Goblin Monday by R.L. Stine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars**
Goblin Monday is the 2nd-book in the House of Shivers series.
This entire franchise holds a very special place in my heart, and I was excited when I learned that Stine was adding another limb to the Goosebumps family tree.
I really enjoyed the 1st-installment, Goosebumps: House of Shivers: Scariest. Book. Ever., when I read it last year. It was fast-paced, with a great antagonist and spooky creatures. Overall, a very solid Goosebumps read.
Jumping into this one, I was feeling confident and loved how this one kicked off. The set-up was great and I was anticipating a solid ride all the way through.
In this story we follow Mario. He grew up in South Florida and has very recently moved North with his family. On his first winter break, he gets invited along a holiday trip with his new friends, Todd and Jewel.
Todd and Jewel’s grandparents live in Vermont and their parents take them up there every year. When Marco gets invited along for the trip, he is ecstatic. He’s going to get to see snow for the first time!
He’s warned on the car ride up that Grandpa Tweety and Mom Mom are a bit on the eccentric side, but they’re purportedly harmless and wickedly entertaining.
Mario enters their home with an open heart and excitement for all the adventures that lay ahead that week. Little did he know that soon he would be fighting for his life.
As the cover and synopsis indicate, this story does involve goblins. The way Stine introduced the idea of goblins being on the Vermont property, and slowly bringing them to life on the page, was engaging and admittedly, creepy as heck.
Mario didn’t notice the ominous nature of the events happening at the home as quickly as I thought he would, but once he did, it was hard watching him try to get his friends to believe in the things he had seen and experienced.
They weren’t taking him seriously, brushing off his concerns, and I was getting as frustrated as he was!
I found almost the entirety of this book gripping and fun, but the very end just blew the whole thing for me.
Ultimately, I was really conflicted on how to rate it. It’s so good, I was hooked, right up until the final two scenes. I was seriously was thinking that this could actually be a unicorn 5-star Goosebumps read.
But then, Stine just did his thing where the end is so freaking bizarre and makes no sense in context with the rest of the story. Why, Mr. Stine? Why?
Honestly though, even with that being said, it’s still absolutely worth a read. There were some genuinely scary scenes up until those final few moments.
There’s a lot of creepy content involving birds, and wandering around in a snow-filled forest feeling like something is following you. The build-up and development was great, but yeah, that ending; not good.
Obviously, I still recommend this to any fan of the Goosebumps franchise. We all know at this point the tricks that Stine oftentimes pulls at the end. To long time Readers, you’ll most likely just SYH at this conclusion.
And as far as new Readers go, I always encourage jumping in on new series from the beginning, as soon as you can. It’s fun to just read along from the start as they’re released, and I plan to continue to do so with this series.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Scholastic Paperbacks, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
It looks like the 3rd-installment is going to be a Mummy story and I’m so ready for it. I will never stop reading R.L. Stine’s work, because no matter how old I get, you’re never too old for Goosebumps!!
