"Reader beware--you choose the scare! GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS!
Get out your bathing suit! You and your family are off on a summer vacation to a place called WoodsWorld. You can't wait to mess around down at the lake.
Then at the Kids only Campfire you hear the rumor about WoodsWorld. Legend has it, werewolves roam the woods at night. But you're not scared. You're ready for adventure.
Will you explore the deepest, darkest part of the woods? Brave the Tunnel of Waves, home of the terrifying lake monster? Or battle an army of red fire ants?
The choice is yours in this scary GOOSEBUMPS adventure that's packed with over 20 super-spooky endings! "
Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.
R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.
Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.
Easily the worst Give Yourself Goosebumps book I have read at the moment. I’m gonna keep this review short and sweet. The only positives are the troll’s mechanics, some cool ideas weakly thrown in here, and the slight character development with you and Todd. Now for the bashing. Immediately, this is ghost written. No denying it. And it’s easily the worst written Goosebumps book I have ever read. The endings are terrible and half of them are either “it was all a dream” or have the worst jokes ever, not to mention the three or four endings that (I kid you not) abruptly end for no reason. They are clearly rushed out half-assed endings. The comedy sucks, the stories are all weak, and the book suffers from randomness through the roof in the werewolf arc. Minor spoiler (you shouldn’t read this shit anyways), but how the FUCK do we get from werewolves about to kill you in a cave to getting a ride into a dark abyss from a certain extinct animal and then riding a fucking elevator. Absolutely weak and random shit. So yeah, shit endings, randomness, horrible writing and jokes, both arcs are super weak, and the concept and execution lack anything interesting. Overall, 2/10. One of the worst Goosebumps books ever. Weirdo Halloween is better lol.
Qué maravilloso volver a leer un libro de Pesadillas. Este ha sido más flojito de lo que recordaba en mi adolescencia temprana, pero ha sido muy bonito volver a recordar las páginas y explorar varios finales alternativo; retrocediendo y avanzando.
I did really like the concept of this book where you get to choose your own storyline and it’s a much more immersive reading experience. There are many options on how to make the story come together and I found myself going back and forth at certain points to see who it would’ve turned out if I choose something else. Here we start the story going to WoodsWorld on an annual family holiday but it seems you’re gonna be stuck with your parent’s friends and their needy son Todd. The WoodsWorld bullies takes Todd’s red box of something (don’t remember, don’t care) so you decide to go and look for it. The choices aren’t as in your own control as the others in the series I feel and more just like ohh this is happening instead. The plot was quite confusing, hard to follow and I dunno just not very rational (for the context, obvs it’s not rational as about werewolves). So Yhh, the writing wasn’t good, the characters all quite unlikable and weren’t realised so not for me.
I did film a reading vlog and review video on my BookTube with the 10 Goosebumps books I read if anyone wants to check it out https://youtu.be/2quZD9vtoh8
Shockingly one of the worst goosebumps books ive read so far. I remember picking this one up as my first attempt at reading a gyg a few years back and got disinterested, (and keep in mind i still hadnt even started my channel yet), so i felt decently confident coming back to this one. Sadly this book is fucking awful is just about every way possible.
Between horrible endings, confusing rules about what the trolls can do/what the cereals do, and overall not being interesting or fun to read adds up quick to become an awful book.
Hoping as a series GYG picks up soon because this shit is insufferable, 3/10.
The moral of the story is that bullying nerds is cool and you should never go into the woods. Also, combine all of your stories into one story even if it doesn't make sense because what matters is that you hit the page count.
