Summer Reads: Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Edition: The Haunter

Scholastic; 192 pages; $7.99; Amazon

While Halloween is less than three months away, many publishers are already releasing books set around All Hallows' Eve. Scholastic released "Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Edition: The Haunter" by R.L. Stine last month, which just happens to have a Halloween theme.

Similar to other Goosebumps Most Wanted titles, "The Haunter" opens up with a short prologue where R.L. Stine points out the readers to the "The Haunter" Most Wanted poster. Instead of telling the story himself about the monster, he quickly introduces us to Sammy Baker, the main character of this story.

Twelve-year-old Sammy is dreading Halloween, which is only days away, mostly because he's afraid of anything that is scary! He's not the most popular kid at Grover Cleveland Middle School, though he does have one good friend, Bill "Buzzy" Buzzner, who is the complete opposite of him as Buzzy is not afraid of anything.

Out of the blue, Sammy's teacher, Miss Flake, announced that the class will split into groups for a Halloween-themed assignment, and of course he is given a scary subject to write about - "Are Haunted Houses Real?"

The Good News:

Sammy's crush, Summer Magee, is in the group.

Buzzy is also in the group.

The Bad News:

Sammy's nemesis, Rubin, is in the group.

They are going to play "Ghost Hunters" and explore the haunted Marple House on Halloween Night!

After borrowing some ghost hunting gear, Sammy, Buzzy, Summer, Rubin and a few other classmates explore the Marple House on October 31st. Despite a few close calls, Sammy manages to survive the night. However, Sammy starts noticing some strange occurrences the next day, and he quickly realizes that someone or something from Marple House has followed him home.

Final Thoughts: R.L. Stine is the master of horror stories for middle graders. I loved reading his Goosebumps and Fear Street titles during my middle grade years in the early '90s. Now as an adult, I still like reading his books, though the stories aren't as scary as they are for a nine-year-old.

"The Haunter" marks the 4th "Special Edition" in the Goosebumps Most Wanted series. Written from the point-of-view of the main character, Sammy, "The Haunter" is an old-fashioned haunted house tale with a few twisted scares. Don't worry! The frights aren't too scary for younger reader, though you might want to keep the night light on after reading this.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Edition: The Haunter. While the ghost in the book isn't as creepy as it appears on the cover art, there are enough scares to keep the younger horror fans interested, and there is also plenty of humor for those who don't care for scary reads (just like Sammy!).