The Stinal Countdown: The Definitive Ten #06: The Haunted Mask

I'd say if there was any pick for my definitive ten that was a given, it's safe to say that our pick today is the likeliest case. There's simply no way to mask such an important book for the Goosebumps book series. Because while there are still a few picks left, when I think of the most definitive Goosebumps experience, and the book that feels like the series in its strongest form and fashion, there's only one book there could be. Let us sing the tale of Carly Beth yet again as we talk about The Haunted Mask.

Masks and horror are synonymous with each other. Be it the covering of a killer's true face like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, be it to hide the ugliness behind like the Phantom of the Opera, masks fit the general idea of the horror story. They also work similar to the idea of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The real face representing the humanity presented outwardly on a regular basis, while the mask represents the true monstrous form inside. One's true face made manifest. So, Goosebumps adapting this concept seemed like a recipe for success, though really the origin came from when R.L. Stine's son Matt got his head stuck in a Halloween mask. 

Speaking of Halloween, this would be Stine's first of many books about the holiday. Again, much like the idea of the mask, Halloween simply makes for a near-flawless backdrop for horror stories. So, here's Stine, already inspired by a real life incident, ready to bring Halloween to Goosebumps for the first time. Who knew it wouldn't just be one of his strongest books ever (and I mean that for all of his works), but also give Goosebumps perhaps its greatest protagonist ever. So let's talk about just why The Haunted Mask is a definitive ten book.

One of the more important parts to any Goosebumps book is its cover, I think we've made that clear by now. It has to be your first foot forward. The litmus test to see if it will attract an audience. I've also talked about how the best covers use a strong mixture of both the familiar and the frightening, the fun with the freakish. And to say that the cover work nails that is an understatement. According to Tim, he had his niece model for the cover art. However, she wasn't aware that her face was going to be obscured by an ugly, green monster mask with glowing eyes.  But you take your piece of immortality where you can get it, I guess. And this cover is definitely one that's stood the test of time.

I'd make the argument that the cover is missing a background, which does hurt some works, but for this one, I think it works so much more. The focus isn't meant for anything but Carly Beth and more importantly the mask itself. A yellow-green rubber monstrosity with glowing yellow eyes and a mouth full of sharp, pointy fangs. Even a bit of drool for added creep factor. Calling it a haunted mask is apropos as one look at this image, especially as a kid, and it stays in your mind forever. It will haunt you. It may be the most perfect representation of Goosebumps' message ever made and stands as one of Tim's best works ever.

The story centers around a girl named Carly Beth Caldwell. She's an average kid, but is scared of everything. Made no better when school pranksters Chuck and Steve constantly scare her. Frustrated, and wanting to finally get back at them, Carly Beth opts against her regular Halloween costume and heads to a strange party store that just opened up. Upon examining, she finds a really scary mask. And despite the owner telling her not to take it, she still ends up taking it. However, whenever she puts on the mask, she is definitely acting scary, but also seems to be unable to control just how scary the mask can get.

During Halloween, Carly Beth causes mayhem in the neighborhood before finding Chuck and Steve to get her revenge. Oh, and she is also carrying a plaster bust of her head created by her mom as a well-meaning, albeit somehow more creepy than the mask, symbol of her love. Carly Beth gets her revenge, but when she tries to take the mask off, it won't come off. She soon learns the truth about the masks and the owner of the party store. That these aren't masks, but human faces created by the man to hide his deformities. But the faces, the "unloved" soon deteriorate and become evil. 

And while I can't say that Stine fully ripped it off, or was even inspired by it, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the shopkeeper's origin is the 1990 Sam Raimi film Darkman. In it, Liam Neeson plays a scientist whose face becomes deformed after the villain of the movie sends his henchman to try and kill him. However, he had created a form of synthetic skin that can turn into anyone else's face perfectly, albeit for a very brief period of time. So while the shopkeeper doesn't become a superhero, the idea of a temporary fix to a facial deformity fits in with Darkman. So if it inspired Stine a bit, that's at least something of note.

I've gone on record for saying it, and I'll say it again. I think Carly Beth is the greatest Goosebumps protagonist. Why? Well, every protagonist in Goosebumps has to be our avatar to follow the events of the story. We're reading this from their POV, their experiences. And most are either super bland, lacking in much to really define themselves, or are unlikable for reasons like being pranksters, or weird gatekeepers, or just being really dumb at times. Carly Beth is an outlier as she is one of the rare cases of Goosebumps. And that's a character with an arc. 

Carly Beth starts the story as someone who is constantly afraid of everything. It makes her an easy mark for Chuck and Steve, and even her little brother Noah enjoys making her miserable. Even her best friend Sabrina notes how much of a wuss she is. Carly Beth finally has enough and finds the mask so she can get revenge for once. And it goes too far, as the longer she's in the mask, the more of her humanity disappears along with it. To the point that the mask stays stuck on her head. A case of her once normal form now gone and in its wake is the nightmarish figure she's turned into. 