Here’s another one of my favourite goosebumps books. But this one is a little different from the rest which I enjoyed. This time you as the reader are one of the main characters you read the instructions on the pages and follow the prompts and decide your own fate with over twenty different spooky endings. The backstory of this book is you and your family are away on a summer vacation at woods world a camping trip and you’ll be joined by the Morris’s and their son Todd. Todd is a nerd and gets picked on by the Murphy brothers Jess, Buck and Sharky. At the campfire you get told about werewolf legends and the Murphy’s steal Todd’s red tin box with his figurines in it. As you read the pages and choose different options your own story unfolds. Some of the endings are
You defeat the werewolves by using the figurines crystal power. You and Todd spend the night taking turns howling at the wolves to keep them away You fail to catch Todd before he falls into a bottomless Pit You come across a stop emergency stop to the story page You wake up and the whole thing was a dream you haven’t been to the camp yet You end up becoming a trolls slave You try to capture a werewolf only to find it’s a big dog named wolfie You feed the werewolves jaw breaking candy You wake up to a hairy werewolf wearing Todd’s pajamas Fire ants tell you that you must find the red tin box before dawn and there are other powers at work in the woods. A troll steals you and your friends vocabulary and replace it with one word GYZACCK You get eaten by the lake monster You have the red box and running back to the cabin. You wake up and find out it was all a dream you fell asleep after unpacking and Todd’s waiting at the kids only campfire for you. You get turned into a paper lantern person You watch as the trolls sink into the earth You get turned into a troll You and your friends get turned into fish creatures by the troll You and your friends defeat the troll and the Murphy brothers return Todd’s red tin box to him. You and Lauren get turned into nerds.
It was interesting to see what your choices lead to what endings I liked reading a book where you could choose your own endings by the choices you made. Something different from all the other books in the world.
It's been years since I've read this book but I remember it being part of my favorite series as a kid, not because it was goosebumps, but because you as the reader got to be the main character. You didn't have to read about some whiny kid that you didn't like because they made bratty choices that lead to horrible events. True, sometimes your character was forced to be a brat in the start, but ultimately you controlled the choices and actions of the story to make it out of wherever you were alive.
That, and they were a great way to cheat our of having to read 500 pages for a book report! I wasn't much of a reader back then.
The choose your scare series was perfect for new reader because while the book left massive the story has you jumping around on pages like made so you never felt like you were reading endlessly as well as you come follow two different story lines for several endings, making the book feel new several times.
This was one of those special kinds of Goosebumps books in which you got to certain points in the story, and R.L. Stine gave you a choice for what you, as the character, would do. Of course, I can't recollect the story of this so well, as it was many years since I last read it, and tried to get to the end without my character meeting his death. But I remember finding the concept pretty mind-blowing at the time. It was basically like an imaginary role-playing video game. My brother and I used to entertain each other by making up stories in a similar vein, and providing certain options for how the story could continue. Pretty awesome stuff, really, as it got kids more excited about reading in a way I think, back then, was highly original.
Most of the choices aren't really choices at all; they're just exercises in luck. The plot was confusing and hard to follow -- too many pages get "linked" to multiple times. Disappointing.
Night in Werewolf Woods (Update) So, the version I got wasn’t all that good when I first read this one. Todd and you turn into werewolves. I didn’t try another ending. So, lets cheat a little bit and try some of the *good* endings.
(Good Ending 1) Your parents have invited their best friends, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, and their supernerd son, Todd, to share the cabin with your family this year! WoodsWorld is the cabin community that your family has vacationed at every summer. You arrive at the cabin and there’s a note on the door. It says kid campfire 8pm @ the beach. As Todd unpacks a red tin box, the Murphy brothers ride up (Jess, Buck, and Sharky). Sharky takes Todd’s box and tosses it to Jess. Todd yells that’s his pewter, figure, collection and to give it back, but they pedal off. You tell him you’ll go to the campfire and get his pewter figures back. Todd says he’ll come too. Do you go without him or let him go with you? You decide to ditch Todd and go alone (9).
When you get to the campgrounds you see your friend Lauren. Sharky is telling a spooky story that goes “At first you may think you are talking to a friend. Then, when the full moon comes out from behind a cloud, you’ll see hair begin to grow on your friend’s face. Fangs take the place of teeth. A voice that once was human turns to a beastly howl.” He warns the full moon is out. It’s the perfect time for the werewolves to appear.
