Classic Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House by R.L. Stine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Welcome to Dead House is the first installment in R.L. Stine’s Classic Goosebumps series. Originally published in 1992, this story channels all the vibes of the series.
We follow brother and sister, Josh and Amanda, who are moving into a new home in the town of Dark Falls with their parents and the family dog.
From the start, the kids aren’t having a good time. The dog keeps fleeing in terror, Amanda is seeing people who aren’t there and Josh is just grumpy about the move in general.
Their parents think the dog’s and kids’ reactions, are just due to the disruption of their regular life. They’re in a new, strange place and the house is old, it’s gonna have some creaks and groans. They’ll get over it.
They try to settle in the best they can. Josh and Amanda are even able to befriend some local kids, who although a little odd, seem nice overall.
Even with others in the neighborhood accepting their arrival, the siblings can’t quite shake the feeling that something is off. There’s too many eerie things happening and yeah, the other kids are saying weird things and continue acting strangely. What gives?
It turns out, Dark Falls has a dark history with dark secrets, but will Josh and Amanda succumb to its dark aims?!
I have been feeling nostalgic lately for the Middle Grade and YA Horror of my younger years. When I saw that my library had the 2015-audio version of this book available yesterday, on a whim I decided to listen to it.
It was so fun and I easily listened to it in a couple hours.
There’s an overall feeling of menace in this story that legitimately gave me the creeps. I would think that some kids would be scared by this one, but in a fun way. It’s not gory, or overly descriptive in the Horror aspects, but still very compelling.
I would recommend this one to Readers of all ages. It has Stine’s goofy-brand of Dad humor sprinkled throughout. A few times I rolled my eyes, but often I laughed out loud.
Overall, I am super glad I gave this one a listen and plan to pick up more of the Classic Goosebumps series very soon!