The Stinal Countdown: The Definitive Ten #07: A Night in Terror Tower

I think one of the strongest elements for Goosebumps is the use of atmosphere. More often than not, most books set themselves in some form of suburbia. And that can work. But when you take the reader to somewhere unique, it can often wield great results. Or in the case of the seventh choice for the Definitive Ten, it can make for one of the strongest books in the series. And what setting works better for upping the creep dosage than a medieval tower complete with torture devices and an evil executioner? Add in some time travel and magic, and you get a book that truly defines Goosebumps. Let's spend another Night in Terror Tower. 

Let's travel back to 1483. Richard III places his two nephews, Richard, Duke of York and Edward V in the Tower of London. The two soon disappeared, with no sign of what happened to them, though it's mostly believed that they were killed. Clearly, R.L. Stine was also intrigued by this story and felt that it could work as a Goosebumps story, especially given that the series is supernatural, he can just throw in time travel as our excuse. And so, the early pieces of the twenty-seventh Goosebumps book were in place. Next up was needing the cover work by Tim Jacobus. And given that this is a book about a place of torture, his work with this cover art was indeed a torturous affair.

I really love this cover. And while it lacks the more absurd and goes for more morbid with this hulking executioner ready to swing his axe, there is just a sense of coolness to the design. Though, granted, the Lord High Executioner never looks like this in the book or TV adaptation, so it's a bit misleading. But back to Tim Jacobus. He has expressed disdain for this cover, finding to be one of his least favorite works. You see, due to time constraints and scheduling issues, Tim had to get this cover done far quicker than most of his works. In fact, it was one grueling 30-hour session. As such, Tim had to rush the final work. Though while the cover remains a classic for many, Tim is at least happy that nobody seemed to notice how rushed the work actually was.

Siblings Sue and Eddie are visiting London and on a tour of the famed "Terror Tower" in which many horrific acts of torture were done to the victims who wound up inside the tower. There were also stories of a prince and princess named Edward and Susannah who were locked in the tower, then mysteriously vanished. As the two detour from the tour and soon end up confronted by a mysterious man with three white stones. This being the Lord High Executioner. After some chase scenes, Sue and Eddie soon realize that their parents are nowhere to be found, nor do they even remember what their parents look like. 

Another encounter with the executioner takes the two siblings back to the medieval period where they're soon captured by the executioner and taken to the tower to be killed. They soon learn that they're the real Susannah and Edward who were sent to the future by the wizard Morgred to try and save them from execution. But soon it becomes too late and the executioner readies to finally kill the siblings, but they manage to return to the present time along with Morgred, who becomes their surrogate father. So, a bit of a happier ending than most Goosebumps books at least. 

What really makes A Night in Terror Tower work is its atmosphere. Even more so than the plot itself, the setting for this book is what makes it. Taking us out of American suburbia or the countryside to give us a book set in London is a fresh change of pace. And by that I mean both in the then-modern and medieval eras. Terror Tower is particularly interesting with descriptions of devices like thumb screws and the rack. Giving just enough morbid detail to ancient punishments to make the reader both freaked out and intrigued to see what else is there. I also like the feel of the medieval period and how old fashioned it is. Though the book doesn't get enough time in that period to have as much fun with it. 

Our protagonists are also decent. Sue really doesn't have much in terms of character, mostly being the straight-laced older sibling. Eddie is more the joker, and his pickpocketing characteristic becomes less a gimmick as it is important to the plot. In a series with a lot of very frustrating sibling pairings, they rank as one of the better cases in Goosebumps. Not perfect, not always getting along, but that kind of makes them work even better. They actually do feel like real siblings. And given we only see their modern era take, it would have been interesting to see more of how they were in the medieval era before their disappearance. But this is also a 120+ page book, so I can understand the lack of time to build on those. It's pretty much par for the course with Stine.

The Lord High Executioner is an interesting villain. Mostly in his design. Going less for the bulky hooded version from the cover and more a tall, dark figure in a coat and wide brimmed hat. He feels like someone far more dangerous than your average executioner. And given his ability to use the magic stones to travel through time, to finish the job he was assigned to, he does feel like enough of a threat. And yes, this is a job he is assigned to, not just something he's doing for fun. As mentioned in the story, Sue and Eddie's uncle, the then to be King Robert, had their parents killed, and hired the executioner to kill Susannah and Edward to ensure his rule. So you can imagine this expert killer being pretty pissed off when his victims blink from the then-present.

And that brings us to Morgred. He is this book's take on Merlin, right down to his description in the book being pretty much a perfect resemblance to the legendary wizard of folklore. He being the royal wizard, didn't want to see Edward of Susannah die at the hands of the executioner, so he placed a spell on them to send them to the future, hoping that the executioner wouldn't follow. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't as failsafe a spell as he'd hoped, and when they return to the olden days and are captured again, Morgred just kind of gives up. In fact, he freezes them in place briefly before leaving. Thankfully the kids manage to defeat the executioner and it's a happy ending in the present, with Morgred coming with them to take on a role as their parent. But given how quickly he just gives up after his plan failed, I don't exactly trust him to have their safety in mind all too much either.

Aside from, you know, Morgred just leaving them for dead at the end, the other issue with the book is its pacing. There's nothing wrong with a mixture of slower scenes and a quicker pace in others, but you do get a lot of the book in the middle that is just Sue and Eddie running from the executioner. And before Stine revised it, and gave them breathers, there was just going to be a lot of pages of running. When even Stine finds that idea boring, you know that it's something in desperate need of a fix. But thankfully it's not all just running around, but it also does eat into a lot of what we could have gotten in the medieval period. Though that's also moot with me for the scene with the woman selling Sue out to the executioner. Still a top ten moment in terms of actual hilarity. 

In terms of legacy, the book does have a sequel in Give Yourself Goosebumps. A special edition called Return to Terror Tower in which you, the reader, must go on a new adventure with Sue and Eddie to Terror Tower and the medieval period, once again dealing with the executioner. It also got a playset and, while I really don't collect Goosebumps merch, I would want to make this one an exception as it's pretty neat. I always did want those Mighty Max-like toys as a kid, but let's be honest, I'd lose the parts super quick. And me, who wasn't even into Goosebumps as a kid would have loved this as a birthday or Christmas gift. 

And while it's not a part of the Terror Tower series, I do feel that much of A Night in Terror Tower did inspire Heads, You Lose! Mostly through how it's two kids travelling back to medieval times and having to survive not being executed. And while it's not the worst book ever, it does feel far weaker than Terror Tower on the grounds of a lot of wheel spinning midway through the book. A case of Stine having a good idea, but not the ability to pad it to page quota. A definite case of Stine doing this idea far better over a decade prior. 

What makes this book a definitive ten? Like so many others, it's a book I think really describes Goosebumps well. While it's not a book filled with monsters or cursed objects or evil dummies, it's still a book where the setting feels like it could go anywhere, especially to a type of story you would think of when you think about Goosebumps. An evil executioner fits right in when it comes to the many monsters and ideas that make the series such a classic. If I were to rank this book in the top ten, it would stick closer to the lower end. And I will admit, this one was more of an easy-swap over a couple other books that could have fit. But it's also a book that I think about when I think of Goosebumps. So, I guess you could say that in the end, it was a well-executed book.