You hear someone ask Sharky if he’s every seen were wolf tracks and he says yes. He did when he was burying the nerdy kids box. Should you go out tonight and look for the box or go back to the cabin. A promise is a promise you follow the Murphey brothers (13). Then you hear a noise and see light flickering up ahead. There’s a note on a large boulder that says The Werewolves of WoodsWorld. They love to see red. So, the box that was Todd’s Is now their box instead! The Werewolves of WoodsWorld disappear at dawn. So, you must find the box before this night is gone! Then you hear footsteps and realize you aren’t alone. But it’s just Todd. You decide even tho he’s annoying it’s good to have company.
You hear the noise again and then notice that the ground has become slippery and slimy. You come to a cave and hear someone inside that sound like Sharky calling your name, but Todd begs you to stay there with him. Which do you choose? We decide to listen to Todd (37). But now you realize your stuck in quick sand. You call out to Todd but he’s staring at the full moon in a trance. Todd starts to turn. You free yourself and knock Todd down. His werewolf features vanish as a cloud covers the moon. You now know what you have to do.
You tell Todd that you have to stay out of the moonlight. Then you hear a low growl. Its werewolves. It asks what did he Werewolf of Fever Swamp rip apart? The answer is heron (68). There’s a choose. Should you howl or jump into a bottomless pit? We jump into the pit (111). Werewolves are on you before you know it. You jump. Todd jumps. You reach out your hand to catch him. And you do (80). You start to fall down down down. Todd falls away from you. You say your goodbyes to Tood but he appears right next to you. You realize that you are no longer falling. You and Todd are both sitting on the back of some giant-winged thing (a pterodactyl). It moves its head for you to choose up or down.
We go up (116). It flies you both out of the pit but drops you on the ground near the werewolves. They start to circle and then you come face to face with all three Murphey brothers. You see the Murphys, but they don’t see you. They’re too busy defending themselves from the werewolves. Suddenly one wolf leaps forward. It pushes all three Murphy brothers into the center of the pack of werewolves Should you leave them or let the werewolves have them? (87)
You tell Sharky sorry but say if they’ll show you where the box is you’ll save them. They say the werewolves have it and that’s why they came in there. Sharky pleads to save them. You see the box and are able to grab it with the help of the pterodactyl. As the wolves surround you, you open the box and hold up the pewter sorceress. Their red eyes reflect off the crystal sun in the sorceress’s hands. A blinding light is thrown back into the wolves’ eyes. The wolves step backwards. They try to escape the reflecting light rays.
They all lose their balance and fall into the pit. The Murphys throw themselves at you with heartfelt thanks for saving their lives. You accept Todd as a friend and feel nothing will ever scare both of you now
(Another Ending) You leave Todd to cry alone (9). When you get to the campgrounds you see your friend Lauren. Sharky is telling a spooky story that goes “At first you may think you are talking to a friend. Then, when the full moon comes out from behind a cloud, you’ll see hair begin to grow on your friend’s face. Fangs take the place of teeth. A voice that once was human turns to a beastly howl.” He warns the full moon is out. It’s the perfect time for the werewolves to appear. You hear someone ask Sharky if he’s every seen were wolf tracks and he says yes. He did when he was burying the nerdy kids box. Should you go out tonight and look for the box or go back to the cabin.
Should you go out tonight and look for the box or go back to the cabin. A promise is a promise you follow the Murphey brothers (13). Then you hear a noise and see light flickering up ahead. There’s a note on a large boulder that says The Werewolves of WoodsWorld. They love to see red. So, the box that was Todd’s Is now their box instead! The Werewolves of WoodsWorld disappear at dawn. So, you must find the box before this night is gone! Then you hear footsteps and realize you aren’t alone. But it’s just Todd. You decide even tho he’s annoying it’s good to have company.
