Michael gets younger by the minute when he turns back the hands on a cuckoo clock.

I know I read a number of Goosebumps books as a child, but The Cuckoo Clock of Doom is the only one I vividly remember. It has a certain darkness the other books lack. The very existence of the protagonist is at risk in this book, and the twist ending is one of the darker ones in the series. ( )

#28 "Keep your eye on the birdie!"
Michael hates his little sister Tara. She is abusive and mean to him constantly. when his father brings home an antique cuckoo clock his father warns both of the children not to touch it because it was very expensive. But Michael season opportunity to get Terra in trouble for once instead of himself. When he messes with the cuckoo clock he ends up getting trapped in a time warp from hell! ( )

## Keep your eye on the birdie!

The 28th entry in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series is among the most genuinely terrifying yarns for young readers. The main storyline, about an flawed cuckoo clock that distorts the flow of time for a young boy named Michael, is creepy enough, but it's Michael's family life that is truly terrifying. Michael's younger sister, Tara, is a born psychopath, and whenever she's in focus, I felt nothing but discomfort.

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

R.L. Stine once mentioned the cuckoo clock of the title provided his favorite scenario. It's a great one!: An antique cuckoo clock, built in 1800, is sold cheaply due to a mysterious 'flaw' it took the owners 15 years to find. It's never quite explained what happened; just left to the imagination as the story continues to unfold. Like Stine's 'Monster Blood,' the cuckoo clock's powers border on nebulous, but in this case it adds to the mystery (like, why does the year counter end in the year 3000?).

Once the cuckoo clock comes into their family's possession, Michael thinks he can play a trick on his sister to finally get even with her. For years, he's been the butt of her malice, and every day brings some vicious prank at his expense (whether it be ruining his birthday presents, embarrassing him in front of his crush and all her friends, or even getting him beaten to a pulp by bullies). His plan is to make it look like Tara broke the mechanical cuckoo bird so that when the hours strike, its entrance is underwhelming. It's a small prank to play on such a hateful person.

When he wakes up the next morning, Michael finds himself reliving the awful birthday party Tara ruined 2 weeks earlier. Day after day, Michael uncontrollably relives random days, moving further and further back in time. The cuckoo clock is no longer in their possession, and he's much too young to find it on his own or convince anyone of his time travel predicament. It was a creative approach to time travel stories, and the cuckoo clock itself is an interesting, creepy invention on Stine's part.

Tara, though....

She proudly bears her nickname ('Tara the Terrible') in torturing Michael every minute of the day -- and it's not sibling rivalry, it's pure malice and delight in his pain that drives her to hurt her own brother. To grow up with her as close family would be a nightmare akin to We Need to Talk About Kevin's eponymous psychopath. She's truly the scariest thing from any Goosebumps novel.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#27 A Night in Terror Tower | #29 Monster Blood III ( )

A Goosebumps children book that has the theme of a terrible sister - are you surprised? It's a common element in almost all these books I've read this year. Tara the terrible may be the worst - what an awful human being, she takes sibling brattness too far. The end has a nice twist about her at least. It's not as good as the others I've been reading, a little frustrating because he has to keep repeating a few terrible days, groundhog style. Stine dug into time travel with the cuckoo clock - how does he think of all this stuff? - but would have had more oomph if the character could have changed his reactions. ( )