Reviews

Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine

iris_adrienne_knight's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

valandsomebooks's review against another edition

3.0

This story reiterated my fear of creepy dolls! Fun and easy to listen to as an audiobook.

thegrimhobbyist's review against another edition

4.5

Finally, another Goosebumps I actually quite enjoyed as much as Welcome to Dead House! I had high hopes for this one, but was scared my hopes would get crushed. Thankfully, that fear was unwarranted. 

The writing for this one was pretty solid, which I'm glad for. Even the cliff hanger endings of chapters to get you to turn the page weren't as annoying. Stine found his rhythm and gave us suspense without the need to drag it out from chapter to chapter.

I do question a clue being ignored in this one about the dummy, but perhaps this was a decision of the character not to speak up. I don't want to give too much away, so that's all I'll say about it. Also, the twins were a bit annoying - especially Lindy, but I get the sibling - especially twin - rivalry and competitiveness. I have twin cousins that did this often when we were kids. I just personally find it annoying. I also found a repeated line said by one of the characters towards the end of the book rather annoying.

The ending was great for a classic horror ending and I can't wait to get to the second of these Living Dummy books!

lipah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

jasminehere's review against another edition

4.0

This was so nostalgic and fun. First time I've heard the audiobook version, too, and loved the narrator and the performance, in general.

amazingmindy's review against another edition

5.0

Barky was the best character followed by Slappy and Mr. Wood. :)

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Excrement, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty

michieknee's review against another edition

4.0

Ah, everyone's favorite evil dummy Goosebumps villain . . . Mr. Wood? One of the few Goosebumps books to not be adapted for the live action series and considering the most iconic character is playing dead here it's not surprising those in charge decided fast-forwarding to Slappy was the way to go. That said, if you decided to only read those that had been turned into TV you'd miss out on an entertaining story.

neolx's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

4.0

emmaholtegaard's review against another edition

4.0

This is more of an overall review of the series, really. When I was a kid, I used to devour these books, but sadly I'd recently somehow managed to forget all about them. I was reminded, however, when I rediscovered this awesome blog: http://www.bloggerbeware.com. These books are a mixture of varying degrees of terrible and amazing - at the same time. I honestly find it really hard to rate them, seeing as they're such a major part of my reading foundation. 11 year-old me would probably have given all of them 5 stars, but alas, I'm no longer 11 years old. In acknowledgement of my young self and the wonderful kitschiness of the series, I've decided on 4 stars. Also, they vary a lot in quality, but seeing as it's been so long since I've read them, I don't remember which ones were best. 4 stars it is.