You hear the noise again and then notice that the ground has become slippery and slimy. You come to a cave and hear someone inside that sound like Sharky calling your name, but Todd begs you to stay there with him. Which do you choose? We decide to listen to Todd (37). But now you realize your stuck in quick sand. You call out to Todd but he’s staring at the full moon in a trance. Todd starts to turn. You free yourself and knock Todd down. His werewolf features vanish as a cloud covers the moon. You now know what you have to do.
You tell Todd that you have to stay out of the moonlight. Then you hear a low growl. Its werewolves. It asks what did he Werewolf of Fever Swamp rip apart? The answer is heron (68). There’s a choose. Should you howl or jump into a bottomless pit? We jump into the pit (111). Werewolves are on you before you know it. You jump. Todd jumps. You reach out your hand to catch him. And you do (80). You start to fall down down down. Todd falls away from you. You say your goodbyes to Tood but he appears right next to you. You realize that you are no longer falling. You and Todd are both sitting on the back of some giant-winged thing (a pterodactyl). It moves its head for you to choose up or down. We choose down (88).
It looks like your going to land on a ledge. It drops you there. Behind you there’s a door. Inside it is an elevator. There’s a man that asks going down. You ask if you have a choice, he says always. You peer over the edge and see nothing so you get in the elevator. Then you see a light blinking on off on off. The man’s eyes are causing the lights to blink on and off. Todd starts to shoot. “HES ONE OF THEM!” The man shouts “YES I AM” and he starts to bite you. Then you spot two buttons. One says STOP and the other says GO. You press the one that says GO (29).
This seems to be the wrong choice because now you and Todd will be riding the Bottomless Pit Elevator for life. But then the door is stuck. You have a second chance. You jump out! You hear a horrible ringing and then realize… its your alarm clock. Your at home in your bed. Your mother sticks her head in the door and says you’ll be going to Woodsworld. You ask when the Morris’s are coming and she says its just a family trip. This might be a good summer after all!
Another Ending If you decide to go back to the cabin and not look for the box (71). When you get there you hear a noise coming from you and Todd’s room. It’s just Todd but then you hear a howl and a rock comes through your window with a note to find the box before dawn and the disappearance of the were wolves. You and Todd decide to head out. You hear a howl and red lights leading to the beach and white lights in the opposite direction. You pick the white lights (30). You run into Lauren and she offers to help and then you see a dirt pile and start digging. You find two identical boxes neither his. One says SMART and the other SUPER STRENGTH. But then you hear howls and a werewolf comes straight for you.
You choose the box with SUER STRENGTH (95) and find Oat Os instead. You take one and it works. Muscles start to pop from everywhere. You place your finger under the werewolf’s arm and lift it off Todd. A troll appears and says you aren’t ish. He’s the one with the power. He was the one that feed the wolf the super strength and turned it from a dog to a wolf. He says he’s the Master of the Box, tells you this is his ish bow down itches, and calls you his slave. You take a tree branch and swat him (56).
But he disappears, appears behind you, whistles (taking your strength and reverting you back to normal), and sends you back to your cabin. Todd and Lauren call out don’t leave. The troll taunts them and starts changing sizes and skipping from rock to rock. You can’t resist the troll’s pull (120) so you go back to the cabin. At the house, the troll tells you he needs you to find the box. There are enemies inside it and he needs the box to control them. You decide to start your search with the community (60).
You start with the library. The troll gives you back super strength to break the padlock on the door, but then your parents hear the noise and come running. So, you duck into the library (131). The troll is in the library waiting and tells you not to reveal him. He’s about to whistle but you throw a wastebasket over him and stick a dictionary on top. He whistles and your strength starts to fade. You lean on a wall and it starts to move. Behind the wall is a secret room. Your strength returns but you can’t get the book case to swing back. There’s an interesting set of stairs in the corner so you see where they lead (69).
