Book Review: The Haunted Mask (The Haunted Mask #4)
Well hello there readers!
How’s life treating you? I’m dealing with a lot with work, writing, and my last grad school semester, but I’ve gotta say, all the support I’ve received since releasing my new book The Ruins has been so inspirational. Thank you!
Back to the post at hand! Today I’m reviewing The Haunted Mask (The Haunted Mask #4) by RL Stine.
Okay, so I’ll admit that I thought I was reading the original Haunted Mask Goosebumps story. This is not it, and I didn’t realize that until about halfway through, but you know I had to finish what I started.
Let’s see how it went!
Blurb
For the first time ever, Goosebumps is in hard cover! Catch the series’ most notorious characters–undead or alive…
For the first time ever, Goosebumps is in hard cover! Catch the series’ most notorious characters–undead or alive…
From horror master R.L. Stine come two new chilling stories in one spooky standalone:
Lu-Ann Franklin usually loves Halloween. Not this year. Her best friend, Devin O’Bannon, is going away for the week. And she has to go to a boring party where nothing exciting could ever happen. But when Lu-Ann comes face-to-face with The Haunted Mask, major trouble lies ahead.
Devin O’Bannon didn’t want to leave his best friend Lu-Ann Franklin behind on Halloween. He didn’t ask to go on this trip. And that was before he heard the strange scratching on his windows and saw the shadows moving around in the fields. Something is out there and it doesn’t seem to want Devin around!
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The Review
Hmm, I’m not mad at this book by any means, but I didn’t love it either.
This is a Stine double feature. We follow the characters Lu-Ann and Devin as they deal with developments around Halloween. Lu-Ann finds a creepy mask that derails her life once she puts it on, while Devin spends his week on a pumpkin farm helping his dad and trying to ignore the creepy happenings that seem to be getting worse and worse.
So let’s address the double feature element. I’m not sure if newer works by Stine are formatted in this way, but it felt a bit stilted if you ask me. The stories did end up tying together, but I thought they would have been fine as standalones.
Lu-Ann is a jokester and I liked her attitude. She felt very much like me at a younger age, but Devin’s character left me wanting more. He’s overly imaginative, and while that made sense he constantly freaks out about something he thinks he saw, which lessened the shock factor as the chapters went by.
The horror element was really strong in Lu-Ann’s story and faster paced, which I loved, while Devin’s story takes on a lesser creepy vibe and plods along a bit more slowly. In the end I liked Lu-Ann’s story a lot more than Devin’s. His just felt like something of an afterthought. I think younger readers will enjoy this double feature for sure, but there are greater Stine novels out there.
That’s A Wrap!
Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!
Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!
Have a great day!
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I didn’t even know there were new stories involving the mask! I still say nothing will be able to touch the first two. There’s something about being a kid and reading the visceral description of Carly Beth trying to take the mask off and there being no gap between it and her flesh. CHILLS!
Yeah, me either! I honestly don’t remember reading the original Haunted Mask, and I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer. Ugh!
Oh, it’s one of my all time favorites! The sequel is almost as good as far as creep factor goes, as well!
Dang, I’ve gotta get my hands on those! Right now grad school is killing me with having to read 30 fantasy novels in the next few months, but as a silver lining my blog won’t go dead lol.
I feel that with my whole soul! I’m finishing my Master’s right now, working on my thesis. It’s killer. That on top of building curriculum from scratch for a new school I’m teaching at I feel mostly brain dead.
Me too! This is my last semester, and it’s going to take all I’ve got to balance everything out and make a good passing grade. Luckily they have an e-portfolio they use as an equivalent of a thesis, but it’s still a ton of work. Caffeine keeps me going these days lol.