Goosebumps: HorrorLand: Revenge of the Living Dummy

Stine, R.L. 2008. Goosebumps: Horrorland: Revenge of the Living Dummy. Scholastic.

Fans of R.L. Stine should be thrilled. Goosebumps Horrorland is the brand new series from children's literature's "master of fright." In this first installment, Revenge of the Living Dummy, the plot may be an old one - a living, evil, ventriloquist's dummy (remember the Twilight Zone?), but it will likely be a new source of horror to the younger generation.

The book is in three parts, two individual stories, "Revenge of the Living Dummy" and "Enter HorrorLand," followed by Fear File #1 - the fictional contents of the reader's manila folder on HorrorLand. While the Revenge of the Living Dummy can be read as a stand-alone story, it is connected to "Enter HorrorLand." "Enter HorrorLand," it appears, will be a story told in serial installments.

A glance ahead at the second book in the series shows that it will follow the same format of three parts. The first story in the book can stand alone. The second is a story located in the diabolical theme park, HorrorLand. The third section is the reader's Fear File, which continues to grow with new maps and information.

Horror novels are not my cup of tea, but a legion of young readers has grown up on R.L. Stine. Fans have never stopped requesting Goosebumps books. I think these will be popular.

A footnote on R.L. Stine - I had the opportunity to see R.L. Stine interact with his young fans at a library book signing. In spite of the seemingly unending stream of young fans, he gave each child his undivided attention, never growing impatient or curt. I was impressed.