A Case of the Bumps: The Slugly Truth

You ever think about finales? Like, how tricky it can be to perfectly stick a landing on a long running series? Like, how some did it great like M.A.S.H, and others do it in an okay yet underwhelming way like Seinfeld? The finale can be a tricky thing to master, even if in the end it's just ending one series and moving on to the other. Though when the first series is one of the most successful book series of all time, you'd hope the transition from one series to another would come off well. But, unfortunately, that's not the case when it comes to Goosebumps, because my god is Monster Blood IV a bad book.

But, I think about Monster Blood IV quite a bit. Both in just how spectacular a failure it was, and if it could have been a better book. Could the elements in the story itself work if certain things were changed? Like, if it was its own book divorced from Monster Blood? And was it always going to be the final book of the original Goosebumps series? So let's talk about this sluggish sequel and how bizarre it is that it even exists in the first place. Let's open up yet another Case of the Bumps and talk about the black sheep (or blue slug technically) of both Monster Blood and Goosebumps in general.

#1. THE HALLOWEEN III OF THE MONSTER BLOOD SAGA

Now, believe me when I say I don't use that title to disparage Halloween III. But when you consider how it deviates entirely from the Michael Myers movies, it's a fair way to use it as a comparison to Monster Blood IV. Although, the one main difference being that the cast of the Monster Blood series still exist in Monster Blood IV. It's still Evan Ross, Andy and Kermit as the main characters with Conan Barber as the antagonist. And, aside from a quick reference to the original green Monster Blood in the beginning and one quick dream sequence, this book is almost completely divorced from everything involving the original trilogy. It's a book where Evan, Andy and Kermit find a can of Blue Monster Blood, only this time, it turns into blue slug creatures that can multiply and become more feral. 

So, yeah. It's a fair term to use. Even though it was always John Carpenter's intent to have Halloween be anthology-based and not just the Michael Myers franchise. And something tells me that Stine isn't a guy who cares much about the integrity of the products he makes. I'll get into that in the next segment. But I mean, you go in, now four books deep into the Monster Blood series and suddenly it's completely different in a way that doesn't even feel like an earnest attempt at change but either an extreme attempt to change the concept or just a complete asspull. It's easy to understand why this book holds such contempt amongst the Goosebumps fandom.

#2. WAS THIS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE THE FINAL BOOK?

Well, for the longest time it was the belief that Monster Blood IV was intended to be the final book before the shift over to Series 2000. But, The Art of Goosebumps book from 2021 gave us one of the few notable pieces of Goosebumps trivia that wasn't blatantly lifted from the Goosebumps wiki. The plan was for Cry of the Cat to be released around this time, originally under the title of Creep of the Cat. However, Stine was having trouble making the book work and having it ready for release, and thus it was moved over as the first book in Series 2000. So it makes this book being the final book feel more like a necessary evil rather than a book that was better crafted. Or, in this case a book with a better outline than most. 

#3. WRITER'S BLOCK CAUSES SLIMY SCHLOCK

I'm certain Stine wanted to another Monster Blood book at some point. He hasn't shied away from sequels and, given that Slappy books exist, he also isn't one who'll shy away from doing the same book over and over again. Because name value sells. So I'd easily believe that in the midst of Cry of the Cat's rocky development, Stine felt like adding a Monster Blood sequel in its place would be a simple replacement. Problem is, it kind of exposes how roughshod this book is. We have almost half of the book feeling like a retread of Monster Blood III with Evan being bullied by Conan and constantly shat on by Kermit, all while Andy exists to keep Evan traumatized. So much so that you'd think this book is just going to go the same route of "Monster Blood as a revenge tool goes awry" is where the book is leading. 

And I think it's here where you can feel that Stine hit a wall. Perhaps his biggest wall in all of Goosebumps. Because even he realizes that he's done all of this before, so he pivots and tries to change things again. We already know that he stopped giving a shit about the backstory to Monster Blood long and ever ago. So now instead of green Monster Blood, the kids find BLUE Monster Blood. But this one is actually slug creatures that multiply when wet and can grow hair when they drink hair growth formula and are also very aggressive. Only to find out that it's Monster Blood created by a scientist that was trying to create an underwater fighting force? Like, the further you read, the more there's a feeling of mad scramble throughout. That this is a book that Stine is trying to make work with less than stellar results. And likely because of the deadline, it feels like a super rushed book, more so than most, that even the resolution of defeating the slugs is just that they eat each other and soon die. Much like all hope of this book being good.

