Daniel Stalter's Blog, page 3

BEWARE, THE SNOWMAN

Goosebumps #51:
Beware, the Snowman© 1997 by Parachute Press. Cover Art by Tim Jacobus.

 

Spoiler-Free Review

Beware, the Snowman wasn’t a bad book. It also wasn’t very good. If it were the first Goosebumps book I ever read, I might feel a little more generous in my take. Stinene did a great job establishing an isolated and foreboding atmosphere. I enjoyed the idea of this tiny mountain town filled with angry snowman effigies everywhere. I thought the plot moved along at a good pace. Jaclyn wa...

THE NEW YEAR’S PARTY

Fear Street Super Chiller #9:
The New Years Party© 1995 by Parachute Press. Cover Art by Bill Schmidt.

 

Spoiler-Free Review

I’m pretty sure that The New Years Party was the first Fear Street book I ever read. It was a birthday present, so it’s fitting that I am posting this review on my birthday. The twist at the end has stayed with me all these years, but I recalled very few of the details. The New Year’s Party doesn’t have a wildly original premise. In fact, it bears a lot of resemblance to...

FAVORITE MOVIES 2023

I get in this weird headspace sometimes about watching movies. I have a list of movies that I really want to see and then I’ll get overwhelmed by the scope of it. When you couple that with not being able to figure out what I’m in the mood for half the time, you get indecision. Indecision typically leads to me just watching more episodes of Stargate SG-1 because it’s safe to assume that I’m always in the mood for that.

 All of this is to say I didn’t watch many movies this year, but I did track t...

FAVORITE BOOKS 2023

I read a lot. I listen to audiobooks while biking out and I read before bed every night. I never ride the train without a paperback tucked away in one of my pockets (which sometimes leads to the heartbreak of books getting lost). The only books I exclude from this list are the ones I typically review on this blog. They’ve had enough face time. This one is for the more contemporary novels and comics I read.

Follow me on GoodReads (and like my reviews, cause that gets me traffic on here).

 

10. A...

FAVORITE ALBUMS 2023

It has been a year of many concerts and heavy music. I had always thought my tates would mellow out as I got older, but they seem to be doing the opposite, I crave intensity and depth. I want brutality and melody in equal measure. Maybe it’s a reflection of how fucked up and beautiful the world can be.

You can find my Favorite Songs 2023 playlist on Apple and Spotify.

 

10. Avenged Sevenfold – Life is but a Dream…

This was a random find. I saw the album on a “best of the year so far” list and h...

CALLING ALL CREEPS

Goosebumps #50:
Calling All Creeps© 1996 by Parachute Press. Cover Art by Tim Jacobus.

 

Spoiler-Free Review

I was surprised at how much I liked Calling All Creeps. It really hit my sweet spot of being both incredibly dark and downright bizarre. This is what I crave in a Goosebumps book. It had a story rooted in the very real horror of bullying, and it gave us some great body horror that included four-way high-fives with lizard tongues. All of this culminated in one of the darkest endings I ca...

VAMPIRE BREATH

Goosebumps #49:
Vampire Breath© 1996 by Parachute Press. Cover Art by Tim Jacobus.

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Spoiler-Free Review

Vampire Breath was very much on the goofy side of Goosebumps, but it did well by not taking itself too seriously. It felt like we were in on the joke. The pacing was good, but the book lost a lot of steam in the middle section. It made up for it a little bit at the end, but not quite enough to justify whatever the fuck that castle nonsense was. There were fresh ideas here regarding vampires...

THE BABYSITTER IV

The Babysitter IV
by RL Stine© 1995 by Robert L. Stine. Cover Art not credited.

Sequel to: The Babysitter, 
The Babysitter II, & The Babysitter III

 

 

Spoiler-Free Review:

I did not go into this book with high expectations, so I was very pleasantly surprised when this book took a fresh direction. The Babysitter III had squeezed every last bit out of using Mr. Hagan as a villain, so I was happy to see that he was barely mentioned all in The Babysitter IV. In a lot of ways, this book was about ...

ATTACK OF THE JACK-O’-LANTERNS

Goosebumps #48:
Attack of the Jack-O’-Lanterns© 1996 by Parachute Press. Cover Art by Tim Jacobus.

 

Spoiler-Free Review

Attack of the Jack-O’-Lanterns turned out to be a pretty solid Goosebumps entry. The premise was exceptionally weird, and it deviated from the standard plot format Stine frequently uses. I found it reminiscent of The Headless Ghost in that regard, and I think it worked well in both cases. I had some issues with how the twist at the end came about, but I ultimately enjoyed wh...

LEGEND OF THE LOST LEGEND

Goosebumps #47:
Legend of the Lost Legend© 1996 by Parachute Press. Cover Art by Tim Jacobus.

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Spoiler-Free Review

The Legend of the Lost Legend was a mixed bag. It was rooted in a solid fantasy-based concept and got off to a solid start before getting lost in the woods (sorry I couldn’t help myself). Dad and the kid characters were fine, which was refreshing after several consecutive books where the real horror was the clueless and terrible parenting. I enjoyed Ivana and Silverdog. Luka was ...