Scholastic; 156 pages; $6.99; Amazon

Now available from Scholastic is the first book in the all new Goosebumps series, titled SlappyWorld: Slappy Birthday To You, featuring the fan favorite villain - the ventriloquist dummy named Slappy.

In a slight change of format from the Goosebumps Most Wanted series, SlappyWorld begins with a short introduction by Slappy himself, followed by the first part of the story. Occasionally, Slappy interrupts the story for a page or two; typically adding some slapstick humor.

The main character in this tale is Ian Barker, who is forced to celebrate his twelfth birthday with his younger sister, Molly, and their two annoying cousins Jonny and Vinny.

Ian's father repairs dolls for a living, (Yep, that's a real job!) and he gives Ian a ventriloquist dummy named Slappy. The dummy was sent to be repaired by Mr. Barker, but it came with no return address. After a year passed by, Mr. Barker decided to give the dummy to Ian, who has been wanting a ventriloquist dummy for years.

Of course Slappy is no ordinary dummy, (He even has his own Wikipedia page!). After Ian's cousin reads the words off a mysterious piece of paper - "Karru   Marri   Odonna   Loma   Molonu   Karrano!,"strange things begin to occur in the Barker household, all of which points to one conclusion - Slappy is alive!

Scholastic; 154 pages; $6.99; Amazon

I couldn't have a Halloween event on my blog without at least featuring one "Goosebumps" title. R.L. Stine has been scaring kids to death since the early 1990s with his Twilight Zone inspired book series. Each book is written from the point-of-view of a kid between the age 10-13, where he or she would have some sort of scary adventure. Typically, the books would have shocking endings.

The newest entry is titled Goosebumps Most Wanted: The Lizard of Oz (book 10 in the "Most Wanted" series). It begins with a quick introduction by R.L. Stine, who is showing the readers the Most Wanted poster of a lizard in the Goosebumps office. Then the story jumps to point-of-view of Kate Lipton, a twelve-year-old, with a very odd family, and, no, she isn't taking about her little brother, Freddy.

Out of nowhere, Kate's parents had decided to quit their jobs and start a miniature pony farm in Middle Village, Pennsylvania. After that plan failed, they tried to start a miniature pony petting farm, and you can probably guess that that idea didn't work either.

After borrowing money from relatives, the Lipton family travels to Australia. It seems her parents have always been obsessed with lizards, and that's exactly why they are in Australia - so they can get a rare lizard. After meeting a strange man named Dr. Gregg, her parents convinced him to let them buy a Tasmanian Cobra lizard egg to take back home.

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!

Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Editon 3 - Trick Or Trap
by R.L. Stine
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub. Date: July 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0545627788
Pages: 192
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:
 
It's almost hard to believe that the first Goosebumps title by R.L. Stine was published in 1992. I was nearly twelve-years-old when I stumbled upon "Welcome to Dead House" in the book section at a Walmart and I've been a fan of the series ever since. This is a big year for Goosebumps fans as the first feature film will released in October with Jack Black playing a fictional version of R.L. Stine. Until then, fans can entertain themselves with the newest book - Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Edition #3 - Trick Or Trap!

This installment centers on Scott Harmon, a twelve-year-old that is afraid of almost anything, especially his little sister, Rita, who is always playing tricks on him and his best friend, Amanda Gold. Rita isn't the only one that likes to bother them as the school bullies, Morty and Mickey, are always trying to scare them, which they always succeed in doing.

To prove that he isn't a scaredy cat and that he has the guts to standup to the bullies, he talks Amanda in going with him to the old abandoned house near the cemetery that everyone thinks is haunted! The plan is to have Amanda take a picture of Scott inside the house, but things don't exactly go as planned.

Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Edition #1: Zombie Halloween
by R. L. Stine
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub. Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0545627764
Pages: 192 pages
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Believe it or not, R. L. Stine has been haunting and thrilling young readers with his Goosebumps books for twenty-two years. There was a popular television series based on the books that aired in the late '90s, as well as the upcoming big-screen adaption starring Jack Black, scheduled to hit theaters next summer. Though the last book was published in 1997, there has been several spinoff series published, including the newest series, Goosebumps: Most Wanted, which debuted in 2012.

The newest addition, Zombie Halloween, is the first Special Edition in the Most Wanted series and centers on twelve-year-old Kenny Manzetti and his twin sister, Tricia, whom, along with their parents, moved into an old house across from a cemetery to take care of Grandpa Mo. While Kenny has already made a new best friend, Alec Schwartzman, Tricia hasn't made any new friends, but she hopes to make a few at their "zombie" themed Halloween party.

Speaking of zombies, a few teenagers appeared on the local news, all claiming that zombies attacked them near the cemetery. Kenny and Alec are both big fans of The Walking Zombies television series and they are eager to investigate the cemetery in the attempt of finding real zombies, but Tricia and Grandpa Mo tag along with them.