Gooseblog: Goosebumps Series 2000 #24: Earth Geeks Must Go!

It's time to boldly go where Goosebumps has gone before. Several times before. Especially in Series 2000. It's the penultimate edition of Series 2000, and it is imperative that Earth Geeks Must Go!

COVER STORY

Gotta level with you, this might honestly be the dullest cover that Tim Jacobus has ever graced us. There are some positives, namely the nice blending of the red as it reaches higher into the starry sky, and the reflection of Earth in the spaceship window is pretty neat. But other than that, where's the scary? Is it supposed to be the astronaut with the yellow eyes? Because if that's the case, is that ever a wet paper bag of a scare. Of the nearly 100 covers that Jacobus provided, this may hands down be the worst. But I can at least sidebar to this piece of trivia before we get to the book proper:

Originally, the book was meant to be called Earth Geeks Must Die! However, Scholastic deemed it too violent, despite the words "Die" "Dead" and "Murder" being featured for past book titles. Jeez, no wonder Stine was ready to peace out. 

Gooseblog: Goosebumps Series 2000 #13: Return to HorrorLand

It's interesting how things work out, huh? I didn't have a copy of this book before I started working on the first HorrorLand arc, so I couldn't give it a fair comparison to Stine's longer opus. But this week, I found a copy at my local thrift store, meaning that I can now fully see what happens when Stine is given the better part of twelve books to flesh out a HorrorLand sequel to having one book in his regular format. It's time to take the ride once more as we Return to HorrorLand.

COVER STORY

I'm not the biggest fan of this cover. I do like the slimy look to the Ice Scream, giving off a very monster blood vibe. The background with the giant tent and the roller coaster gives off that carnival feel. I think my problem though is the horror itself. I looks less like the hulking blue-green beasts we've seen in previous books and more like a gargoyle. A naked gargoyle squatting and handing you ice cream. I do like the details of the fur and the horns, and it does look intimidating, but it also just feels like the blandest monster design Tim Jacobus has ever given us.

Gooseblog: Goosebumps HorrorLand #12: The Streets of Panic Park

We've made it. The final book of the initial HorrorLand story. It's been twelve books, mostly filled with callbacks to the original 62, with some new stories, all culminating with sixteen kids finding themselves in HorrorLand. And after a strong penultimate chapter in Escape From HorrorLand, can R.L. Stine stick the landing on his most ambitious saga? Let's find out with The Streets of Panic Park.

COVER STORY

Cover is pretty cramped feeling, but otherwise fine. We get the return of Slappy, and I'm still not too fond of his face. Again, not trying to oversell Tim's work, but Dorman's Slappy just doesn't come off as super creepy. Especially not here. But thankfully the flaming horses on the carousel make up for it as they look very intimidating. Overall, it's a middle of the road cover at best.