A Case of the Bumps: Huh???

"I can't wait to finally talk about Legend of the Lost Legend", is no doubt a phrase that no human being has ever said in their life. Because ultimately, when it comes to arguably the most forgettable book in the original 62, it's hard not to put this book in the conversation, or at least consider it the clear winner. It's that one book in the 40s that you remember is there, but when you likely have to do something like, say, a Sporcle quiz about all the Goosebumps titles, it's one that might be the least likely to be remembered or in the very bottom percentile. But today's the day we pay some remembrance to this legendarily lost tome. Is it worth giving another chance to, or is it a LOST legend for a reason? Either way, I'm sure I can pad out some words about it.

#1. ALL IS LOST, BUT NOT THE PLOT

Plot starts pretty straightforward. Justin and Marissa Clarke are with their dad in the mysterious land of Brovania looking for a legendary scripture known as the lost legend. Their dad, Richard Clarke, is a famous author and collector or rare and valuable scripts. And it don't get much rarer than the Lost Legend. The kids end up following a silver dog (named Silverdog because I mean it fits) and find themselves deep into the woods filled with strange creatures, and a cabin belonging to a Viking woman named Ivanna and a strange furry creature named Luka. The kids are tasked with searching through the Fantasy Forest to complete a test where they will get the silver chest. 

Justin and Marissa face off with strange fake trees, freaky fake mice and giant cats that may or may not be fake until they find their way back to the cabin where they learn that Ivanna was fake as well. Even Luka is sort of fake, as in he's not a strange snarling creature but a man in disguise. He built the Fantasy Forest to ward would-be treasure hunters from finding the treasures of his family. He has Silverdog lead the family to the silver chest, and after reuniting with their dad, they learn that the chest holds the Eternal Egg of Truth, which they didn't want, so Luka gives them the Lost Legend, which when read, literally causes the Clarke family to end up lost in the woods forever.

So I like to use the term "Autopilot Stine" a bit when it comes to a lot of these adventure type stories. And it definitely feels the most true when it comes to this book. A sense of an idea of what he wants out of the book, but not a way to fit it into 122 pages. You can definitely tell this is a book in the outline era. I don't think there's any ghostwriting, but definitely the outline of "kids search for treasure, insert a bunch of things in the middle, kids get treasure, treasure turns out evil" feels like the case. It gives us more the setting of a story built on randomness and less coherent storytelling, but does that fully hurt the book? We'll get into that shortly. But let's cover the twist first.

#2. THE "LOST LEGEND" CONUNDRUM

So, there is an interesting question about how the Lost Legend actually works. Those who possess and read it will be doomed to be lost forever. So, that leads to the biggest plot hole of the book: how then does anyone know of the Lost Legend? I mean, all who possess it end up lost eventually. I think the easiest way to work around that is that maybe there is a way to escape it. That in itself there is another riddle that must be solved to find your exit from the eternal forest. What that is, I wouldn't be able to guess, but it would be the only way for the legend of said Lost Legend to spread. 

Another concept could be that the Lost Legend was never used before this. Maybe a few times, but the script itself has been mostly untouched and discovered or created by Luka and his family. And that by design was possibly something Luka came up with. He spread the stories of the Lost Legend as catnip to see who would dare take the test. Though if that's the case, why did he think Justin and Marissa wanted the Eternal Egg of Truth? Maybe he figured nobody in their right mind would actually want to seek out the Lost Legend given its powers. Hell, maybe Richard Clarke was the first guy in a long time even seeking the Lost Legend and so Luka set up this entire plan for the wrong MacGuffin. It makes for a good misdirect, but also feels like part of the argument that the book is too random for its own good.

#3. IVANNA CHANGE-A MY NAME-A

Ivanna is interesting. Granted, that interesting aspect vanishes when it's revealed she was just another part of Luka's test, but she is an idea that I think could have been built upon. I mean, she's the cover focus of the book. Which is honestly interesting given that Luka would have made more sense given he's presented as this furry monster at first, but instead they went with buff Viking lady which I'm all but certain was an awakening character for someone. It does make me wonder if Ivanna was meant to have a larger role. But, maybe her being the focus was more clever than even I initially thought given that the focus of the Fantasy Forest is that everything is not what it seems. So it would stand to reason that this giant Viking lady not being our main focus would be a solid misdirect. It does come at the sacrifice of a cover with anything scary to it, but I still think it's a neat cover and Ivanna a more enticing character to focus on than Luka. Speaking of... 

#4. MY NAME IS LUKA, I LIVE ON THE SECOND FLOOR

Luka is also interesting. Mainly in how the book uses him and how he presents himself at first as this strange furry beast to trick Justin and Marissa into a false sense of security, only for it to be a ruse and he's just a more normal human being in disguise. The perfect cherry on top for what is, again, a test for an egg. But, much like everything in this book, it does feel like a last second idea from Stine. The ultimate feeling of this being an outline book that Stine got stuck on expanding upon. It would easily explain that he likely hit a wall with making Ivanna more of an interesting "antagonist" for lack of a better term. So he pivoted to Luka, only for much of the stuff involving him to be rushed, which is the sense this entire book ultimately lands on. I think were the story better structured and Luka a more important focus throughout, he might feel more memorable. But maybe given that this is again about a Lost Legend, maybe having Luka feel less important until the end was unintentional genius? 