On the way down, you hear Todd and Lauren say they’ll have to destroy everything in Woods World to rid them of the troll friend or foe. You keep going down the steps (!07). At the bottom of the stairs are Todd and Lauren. We decide to go through a dark tunnel we notice. (100). The tunnel leads to the cave of the Rose Crystals. The Last explorers to go in it was said they never came out. Lauren screams and you decide to investigate (55). The stairs have disappeared so he have to go back through the tunnel. You hear the trolls voice but you don’t see him.
The troll taunts you which direction you go. It appears to the left and to the right. The cellar walls turn into mirrors and there are hundreds of him. You start throwing balls at the reflections. You have to hit the real one to escape. You hit the mirror in front of you (101). You hit the wrong mirror and the troll turns you into a clone of Todd.
Rating: 5 and a half Over all I wasn’t really crazy about this plot. I think the best thing I’ve seen with a werewolf plot was “New Moon” and that’s because the transformation of Jake blew me away in the movie. Out of the endings I saw, I picked the ones that most appealed to me with this one and it was the “bad” ending -the last one- I liked the most. So, this one was a little lackluster for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I think a lot of people who review children's literature need to remember one important thing: it's for kids. Don't take the book so seriously. I thought all the references to Todd being nerdy were cute and I loved the simplicity of Lauren's character; all of the "Give Yourself Goosebumps" books are in second person. It was fun to put myself in a purposefully androgynous 12-year-old's shoes. Funny story, I remember being in middle school and really wanting to check out "Night in Werewolf Woods" not only because I had a strange fascination with werewolves, but because of the cover art. I think R. L. Stine's goosebumps series, at least the originals, have such interesting covers. Love 'em. Anyway, I remember that I couldn't check this book out for some reason or another. I haven't picked up a Goosebumps book since middle school (at least from what I recall) so it was fun to read this offshoot of the original series. It gives the power back to the reader.
HOWEVER: I remember being a kid and although I loved the Give Yourself Goosebumps series, it gave me serious anxiety. I would try to hold my place where the options were because I didn't want to have to try to find the page again; I would also get confused about the storyline after reading so many different options. I experienced the same sensation picking this book up too. I followed along for about 7-9 endings before I straight up read the book from the ending to the end in order to finish it (and make sure I read every possible outcome). Some endings were dumb, I'm not going to lie. Some endings were painfully cliché but THAT'S OKAY. It's kid's lit. It was cool, realizing now, that this installment was published April 1st, 1996 (April Fools' Day). It's been almost exactly 25 years. It's crazy how time flies.
I think kids 10-13 would really enjoy this book, despite it being a little outdated. It has trolls, werewolves, magic "Cherry-O's" (I saw what you did there, R. L. Stine; don't want a Copyright strike), lake monsters, bottomless pits, fire ants, super strength, super intelligence, fish transformations, kids riding extinct flying dinos., and bats.
Favorite Quotes:
1. "Lauren pulls you back. 'I think they're talking to us,' she says. 'In sign language! My best friend is deaf. She taught me how to sign.'
'Talking ants?' Todd exclaims, 'Now I've heard of everything!'
'And I haven't heard anything-at least not from these ants,' you say. You don't believe Lauren. Your legs are burning from their bites and stings. You start to bring your foot down on the ants again.
Lauren watches the ants carefully. 'They say they're sorry they attacked us.' She interprets their motions for you and Todd. 'They say they were just scared.'"
Why is this so funny to me?! What was Stine thinking in his head when he wrote this? ASL proficient ants? How is this scene the craziest thing to me in the whole book?
2. "Of course, I do," he (Todd) says, still holding on to you. "But I think I'm allergic to caves. I feel kind of strange."
"Well, I feel kind of strange, too, with you holding on to me all the time!" You shake his hand off your arm and step back.
LOL. Poor Todd.
3. "I feel like Superman!" Todd cries. His arm muscles stretch his T-shirt sleeves to the breaking point.
"How about Superperson," Lauren corrects Todd. "We all have equal super-strength now."
Political commentary...? Social reform...? I see what you did there, Stine. Nice.
Overall, 4-5 star rating. Good for middle schoolers. Nostalgic haven for adults who read Goosebumps as kids.
