Kicking off this blog with the first book in the Goosebumps series, Welcome to Dead House, this story is sure to bring a few chills. Published in 1992, this is where the series starts, and also where this blog will start.

Synopsis:

Josh and Amanda Benson move to a new home with their parents and their dog Petey. Their Dad received a letter that stated his great uncle had left him his mansion in his will. However, their father had never met this great uncle, but he must be a great guy if he left him his mansion, right?

They arrive in Dark Falls where they meet Mr. Dawes, a real estate agent who shows them their new home. Unfortunately, the kids aren’t too excited about the new home and their dog doesn’t seem too excited either. With Josh saying he doesn’t like the house, and their dog Petey barking incessantly at Mr. Dawes. In the book, Dawes is pointed out as having the unusual first name of Compton, which will matter later, but is Compton really that uncommon of a name, there’s a whole city with that name.

While the rest of the family goes on a house tour with Dawes, Josh and Petey stay outside, with Josh pouting around. Weird things start happening almost immediately in the story, with Amanda spotting an unknown boy in the hallway at the new home. However, when she goes to look, she can’t seem to find the boy she saw in her new home. This causes Amanda to ask Dawes if the house is haunted, which he assures her it’s not, but says some other houses in town are.

After these events transpire, and as the tour of the mansion is wrapping up, the family realizes that Josh and Petey are missing. Mr. Dawes offers to give the family a ride to search for Josh and Petey. During the drive Mr. Dawes comments about being also new to the town and worried he may get lost. Which makes almost no sense, based off of everything in the book, the town seems to be quite small. So, this line comes off as pretty odd to say the least. They eventually find Josh running through the cemetery off of cemetery drive, at which point you get treated to the cliffhanger, “I suddenly realized why Josh was darting and ducking like that, running so wildly through the tombstones. He was being chased. Someone or something was after him.” It was Petey and Josh was chasing the dog, truly, a twist of all time.

We get a passage of a few weeks after this, during which time the family gets ready to move to their new home, and this is completely skippable.

During the move, there is multiple examples of the family being stressed out, with the mom and dad near constantly arguing and Josh whining during the move. When they return to their new home, spooky things start to happen.

First, upon arrival Amanda believes she sees someone through the window in the house, but she can’t find anyone.

That night, Amanda can’t sleep and stays up all night. In the middle of the night the curtain seems to be moving, so she tries to close the window, but the window is already closed. The ghosts that are “not” in the house are getting creative with their haunting techniques on the first night.

The next day, before Amanda and Josh go outside, Amanda sees a ghost girl at the top of the stairs, but wait, there’s no one there. Amanda also hears giggling and whispering.

Later when Amanda and Josh are out, they meet Ray Thurston. Petey barks at Ray. Ray seems familiar to Amanda, and she believes he’s the one haunting her, but he laughs it off, and Amanda realizes she may be wrong, but is she really? Ray also says he used to live in their house, which isn’t creepy at all. Ray introduces them to the other kids in town, including George, Karen, and a few other children. Karen after being introduced says she used to live in their house, which isn’t creepy at all X2. The kids they meet start to circle them, but Mr. Dawes shows up, and the kids stop circling them. So instead of having a child street fight, or more likely Amanda and Josh being eaten they play softball.

The softball game ends early when the sun comes out. On her way out, Karen says she used to live in their home, not creepy at all X3. The funny thing is Amanda has a huge reaction to this, and internally freaks out, but this is the third time she’s heard this. Huh?

Days pass, which means nothing happened for a while, but Amanda thinks about still hearing giggling and whispering in the house, but she ignores it. Petey ends up running away during a game of softball (supposedly). Amanda and Josh look for Petey, but he can’t be found. The kids while looking for Petey somehow get lost, which leads me to question, how big is this small town? Later, they ask their parents for help, but their parents don’t have time to help and instead have dinner, worst parents ever alert. At night when it’s dark out, Amanda and Josh realize they still haven’t checked the cemetery. On the way there, they run into Ray, who tries to get them not to go to the cemetery and freaks out on them. They ignore Ray and go to the graveyard resulting in the discovery of an amphitheater. Which makes me wonder how they didn’t notice it sooner, or why it’s even in the cemetery? Are the townspeople trying to be even more creepy. Petey is located and is acting weird, smells bad, and doesn’t seem to know them.

This causes them to find the headstones of the kids they had met earlier, including Ray’s. Ray takes the opportunity to reveal he’s dead. Even worse though, Ray reveals they killed the dog, because dogs can always tell (not the dog!). Ray continues with his villain arc by revealing he is the watcher and has been watching Amanda the whole time, and that he needs their fresh blood. Ray is the worst, not only does he participate in killing pets, but he’s also a stalker, and kind of a vampire, zombie, ghost, hybrid. The title of the book is halfway dropped with Ray calling the house they moved into dead house. This is when Josh shines a halogen flashlight at Ray ending his short-lived villain arc in the story, and straight up melts his face. Pretty wild for a Goosebumps book. Amanda and Josh have learned how to kill the dead, which is a question many a horror movie characters have asked.

The kids get home to learn that their parents have gone to a potluck, which probably isn’t the type of potluck their parents are used to. They find Karen in their home, as well as the other kids. A one-of-a-kind line is dropped, “We used to live in your house. And now we’re dead in your house,” okay.

