NNtG: Shivers #09: The Mystic's Spell

It's time for another trip into Shivers. Not only that, but it's time for yet another story about being careful what you wish for. Add in some mysticism and fortune telling because those are often part and parcel with these types of stories. And in Shivers, the Russian Roulette of GB-likes. But hopefully there's good fortunes coming our way as we go under The Mystic's Spell.

I continue to be amazed by Shivers covers. I don't think there's been one I've ever outright disliked. The art always delivers on atmosphere and vibrant color. Granted, with many of the normal trappings like a bright light and shadow, a full moon, and dead trees, but it's the flourish of the amusement park in the background that really puts this one among the best in the series. And, yes, there's also a skull on the cover, this time above the opening of the tent. Excellent stuff once again.

Timmy's got it rough. He's unathletic and an easy target for bullies. Made no better when the year before he embarrassed himself at the carnival. Screaming at the Haunted House and vomiting in the Tilt-a-Whirl. He's a smart kid, but otherwise nobody really likes him, save for his friend Howard and possibly a girl named Sally. So I guess he's got something going for him. Timmy and Howard head to the arcade to play Mortal Kombat, (and props to the book for spelling it correctly by the way) when they get accosted by a trio of bullies, Hank Wilson and his cronies Duane and Jason. Hank easily beats up Timmy and steals his money, before referring to Timmy as Timid Timmy, which I'm thankful he didn't just call him a slur.

But Timmy's finally sick of this. He wants to be stronger than Hank, and athletic enough to finally earn some respect. And fast. Thankfully, steroids isn't his plan at least. He goes to the carnival and it all goes well at first, him even managing to stump a guesser at one of those "guess your weight" challenges where he wins a bookmark from the previous year. Look, a win is a win even with a dated prize. He runs into Sally and her friends and goes to get lemonade, only for Hank to trip him causing him to spill the lemonade over some people. Now extra embarrassed because it was in front of Sally, Timmy makes a run for it. Eventually he stops at a tent further out from the carnival for someone named Myra the Mystic with a sign saying that she grants wishes. 

Timmy meets with Myra who agrees to give him his wish for whatever money he had left. Timmy makes his wish to be the strongest kid in his class. Myra pretty much tells Timmy to Goosebumps #12, but Timmy wants this more than anything. She then rubs a bottle of milky goo on his face (Don't read into that Don't read into that Don't read into-DAMMIT!) and says that the wish will work but not immediately. Then Myra's cat Bootsy scratches him, causing him to knock over all of Myra's bottles. Maybe he should have wished not to be clumsy. Eventually though, the wish does work and Timmy gains super strength, which he uses to help a carny change his tire. But now that he's super strong, he isn't going to wait on getting one over on Hank. 

After visiting a freak show for a brief chapter, Timmy finds Hank, Duane and Jason. He grabs Hank's arm tightly, which is enough for the bullies to chase him into the haunted house. But Timmy gets the better of them, hoisting Hank in the air and threatening to drop him. He forces them to apologize and when Hank and the others do, they run off. Timmy gets his big victory over Hank. And pretty early too. Oh, right, there's still over half a book left for this to go bad. But for now, things are going great as he shows both Sally and Howard his strength in that strength game with the hammer. And with Sally impressed and things looking good, Timmy feels satisfied for once. He returns home and checks himself out. He hasn't gained any muscles, but him lifting the random as hell Cigar Store Indian in his room and bumping the ceiling with it is proof that he's still super strong.

The next day at school, Hank picks Timmy first for their ball game. Timmy misses a couple strikes then hits the ball over the fence. It's impressive to the kids, but their principal, Mr. Halperin, thinks Timmy lost the ball and that him sending it over the fence is some sort of cover-up since Timmy looks like such a little wimp. And Timmy doesn't suddenly counter by showing off his super strength, because he realizes it'll get him in trouble and that eventually his parents will learn about the whole "Getting a wish from a mystic" thing. Okay props to Timmy. Perhaps one of the smartest kids in any of these books. But he still gets detention for it. And things escalate further with Timmy breaking a Bicep Buster arm wrestling game at the arcade, to which not even the arcade owner believes that Timmy could have broken it by playing it right, so he gets in trouble for that and his parents have to pay for the machine. 

Now Timmy's becoming a pariah. Sally isn't interested in him, he's grounded, banned from the arcade and now Hank likes him, probably more out of not wanting to be murdered. Timmy goes to get a drink out of the machine, but gets frustrated and punches right through the thing. So now his parents have to pay for the machine as well. In any other Shivers, Timmy would be crushing skulls in rage right now, but instead he's just taking all of the abuse. But he knows that he needs to find Myra and reverse this whole mess. He heads to the carnival, but Myra is gone. However, her daughter Queenie is there, working at the haunted house. Timmy meets with her, but she's not entirely sure she can reverse the wish, but still tries. 

The next day, Timmy has indeed lost his super strength and is a normal kid again. That is until before he answers a question in class, he drops on all fours and starts to howl. D-did he turn into a dog or something? Huh, what?

This might be the safest Shivers book I've read so far in the series and that's saying a lot. So much so that it really doesn't get a chance to do many exciting things. And the book kind of just devolves into "here's what Timmy destroys next". I would have liked to see Timmy's destructive tendencies ramp up as his strength goes out of control. But what we get still works fine. Is this a better Be Careful What You Wish For? A little. There's at least better reasoning for Timmy's wish to go bad overtime instead of with Be Careful where it feels like Sam is just being screwed around with for no reason. Myra gives him the warning before going through with it. Part of me kind of thought maybe the bookmark would have been revealed to be the source of the wish instead of Myra, but that would be overthinking. The twist is weird, but given that Queenie did say she wasn't as good at magic as her mother, it's not as out of nowhere as it could have been.

Timmy is a decent protagonist. You understand his need for being strong, and his feelings for Sally, who really feels like a non-character which is such a shame. I really wish that some of these characters that the protagonist is smitten by aren't ultimately just presented as prizes to be won and, you know, had character. At least a reasoning to want us to see why Timmy should end up with Sally. Regardless, when things go his way it feels good and when things go bad, you do feel bad for him. It's a hole he chose to dig, but one he didn't deserve to be buried in. I do like that he decides not to show off his strength since, sure, it could have made people stop doubting him, it likely would have led to more problems. Either him being examined or him being exploited somehow. Kind of the worry of falling down a similar hole that How I Learned to Fly ultimately fell. I mean we have the non-character love interest at least so it's almost sliding down that hole. 

So, if you're looking for a scary book, especially in Shivers which can offer some real dark stuff, you'll be let down with this. There's an okay story here, but one that others have done countless times and it's a book that doesn't get a chance to feel unique with the concept. It's as filler a book as you can get. But if you want something simple and quick to read, you can do worse, so it's a super light recommend. I'm just glad we didn't get a lot worse with stereotypes and the G word or anything, so props to the book on that as well. At least that wish was fulfilled. The Mystic's Spell gets a C+.