The Stinal Countdown: The Definitive Ten #05: The Horror at Camp Jellyjam

I think when it comes to horror that could work for kids, setting a story in camp is perfect. The fear of being alone in the woods, and being left with people you can barely trust. Not to mention you never know what creatures are lurking in the area. It makes for many vivid images. So when R.L. Stine started writing camp books within Goosebumps, it should come as no surprise that they all work so well in their own ways. So, of course a camp story was going to find its way into the Definitive Ten. To do so would be a disservice. The problem however was choosing which one. Which book puts the "definitive" in the definitive ten? 

My favorite Goosebumps book, or second favorite in certain cases, is Welcome to Camp Nightmare. I think it is a perfect Goosebumps book in how it executes its story and character work. It also has perhaps the most divisive twist of all time. You either like it or you don't. I love it. Ghost Camp is also good, but I feel it lacks, while The Curse of Camp Cold Lake has never been one of my true favorites save for the cover. This isn't about favorites or least favorites. This is about finding the ten books from the original series that I feel define the idea of what Goosebumps truly is. And while the other three come close, none stick the landing as perfectly as our fifth pick, The Horror at Camp Jellyjam.

What I like about The Horror at Camp Jellyjam is that pretty much everything about it feels shrouded in an actual mystery that doesn't tell you exactly what the deal is from the shoot. If Stine's guilty of anything it's that he makes things way too obvious way too soon. But we really don't get that answer until the climax of the story. At least in the original run that is. That is reflected very much in the original cover art. Tim Jacobus was tasked with creating a cover with a creepy looking counselor in front of camp dormitories.

If you ever wondered where the design of Counselor Buddy came from, it's Tim Jacobus himself. Well, a more exaggerated version that is. Tim would often model himself for pieces of cover artwork to get the correct poses and general look of what he's going for. And while no monsters or skeletons or evil dummies on the front cover, Buddy's design still works for being super unsettling. His intense eyes and large freakish grin makes you immediately realize that this guy can't be trusted. All while placing him in the center of a rather normal looking camp setting. A mixture of familiarity with the frightening. Also the cover really pops with its use of purples and blues and oranges for the setting sun background. As perfect a cover as you could ask for.

The plot this time sees a pair of siblings named Wendy and Elliot getting lost from their parents when their trailer detaches and goes down a hill. They wind up in front of King Jellyjam's Sports Camp, and are greeted by the head counselor, Buddy. Buddy is a strange young man who has no memory of where he came from, but runs the camp, as the camp seeks out "only the best". The camp has every possible sport available. Wendy and Elliot soon learn that the camp's competition involves items called King Coins, featuring the mascot of the camp, King Jellyjam. Win six coins, then go on a "winner's walk". 

However, one of Wendy's friends at the camp disappears after taking the winner's walk. There's no way to contact the outside world. The counselors seem super intent on needing Wendy to put effort in and win at the games. Strange tremors rock the camp. And the counselors are so strange that when Wendy accidentally smashes Buddy in the ribs with a baseball bat, he doesn't react at all to it. Soon Wendy discovers the truth, what the real reason for the winner's walk is and why the camp requires "only the best". 

What makes The Horror at Camp Jellyjam work is that, for a book at this point in the series, the focus is on the mystery. Enough little beats in the plot that don't fully answer what's going on at first. Is this a cult? Some strange prison camp? Why are the counselors so intent on only the best? Why do they feel no pain? And what's the deal with that strange mascot for the camp? The weird blob of ooze named King Jellyjam? No way it could be real, right? And if it is, just what horrors await the readers? Stine's biggest flaw is that he often protests too much way too early into a story. He makes too much too obvious too fast, which almost always turns a book into a slog. When he shows restraint, it leads to success.

So, let's talk about King Jellyjam first. His very existence is strange. A giant purple blob monster that sweats snails. That has such a putrid odor that he has to be washed and cleaned at all times, lest he die. And he requires the best people to clean him. Only the best people. Only the best. So that explains the extremely long con of the camp itself and the King Coins. To find who is strong enough to survive the stench of the king and mop him down for the rest of their lives. For something called a "winner's walk", the only winner here is King Jellyjam himself.

The whole explanation definitely seems to question how he survived all this time if he needed a deep cleaning. The book really gives no answers to how he came to be, but the later Classic Goosebumps release did mention his origin. He's the remains of a cup of purple gelatin that gained sentience due to the cave it was in being radioactive. It grew and somehow managed to control the minds of the counselors, who are forced to hypnotize themselves every night to serve him. Yeah, it's a weird idea, but I actually think it feels like the most Goosebumps idea of them all.

