Title: Goosebumps Live On Stage – Screams In The Night, a.k.a. “Hello, Slappy!” Author: R.L. Stine (Based on stage play by Rupert Holmes) Cover Artist: Tim Jacobus Summary: N/A Initial Thoughts Time for another long lost Goosebumps treasure, though this one’s slightly better known than “Haunted Library” and “Surprise on the 13th Floor.” In the late 90s there was briefly a Goosebumps stage show, though I was barely aware of this since I was like 8 or 9 at the time. I’ve never seen a performance, and I don’t know how long the show ran. Hell, I’m not even sure how I got this book. I think it originally belonged to my sibling back in elementary school, but like so much of their shit, it ended up in my possession because they stopped caring about it. There are four stories in this book, a wraparound tale and three short stories that feature the same cast of characters. The first and third stories are weird, the first coming across like a rehash of “Stay Out of the Basement” and the third some prototype for the “Goosebumps Horrorland” series. I prefer the second story out of the bunch. The book came with…
To celebrate 5 Years of Horror at Devil’s Elbow, Wing revisits our very first recap: Funhouse by Diane Hoh
Title: Driver’s Dead by Peter Lerangis The Author: A rather prolific author, Peter Lerangis has been writing for decades, although if you go to his website the farthest back you’ll find is his The Watchers series. No mention of his Point Horror writing that I can find. Seriously. Not even his Wiki page goes beyond his Watchers series. Don’t worry. I believe I’ve found them. Titles include DRIVER’S DEAD, THE YEARBOOK, and X-ISLE. Seems like he doesn’t want the taint, maybe? Or it’s just that his various other series have done so well there’s no need to put that retail work on his resume any longer. [Wing: Those the books I’ve found by him, too (with X-Isle being a two book series). He also ghostwrote some of the Baby-Sitters Club books.] Anyway, he has a weird thing for the Vietnam War in this book, and I don’t know why. The premise seems to hinge on a “crazy” Vietnam vet and one of the characters being a refugee from the area and trying to find his parents. It’s just the date seems really off. The book was published in 1994. That’s a big, lingering gap for Vietnam relevance. It was just weird….
Title: Mermaid Saga Part 3-4 – The Village of the Fighting Fish Author/Artist: Rumiko Takahashi Initial Thoughts This immediately isn’t one of my favorites stories in the series. While two of the characters are pretty cool, it doesn’t really have the same horror feel as the other tales. The tone and setting comes across similar to Takahashi’s other series, “Inuyasha.” It also seems weird she’d do a story about Yuta’s past, long before Mana was in the picture, as the immediate second tale after the opening two parts. I’m not sure how you’re gonna feel about this one, Wing. I don’t think you’ll like the ending, but I do think you’ll like the bad guy. [Wing: It does seem like a strange choice to do a backstory so soon after the series begins.] READ AT DEVIL’S ELBOW
Raven recaps Dngeons & Dragons Episode 2: The Eye of the Beholder. Poor fella must hate chopping onions.
Necromommycon recaps Five Go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton. In the second Famous Five book, Julian, Dick, George, Anne, and Timmy the dog return to Kirrin Cottage for the Christmas holidays.
Title: Molly Learns A Lesson, a.k.a. “A Lesson In Te-Am Work” Author: Valerie Tripp Illustrator: Nick Backes Summary: Molly is determined that the third-grade girls will win her school’s Lend-A-Hand Contest to help the war effort. Instead, they choose an idea that Molly knows will never work out. So she talks two friends into planning their own project and keeping it a secret from the rest of the girls in the class. But the secret project turns out to be harder than Molly thought it would be. She begins to worry that it might not win after all and decides to spy on the other girls to see how they are doing. When Molly and her friends get caught peeking in a window, they learn some important lessons. Initial Thoughts Here’s our second foray into the world of Molly. I can safely say there’s no underwear or cultural appropriation in this one, but it’s probably gonna leave you craving bread. [Wing: There’s something off about her face on that cover, but I’m not sure what. Proportions? Location of eyes? If you figure it out, dear readers, let me know.]
Title: Graveyard School #7 – Slime Lake, a.k.a. “Protect The Environment! Or I’ll FUCKING KILL YOU!” Author: Tom B. Stone, a.k.a. Nola Thacker, a.k.a. D.E. Athkins Cover Artist: U.S. – Cam DeLeon, U.K. – ??? [Wing: That UK cover is something else!] Tagline: “You’ve Been Slimed!” (U.K. Version) Summary: Don’t Go In The Water! Marc and his twin sister, Terri, are excited about spending the summer at their uncle Nicholas’s lake house. Even though their uncle is an old grouch, Marc and Terri enjoy the lake and their summer friends in Grove Hill. But this summer is different. Suddenly the once placid lake has motorboats, fishermen, and crowds. Even worse is the gross green slime that’s been popping up on boats and docks and swimmers. When Terri goes for a swim and doesn’t return, Marc wonders what exactly is lurking under the water… Initial Thoughts Hey Wing, so a little good news/bad news for you. The bad news is this book doesn’t have werewolves. The good news is it’s got your other favorite thing, twins! (Terri and Marc by zackdoesalotofstuff) [Wing: I think you may be overestimating my excitement for twins at this point, thanks to Sweet Valley, but Terri…
Wing, Raven and Dove talk about Sweet Valley Twins 43: Elizabeth’s First Kiss. They also discuss Bleak Valley and how the book ties into this theory.
Title: The Last Vampire #3: Red Dice by Christopher Pike Summary: Alisa and her former FBI partner, Joel, learn of a government plan to capture them in order to steal and analyze their vampire blood for the purpose of duplicating it, and when Joel is caught, Alisa risks her life to free him. Tagline: This time the world hunted her… Initial Thoughts I remember nothing about this book. I know I’ve read it. I’ve probably even read it multiple times, though not since my early 20s, if not even before that. But I have no idea what the plot is here, or even who, besides Alisa, is around. ALISA NEVER GONNA DIE BECAUSE I’M GODDAMN PERNE IS BACK. Let’s do this. READ AT DEVIL’S ELBOW