Danger Guys: Hollywood Halloween

Danger Guys #3

by Tony Abbott

The Danger Guys find themselves in a real-life scary movie, and the ending is up to them

It’s Halloween, and best friends Noodle and Zeek have decided to make a horror movie in honor of the holiday. To show the boys how real films are made, Zeek’s family takes them to Paragon, the oldest studio in Hollywood. During the tour, a huge lightning storm separates Noodle and Zeek from the rest of the group. The two boys suddenly find themselves in a world of famous sets and exciting props. It’s the perfect location for their own movie!

But it turns out that Paragon Studio has more than a little danger—and not just the staged kind. The lightning damaged the studio’s central control center, and all the electronic props are now going crazy. Noodle and Zeek must battle an evil robot, a sneezing dinosaur, and a deadly mummy in order to find and warn Zeek’s family. Little do they know that Zeek’s family is also under attack! With some luck and a lot of movie drama, the Danger Guys show Paragon Studio what real heroes look like.

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Tony Abbott (born 1952) is an American author of children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller Firegirl.

Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.

Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.

Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.

Reviews

[Pop Bop]

One of the Best in the Series

I like the Danger Guys -- Noodle and Zeek. They have spunk, imagination, boundless energy, and cheery optimism. And I like that there are a bunch of Danger Guys books available. But, I have to admit that some of the books have struck me as a little strained and a bit padded, both in terms of plot and banter. So, it was a real treat to find this one back on track in terms of breathless action, zany plotting, and snappy kid-level humor.

Noodle and Zeek are taking a tour of the back lot of Paragon Studios around Halloween when a freak lightning storm knocks out the studio's "central computer" and sends all of the computer controlled horror creatures and special effects out of control. As Zeek and Noodle run from set to set they encounter the props and animatronics from barely disguised movies like "Star Wars", "Frankenstein", "Terminator", and so on. Lots of the fun is in figuring which real movie each scene is based on, and in just going along with the Hollywood fun. I suspect any kid who watches movies will get a kick out of the inside jokes here, and if not, well, the story itself stands on its own quite well.

So, this was a nice return to form, and perhaps my favorite book after the first one. A nice find.

(Please note that I found this book while browsing Kindle FreeTime books. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[Books Kids Like]

As Noodle and Zeek plan their adventure movie, Mr. Pilinsky, Zeek’s dad, surprises them with tickets to Paragon Movie Studio. Every single movie that the Danger Guys love was filmed at Paragon. So, dressed in their Danger Guy jackets and sunglasses, Noodle and Zeek walk through the famous gate featured at the beginning of all the movies. The tour begins normally enough. Then, huge bolts of lightning shoot from the sky followed by a deluge of rain. Zeek and Noodle are so busy trying to get it all on camera, they don’t realize that everyone else on the tour has disappeared. As Noodle and Zeek turn toward the castle, a lightning bolt lands at their feet. A second bolt chases them into another soundstage. Suddenly, Metalhead, a seven-foot robot, blasts the door and steps into the room determined to destroy the “invaders” which happen to be the Danger guys. As one scary special effect follows another, Noodles remembers that the tour guide said that all the studio’s special effects are controlled by one big computer. Maybe the lightning frizzled the Big Brain’s brain! That would mean that their families are in danger, too! The Danger Guys fight a mummy, a werewolf, skeleton men, a dinosaur, and other scary things before they find the computer and shut it down.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Mike Hardy]

Has some scary bits (as all the Danger Guys series does) but I can talk frankly about scary things or death and my dude's fine with it, so this works for us. Other than that, your typical thrilling literary ride where the words are simple and the child characters triumph in the end.