Back To School Reads - Goosebumps SlappyWorld: The Dummy Meets The Mummy!

*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm feeling a bit old while I'm writing this review as it has come to my attention that R.L. Stine's Goosebumps franchise just turned 27-years-old last month! And this also means it's been 27 years since I read my very first Goosebumps - Welcome to Dead House.

Despite that fact I'm soon to be a 38-year-old in just a few weeks, I still read each and every new Goosebumps title that's published. Yes, I'm well aware I'm way past the Grade 4 reading level but I like nostalgia and that's exactly the feeling I get every time I read a Goosebumps book. Plus, I just love horror stories, even the kid-friendly ones.

The newest entry in the franchise is titled Goosebumps SlappyWorld: The Dummy Meets The Mummy! (a.k.a. - the eighth installment of the spinoff SlappyWorld series). And as you can probably guess by the art cover, this story centers around everyone's favorite villainous ventriloquist dummy - Slappy! There's also a creepy mummy in this tale. No, it's not the same mummy from the classic Goosebumps titles The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb and Return of the Mummy. Instead it's a brand new character named Arragotus.

Of course Goosebumps stories don't just center around the villains as there's always one or two young protagonists, typically around 12-years-old, who have to stop the bad guys from doing some evil deed. For The Dummy Meets The Mummy!, there are in fact two main characters - Cathy O'Connor and Aaron Riggles.

The plot involves a middle-grade class having a supervised sleepover in the Haunted Horror Museum, which is owned by Cathy's father. The museum's newest attraction is Arragotus the mummy. Just before the kids arrive, the museum received a rather odd donation - a ventriloquist dummy named Slappy!

Let's just say having Arragotus and Slappy under the same roof isn't a very good thing!

Final Thoughts

Wow! Whether you're young or old, like me, you're going to enjoy reading Goosebumps SlappyWorld: The Dummy Meets The Mummy!.

The narration is slightly different this time around. There's the normal introduction by "Slappy" himself, a short prologue taking place in Egypt, a four chapter thriller with Slappy terrorizing the Riggles' family, and lastly there's the main tale of the Haunted Horror Museum sleepover. I like way Mr. Stine introduced Aaron first, quickly switched the point-of-view to Cathy, and later brought back Aaron into the fold.

Like all Goosebumps books, the characters here are two-dimensional, except for Slappy who gets all the one-liners. I do realize there are a few adult readers who complain about the characters not having enough depth to them but, hey, it's just a kid's story. These books tend to be under 150 pages and there's just not enough space to expand the characters. For me, the most important part of any good Goosebumps is the actual story!

The Dummy Meets The Mummy! happens to be the best entry in the "SlappyWorld" series, at least so far. It's a little bit more vicious than some of the previous installments and it has more of an old school '90s Goosebumps vibe. There's less laughs and more chills!