#4. WOULD THIS BE A BETTER BOOK WITHOUT THE MONSTER BLOOD NAME?

Honestly? Yeah. I think it could. Because there is a germ of a great idea here. I mean it's just Tribbles or Gremlins or any other creature in fiction that multiplies when it gets wet. You could tell a completely different story about how the creatures were found and how the madness happens. Instead of a can in a dumpster it's a box in the dumpster or something similar. Anything that breaks from the similar iconography of Monster Blood. Have the protagonist treat the slug creatures like pets that eventually get out of control in similar fashion and have the resolution feel more worth the read. A more bombastic defeat than them just eating themselves. You could even keep the idea of the slugs being a lab experiment gone wrong and were poorly disposed of. Hell, you could even keep the twist of the bully being cloned because he ate a slug somehow, or thought it was candy. 

In essence, it would be what I think a lot of people thought Egg Monsters From Mars would have been. A kid dealing with a strange slimy creature that causes havoc. Although, by that token the egg monsters cause havoc in a more... ahem... personal sort of way. But i think there is definitely a way to make this book work as its own book and not trying to force an established series of books into it with less than stellar results. Like I said, it only really feels like Stine made it Monster Blood IV in hopes it would sell copies and because his own writer's block over Cry of the Cat made it harder to just make a more balanced sequel. And I'd also guess because we were moving to a new book series, that played into making this a Monster Blood IV. A grand finale that failed grandly. 

#5. LOSING THE PLOT

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I feel sequels were the worst thing to happen with Goosebumps. Not that sequels couldn't work mind you. It's that sequels began to happen at around the same time that Stine has admitted to using outliners for the books. And, coincidentally, the first sequel book was Monster Blood II. And what does Monster Blood II do? Immediately ignore the most important key element of the original book's entire plot. That the Monster Blood was just a toy. A harmless slime toy. It was turned into a deadly creature thanks to Sarabeth the witch. And, when Sarabeth is killed in the book, the Monster Blood vanished. 

I wonder if Stine didn't like that ending. If that's a main reason why he felt that just ignoring those events and having ALL Monster Blood be this powerful substance that can make things grow was his way of moving forward. That because the first book was successful, he needed to make a sequel. Either that, or it was Scholastic mandated to do sequels and he opted to make a sequel regardless if certain plot holes are prevalent or not. Though, while it and the third book could be forgiven, when the fourth book feels so far off from the original concept, you kind of wish that Goosebumps didn't dabble with sequels at all.

Thankfully, this was the real end of this Evan Ross Monster Blood era. That the next two sequels formed their own canon on how the Monster Blood exists, to the point that you can be fine with it because there's no Evan, or Andy, or any traces back to the original canon story. Although the last book did do a dream ending so even that was a piss off, but at least the story treated Monster Blood like a threat again. And even a revenge tool gone wrong by dumb kids who don't already know that it's bad to mess with Monster Blood to begin with. But they have more integrity (and less of the manic grind) to at least feel like something Stine was more cohesive with.

#6. CONCLUSION

Monster Blood IV feels like the ultimate Superfluous Clay in Goosebumps. It exists, we know it's there, but if you removed it, nothing of value would be lost. Three Monster Blood books were fine enough, and even by the third the ideas as to what to do with the slime were already running low. There's also nothing wrong with trying new things to freshen up a concept. But I think what ultimately would up happening is a book that felt like a mandate and was executed like a mad rush to make it to the deadline. As such, it just feels like such a weird lump to end on. Especially given the three books before it were honestly some of the best work Goosebumps put out in a long time. The feeling of Stine finding his mojo again. And maybe whatever his initial plan for Creep of the Cat could have continued into that weird final renaissance of the original 62. And then there's Monster Blood IV that feels like the speedbump to that momentum. 

And that's kind of why it being the final book in the original series is frustrating. But maybe it also served as an omen. That the book series needed some freshening up and more effort put into offering more unique stories. And Series 2000 does do that from time to time. But man I wish I could like this one. There's a neat idea in this book that is unable to bubble up because it got lumped with a series it didn't need to be a part of. Perhaps the Evan Monster Blood saga ultimately fits what Goosebumps is. Promising start boggled by bad sequels and a lack of the heart to make something quality. And that's a bloody shame.