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jgurniak's review against another edition
4.0
A boy writes a horror story on an old typewriter and the typewriter makes everything come true.
endlesslykahiwa's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
alyshadeshae's review against another edition
5.0
Evil typewriter? Check.
Evil pen? Check.
Neither option actually being evil in the end? Check.
I need a typewriter. I find it much less distracting to write/type on a typewriter than on my computers with internet, games, and multitudes of other stuff that I can do! o_O
Evil pen? Check.
Neither option actually being evil in the end? Check.
I need a typewriter. I find it much less distracting to write/type on a typewriter than on my computers with internet, games, and multitudes of other stuff that I can do! o_O
millennial_dandy's review against another edition
4.0
Though a late entry in the original run, 'The Blob that Ate Everyone' is definitely one that I remember particularly fondly.
I remember the plot really catching me when I read it at about the age of the characters. I could (and still can) identify with Zackie, our protagonist and a budding horror writer. When he and his friend, Alex, see a lightning-struck antique shop, they just can't help taking a look inside, where Zackie falls in love with a miraculously undamaged old type-writer. No theft needed here: when the shop-owner catches them inside, she generously offers Zackie the typewriter and an old fountain pen for free. Life is looking up for Zackie, who has been suffering as the butt of the joke at school as several his classmates pull practical jokes on him.
The joke is on his classmates, however, because whatever Zackie types into the typewriter comes true...
Unlike other 'Goosebumps' stories that (probably) unintentionally punish the victims of bullying who try to fight back by having the horror bounce back at them (a message I take issue with, intentional or not), 'The Blob' keeps itself in check.
Our protagonist does get treated less than ideally by his 'friend,' Adam, who takes great pleasure in publically trying to scare Zackie just, as the kids say, 'for the lols.'
In retaliation, Zackie, without realizing it will come true, writes into his blob story that Adam gets eaten while the monster is on a rampage through town. This comes after Adama has pulled yet another of his practical jokes on Zackie.
When this comes true, Zackie immidiately feels horrified and spends the remainder of the climax trying to undo the damage.
I like this message at the center of a story like this much better. In one of his lesser versions of this type of trope, Stine would have had the 'magic typewriter' plotline backfire on Zackie, but instead, Zackie gets the opportunity for revenge, takes it, and then of his own volition, immidiately realizes that was wrong.
There are still some pretty goofy missteps, the biggest of which is Zackie being a scaredy-cat, which should logically fit into the climax somehow as a point of character development, but it never really goes anywhere. He wants to get back at Adam et.al. for making fun of him, but he needs to face his fears. In the end, he gets what he wants, but the story cuts itself off with a customary twist ending before we can see if he's also gotten what he needs. Those twist endings are par for the course when reading 'Goosebumps' but they at least usually come after the end of the protagonist's character arc.
Still, I love the set-up. Who among us who was or is into writing wouldn't gag over the chance to have everything they wrote come true? Well, at least in principle. I guess that's best left to film adaptation as Zackie also learns. Still, the aesthetic of typing out a scary story by candlelight just really strokes the lizard part of my brain that still aspires to that romantic image of the authors of yesteryear hard at work...
I remember the plot really catching me when I read it at about the age of the characters. I could (and still can) identify with Zackie, our protagonist and a budding horror writer. When he and his friend, Alex, see a lightning-struck antique shop, they just can't help taking a look inside, where Zackie falls in love with a miraculously undamaged old type-writer. No theft needed here: when the shop-owner catches them inside, she generously offers Zackie the typewriter and an old fountain pen for free. Life is looking up for Zackie, who has been suffering as the butt of the joke at school as several his classmates pull practical jokes on him.
The joke is on his classmates, however, because whatever Zackie types into the typewriter comes true...
Unlike other 'Goosebumps' stories that (probably) unintentionally punish the victims of bullying who try to fight back by having the horror bounce back at them (a message I take issue with, intentional or not), 'The Blob' keeps itself in check.
Our protagonist does get treated less than ideally by his 'friend,' Adam, who takes great pleasure in publically trying to scare Zackie just, as the kids say, 'for the lols.'
In retaliation, Zackie, without realizing it will come true, writes into his blob story that Adam gets eaten while the monster is on a rampage through town. This comes after Adama has pulled yet another of his practical jokes on Zackie.
When this comes true, Zackie immidiately feels horrified and spends the remainder of the climax trying to undo the damage.
I like this message at the center of a story like this much better. In one of his lesser versions of this type of trope, Stine would have had the 'magic typewriter' plotline backfire on Zackie, but instead, Zackie gets the opportunity for revenge, takes it, and then of his own volition, immidiately realizes that was wrong.
There are still some pretty goofy missteps, the biggest of which is Zackie being a scaredy-cat, which should logically fit into the climax somehow as a point of character development, but it never really goes anywhere. He wants to get back at Adam et.al. for making fun of him, but he needs to face his fears. In the end, he gets what he wants, but the story cuts itself off with a customary twist ending before we can see if he's also gotten what he needs. Those twist endings are par for the course when reading 'Goosebumps' but they at least usually come after the end of the protagonist's character arc.
Still, I love the set-up. Who among us who was or is into writing wouldn't gag over the chance to have everything they wrote come true? Well, at least in principle. I guess that's best left to film adaptation as Zackie also learns. Still, the aesthetic of typing out a scary story by candlelight just really strokes the lizard part of my brain that still aspires to that romantic image of the authors of yesteryear hard at work...
coinchantal's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm I didn't like this one like the books I had already read of RL Stine. It was a little to simple and logical for me. Not scary at all. There are better books out there.
marydreads24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
rachael_amber's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0