The Haunted Mask is a rare Goosebumps story with a moral to it. That moral being the consequences of revenge. How going too far can strip away what remains of the person you once were. And that actions have unfortunate consequences. It makes the symbol of love, the bust of Carly Beth, have a few different meanings. Not just the love of her mother and her family being the thing that stops her from going too far, but also being the true Carly Beth. Not the present beast, but the girl underneath the mask. And it becomes the character growth she needed all along. That Carly Beth has to come to terms with loving herself and who she really is. It's why I think she is the best protagonist due to being so multidimensional. 

What's interesting is that the book really has no true villain. It has antagonists like Chuck and Steve, and the mask and the other unloved definitely have their chilling presence. The main mask seeming to have a mind of its own. But really the ultimate villain, if there is one, is Carly Beth herself and how she lets so much of herself go overboard. And how she conquers it is a sign of how her character endures over time. Often one of the best remembered characters in the entire Goosebumps series. And a lot of that is thanks to this book's legacy.

There are two different diverging sequels to the original Haunted Mask book. Both feature the core cast, but both take a different road in how to do a direct sequel to the story. In The Haunted Mask II, the focus is now on one of the bullies in the past book, Steve Boswell, and his experience with an old man mask that nearly kills him. Carly Beth still appears in the book as a side-character, but you can see how her character has changed from the original book. No longer scared, doesn't fall for Chuck and Steve's pranks, and has actual confidence in herself. Showing that she did indeed find that self-love that I had mentioned previously. Goosebumps sequels, especially direct ones, often have a tough time continuing a character's story, but it's good we got to see Carly Beth in this light.

Stine wasn't quite finished with Carly Beth however. And this originally started with the cancelled Goosebumps Gold. Intended as a more darker series, one of the three known books planned was The Haunted Mask Lives! All that remains is the cover and concept art which features a girl trying to tear the mask off her face. While we don't know if this is specifically Carly Beth, given her history with the mask and the fact that you could see the mask wanting revenge on her, it makes the most sense that it would be her. Possibly a sign that the bond between her and the mask are still together even after the events of the first book. Carly Beth's past coming back to haunt her. Like a... haunted... mask.

But Stine held on to what appeared to be much of his plans for The Haunted Mask Lives! when he brought Goosebumps back for real in 2008 via HorrorLand a la The Scream of the Haunted Mask. It is an alternate take on the Halloween one year after the first book, seemingly fully negating the events of the previous book. This time, Carly Beth is more confident than before, but is still haunted by the mask. It still calls to her, still wants her to put the mask back on. It's more about Carly Beth's fight with the mask's power over her. Ultimately it wins out when she has to wear it in the book's climax, but it also feels a bit more real than what the original sequel provided. That yes, while we can move on from our past, things can still stay prevalent with us and remain to haunt us. Carly Beth continues through the HorrorLand story, even getting a moment that I was really happy for involving her and Sabrina. If you know, you know. But Carly Beth's arc pretty much ends there.

*sigh*, and then... Wanted: The Haunted Mask happened.

You want to know why we had this long talk about why Carly Beth is important? Because Stine proved that to be the case with his 2015 release Goosebumps Wanted: The Haunted Mask. While not connected to the Carly Beth saga, the story features a new haunted mask being worn by a girl named Lu-Ann Franklin, who wants a scary mask to scare the snobby Polly Martin. However, the mask makes her wild and destroys everything in sight. To which she spends most of that book running around trying to find a symbol of love. And then the book spends another 100+ pages about the other protagonist, Devin O'Bannon, on a haunted pumpkin farm and it kills the momentum. While the book's first half is strong, having the weaker second half, a lack of interesting characters and far less stakes makes this the worst thing to happen to an otherwise solid saga.

Of course, books weren't the only major part of the legacy. When Goosebumps made its way to TV, The Haunted Mask was the first to be adapted, first airing as a one-hour special. And honestly, if the showrunners wanted to put their best foot forward, then going with a book like The Haunted Mask to represent the series was a brilliant idea. And the adaptation is nearly perfect, hitting every major beat of the novel with very few deviations from the source material. All while actress Kathryn Long portrays Carly Beth's character perfectly in both regular and masked form. It's no wonder why the special has taken on a life of its own by becoming a seminal Halloween classic and considered one of the best kids specials of all time. I think that statement alone is proof why this deserves a definitive spot. 

Goosebumps has some very notable iconography. Slappy, Monster Blood, the Horrors, Curly, just to name a few. And The Haunted Mask easily fits in that conversation, feeling much like one of the most important mascots in Goosebumps. And while maybe the last book was a bad case, it's a rare example of a book with sequels that don't fully tarnish the original book's legacy. And an original book that stands on its own as one of the true images that forge the identity of Goosebumps as a brand. In ranking the top ten, this would be the highest book pick so far, possibly the #1 pick. It's that pivotal. And while one could argue that we've peaked already with this list, we still have four more interesting picks to go.