Julius Goodman

1984. It signaled the debut of the Apple Macintosh, the Winter Olympics took place in Sarajevo, the novel '1984' was probably read by more people than in any other single year, 'Of Mice and Men' was removed from Tennessee public schools for being a "filthy book", and I was ten years old and reading 'Horror of High Ridge' which was officially book number 27 of the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' series.
If you are not familiar with CYOA then let me explain...you would read the first few pages show more like you would any regular book only at the bottom of page four, for example, you will be presented with a couple of choices that take the story in different directions. Once you have read your chosen direction you will then be given more choices on how the story should progress and so on and so forth until you reach an ending of which there were many. A bit of creative writing if I may that will give you an idea of what I'm on about...

As you take a stroll along the forest trail, the air filled with the sound of birds singing, inbred hillbillies playing their banjos menacingly and pigs squealing...intertwined with what sounds like moans of male pleasure...you notice a human figure laying on the ground in the distance. The person appears to be female, she is holding the bottom of her leg and there is a bicycle laying on the ground nearby. As you get closer you realize that you have seen this female somewhere before and if you're not mistaken, judging by the angle of her foot, she has a broken ankle.
"Excuse me ma'am," you say politely as she looks up and you realize it's that teen starlet Miley "Can I be of any help?"
"Oh thank goodness" she replies with a voice that pierces your eardrums "you've got to help me. I wondered away from my tour bus and took this trail with the intention of gaining a few quiet hours. As you can see I fell and broke my ankle. You must help me."
Your mind begins to race as you think of the untold horrors of having to sit through her television show all because your sister loves Miley. And then there's the singing...

If you decide to help Miley by taking out your cell phone and calling for help then turn to page 27.
If you decide to help humanity by taking out your knife, cutting out her vocal chords and dancing on them while shouting, "Who's partying in the USA now, bitch!" then turn to page 41.

And thus is the premise of the Choose Your Own Adventure books.
'Horror of High Ridge' was essentially a horror story based around dead cowboys and indians who, depending on your choices, would either help you, hinder you or just outright slaughter you. In many ways this was a very graphic book considering it was aimed at a tween market and a look inside the book shows pictures of a rather disturbing nature. I loved it though! show less

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: you're engaged in a search for two Spanish galleons that sank in 1698, and of course their treasure. Most of the hazards you'll face are those that come with the job.

Observations: this is a more serious take on the theme from Journey Under the Sea (#2), beginning with an overview of diving equipment and diving hazards (decompression and nitrogen narcosis). This isn't to help you make wiser choices but so that you can understand some of the awful things that are going to happen to you.

Personal memories: I remember buying this one more than I remember reading it. show less

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: this is horror lite for kids. You and your two friends are in a cabin in the woods, in an area said to be haunted by possibly murderous ghosts. What could go wrong?

Observations: This is author Julius Goodman's second time at bat after Space Patrol (#22), and I can imagine his pitch along the lines of "This series has never tried the horror genre, why not?" (if you don't count the many grim deaths that the earlier entries sometimes surprised you with). show less

The Choose Your Own Adventure series offered an option every few pages to choose how the story would continue. According to your preference, you would follow its instructions by turning to the appropriate page of the book as indicated by your choice. This was a popular and revolutionary idea when the series was first launched in the early 1980s, driving it to incredible sales levels for many years until it was overshadowed by variants on the idea that took the concept to more elaborate show more lengths (e.g. Fighting Fantasy) and especially by other interactive media.

The plot: you're in charge of defending your galaxy, and danger is incoming.

Observations: tease me if you will for noticing this, but the cover of this one always intrigued me for the simple reason that they extended the border of the cover image to encapsulate the author's name, which none of the other original covers do.

Personal memories: this one hit the sweet spot for me in terms of scratching my science fiction itch, in a way that the earlier space-themed entries did not. It feels more Star Wars than the Star Trek attitude of the others, probably thanks to the different writing style of author Julius Goodman show less