Tuesday, January 6, 2009

GOOSEBUMPS (yikes!)

I know many of you don't read Goosebumps, but I do, when I have nothing better to do. Most of the time they're interesting in a really pointless way. And even though I've only read a few (not more than 15), all of the ones I've read so far, include siblings or friends who always joke around, and never believe each other in a serious situation due to constant pranks. Some of the books have such sudden endings that they leave you with questions floating in your brain.

One of them, 'How To Kill A Monster' had an ending that was so hopeless, it makes me laugh!

But this one, 'My Hairiest Adventure' was quite different. It didn't have kids running around, playing pranks on each other. It had such a weird story, at the end it made me sick, literally. But now that I'm feeling better, I'm laughing.

A 12 year old boy, Larry, finds an out of date bottle of INSTA-TAN, and he and his friends spread it over themselves. Soon Larry notices weird, thick, black hair growing on his hands and knees, and soon, his face. Larry goes to the doctor every two weeks to get a shot, he thinks he knows why, but he doesn't know the real reason. He's far too embarrassed to ask his friends if the same thing happened to them, all because of the INSTA-TAN, and soon two of his friends unexpectedly leave home, without notifying anybody. Larry's usually chased by packs of dogs when he's out of the house. He thinks it's because of his yellow-eyed cat, Jasper, who is his good friend. And at the end, his parents reveal to him, that it was not the INSTA-TAN that made him grow thick, black hair, but because, Larry is not really a human, he's actually a dog. I know, WHAT THE HELL?!

The people in his town work for the doctor, and they're all experimental. The doctor invented something that turns dogs into kids, so parents come and adopt them, or whatever. But soon they return to their dog form after growing up. And in the end, he becomes a happy street dog, along with the rest of the pack of dogs, and his best friend, who 'unexpectedly left home'. And he still visits his mum and dad. One day when he came to greet his parents by barking and running to their car, he sees his mum walking out of the car with a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The mum said "Good Jasper, you're a good Jasper." and he saw that the baby had yellow eyes, just like his cat. And that was the end, that made me sick.
So the doctor turned Jasper, the cat, into a kid?! It made me sick!

I know Goosebumps are for younger readers, but they are good when you're bored. But I actually liked one of the books, called 'Goosebumps: The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'. It was about a boy (and his cousin I think) who went to the Egypt pyramids and have spooky stuff happen.. That one was actually interesting for real.
Anyway, it's time for me to borrow more Goosebumps books.

3 comments:

Ren @ All By Myshelf said...

I've read 'How to Kill a Monster'. It was okay. Not exactly worth re-reading (but that is a very high honor for books with me). It's been ages since I read it, so I don't remember much about it, other than the fact that the ending was really annoying.
I've never read 'My Hairiest Adventure' and maybe that's a good thing. I think R.L. Stine could really put more effort into his childrens books.

Orchid said...

I own a couple Goosebumps books, but I only look at them when I'm organizing my books. "My Hairiest Adventure" sounds like "The Dark Side of Nowhere" by Neal Shusterman.

brave chickens said...

Jasper's a cat?!?!
Haha, Goosebumps sounds corny, but they still look so tempting to read. I should read one perhaps. can you believe I've never read one? Hehe. I can't believe it.