Dummy II.

The idea of toys coming to life is nothing new in popular culture. Made most famous by Pinocchio, especially with the Walt Disney adaptation. But for as much as the idea of living toys could be creepy on its own, it's toys with a touch of evil that really haunt you. In 1945, the anthology film Dead of Night premiered, and with it was a story about a ventriloquist and his dummy. One of the first notable uses of the evil dummy genre and to play with the idea of the real question: is the dummy alive, or is it all in the head of the ventriloquist? Their dark, twisted psyche coming out in the form of a wooden puppet?

And, like our last definitive book Say Cheese and Die, The Twilight Zone also heavily pushed the concept of the evil dummy. From there movies like 1978's "Magic" continued the concept. Then in 1988, the movie that really put the fear of living toys into the minds of impressionable youths, Child's Play with its infamous villain, the not-so-Good Guy Chucky. To sum it up, the concept was nothing new by the time R.L. Stine wrote Night of the Living Dummy, published in early 1993. 

The original Night of the Living Dummy is an interesting book in its own right. Mainly in that it subverts who you think the villain is. The cover art depicts Slappy's morbid mugshot. The use of lighting and even the little touch of a tilted angle adds a nightmarish thought of just how freaky the dummy really is. But the book misleads. While Slappy is in the story, he's not our evil dummy, rather another dummy named Mr. Wood is the fearsome firewood who torments Lindy and Kris Powell. When Mr. Wood is defeated however, Slappy awakens and his motivations are uncertain. And for two years there would be no answer. Fast forward to May of 1995 and with Night of the Living Dummy being a huge success, it was time to bring the idea back. And Stine chose the right dummy for the job.

While the first cover is far scarier, Tim Jacobus' second cover for the series definitely feels like a standout. Many of the traits he had begun to implement were involved, particularly the warping of angles in a fisheye style. Giving the observer a sense that this is coming from their POV. Mixing the innocent looking girls' bedroom with the creepy looking dummy front and center. Like Say Cheese and Die! the cover evokes the perfect mixture of just creepy enough while still being a silly enough scenario. The absurd with the unsettling. While lacking the eerie green eyes originally, Slappy's blue eyes are still just as freakish, staring a hole at the reader with an eerie grin on his face. Even adding the freaked out plush toys for added emphasis.

The plot of Night of the Living Dummy II centers around the Kramer family. Mom, Dad, Jed, Sara and our protagonist Amy. The family are like any other family, except they hold a family sharing night each Thursday, which is where the family show off their latest talents, or just talk about stuff. Weirdly wholesome yet also questionable as it feels like it's forcing the kids to work on their talents instead of letting them go as it is. Amy's talent is ventriloquism, but her old dummy Dennis doesn't quite fit the bill anymore. So Mr. Kramer ends up getting Amy a new dummy named Slappy. And all seems fine (save for a sandwich in Slappy's head for some reason), but Amy spots a card in Slappy's pocket. Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molanu Karrano. And we're off to the races.

As Slappy is now alive and doing everything from hurling harsh insults at the Kramer family to destroying Sara's artwork. Amy gets blamed for everything, but she knows it's not her doing. And thus is the reason I picked this book as our definitive. You see, more so than the first book, this one feels like the template that much of the Living Dummy series bases itself off of. Slappy's arrival, the reading of the magic words, the insults and the mayhem. Almost all the books to follow have that same pattern. It's admittedly an easy pattern to take, but I can't fault Stine for taking it. 

Like other works including Dead of Night and The Twilight Zone, the story builds itself on the real question of is the dummy alive, or is it all in Amy's head. However, Stine doesn't actually apply those shades of grey, never making it ever feel like it's the case of Amy's actions causing Slappy's mayhem. It's almost a given from minute one that it's Slappy's doing. I do wish that at least one of the books did take the direction of making it all the kids' doing. That Slappy isn't alive in the book and it's a situation similar to the Batman villain Scarface. The meek and cowardly ventriloquist and his dummy, the evil, violent and abrasive mob boss. The dark side of the ventriloquist made manifest. Like, now that's impossible given Slappy's value to the series, but if any book did it, I wish it was this one. 

