Beware the Snake's Venom

Choose Your Own Nightmare #2

by Ken McMurtry, Bill Schmidt (Illustrator)

You're psyched when your archaeologist uncle invites you to visit his desert dig. Until you find out some weird stuff is happening there -- equipment is trashed, food is stolen, eerie sounds echo at night. It's scary.

Even scarier is the Native American legend you hear, about two young lovers who died from snakebites. Their ghosts are said to haunt the land -- and protect an incredible hidden treasure, buried in a desert grave. No one has ever found it.

Until now. You know you're the one to do it. Too bad someone -- or something -- has different plans for you....

What happens next in this bone-chilling story? It all depends on the choices you make. How will your nightmare end? Only you can find out! And the best part is that you can keep reading and rereading, getting new chills and thrills -- until not one but all of your worst nightmares have come true!

Genres: Gamebooks

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ken McMurtry follows up the first Choose Your Own Nightmare, Edward Packard's Night of the Werewolf, with Beware the Snake's Venom, which intermingles archaeological intrigue and Native American mysticism. You join your uncle Evan at a dig site in desert Arizona, though you're not happy to see your cousin Maggie. She's your age, and never misses a chance to flaunt her superior knowledge. A Native American man named Coyote tells you the legend of Teewah and Nila, star-crossed lovers who died by rattlesnake bite years ago in this region. The legend warns that anyone who disturbs their burial cave and its treasures will face supernatural retribution. That night, there's an intruder in your tent. You don't see the person, but whoever it was left a stone with etchings that may reveal where the burial cave is. Should you discuss it with Maggie, or wait and think it through while driving to town for supplies with Uncle Evan's assistant, Lisa?

Stay to speak with Maggie, and your conversation draw Coyote's attention. His personality nettles you, but is it right to hide the stone from him? You and Maggie could sneak off, using the stone as a treasure map. You stumble upon a cave that may be the burial site, but a rattlesnake guards the entrance. Should you risk a deadly bite to get inside? Maybe you chose to tell Coyote about the etched stone; he wants to confiscate it, but Uncle Evan allows you to hold onto the stone...for now. You and Maggie quietly follow where the etchings lead, but if you find the cave should you enter alone? Coyote may be stalking you; you'll have to run away into the cave. If you reach the burial chamber, can you keep Coyote from killing you to steal Teewah and Nila's riches? Do everything right and you might survive to uncover the treasure.

A Jeep ride into town with Lisa so you can decide what to do with the etched stone means you end up showing the stone to Lisa first. On the drive to town you may get lost; the Jeep conks out and you have to walk the scorching desert. Lisa collapses; should you trudge on alone to bring help? Stay beside Lisa, and a treasure hunter named Casey McKee picks you up in his Jeep. He's mentally unstable, but can he save your life? If you and Lisa never became lost, in town you overhear her on the phone talking about your stone. Is she plotting to betray you? Lisa invites you to a séance at camp that night. You can decline to attend, but a different sort of ghost may attack your tent. Go to the séance, which is mediated by Coyote, and you could be tricked into a paralysis trance, or encounter Native American spirits with their own agenda. Personal safety is rare on this dig.

Beware the Snake's Venom is as long as other original Choose Your Own Nightmares, but feels sparse. There are relatively few decision junctures, in exchange for longer sections between, but this doesn't enrich the story much. Lack of internal consistency doesn't help, with major details changing from one branch to another with no explanation. Beware the Snake's Venom is inferior to Night of the Werewolf; I rate it one and a half stars. For a book about predator snakes and a hunt for treasure, it's dull.

[Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that I'd review is called BEWARE THE SNAKE'S VENOM (Choose Your Own Nightmare) by Edward Packard . The book contains the genre of adventure . The message(theme)of the book overall was don't always trust strangers. The main characters are "You" and Maggie.
The Story starts with "You" and Maggie and Maggie's dad decided to go
on a trip to the Granite Caverns. So there they met there guide "Coyote" once known tribe member of a mysterious clan.
So Coyote guided them a long way through the caverns. There "You" found a book that connects to the past history of the caves and you notice that Coyote is onto you. As the story unfolds you discovered that Coyote is after the item "you" possess so as Maggie and "you" try to escape, Coyote's plan backfired and he was trapped inside the caverns. "You" and Maggie are free and thus you found the key to the hidden treasure.

I though the book was interesting on how the author had let you choose your choices throughout the book. When you could choose your paths go and how your fate will be like on each ending you choose. The book also reflected on the history's past of the country, by telling some of the history of the Native Americans. The author also described the one of the tribe.

Overall the book intrigued me,how one trip could turn out to be one of the characters most breaking moment.I would recommend readers around my age or younger whose are interest in mystery and adventure books. If you are fans of "Indiana Jones",or "Pocahontas" then i'm sure you'll get to like this book.

[Colton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember thinking this one was dull even as a kid. The story is about you visiting your archaeologist uncle in the desert and encountering a few Indian ghosts. The story felt rushed at times and had very uneven pacing. The choices were uninteresting and the endings were really vague and abrupt. All this leads to a rather dull and forgettable gamebook. There are two things worth mentioning about it though. Your character's cousin, Maggie, is one of my favorite characters from this series. She gets in a lot of good burns and is believably sarcastic, even dropping the phrase, "This sucks!" The other thing is that there is an honest-to-goodness death in one scene. Not implied - you stumble upon a dead body, illustrated and all. I'm almost sure this is the first in this series. However, neither of these points makes up for weak writing, bland storylines, and vague endings. If you're not dead set on reading all of the series, you can skip this one, as you're not missing too much.

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

the adventures that I went through when I was bored I just read these books over and over again you would never get to the end of the story. I hate snakes of course mother nature put them on the earth for some reason.