Good Morning!

I hope you’re having a good start to your week. I finally started my Halloween reads (a bit late, I might add), and for my first read I wanted something nostalgic.

It’s probably no surprise that I went with Goosebumps #1, Welcome to Dead House by R.L. Stine.

I read this book back when I was a kid. Goosebumps and Animorphs were my world, and this time of year is perfect for some quick little haunts. I didn’t remember much from this story since it’s been decades since I read it, but I was super excited to jump in.

Series Review Links

Book Review: Night of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps #7)

Book Review: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (Goosebumps #14)

Book Review: How I Learned to Fly (Goosebumps #52)

Blurb:

Amanda and Josh think the old house they have just moved into is weird. Spooky. Possibly haunted. And the town of Dark Falls is pretty strange, too. — But their parents don’t believe them. You’ll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends. — So Amanda and Josh do. But these creepy new friends are not exactly what their parents had in mind.

Because they want to be friends…

…Forever.

GoodReads

Amazon

The Review:

I gave this book four and a half stars!

What an exciting blast from the past!

I used to devour these books when I was a kid, so Halloween time was a perfect opportunity to give this another read. I’m so glad I did!

In this debut novel to the Goosebumps series we follow along with Amanda, her brother Josh, and their parents as they move to a place called Dark Falls. They inherited a house from an unknown great uncle, but soon after they move they discover that things are very odd here. It’s almost always dark around town, there’s never anyone out on the street, and Amanda keeps seeing and hearing things. Is there something more to Dark Falls, or is Amanda losing her mind?

So many things worked well in this short novel.

I enjoyed the characters. Amanda is a typical young adult, and it was easy to relate to her. Moving is never easy when you’re a kid. Amanda’s character is strong. When she sees or hears things she is vocal about it to her family, and despite them telling her it’s in her head, she shows inner strength by endeavoring to solve the mystery taking place around her and this weird town. Her little brother Josh is rambunctious and easy to like, and her parents are fairly typical but likeable.

The plot is very simple. Family moves to house, Amanda sees things, and she slowly unwraps the mystery. I liked Dark Falls and how spooky it was. Yes, as an adult this book was very predictable and somewhat cliché, but this book wasn’t made for me. It was made for younger kids, and judging it that way I can see how a kid might get creeped out by this novel and the little plot twists here and there. I liked that there wasn’t a lot of cheesy humor along with this book (as I remember some of R.L. Stine’s books were borderline goofy). It was more straightforward, and I appreciated that.

The writing style was well written and super easy to read. I really blazed through these pages!

If I had to nitpick at anything I’d say that the climax of things seemed a little farfetched. There could’ve been a simpler or more believable way to resolve the conflict, but overall I really loved this book and can’t wait to get my hands on more of these! Definitely worth a read if you’re looking for some nostalgia from the good ole days.

That’s a Wrap!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!

Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!

If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out the book review section of my blog or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!

Have a great day!

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