Revenge of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps HorrorLand Series #1)

by R. L. Stine

Overview

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Britney Crosby thinks her cousin Ethan is pretty weird-and she happens to be right. Ethan won't stop tormenting Britney with an old ventriloquist's dummy. And the puppet has plans for Britney, too!

Next, someone will be offered a vacation at a popular "scream park." An entire week for free? You'd have to be a real dummy to refuse that! But some guests aren't allowed to escape HorrorLand after just six days and seven frights...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545840309
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Series:	Goosebumps HorrorLand Series , #1
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	347,663
Lexile:	450L (what's this?)
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

R.L. Stine is the creator of the bestselling Goosebumps series, which has more than 400 million copies in print worldwide and celebrated 25 years in 2017. Goosebumps is one of the bestselling children's series of all-time and inspired a popular television show, as well as a feature film starring Jack Black that opened at #1 at the box office. His other popular children's books include the series Fear Street, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School, and his picture books, with Marc Brown, The Little Shop of Monsters and Mary McScary. R.L. Stine lives in New York City. You can connect with him on Twitter at @RL_Stine or Facebook: facebook.com/rlstine. For more information, visit rlstine.com and scholastic.com/goosebumps.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Date of Birth:

October 8, 1943

Place of Birth:

Columbus, Ohio

Education:

B.A., Ohio State University, 1965

Website:

http://www.rlstine.com

Editorial Reviews

R. L. Stine's Goosebumps HorrorLand series lives up to frightful title. In each novel-length episode, youngsters receive an eerie invitation to visit the terrifying amusement park, little knowing what awaits them around every dark corner. Just unsettling enough to keep young readers glued to their chairs.

After eight years, the bestselling master of middle-grade horror returns, this time with the first book of a new, deliciously chilling 12-book series. As is planned for the other titles, this suspenseful opener is broken into two equally enjoyable sections-a standalone story and the first installment of what already reads like a ghostly serial at its spookiest. In the same tried-and-true style as the older Goosebumps stories, the standalone involves two smart yet vulnerable kids as they try to bury "Mr. Badboy," an evil ventriloquist's dummy with a mind of its own, and a Mumban doll with a shrunken human head that steals minds when touched, before the two dolls can do any major damage. In Part Two, the same characters embark on another petrifying adventure to a mysterious theme park advertised as "HorrorLand: Where Nightmares Come to Life." All the essential tricks of the trade to keep readers up at night are front and center: the ominous noises at just the right moments, the grisly visual descriptions and the cliffhangers around every corner. Combined with the promise of an ongoing story, this series should easily garner a new crop of scare-addicts. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)

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Publishers Weekly

Gr 3-6

Alissa Hunnicutt does a more than capable job reading these two related stories (Scholastic, pap. 2008) by R.L. Stine. In the first story, Hunnicutt superbly conveys the mounting fear that Britney Crosby feels towards her cousin Ethan's creepy old ventriloquist's dummy named Slappy, voicing him to sound like Donald Duck gone psycho. Of course, she has every reason to be terrified of the wooden sociopath, and she and a friend try to get rid of the cursed item. As usual, her parents don't believe her, sand this comes back to haunt them in the second story. The Crosby family and Britney's best friend go to Horrorland for a vacation. While most people might have suspected something weird was happening, the family falls for it hook, line and sinker. Stine ups the chills level by concluding the second story with the girls realizing that Britney's parents have disappeared, and Slappy is responsible. The abrupt ending leaves no doubt that the girls are doomed to the nasty fate hinted at in the Horrorland story. Effective and nearly constant sound effects enhance the telling and increase the tension. This production will definitely be a hit with the author's fans and listeners who relish scary tales.-B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara County Library, CA

School Library Journal

[EDITORS' NOTE: This is a combined review with GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND #1, #2, #5, #8, #9, #11, #12]--Undead sea captains, mummies, monsters, mad doctors, and other frights await young listeners in this twelve-part series. While any of the episodes stand alone, cumulatively they tell the story of a group of kids who are suckered into entering a terrifying theme park—HorrorLand—and its even scarier twin—Panic Park. There, the children must learn to stand together, forging unlikely allies, if they’re ever to make it out alive. The narrators in each episode deliver convincing accounts of children caught in the spookiest situations, and appropriate sound effects and music ratchet up the experience. Particularly effective is the final episode, in which Suzy Jackson narrates a face-off with the children's nemesis, played by Marc Thompson. Stine’s skill at fiction that is both scary and child-friendly makes this series an exhilarating ride. F.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2010 - AudioFile