This book is about two brothers, called Jordan and Karla, who visit a fair called Carnival World, and accidentally find a boy locked in a cage. The boy seems to be starving and begs them for food. There is a sign in the cage that says PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE WEIRDO in capital letters, so they think they shouldn't feed him, but finally they give him food and he instantly becomes a huge and furry monster, escapes from the cage and starts causing mayhem in the city. That is the basic plot of this book, and I think this is one of the worst Goosebumps books that I have ever read, beacuse it is very repetitive and the main characters are idiots. The boy comes to visit Jordan and Karla a few more times asking for food, and although they know that he is very dangerous and that he will become a monster if they feed him, they still do it. Another thing that this boy can do apart from becoming a monster, is change his physical form with that of any other person, so Jordan and Karla have to be very careful not to find him in the school or any other place. The best part of this book is the ending, because even though the story in general was boring and repetitive, the ending is very surprising, because the boy manages to get away with it and deceive everyone, although Jordan and Karla thought that he couldn't escape from their trap. In short, the book is repetitive but the ending made it worth reading.

Review Date: February 1, 2025

Grade: 5,8

This is the eleventh book in the Living Dummy saga. The main character of this book is a boy called Shep Mooney, who believes in ghosts and also thinks that there is a ghost called Annalee haunting the basement of his house, despite no one in his family believes him (Annalee won't be a relevant character until the ending of the book). Shep accidentally finds Slappy during a trip to the forest organized by his highschool. He brings it home and discovers he is alive, and also discovers that he can only be put to sleep again by saying a few magic words: Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano (This magic spell has appeared in almost every Living Dummy book). Slappy wants to make Shep his new slave, while Shep is desperate to find the paper with the magic words to put Slappy to sleep. At some point, Shep accidentally breaks Slappy's wooden head and he becomes a ghost, making him a much bigger threat than when he was alive. From all the 15 Living Dummy books that exist until now, I think this is one of the best, because Slappy is much more dangerous being a ghost than being a tangible physical form. For me, the problem with this book is the ending, because Shep wants Slappy's ghost to stop tormenting him and finds a way to bring him back to life and make him stop being a ghost that is very absurd. I think R.L. Stine did this in order to be able to continue writing more Slappy books. In the end, Slappy wins because Annalee, the ghost that lives in Shep's basement, helps him, but in a very illogical and selfish way. Summarizing, this was a very good Living Dummy book but it got much worse because of the ending, which is total nonsense.

Review Date: February 1, 2025

Grade: 6,4