The Stinal Countdown: The Nightmare Room #10: Full Moon Halloween

Happy not Halloween (or maybe it is when you read this, I don't know). Due to logistics and that sticky wicket of trying to get these done in chronological order, we don't get a chance to talk about this book on Halloween, so the mood isn't fully there, but whatever. Yes, it's time for Stine's favorite holiday to roll out some stories of inconsistent quality. And it's Nightmare Room, so lord knows what we're in for. Going by the title, this feels almost like another Series 2000 redo, but we'll see for ourselves. Let's talk about Full Moon Halloween.

So, one other thing before starting this one. This book was released on September 23rd, 2001. Twelve days after 9/11. It's believed that the events of 9/11 over the coming months was a factor in the cancellation of the Nightmare Room books, but that hasn't been confirmed. So yeah, this book was made beforehand, but it technically counts as the first Post-9/11 Stine work. How's that for trivia?

I love this cover. Again a case where I really like the latter end covers after having my issues with the first half. I like the creature hand over the goofy looking pumpkin pail with its fanged monster smile. Such a silly image that would fit well for a Goosebumps cover. And then there's the detailed candy that really looks great. Gummy Worms, Rockets (or Smarties outside of Canada), and a wrapper that looks like a tiny bag of Wonder Bread. More delicious than dark, but is just unsettling enough to work. 

Our protagonist, Tristan Gottschalk, starts the book by putting his friend Ray Davidoff in a chokehold and mentioning... WWF Smackdown? Ray breaks free and calls himself Stone Cold Ray? Oh my god, this is the closest we're ever getting to wrestling mark Bob Stine aren't we? I'll take what table scraps I can. All this happens while Bella Chester and Rosa Martinez are less thrilled. But everyone's out from school, so it's not like they made a scene. Seems the whole town is on edge as there has been a wave of animal attacks lately, some believing it to be a wolf of the were variety. Victims included two cats that were town to shreds and decapitated with their heads rolling in the dirt. Ah yeah, there's the good old Nightmare Room edge we've been missing lately. Also, Jesus Stine, were you pent up and needed to kill some animals? 

The reason the four of them were still in school is they were working in the lab with the science teacher, the "Lemme guess who the villain is" man named Mr. Moon who is injecting stuff into eggs. He's probably not doing much... except play Easter Bunny! But this is Halloween time, so the kids debate if they should trick or treat, even given the werewolf attacks. Ray suggests committing to the bit and dressing up as Stone Cold Ray with his catchphrase "You got a problem with that?" No Bob, it's "And that's the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so." Or "What?", which would have started at this time. God I wish he never created "What?" Could this be the book that breaks the one wrestling reference per blog rule? We'll see. As they plan for a party instead, Tristan notices Michael Moon, the strange, ferret looking son of Mr. Moon, who tells them to "be careful." 

Tristan heads home with Rosa who we learn has her four year old cousin visiting at her place and he's a real animal (hmmm). Tristan then notices a black envelope addressed to him. When he opens it, there's a card inside. A card that then emits a bunch of smoke because that's a healthy prank. Turns out it's an invitation to a really scary Halloween party from Mr. Moon. Neither are thrilled because "Halloween with a teacher? How lame can you get?" I dunno, the guy who was injecting eggs a while ago might have some wild ideas for a shindig. But Tristan's mom suggests they at least humor Mr. Moon for a while then leave after a bit, which the pair agree on. Meanwhile, Mr. Moon, his wife Angela and their son Michael are setting up decorations in their dingy old house for the party. Michael is trying to tell them not to go through with it, but they don't listen to him because... I mean they're the villains and all, clearly, but also because Goosebumps Nightmare Room parents. Mr. Moon then uses a remote that drops bars over the windows and doors to ensure they have a captive audience tonight.

The next day, the kids head to school on the bus with "Stone Cold" Ray acting tough with his "You got a problem with that?" quote. He and Bella also got invitations, but nobody else in school. Which should set off red flags. They talk about it more at lunch while Bella is eating chicken to which Ray then says Stone Cold Ray eats human bones and then howls. Stone Cold Ray needs some Stone Cold Ritalin. They then spot Michael Moon in the hallway again. They head to Mr. Moon's class where he talks about his namesake, the moon, and how the word "Luna" can stand for lunatic. He mentions that there will be a full moon on Halloween. I mean, if there wasn't, R.L. Stine would be a frigging liar. He then brings up stories of how people howl at the moon, that there are more acts of crime during a full moon. And the stories of the supposed werewolf attacks all over town. Ray, being the prankster, makes a joke about suddenly growing fur, which just angers Mr. Moon. Yeah, maybe don't offend the potential wolfman.

