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A review by stagasaurus
The Babysitter IV by R.L. Stine
3.0
I'm not a big Stine fan. But this was slightly better than his normal fare and I enjoyed reading it. I think because it actually was a ghost story I liked it better. Did the publishers finally quit giving a shit about their rules and said, "Oh, do what you want."?
Reminds me of: All the other Stine books. All the other Babysitter Point Horror Stine books. The creepy crappy boyfriend, the absent parents, the not wanting to ask/tell people stuff when you really should, the jump scare chapter endings, the endless cans of soda. Honestly, was I the only teen whose parents did not provide cans of coke on tap?
"It was probably just a practical joke" moment: Oh yes, that classic prank, the cold invisible hands pushing you into the garbage disposal.
"You probably just imagined it" moment: You probably just imagined a ghost that can eat cake and play computer games.
Innocent victims?: Oh goodness, she's been through the mill. I think she maybe ought to become an Auror or something and be done with it.
How blindingly obvious?: I kept thinking how was he going to turn this into a trick, and was relieved when it actually was a real ghost. Well, two ghosts. Two ghosts for the price of one made it a better book.
Plot holes / Unfinished plot lines: We didn't really get much time to find out much about the babysitter in the attic. Though it made a good twist, I think it would have been fun to have had her hear the rumour sooner and do some research in the library newspaper archives or something. That's what Elizabeth Wakefield would have done. It was left up in the air which ghost was the evil one, but that's honestly subtle for Stine so it was interesting.
Something that was fascinating to me was that R.L. Stine has clearly never read Roald Dahl. At one point he writes, "She had to read Meredith two more Roald Dahl stories" or something and I was just boggled. Roald Dahl only wrote chapter books for children, not picture books. His short stories are definitely for adults. Which one did she read to Meredith? The one about the person being chased by a giant penis on a hotel landing perhaps?
Inappropriate happy ending: She was VERY cheery about the possibility of more babysitting. Some people never learn.
Reminds me of: All the other Stine books. All the other Babysitter Point Horror Stine books. The creepy crappy boyfriend, the absent parents, the not wanting to ask/tell people stuff when you really should, the jump scare chapter endings, the endless cans of soda. Honestly, was I the only teen whose parents did not provide cans of coke on tap?
"It was probably just a practical joke" moment: Oh yes, that classic prank, the cold invisible hands pushing you into the garbage disposal.
"You probably just imagined it" moment: You probably just imagined a ghost that can eat cake and play computer games.
Innocent victims?: Oh goodness, she's been through the mill. I think she maybe ought to become an Auror or something and be done with it.
How blindingly obvious?: I kept thinking how was he going to turn this into a trick, and was relieved when it actually was a real ghost. Well, two ghosts. Two ghosts for the price of one made it a better book.
Plot holes / Unfinished plot lines: We didn't really get much time to find out much about the babysitter in the attic. Though it made a good twist, I think it would have been fun to have had her hear the rumour sooner and do some research in the library newspaper archives or something. That's what Elizabeth Wakefield would have done. It was left up in the air which ghost was the evil one, but that's honestly subtle for Stine so it was interesting.
Something that was fascinating to me was that R.L. Stine has clearly never read Roald Dahl. At one point he writes, "She had to read Meredith two more Roald Dahl stories" or something and I was just boggled. Roald Dahl only wrote chapter books for children, not picture books. His short stories are definitely for adults. Which one did she read to Meredith? The one about the person being chased by a giant penis on a hotel landing perhaps?
Inappropriate happy ending: She was VERY cheery about the possibility of more babysitting. Some people never learn.