I've made no bones about how I feel about Goosebumps sequels. More often than not they're either poorly written, go through the same beats as the previous book, or just feel unnecessary overall. But surprisingly enough, there is one book in the original 62 that does buck that trend. And it's a good thing it's based off of one of the series' best. It's The Haunted Mask II AKA No Country For Old Mask.
COVER STORY
This cover is another top notch work from Tim Jacobus. I love the great use of perspective as we are looking down on Steve with his old man mask. Just like the monster mask of the original cover, I love how detailed and freaky this mask is with the peeling skin, the one tooth and the wrinkles. It's scary in completely different levels from the original. Also, I love how the setting feels like an autumn night with the trees with only a sparse amount of leaves on the branches and the foggy weather. Really puts you in the Halloween mood, and fits great with the motif of the Haunted Mask books.
STORY
Steve Boswell is our protagonist. In a surprising change of pace for these books, we shift focus to one of the bullies from the previous Haunted Mask. Last year, Steve and his friend Chuck loved to constantly scare Carly Beth Caldwell, until she managed to frighten them both with her haunted mask. Since then however, the two kids have become more friendlier to Carly Beth. I guess after seeing a talking plaster head of her face, they're not willing to screw with her. Instead, Steve now has a bigger issue, and that's trying to coach a soccer team of demon spawn first graders. And I mean total demon spawn. Even at one point, in something akin to a Looney Tunes cartoon, having him kick a giant ball of concrete painted like a soccer ball, injuring his foot.
With Halloween around the corner, Steve wants to get these kids good. Do something that will scare them straight. Something like having a mask like Carly Beth had last year. Chuck and Steve find Carly Beth and Sabrina. After trying to prank them, (I guess old habits truly do die hard), Carly's head fall off, which freaks them all out. Yeah, Carly Beth's mom is still making plaster heads of her, and I guess the now fearless Carly Beth anticipated Chuck and Steve's antics. Actual character development in a Goosebumps sequel. What trickery is this, Jovial Bob? They pressure her to tell them where she got the mask last year, but she refuses to tell. When they threaten to destroy the head, she gives in and tells them of the party store where she discovered the mask. Oh, and yeah, we get no answer as to what happened to the original mask after Carly Beth's brother Noah put it on. I said this was a better sequel, not one without plot holes.
Chuck and Steve sneak out that night to the party store, but when they look through the window, it looks empty and deserted. Like it's been closed down for a long time. However, they find an open trapdoor behind the building. After some hesitation, they decide to go inside and look around. Steve manages to find a box full of masks, with one that catches his eye. It's a creepy looking old man mask with a giant tooth sticking out the front of it. Before the two can leave with it, they hear footsteps. Chuck makes a run for it, but Steve ends up being caught by the John Waters-looking man in the black cape. He's understandably pissed off at the twelve year-old robber, and threatens to call Steve's parents. Steve pleads with him, saying he was going to buy a mask, but the old man insists they're not for sale. Steve panics and runs away, still having the old man mask in his possession.
Steve comes home to be greeted by his terrier Sparky and his mom, who's quite pissed about her son skipping dinner. He heads up to his room as quick as he can and checks out his new mask. He's so excited about this mask that he doesn't even mind the next day of actual abuse he takes from the first graders who are dropkicking balls into his gut and stomping on his back. To hell with scaring them, these kids need some good old-fashioned canings. After school, he finally puts the mask on, only to start feeling weird, like his body is burning. The mask isn't coming off, and what's worse, he's starting to feel frail and weary like an old man. Spiders are crawling out of his ears, which have weird hair sticking out. His voice is even different, sounding much older. His mom almost catches him with the mask on, but he manages to trick her long enough by pretending to be sick. She even bought him his favorite black-and-white cookies (Stine ain't fighting with the Oreo people I guess) that she drove two miles out to get for him, but he declines them for the moment since he can't be seen like this.
Steve decides that maybe Carly Beth will know what to do, so he gives her a call. However, instead of getting her on the line, he gets her father instead. And Mr. Caldwell is none too happy about this weird sounding old man really needing to talk to his daughter, so he thinks he's some sort of nutty crank caller and hangs up on him. Feeling defeated and tired, Steve passes out, only to have a dream sequence where he doesn't have the mask on anymore. With no other options, Steve heads out to find Carly Beth. But he's so weak that he can barely walk, needing a cane for support. He manages to find the first graders, but instead of the mask scaring them, they take pity on the poor old man and help him cross the street. So the whole plan turned out to be a bust.
He finds Carly Beth, who panics, thinking that this is the creep that was trying to call her. He manages to explain that he's Steve and that he put on a mask like hers. She says that the only thing that can remove the mask is an act of love, which Steve deduces might be the cookies his mom bought him. However, when he gets home, the cookies are gone! It seems that Sparky may have eaten them all. To hell with Steve's plight, that dog just ate a lot of chocolate, and might be about to join Petey and Mr. Mortman. Instead, Steve tries hugging Sparky, but it doesn't work either. Their final plan is to head back to the party store, in hopes that maybe there can be a way to fix this mess. They manage to find an old tuxedo, which Carly Beth puts in front of Steve. Somehow it works as the mask detaches from Steve's face and starts dancing up the stairs like that old man from the Six Flags commercials. Huh?
TWIST ENDING
The kids head home, finally glad to be done with this whole haunted mask nonsense. That is until they run into Steve, who is wearing this neat mask that he got from the party store. Here we go again! By which I mean an ending that never gets resolved in any sequel!
CONCLUSION
The Haunted Mask II is the rare example of a solid Goosebumps sequel. One that doesn't sully itself by just retreading the same conflict with the same character, or giving us new characters with the exact same conflict. Instead giving us focus on a different character who was a part of the previous book. Steve becomes a lot more likable in this one. Despite still being a prankster, he seems to have mellowed out a lot since the last book. So you actually do end up feeling bad for him when he starts to turn into an old man. As for scares, the book does a good job in detailing just how freakish the transformation is as we get detailed information about how weak he's becoming, how the mask is wrinkly and scabbed with spiders crawling over it. That's some disturbing stuff. Also, it has one of my favorite moments ever with Steve calling Carly Beth, only to get her dad. Kinda wish Stine would have wrote the dad to be more angry that some creeper wants to talk with his 12 year old daughter, but what we get is still great.
Downsides, I'd say the twist being the exact same as the first is kinda lame, and I'm genuinely concerned about Sparky eating a box of chocolate cookies. Plus the ending with the mask shuffling away is bizarre, but I guess it works other than just doing the whole "act of love" route. Other than a few stumbling blocks, this is still a really great continuation of one of the greatest Goosebumps books. The Haunted Mask II gets an A.
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