#5. IS THE BOOK TOO RANDOM?

Like I said., this book feels very Autopilot Stine. A real sense of an outline being filled with whatever works. And, as such, the book feels too random. Going from Silverdog to Ivanna to Luka to a Fantasy Forest with robot mice and fake trees and giant cats. There's a definite sense that it's akin to many of Stine's ride books in general. A fast move from set piece to set piece without much substance. It's definitely a staple of his style. But I will say that not everything feels like it's as randomly pieced together as it should be. Namely in said robot mice which Justin takes some of and uses later to defeat the cats. Which does seems like a case of some sense in this book, but oh that's right I neglected to mention just HOW those robot mice wound up in the book. They hatched out of acorns. Yeah. That's sure a way to do it. 

So yeah, definitely a case of the book trying to be random and strange. But I do think Stine was smart to have the plot focus around the Fantasy Forest, so that anything he added could be excused as "well it's in the FANTASY Forest, right?" It falls in the same way that Beast From the East manages to excuse its randomness by having them be part of the rules of the beasts' game. It's the Alice in Wonderland excuse that you can make things as bizarre as humanly possible because it can fit into the idea of the world in the story. If it was just a regular forest with bizarre things happening, without the whole Fantasy Forest element, then yeah, it would suffer from feeling way too random for its own good. Doesn't change that things in the book do feel random, but it could have felt much worse. I'm just more thankful Stine committed to the idea and didn't just make it all a dream or one of Richard Clarke's stories in the same way the book opens.

#6. THE UNEXPECTED BETTER VERSION

So, it wasn't until I decided to do a Case for Legend of the Lost Legend that I really got to thinking. And that's the thought about if Stine ever tried a second attempt at this story and I believe the answer is yes. But it took a long time to get there. About, say, 28 years at least. Because when I look at both stories, I think that the book that closely matches this book is Scariest. Book. Ever. from House of Shivers. Sure, there's no robot mice or silverdogs, or robot Viking women or Luka , but it's still a story about a pair of siblings and a relative having to deal with a legendary manuscript with untold powers. Only instead of it being a literal "lost" legend, it's a Pandora's box of pure evil, sought after by dangerous people. Both have deadly forests with strange and bizarre wildlife. And, arguably, both also do feel like Stine on autopilot by the end, but I think what I like about Scariest Book Ever is the scariest book itself.

Like I said, I feel the biggest problem with the book is the logic behind the Lost Legend. The book doesn't do a great job in building how anyone would even be aware of it, or what befell those who have had it before. With Scariest Book, we know that it was in the possession of the real Uncle Wendell and him having it makes more sense in the fact that he has to protect it from those who want its power for evil. I mean until he just gives it to Billy and Betty who no doubt read it like moronic kids would. But I think I like that twist more than the Lost Legend just being that. A legend that makes you lost forever. And the adventure always feels more on point, never feeling like a true outline book with so much things thrown into the plot to try to wedge it in, which you can definitely feel is what befell Lost Legend. Oh there's definite randomness, and some desperation like the third Uncle Wendell, but it's a cleaner plot altogether. I highly doubt that was by design since I doubt Stine goes into most of these books with the idea of doing a better version, but it is very noticeable.

And wouldn't you know it? Just as I'm working on this blog, the next House of Shivers book gets announced. The bizarrely titled Say My Name! Say My Name! whose plot of strange creatures in a forest feels again very in line with what Lost Legend was trying to do. Honestly, that's what most of House of Shivers has felt like. A return to the adventure tome not just the horror. Long time until I can judge it for real, but I'll put it in the pile of trying to improve on this book.

#7. FINAL THOUGHTS

Like I say with a lot of these books, there is a germ of a great idea in Legend of the Lost Legend. Two kids lost in a world of fantasy seeking a magical item that leads them to their doom. It has some great monster concepts and even an interesting pair of possible antagonists in Ivanna and Luka. If Stine had time to cook with this, I think it could have been a sleeper hit book in the original series. But it never got that chance thanks mainly in part to the grind and the sense of being a rushed outliner book. But it also seems to have become an inspiration to Stine in later years as it feels like much of the DNA of this book was used to develop some of the stories for House of Shivers. But its flimsy execution and randomness do feel like it hurts the book. That, even with the excuse of a Fantasy Forest, there is always that underlying sense of Stine throwing things to the wall and seeing what sticks.

I do ultimately feel like it's a book that is worth reevaluating. Because while I wouldn't rank it in the higher echelon of Goosebumps books in the original 62, I think if given another fairer look, it would change more people's minds on it. Maybe this book about a lost legend could someday find itself as a hidden gem. Probably not. Maybe by the end of it, much like it's legend, it's a book that does ultimately deserve the fate of feeling as lost as it is.