The Haunted School (Goosebumps #59)

## They're watching you learn...the hard way.

In 1947, the entire graduating class of Bell Valley Middle School vanished in the blink of an eye. The original school building where the students went missing was boarded up, and a newer school built around it. Tommy Frazer, in an attempt to make friends, is helping his classmates Ben and Thalia decorate for a school dance. Right before the start of the dance, their school banner is ruined -- Tommy and Ben rush off to find the materials necessary to fix it and impress their classmates about to pour in.

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

Unfortunately, they won't be making it to the dance: Tommy unwisely tries to take a show more shortcut by diving into an elevator in the abandoned section of school. Quite the mistake. The elevator doesn't even go up, but rather takes Ben and Tommy sideways to a world behind the walls, where the 1947 class disappeared to 50 years earlier.

The Haunted School's a really creative entry in the Goosebumps series, very much in the vein of Twilight Zone. It's also easily one of the most enjoyable entries for its creativity, and R.L. Stine's focused attention to that story. There's no random happenstance and series of unrelated, implausible events here: It's a straight-forward story, and all the better for it. The prose is also far, far clearer than most other Goosebumps entries, making me guess this wasn't an entry R.L. Stine churned out, but spent his time on in between the quick churn-outs. (I'm looking at you, Deep Trouble II.) The twist is clever, and telegraphed fairly early on -- not in an obvious way, but in a way that brings a sense of closure to the story.

If I were to talk smack about this wonderful entry, I'll say that Tommy is not a very interesting hero. He barely has any personality, and I had trouble remembering his name as he mostly talks in the context of those around him (Ben, Thalia, the...gray people) rather than himself. I also interpreted one of the story's messages as quite questionable: In addition to saying readers shouldn't pretend to be something they're not, it also seemed to suggest you should never go outside of your comfort zone -- and even hide your true self / feelings from others. Despite that, I'd probably fit this late-era Goosebumps entry among my top 5 for the series. It's just exciting, creepy, and led by a great mystery.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#58 Deep Trouble II | # 60 Werewolf Skin show less

This was a Goosebumps book that stuck with me. I remembered it fairly clearly, from the twist at the end to the creepiness of the elevator that moves sideways. I've been eager to reread it from the start due to how fundamentally it scared me in the first read through. Surprisingly, this book was not so much colored by nostalgia as it was a genuinely good book. This was a great relief after the disappointment of [book: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp]. My only real complaint is that I wish this book had been longer...

Tommy has been displaced since his dad re-married and they moved into his new mom's house. A new mom, a new town, a new school - he really doesn't feel like he fits in. In an attempt to make new friends he joins the Dance show more Decoration Committee and becomes decently close with Ben and a girl named Thalia. While looking for some tape the night of the dance he gets lost in the halls of the school with Ben, and they come across a mysterious elevator. Where will it take them? Will they get back? Welcome to my favorite Goosebumps book.

The idea of Greyworld is a brilliant one. There's something deeply creepy about the lack of all color and how it affects people. The feral kids are downright terrifying, and the setting is like something out of Silent Hill. I love the mystery of it, and was genuinely surprised the first read through by which kid it was who had escaped Greyworld, and just how they might try to get back. I wish this book had been longer, but plot-wise it's inventive, I cared about the characters and think Tommy is one of the better protagonists in the Goosebumps series. I honestly don't have a bad thing to say about this book. show less

Honestly, "The Haunted School" is probably one of the top 15 Goosebump books. It genuinely was creepy at the start of the story, with a mystery about what happened to a whole class of 25 kids and how they disappeared fifty years prior. The atmosphere was pretty well written in spite of being a Goosebumps book, and one that I feel R.L Stine might have actually wrote himself instead of passing it to a ghost writer (it's generally believed he only penned the first two dozen Goosebumps books, but I can't verify that).

However, problems arise in the second half of the story. The Main Character and sidekick character do end up finding what happened to the children, and... well, it is generally creepy, especially with how some of the children show more had gone seemingly insane... but it doesn't DO anything with that revelation.

Look, I'm willing to understand that they can't make it terribly creepy and unsettling because at its core, this is a book meant for children aged 7-11, and they can't traumatize the kids. It's a beginner horror that sets up a creepy premise, and it's meant to get the kids to keep flipping to the end.

But I'm pretty sure even kids would stop to scratch their heads and go "What?". They give you a cool premise and don't do anything with it other than just present it and drop it in favor of getting through it. I didn't read this one as a kid, unfortunately, so I don't know what child me would have thought of it, but I'm pretty sure even he would agree with adult me that the last half drops the ball.

I won't spoil the story for those who do want to read it. I generally try to keep these reviews as spoiler-free as possible because I believe they should explain what worked and what didn't instead of summarizing them. I will say, though, that there are ways R.L Stine could have better utilized the last half to make it a more unsettling story since the start of it was so strong.

Overall, that's why I gave it a 3-star. Good at the beginning, reach page 35, and it's bleh. Still, not a bad way to spend an afternoon and in between two large classics I intend to tackle. show less

One of the more frightening goosebumps books by far. I read this at an age where I was slightly past the acceptable age for reading goosebumps books (maybe 14?) and it still managed to scare me. I think R.L.Stine often tells stories that are a bit too weird to be appreciated in the horror genre, but his Nightmare Hour and Point Horror collections are far better in general than the goosebumps. He tends to build up very scary tension and keep you on the edge of your seat... and then it all comes out that it's part of a project, or a dream, or everyone is really from another planet. It just crosses the boundaries of weird and makes what could be a clever horror ending into a bit of a joke.
The point of me saying this is to emphasise how I show more think this book manages to stay outside of this and delivers a good shot of the horror we love. I liked it. show less

With Goosebumps being a very great piece of my childhood, I can remember 'The Haunted School' as being one of my favourites. It's suspensful, hooked with cliffhangers at the end of almost (if not all) chapter and has a very surprising finish to the story. If your looking to start reading Goosebumps, I recommend this as a book to start off with as it is the plot is spot on perfect and very difficult to put down as mentioned, making it one of the best titles of the series. I recommend this for teens and children but is still an entertaining read for everyone.

#59 "They're watching you learn... the hard way."
Is Tommy going crazy? Or is he really hearing voices in his new school? Since Tommy's dad just got married he not only has a new mom but a new school too. It's easy to get lost in this giant place. And poor Tommy ends up doing so very easily. That's when he starts hearing the voices. The voices of children crying for help!

I loved this book. It was really interesting reading the description of the school. I caught on early as to what was going on with one of the characters always applying make-up but that may have been because I read the book before when I was a child. I loved how the author had a hook at the end of each chapter which made it extremely difficult to put the book down. There was a lot of suspense in this book which just captivated me.