Night of the Living Dummy II (Goosebumps #31)

## He's still walking. He's still stalking.

The Night of the Living Dummy series of stories is the most iconic series from the Goosebumps branding. Slappy the dummy replaced the short-lived Curly mascot in the '90s, and is still the face of the R.L. Stine's books today.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

They're not my favorite stories. The first was a mess of unlikable characters doing unlikely things. This one is a little more structured. Still, the conflicts with Slappy (or any of the evil dummies) never felt like they had significant risk. Even as a kid, I recall finding the heroes' attempt to overpower the dummies too easy and too immediate. He'd feel more like an show more annoying personality who wouldn't leave you alone than a threat, especially with his weird plot to make children his 'slaves.' (Although, I do specifically remember thinking what it'd be like to be his slave, and how I'd be able to escape.)

In Night of the Living Dummy II, Slappy takes center stage as the villain after Mr. Wood's failed plot in the previous book. Amy Kramer is a young girl with an odd passion: Ventriloquism! Where her rival sister, Sara, is a wunderkind artist, Amy expresses her skills in comedy routines with her dummy, Dennis. Unfortunately, Dennis (and her act) are in shambles, and Slappy enters the picture as a dolled-up replacement.

As expected, he comes complete with a magic spell to bring him to life, where he ruins Amy's acts with cruel insults or by injuring her audience. He's also sneaking into Sara's bedroom every night and ruining her work. No one believes a dummy is walking around on its own, so Amy is increasingly separated from a family who can no longer trust her. Probably the freakiest scenario here: Being so mistrusted that no one can even look at you straight.

Sara does, at least, come to believe Amy, and the two sisters hatch a creative plot to get the family back on Amy's side, and get rid of Slappy for good. I liked it significantly more than the first NOTLD story, but it's still missing something I can't quite put my finger on.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#30 It Came from Beneath the Sink! | #32 The Barking Ghost show less

This is the second offering in what is often referred to as the most terrifying of [a: R.L. Stine|13730|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1194380070p2/13730.jpg]'s miniseries within the Goosebumps header. [b: Night of the Living Dummy|125564|Night of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps, #7)|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328867793s/125564.jpg|3138654] first introduces Slappy the dummy to the reader. He is a purely evil creation, a ventriloquist dummy bent on finding humans to be his slaves. While this quest is often ill-fated, in Slappy's attempts often fights ensue, and it is these fights that tend to stick in the reader's minds. Wooden fists meeting human flesh. Wooden jaws clamping on fingers. How do you fight show more what is already, for all intents and purposes, dead and never living? Coupled with the sheer cruelty of Slappy's insults, it sticks out to the young reader well indeed.

This second installment didn't really do as much for me as the first one did. The characters grated upon me, in particular the younger brother, for the sheer audacity of some of the things they did. A kid might not think too much of messing up his sister's watercolor, but to an adult to see all that hard work desecrated for the sake of a gag it is a bit genuinely horrifying. Though, perhaps, the strength is in revealing that even the perfect child has some insecurities, no matter how well hidden they might be.

While this book isn't as gross as the first, nor as ultimately violent, it has character development that is seldom seen in the Goosebumps series. So, a bit slower, but perhaps a bit sophisticated. This trilogy, at least, is well remembered for a reason. show less

In Night of the Living Dummy 2, sisters Lindy and Kris Powell discover a creepy ventriloquist dummy that takes over their lives—literally. As “Slappy” begins taunting and terrorizing the household, the girls must figure out how to stop his wicked pranks before they escalate into something truly terrifying. R. L. Stine hones his mastery of eerie pacing and spooky reveals in this classic installment. Fans of mischievous toys and chilling suspense will be drawn into its chilling—but fun—horror.

Were there really that many middle-schoolers in the 90s who wanted to be ventriloquists? I don't remember any. Yes, a dummy come to life is creepy, but the premise is too odd and the story too similar to the first one to have made a sequel (and more).

#31 "He's still walking. He's still stalking."
Amy is not happy with her ventriloquist dummy. He is old and keeps losing his head. So her father decides to buy her a new ventriloquist dummy from a local pawn shop. The dummy turns out to be none other than Slappy!!!! Horrible things start happening as Amy realizes that there is more to this ventriloquist dummy than meets the eye.

The obnoxious dummy, Slappy, is back again- this time to torment Amy by saying nasty things and destroying her sister, Sara,'s room. No one believes Amy when she says Slappy's doing it, until Sara catches him. The two of them cook up a plan to stop him and prove Amy innocent, and it works.

Goosebumps. This is the series that kept me reading through my childhood. More than any other series, Goosebumps kept me interested in reading, and R.L. Stein is a wonderful children's writer. I applaud his efforts, and can't express enough my gratitude for the series.