I loved reading this book when I was in grade school. I was a Goosebumps fan when I was younger, and watching the 2 Goosebumps movies, is what got me to start rereading the series(s).
I didn't like it that the MC (played by the reader) was kind of a snot in the beginning. (More than I remembered) Though this book was still as much fun reading it as when I was a kid. I also like it that if you hit a dead end, you can just backtrack to the last choice page, instead of restarting the whole book. That is unless you choose to restart the book.
Great! RLstine added so much detail. There are more than just werewolves.also theree giant bats, lake monsters, red fire ants. I love werewolves. I mean that's why I chose this book. I don't know how he writes these books. I love goosebumps . I like these books because you can choose your own path! The price was great to! 2$! My bones were falling apart! Best give yourself goosebumps ever! Read it but beware! It's a real scream!
Listened to NADD pod’s Adventure Book Theatre episode where Murph reads this in its entirety. It is. Not good. A choose your own adventure where RL Stine railroads the story making your choices irrelevant. The story lines he forces you to follow are random as hell. And not in a fun or campy way. Have been revisiting some beloved series from my childhood and this convinced me I should pivot to Animorphs instead of suffering through another Give Yourself Goosebumps joint.
Reader Beware, You choose the Scare! 5 Stars for nostalgia factor. This was my favorite Give Yourself Goosebumps book as a kid. It is the rattiest book in my collection, because I took it everywhere back then (road trips, camping, school). I was even able to get it autographed recently, talk about meeting a childhood hero.
I read this to my kids, and normally, we love Goosebumps, but these pick your own endings books drive me crazy. This is the second one we've read, and both were irritating because I couldn't find how to get to the last 3 endings. We tried to get to them all, but unless you use a system of numbered sticky notes to mark all the choices and endings, don't bother with these.
I have loved these books since I was a kid and I still love them. Some of the "bad endings" are really fun, and it's never easy to guess which option is the right one! It's great for a fun group activity or solo-play! I hadn't played this one before I picked it up for a Halloween party, so I'll need to replay it a few times to get the best ending, and I'm more than happy to.
Really good enjoyed this book. This was my first ‘choose your own adventure’ type book and I love the concept. I can reread this books few times and end up with a totally different ending. Love this idea. Also a great and engaging way to get kids to read. You really feel like you have control and are part of the adventure :)
This was a huge hit with my son who loves scary stories and video games. The choose your own adventure style had us go through this one ~12 times and we found some really fun offshoots and endings I did not remember at all. Really fun read that wasn’t scary but offered some fun imaginative scenarios. Had a similar feeling to a very light RPG.
I normally try to follow every branching plot line in these books. There was a point where I caught myself skimming pages, not saving my place and picking the next page at random. I stopped, had maybe 5 bad endings and 3 good? I read enough to know it's an unfocused mess. Did not expect trolls, pterodactyls and super strength cereal in a book about werewolves
This is one that I definitely had and love and enjoyed as a kid- and one that was super enjoyable to figure out just how much I remembered as an adult, so that was cool. It was the one that I remember reading so many times, and t was. It was a fun time to re-read again.
I mean it's cheesy as hell and amazing also turns out my teacher owns All of these books and it's entirely on brand for him. It's a heartwarming story that includes the line "You are entering the tunnel of wolves" and I think that's beautiful.
Werewolves and Chooseable-Path-Adventures (such as Give Yourself Goosebumps) are probably the top two things my household relishes. As a combination of those two things, this book was pretty good. It was pretty weird and random, but we got lots of good laughs from it.
This was so atmospheric! A cabin in the woods with werewolves??? What's the worse that could happen?
Night in Werewolf Woods follows two kids trying to find their box they lost and it sends them on quite the adventure. I ended up in this creepy cave and my end was pretty dark lol.
I have only worked my way to 16 different possible ending but I am rereading the same stories, how do I know when I have finished it? And you read the first four pages over and over again.