mikerickson reviewed How I Got My Shrunken Head by R. L. Stine (Goosebumps)
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3 stars
I was aware of Goosebumps when I was a kid, but never got into it when I was the target demographic (K.A. Applegate had my younger literary life in a chokehold, but that's another story). But I picked up a few paperbacks at a Punk Rock Flea Market this past weekend and decided to see what I missed out on all those years ago.
Fully aware that this was a children's book going into it, my expectations via-a-vis overall story structure was still surpassed. Even though chapters were only 2-4 pages long, damn near every one ended on some sort of cliffhanger with varying degrees of severity. There was an incredible sense of forward momentum pushing the reader on, and I could easily see how a young reader could think, "what the hell, I'll read one more chapter real quick."
Content-wise, we got a kid (not a little boy, …
I was aware of Goosebumps when I was a kid, but never got into it when I was the target demographic (K.A. Applegate had my younger literary life in a chokehold, but that's another story). But I picked up a few paperbacks at a Punk Rock Flea Market this past weekend and decided to see what I missed out on all those years ago.
Fully aware that this was a children's book going into it, my expectations via-a-vis overall story structure was still surpassed. Even though chapters were only 2-4 pages long, damn near every one ended on some sort of cliffhanger with varying degrees of severity. There was an incredible sense of forward momentum pushing the reader on, and I could easily see how a young reader could think, "what the hell, I'll read one more chapter real quick."
Content-wise, we got a kid (not a little boy, Mark is 12 years old, thank you very much...) who has the call to adventure literally come to his doorstep in the form of a colleague of his scientist aunt who's gone missing in a remote jungle and needs Mark's help. A ridiculous premise, but we don't get time to marinate on how improbable it is because things move on so quickly. Jungle-related hi-jinks and a constant rotation of new threats ensue until the absolute last sentence of the book.
I can see why this series was so successful and why many would look back on it fondly. Maybe moving forward I'll start 'rescuing' old copies when I come across them in thrift stores and whatnot.