We then cut to Halloween night as the foursome head to Mr. Moon's house. Tristan is a cowboy (though he doesn't know who the Lone Ranger is, so not a direct reference), Rosa is a mermaid, Bella is Cruella de Vil and Ray is wearing silver tights, and a muscle suit with a lot of red and blue tattoos. I... I think this is what his Stone Cold Ray persona is supposed to be? Is this what Stine thinks Stone Cold Steve Austin looks like? Once more my dreams of wrestling fan Stine have been dashed. Before they arrive, they see Michael, dressed as a vampire, again trying to tell them to stay away. When they arrive, Mr. Moon is dressed as a vampire and Angela is an Angel. Must have taken her all day to come up with that idea. 

After admiring the decorations in the house, the four kids realize they're the only ones invited after all. Mr. Moon starts the party games with blindfolding each kid and holding out a bowl of objects. It's a pile of animal intestines, which grosses most of the kids out except Stone Cold Ray. See, there as an ulterior motive to why Mr. Moon invited these four kids. Because he believes that one of them is a werewolf. This might the only time I get to make an Amogus reference and yet I still feel dirty. See, he believes one of them to be one of the werewolves that have run amok lately and it's his job to trap them. So he's keeping the four kids hostage until the moon is full at midnight, then locking the werewolf in a large cage. Gotta admit, dude's got this all planned out.

After Mr. Moon and Angela leave, the kids try to escape, but all the exits are locked tight. There's even stuffed animals in monster costumes to scare them as they wander through the dark house. They try a phone, but Angela's on the other line to stop them. So they're sent back to the living room for the party until midnight. But Tristan is starting to suspect some people. Ray for the howling and the jokes earlier and Bella for how she ate that fried chicken. With that much focus she should have been eating a literal red herring. Mr. Moon then shows the kids werewolf skins. Now don't get excited, these ones aren't THOSE werewolf skins. These are from werewolves which the Moons have skinned alive because they're really into werewolf hunting. Gotta have some hobby before Youtube existed. 

Mr. Moon then has the kids wear the skins, which are smelly and infested with bugs, so of course they're about to vomit. The reason is to see who is most comfortable in the skin of a werewolf. He then has them howl to see which one howls like a werewolf. They suspect Bella, which seems odd, but given she chose to be someone whose entire MO was wearing a suit of dog skins, is it that wrong a guess? Mr. Moon then opens a crate with strange porcupine creatures from the Island of Borneo known as Plogs. Docile to most creatures, but it has one real enemy: the werewolf. So they can detect werewolves by biting them. And it ends up biting Rosa. So now they suspect her.

The kids are then led to the dining room where they have to eat animal guts because this is turning into an episode of Fear Factor. Bella ends up vomiting because I guess we're not at puke quota yet. Then they have to drink wolfsbane. The Moons are interrupted by trick-or-treaters at the door, giving the kids a chance to try the basement for an escape window. But they run into Michael instead. He says that he tried to warn them about that, then notices that Rosa was bitten by a Plog. He mentions that plogs can be vicious if they're not captured and unfortunately the Moons didn't capture them. Suddenly five Plogs show up and attack the kids. They run to the hallway and escape the plogs, but then run into Bully, the Moon's dog. Mr. Moon shows up and is pissed, but Tristan decides to confess that he's the werewolf. Rosa also pulls an I'm Spartacus and confesses as well. 

The Moons are thrilled to have caught two werewolves, but don't let Bella and Ray leave since the time hasn't arrived just yet. The kids again have to drink the wolfsbane. Tristan and Rosa collapse as if they were poisoned, but Mr. Moon and Angela say that it's probably not them then since they're clearly acting. The wolfsbane isn't even wolfsbane, just tomato juice and pudding. So, still poison-ish? So we're back to square one. All four kids are still suspects, nobody's leaving and even if their parents show up, Mr. Moon says that they'll be able to witness their child as a werewolf. Yeah, but, what if the parents are werewolves too? And, like, actually powerful enough to outwit you? You really wanna risk pissing off an entire werewolf family?