What makes King Jellyjam work is that he feels like the idea of a monster you'd expect from this series. Even if you never read a single one of these books, your cursory idea of a Goosebumps villain would probably be a giant purple blob monster that sweats snails and stinks up the joint. In fact, that smelly aspect was almost the book's title as Stine's tentative title was "Smelly Summer". Thank goodness he had a change of heart. And while you could argue that King Jellyjam's defeat is a bit too easy, it still works in a way that you could buy. It wasn't regular conventions, not at all. T'was odor killed the beast.

Wendy is an alright protagonist, but definitely suffers from a lack of much character. Her main gimmick being that she is admittedly not that athletic or competitive. And to be that in a camp which enforces that mindset definitely makes her an outlier. More so than Elliot who takes to the camp quite well, she becomes our stranger in a strange land. Who we follow as she tries to understand just what's going on, and to be the one who has to save the day in the end when we get our full explanation. So while lacking in overall major stuff, she is still just as fine for our point of view to the unfolding events. As for Elliot, there's not much to really go over, he feels like your stock younger sibling character. More bratty and annoying in places.

Buddy also makes for an interesting side-antagonist. Never forceful or overly dangerous (save for the final moments of the book before the cops arrive), he still feels genuinely creepy for how he doesn't react to much, seems overly positive, and very much seems intent on seeing Wendy and Elliot succeed. Which is weird as it is, but once the hypnosis is added, it all makes sense. Why does he hypnotize himself and the other counselors? Is it simply the will of King Jellyjam? Does he do this to blot out the past? It isn't fully made clear. But it works to make him feel like just enough of a threat without being the more stock bad guy we usually get from Goosebumps.

Stine's biggest hurdle is mysteries. He either reveals too much too early or it feels very flimsily made. A last minute rush when even he himself has no idea how to make a mystery work. And in Goosebumps, that happens a lot, to the point that most books suffer. So a book like Camp Jellyjam not only nailing the mystery, but ramping it up and offering an explanation via the frightening reveal of King Jellyjam is a breath of fresh air and makes this book stand out among many of its contemporaries. As a camp book, it going a different route over the more stock camps of other books also helps as a crazy sports camp seems like a more fun idea for a kid to be invested in. I will say if there's any problem that really holds the book back, its end twist, for lack of a better term, kind of stinks. But given this is a book about a stinky blob, maybe that was also intentional.

Camp Jellyjam's legacy really has little to bring up. As all there is for the saga is just the one book. No sequels, no TV adaptation, barely much of anything. Though it did get the Goosebumps Graphix treatment. Much like Stay out of the Basement, the fact we never came back to this book's world is a breath of fresh air. Not everything needs multiple sequels or needs to feel like it's trying to be more than the sum of its parts. And R.L. Stine and Scholastic showing that kind of restraint is such a godsend here. I mean, how can you follow up? King Jellyjam's dead and the counselors are free from his control. But then again, Stine would probably shoehorn in some explanation to bring the blob back to life. 

So, why this one over the other camp books, even the one I love more? What makes this more deserving of a Definitive Ten spot? Overall, while Camp Nightmare, Ghost Camp and to an extent Camp Cold Lake all feel like stories that fit in the idea of Goosebumps, Camp Jellyjam feels more so. Feeling like its mystery and conflict come closer to the general vision of the series. Kid is in a strange place with strange people, there's a big mystery going on, and it ends with the exact kind of monster you'd think would exist in Goosebumps. It offers the complete package in terms of being the very definition of Goosebumps. And by definition I also mean Definitive. 

Are there better books? Yes. Are there better mysteries? Barely, but yes. But do both of those two elements connect with one another to make for a book that feels like what you think Goosebumps should be? Above and beyond that. In terms of a ranking, this would be in the lower echelon. Not as high up as some others on this list, but still high enough for where it deserves to be. In summation, there are plenty of places to set up camp in the Goosebumps world. If you just want the regular camping experience, go someplace else. For sports, mysteries and a memorable monster, then Camp Jellyjam is the camp for you.

Also, a side note, this is officially the 300th blog for Raiders of the Bookmark. I had initially wanted to do a bigger blog, but I feel that this works just fine, being just enough of a long-form essay that fits with the tone of the blog itself. So thanks for following us for 300 blogs so far. Can we make it to 400? Unlike King Jellyjam, that should be no sweat.