Slappy's motivations also do make sense. In many ways he's an agent of chaos. Enjoying destroying the lives of the people he comes in contact with. Setting them with the ultimatum of being his "slave" or being considered insane and locked up. It's a rather creepy threat, until you remember he's literally just a wooden dummy and can usually be easily defeated. But he at least feels threatening for the most part. And given how easily he got the Kramer family to suspect Amy of being crazy, his plan was almost flawless. But given that the family never think to get rid of the dummy that's suddenly been making their daughter act so strange, maybe it was too easy even for Slappy as admittedly, the Kramer family kind of suck. 

While you can see the innocence of the sharing nights, the Kramer family are far less close-knit as you'd believe. Sara soon learns Slappy is alive, but lets Amy twist in the wind for a while and lets others treat her like she's insane. Jed just exists to be a jokester, while dad is probably the lesser evil. I mean he did buy Slappy for Amy before everything went to hell. And then there's mom who talks about how funny it was that a large woman tried to wear a shorter outfit only to be offended when Slappy takes jabs at her. We don't know Mrs. Kramer's name, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was Karen. For a family that's presented almost like the suburban Von Trapps, they sure don't get along too well.

The book ends on a similar note to the first book, but I do think it's better handled. Slappy gets attacked by Dennis, who was also alive the whole time, similar to Slappy in the previous book. Though the book does at least try to make it feel ambiguous, at first thinking it was Jed who tackled Slappy, only to question who really did it. The episode is far more blunt and has the ending be Dennis, who sounds like Goofy for some reason. Honestly, I think the twist works far better in this book than the previous. Far less over the top as the previous had a steamroller befall Mr. Wood, but the ambiguity and the tone of "this isn't over" works really well.

While I've stated before that this isn't one of my favorites in the series, I still think it's a solid book. I think with the hindsight of how little the formula innovates for the majority, it's painted this one in my mind as just okay. But that's not saying it doesn't work either. In terms of horror, it's still solid enough. It reveals its hand too quick as Stine is almost always guilty of, but gives just enough mayhem in the story to where you do want to follow where it goes. And while Slappy can be easily bested, he does feel like a threat that kids could buy into. The evil toy that's hellbent on making a kid's life miserable. Again, the Child's Play trilogy happening in the same time frame I think really helped the dummy books in the long run and helped boost the general interest in this brand of horror.

Slappy's Legacy goes far beyond this book. Hell, he has his own book series at this point and is the face of the franchise. So he's at least secure in that area. Though, like has always been my issue with Slappy, he rarely gets to feel super dynamic throughout each book. Some rare occasions and SlappyWorld have tried to rework the formula in some very interesting ways, but more often than not, Slappy's character feels no different in most of those books than it does in his big true debut with Night of the Living Dummy II. Be that a case of Stine's writing of the character or the damning issue of the truest monster in all media, the status quo.

This is called the Definitive Ten for a reason and even if I'm fairly indifferent, I still consider this a definitive book for Goosebumps. Yes, I do feel the first book is stronger, but I'd be lying if I said it's the first book I think of when Slappy is mentioned. It's almost always the second book. Maybe the fact that this was the first Dummy book adapted for television, maybe it's placement in the center of the original 62 has something to do with my memories, but when it comes to Goosebumps, this book definitely feels like Goosebumps, or more so the vision of the series Stine had intended for. 

I think to really sum up the book, Night of the Living Dummy II feels very contained. In that you really get everything you need out of it without feeling too ripped off. With very little dragging of its feet or hitting any wall. Every scene matters to the central plot with very little deviation. I still personally wish it felt more dynamic for me, but like I've said, this book feels very worthy of being placed as one of Stine's top tier works for the original 62.