#59 "They're watching you learn... the hard way."
Is Tommy going crazy? Or is he really hearing voices in his new school? Since Tommy's dad just got married he not only has a new mom but a new school too. It's easy to get lost in this giant place. And poor Tommy ends up doing so very easily. That's when he starts hearing the voices. The voices of children crying for help! ( )

This was a Goosebumps book that stuck with me. I remembered it fairly clearly, from the twist at the end to the creepiness of the elevator that moves sideways. I've been eager to reread it from the start due to how fundamentally it scared me in the first read through. Surprisingly, this book was not so much colored by nostalgia as it was a genuinely good book. This was a great relief after the disappointment of [book: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp]. My only real complaint is that I wish this book had been longer...

Tommy has been displaced since his dad re-married and they moved into his new mom's house. A new mom, a new town, a new school - he really doesn't feel like he fits in. In an attempt to make new friends he joins the Dance Decoration Committee and becomes decently close with Ben and a girl named Thalia. While looking for some tape the night of the dance he gets lost in the halls of the school with Ben, and they come across a mysterious elevator. Where will it take them? Will they get back? Welcome to my favorite Goosebumps book.

The idea of Greyworld is a brilliant one. There's something deeply creepy about the lack of all color and how it affects people. The feral kids are downright terrifying, and the setting is like something out of Silent Hill. I love the mystery of it, and was genuinely surprised the first read through by which kid it was who had escaped Greyworld, and just how they might try to get back. I wish this book had been longer, but plot-wise it's inventive, I cared about the characters and think Tommy is one of the better protagonists in the Goosebumps series. I honestly don't have a bad thing to say about this book. ( )

## They're watching you learn...the hard way.

In 1947, the entire graduating class of Bell Valley Middle School vanished in the blink of an eye. The original school building where the students went missing was boarded up, and a newer school built around it. Tommy Frazer, in an attempt to make friends, is helping his classmates Ben and Thalia decorate for a school dance. Right before the start of the dance, their school banner is ruined -- Tommy and Ben rush off to find the materials necessary to fix it and impress their classmates about to pour in.

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

Unfortunately, they won't be making it to the dance: Tommy unwisely tries to take a shortcut by diving into an elevator in the abandoned section of school. Quite the mistake. The elevator doesn't even go up, but rather takes Ben and Tommy sideways to a world behind the walls, where the 1947 class disappeared to 50 years earlier.

The Haunted School's a really creative entry in the Goosebumps series, very much in the vein of Twilight Zone. It's also easily one of the most enjoyable entries for its creativity, and R.L. Stine's focused attention to that story. There's no random happenstance and series of unrelated, implausible events here: It's a straight-forward story, and all the better for it. The prose is also far, far clearer than most other Goosebumps entries, making me guess this wasn't an entry R.L. Stine churned out, but spent his time on in between the quick churn-outs. (I'm looking at you, Deep Trouble II.) The twist is clever, and telegraphed fairly early on -- not in an obvious way, but in a way that brings a sense of closure to the story.

If I were to talk smack about this wonderful entry, I'll say that Tommy is not a very interesting hero. He barely has any personality, and I had trouble remembering his name as he mostly talks in the context of those around him (Ben, Thalia, the...gray people) rather than himself. I also interpreted one of the story's messages as quite questionable: In addition to saying readers shouldn't pretend to be something they're not, it also seemed to suggest you should never go outside of your comfort zone -- and even hide your true self / feelings from others. Despite that, I'd probably fit this late-era Goosebumps entry among my top 5 for the series. It's just exciting, creepy, and led by a great mystery.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#58 Deep Trouble II | # 60 Werewolf Skin ( )

goosebumbs
by r.l.stine

Tommy frazer’s dad just got married
a new mom a new school! Tommy is the type of kid who sits in the back of the room by himself untill one day the school needed a assistant for helping with the up coming dance. tommy needs to get paint and tumbles in to the old school. he starts to hear voices he checks it out only to go to gray world..!!!

thos is a great book 5 stars ( )

An okay book. My son liked it and I guessed the Tahlia girl was one of the grey kids from the first few chapters. ( )