Midnight arrives and suddenly the kids hear screams from Mr. Moon and Angela. Suddenly a pair of werewolves show up with pieces of torn human flesh on them. They attack the kids, but then pull their masks off to reveal the obvious. It was the Moons all along. Yeah, this was all a Halloween prank. A really, really messed up Halloween prank. They then apologize to the kids for having them stay so long and are about to let them out, but the remote breaks and the bars won't lift from the doors and windows. Then Tristan and Rosa begin to change. The truth is they really were werewolves the entire time and are furious that the Moons didn't let them home before curfew. 

Cops then show up. Michael escaped and ratted on his parents. They pull this scare every year on innocent kids and he got tired of it. However, despite two ACTUAL WEREWOLVES in the room, neither the cops nor Michael believe Tristan and Rosa are werewolves while a panicked Mr. Moon and Angela are hauled off with Michael following. The barred door is then shut with Ray and Bella still inside with two hungry werewolves. Okay, this might be a top level twist, Bob. Holy crap.

Not bad. This one is another I liked. Both as a far fresher Halloween take from Stine and a fresh enough werewolf story that really works as well. Kind of reminds me of The Thing in many ways, while the more modern Among Us reference works here as well. Granted, it's obvious that it's Rosa in particular that's a werewolf. Her comments about her cousin being a biter, the fact that there's far less focus on her in the tests, other little things like that. Tristan too, but less telegraphed. Really the only notable thing with him was the curfew being before midnight. Not enough of a clue you'd get immediately, but enough to make it stand out. 

What works in this book is the feeling of danger from the get go once we enter the Moon residence. How it becomes an arduous test to see who the real werewolves are. One test after another to see who will crack. Who will be the werewolf. But there's always this sense that this is all a ruse. All made up to be a Halloween party prank they pull every year. So much so that the cops are aware that they've done this before and finally put a stop to it. My only issue with that is the porgs. What was the deal with them? Like were they just aggressive porcupines or something? Feels like a weird added beat for the tension that does make the twist hit a bit less powerfully. Because if they are actually porgs and they are the enemies of werewolves, then when they bite Rosa it becomes pretty obvious what's up. 

This is probably one of the better "they were monsters all along" endings I've seen from Stine as well. Built up just right to tow the line between if Tristan and Rosa are telling the truth about not being werewolves to the ending still working, complete with the tension at the end. Tension that feels a bit silly when the cops show up and somehow Tristan and Rosa can poker face their way out of this. Also, why the hell didn't Ray and Bella make a run for it while they still could? I guess for the impact of the final twist which is super dark and adds a perfect horror bow on the package that is this book. A book that's mostly well paced with the only filler being the porgs.

The characters are fine, though very bland save for Ray. I guess it works to make Tristan and Rosa less obvious if they don't stand out that much, but they still feel very one dimensional. Then there's Stone Cold Ray. A wrestling fan who loves Stone Cold Steve Austin. And given this is R.L. Stine, the non-wrestling mark, I don't think he even knows anything about Stone Cold other than the name. Would have wowed me more if Ray was like Diamond Dallas Page or Mankind or someone like that. He's an annoying prankster, but that also fades by the end due to the fear of the situation. I also like the Moons as the "villains." The fix of them not really being werewolf hunters is pretty obvious and the whole party being an elaborate prank also becomes way too obvious, but they're really good at committing to the bit. Bella exists for the most part, but given we need red herrings, she can't be labeled as a Superfluous Clay either. So she's fine. 

Overall, we're still flying high with The Nightmare Room's latter end. This one isn't perfect. Laden with plot holes and a feeling of things being too obvious for their own good, but the tension in the party and the twist save this one from a lower rating than it probably would have gotten in most other scenarios. Is it a make-good for Full Moon Fever? I'm not entirely certain, but it sure as hell eats that book's lunch. Perhaps as voraciously as Bella eats fried chicken. So this is another easy recommend. Do wish I did this one during Halloween but whatever. April still feels scary enough. Full Moon Halloween gets an A-.