It’s revealed that the Great Uncle story was a trick, which is pretty obvious at this point. However, before anything can happen, Dawes arrives, he’s here to save them, and return Amanda and Josh to their parents, (supposedly), and their parents also happen to be in the graveyard. They head to the graveyard in Dawes’s car, a decision that only truly boneheaded kids would make. But after arriving Josh goes chasing after Petey in the cemetery (again), where he falls in front of Dawes’s grave. Which means that Dawes really isn’t such a great guy after all. The big reveal comes from Dawes, that they were all killed by a yellow gas, kind of like in Return of the Living Dead, not his exact words. Josh also manages to break the flashlight, but at the last second, they are saved by the ultimate deus ex machina, the sun.

Amanda and Josh arrive at the amphitheater discovering their parents tied up. They have to keep quiet to avoid drawing attention, but never mind that they have to save their parents, so they get to knocking a tree over. Unfortunately, two children aren’t a match for a tree, unless they give up and the tree decides to fall over afterwards. This is what happens. This lets the sun in and melts all the zombie vampire ghost undead things in the amphitheater and allows them to save their parents. Also, Karen thanks Amanda for melting her with the sun. Which is a thing a person being melted would say?

They return to their home, and head out of town pretty fast. However not before a new family arrives, and Amanda tells the new kids, she used to live there, Amanda also believes she sees Dawes. This is where the book ends.

Thoughts:

First, a moment of silence for Petey.

This book is a bit darker and more violent than most of the Goosebump books I remember, it works at least somewhat well. However, there’s a few question mark moments, and a few moments that don’t work that well. First, every time someone gets lost, which is absolutely crazy in this book, like Dark Falls has to be a small town. Next, the “I used to live in your house” kept coming up and sure it’s creepy, but Amanda’s reaction to this information is so disproportionate each time. Also, why didn’t the undead locals come after the family sooner, they were there multiple days without anything happening, if they were as hungry as they seem in the book, wouldn’t that be their main focus / action on the first night or second day. There’s also a mention of the book that every year they invite a new family for new blood, but in this book, a new family is showing up right as they leave, so is it really a year, or did too many families reply to the great uncle scam at one time.

The reader is also left to assume that Dawes is the last of the undead left at the end of the book with the rest being melted. However, the family just leaves the family who has arrived. This means that the whole process will continue and that it is likely Dawes will re-populate the town with new members of the undead.

On the positive side of things, the book has solid pacing, with weird events happening throughout. Great foreshadowing is present. The children in this book aren’t quite as annoying as some of the other children in other books I remember reading. The undead in this book are unique. The setting is pretty cool. I found some amusement in the haunted curtains.

Overall, I’ll give this book a tentative 7/10. While there are a few moments that don’t work super well, overall, it’s a fun Goosebumps book. I don’t want to overscore or underscore this book, since there are many ahead, and I want my ratings to change as little as possible as I read through the series.

Now for the fun sections and later, the TV episode.

Twist ending:

The arrival of a new family and the process starting over again, also a dark ending.

Memorable line:

“We used to live in your house. And now we’re dead in your house,” Yup, this line is spooky.

Memorable moment, cliffhanger, etc:

Ray getting melted is a wild moment for any Goosebumps book.

Bad parenting:

The kids go searching for Petey, and the parents refuse to help. Do the parents not like the dog? I get terriers can be hyperactive but come on.

Tropes in this book:

Character is 12 years old, just moved, dark ending/ twist ending, nobody believes a character’s crazy experience, crazy cliffhanger(s), useless parents, and (slightly) annoying younger sibling.

Television Tie-in:

There was an episode of the Goosebumps TV series that adapts the story. First, there are a few changes that stick out with the episode. Mr. Dawes is much older in the episode, adults are actually seen more in Dark Falls, and there’s now a family heirloom. Other changes include the family now moving because they bought the house for cheap, instead of receiving it in a will, and Petey is now a different dog breed. The undead in the episode punch holes in the wall and in the house, which adds a bit more tension, and also makes them the worst neighbors ever. There’s a twist in the episode where the heirloom wreath is blamed for the problems and for the undead coming after them, but it was actually the only thing protecting the family in the episode. At the end of the episode all of the undead are in the house, but the family finds a way to save themselves by taking all of the boards off the windows, which vaporizes the undead (in a much less violent fashion than in the books). The episode ends with them finding Petey while escaping the town, but wait, there’s a twist, Petey turns grey and appears to have become one of the undead.

Memorable Episode Line:

“I’m Hungryyyyyyyy!” You’re not you, when you’re hungry.

Famous Cast:

R. L. Stine as R. L. Stine.

Review of episode:

The episode does get rid of most plot holes and gives a more memorable ending. Also, the undead in the episode are a bit more frightening in the episode than in the book. The episode is a two-parter, which gives more time for the story to develop. My main gripes with the episode is the wreath is honestly a kind of boring plot device, which goes out the window towards the end of the episode and the undead are revealed so early through the makeup and acting that the episode loses some of impact.

Overall, I’ll give the episode the same tentative score as the book, 7/10.

Come back soon for more reviews and Goosebumps fun.

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