The Night of the Living Dummy - Review

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: Middle Grade / Horror

Format: Paperback

Page: 134

Throwback read! I devoured this series as a kid. In fact, by the time I graduated High School I had an entire plastic tub full of them stored under the stairs. Sadly, I think college let my Mom give them away to cousins or some garage sale. 

Now, a decade, and some change later, I've been digging through thrift stores to rebuild that collection! 

And, I couldn't think of a better time to start reading them again than the start of Spooky Season. Naturally, I had to start with the one that creeped me out the most as a kid. 

This book is the reason I jumped into bed as a kid because I swore Slappy was living under my bed. It was a hundred percent the cat, but small me was convinced otherwise.

I will say enough time has passed I remember zero of this book, its plot, or its characters. So it was like reading this again for the first time. I will say it's more fun reading this as an adult because they aren't on the scary side. Instead, I can enjoy the cheese factor and little jump scares that I know would have gotten me as a kid.

As a whole, it's a solid story, and even adult me enjoyed it, curled up on the couch in my fuzzy blanket. The story moves along quickly enough that it's hard to get bored or sidetracked, especially for younger readers. I had forgotten this was the start of a series, so the end caught me off guard as I remembered why this creeped me right out.

The only real complaint I had with this book was the parents. I don't know if it was because the book was told through the girls' point of view that they seemed so mean, but I remember this kind of being a theme with the Goosebump series, lackluster parents that shrugged everything off.

As I kid I never noticed, too focused on the story, the mystery, and the characters. As an adult, I did notice it, and I was kind of hoping Slappy got a hold of the parents.

Other than that it was a great break from more intense nonfiction reads. I remember why I loved these as a kid!

HAPPY READING!!