Scan barcode
A review by tyto_alba
Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine
5.0
Out of all the Goosebumps books, Night of the Living Dummy stands out the most as being one of the most iconic. It also embodies many of the staple tropes that show up in later books (parents not believing their kids, horror coming from an entity demanding the main character be their slave/"take care of them" forever, etc.). I love this book, even if * sits quietly from the sidelines for most of the story. (Note: I am far too nostalgic for this book to give it any kind of scrutiny, so my review is heavily biased towards how great it is.)
For the short amount of time you spend with the characters, they do undergo changes throughout the story, at least to how you perceive them. It's hard to like either sister at first because of their pretty squabbling, but Kris ends up feeling so trapped and isolated, you can't help but feel bad for her. Even though her sister Lindy was almost unforgivably awful to her, it's easy to forgive her once she ends up helping Kris because it's such a relief that she's no longer alone. The evil dummy* is quite menacing, as he threatens the girls and their tiny dog, going so far as to actually strangle the dog to punish them. The core horror of the story comes from the dummy, of course--living dolls are naturally terrifying--but also from the powerlessness of the twins. Their parents don't believe them, so they have to figure things out themselves.
Overall, an absolute classic. If you've never read Goosebumps before and want to get a good feel for them, this is a great book to start with.
*I put spoiler tags around the dummies' names to be on the safe side, though I'm not totally sure that counts as a spoiler.
Spoiler
SlappyFor the short amount of time you spend with the characters, they do undergo changes throughout the story, at least to how you perceive them. It's hard to like either sister at first because of their pretty squabbling, but Kris ends up feeling so trapped and isolated, you can't help but feel bad for her. Even though her sister Lindy was almost unforgivably awful to her, it's easy to forgive her once she ends up helping Kris because it's such a relief that she's no longer alone. The evil dummy
Spoiler
Mr. WoodOverall, an absolute classic. If you've never read Goosebumps before and want to get a good feel for them, this is a great book to start with.
*I put spoiler tags around the dummies' names to be on the safe side, though I'm not totally sure that counts as a spoiler.