A review by vegandanimal
Welcome to Dead House by R.L. Stine

4.0

Though I was about the right age for them when they first came out, I never read any of the Goosebumps books when I was a kid, although I do remember the TV show. At the time I was more interested in reading "grown up" books than anything marketed as for young adults. Recently however they came to my attention when I reading an article on writing for children that used them as an example of good clear, easy to follow stories. I figured I'd give them a go and see if they lived up to the hype, and starting with book one of the series.
Overall I must say I'm impressed, and I can see why kids love these books. The characters are well drawn and introduced, the tension is cracked up bit by bit - and although some of the "scares" are rather signposted, in a TV / Movie kind of way, I'm sure that for a 10 year old or so coming to the for the first time would get a kick out of them.
Also, the book is surprisingly gorry and doesn't shy away from some rather grizzly and horrific moments, which I was pleased by - it's not molly codling or condescending to younger readers.
Overall, I would recommend this to any young reader.

Though, I must say, the Poor Petey :'(