WordsOnWordsContinuing the trend from the last book that felt more intense than your average Goosebumps book, we have this gem.
Do you remember how I said Scholastic accused Stine of having ghostwriters? This book might be the strongest case for it.
1) It’s WAY more violent than other GB books. Deer and rabbits are torn apart with graphic detail about the corpses.
2) It ends with the protagonist getting attacked and bitten by a werewolf.
There was a misconception that nothing bad ever really happened to the protagonists, but there have been plenty of instances where the sting ending was the kid losing. One turned into a chipmunk, supposedly for the rest of their life. One was attacked by a venomous (called poisonous which is amusing because that’s what we used to say) snake as a ghost watched and waited for the kid to die. And this one ended with a werewolf diving in and biting a kid’s chest.
Maybe to death? Probably more likely to infect him with the curse.
Regardless, this book felt way more hardcore than other GB books. That’s definitely not a bad thing. At this point I feel so saturated with soft fake-outs and sting endings that I’m ready for more violence and actual repercussions.
Anyway, I’m not saying Stine actually used ghostwriters (beyond his own statements of using freelance authors’ detailed outlines for books in this specific series). Maybe he too was bored with the low stakes of most of the books.
But if I were Scholastic and I really want to point to a different tone as an indicator that there was another cook in the kitchen, this would probably be the book. Honestly, besides the last Monster Blood, I’d probably point toward the last FEW books in this series!
WordsOnWords Continuing the trend from the last book that felt more intense than your average Goosebumps book, we have this gem.
Show moreDo you remember how I said Scholastic accused Stine of having ghostwriters? This book might be the strongest case for it.
1) It’s WAY more violent than other GB books. Deer and rabbits are torn apart with graphic detail about the corpses.
2) It ends with the protagonist getting attacked and bitten by a werewolf.
There was a misconception that nothing bad ever really happened to the protagonists, but there have been plenty of instances where the sting ending was the kid losing. One turned into a chipmunk, supposedly for the rest of their life. One was attacked by a venomous (called poisonous which is amusing because that’s what we used to say) snake as a ghost watched and waited for the kid to die. And this one ended with a werewolf diving in and biting a kid’s chest.
Maybe to death? Probably more likely to infect him with the curse.
Regardless, this book felt way more hardcore than other GB books. That’s definitely not a bad thing. At this point I feel so saturated with soft fake-outs and sting endings that I’m ready for more violence and actual repercussions.
Anyway, I’m not saying Stine actually used ghostwriters (beyond his own statements of using freelance authors’ detailed outlines for books in this specific series). Maybe he too was bored with the low stakes of most of the books.
But if I were Scholastic and I really want to point to a different tone as an indicator that there was another cook in the kitchen, this would probably be the book. Honestly, besides the last Monster Blood, I’d probably point toward the last FEW books in this series!
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