Scan barcode
A review by rkking
The Cuckoo Clock of Doom by R.L. Stine
4.0
I recently got a bit of the nostalgia bug when thinking back to the Goosebumps books I read as a kid. Goosebumps, and by extension the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark series, definitely introduced me to the genre of horror. After Goosebumps I moved onto classics like Dracula and Jekyll/Hyde, then on to the gown up stuff throughout my life and to this day. Well, this nostalgia bug got me wanting to re-collect the original 62 run of Goosebumps books, and in their first run printings because of the amazing covers. Perhaps the best part of the series was the covers. Next up;
#28, The Cuckoo Clock Of Doom
This is a surprisingly existential story for a kids' book.
When a young boy messes with a cursed/magical cuckoo clock, he begins to wake each morning further and further in the past. First 12, then 6, then 4, etc. He knows that soon his time will run out, as he'll not yet be born. This is an interesting crisis, as it's not death he's worried about, but UN-death. The fear of having never existed at all. A fairly profound thing when you really think about it.
The ending reveal is pretty harsh too, revealing how the timeline affects others people as well.
Time travel. Don't mess with it, kids.
Join the RK King readers' list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes
#28, The Cuckoo Clock Of Doom
This is a surprisingly existential story for a kids' book.
When a young boy messes with a cursed/magical cuckoo clock, he begins to wake each morning further and further in the past. First 12, then 6, then 4, etc. He knows that soon his time will run out, as he'll not yet be born. This is an interesting crisis, as it's not death he's worried about, but UN-death. The fear of having never existed at all. A fairly profound thing when you really think about it.
The ending reveal is pretty harsh too, revealing how the timeline affects others people as well.
Time travel. Don't mess with it, kids.
Join the RK King readers' list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes