A Shocker on Shock Street by R.L. Stine is one of the scarier Goosebumps. Kids go on a ride inspired by their favorite movie monsters that soon turns to terror, as the monsters they thought were fake are real. The pace is pretty fast and doesn't let up. There's a fair amount of pranks in this one some work and other do not. This novel seems to be a cross between Universal's tour ride, if the studio was all about B-movies. The film Them! is a big influence as well as Jurassic Park. The final twist in this one is on of the better one in Goosebumps. In this novel you feel the danger as the monsters are out to harm the kids, the werewolf scene is pretty terrifying as well as the zombielike people.
Plot Summary: Erin and Marty are best friend who kind look like each other but are not siblings. The friends bond over horror movies from their favorite studio Shock Street Studios. Erin's dad is a robotics engineer and has made a tram car ride that acts as a studio tour for Shock Street Studios. The kids are the first to check it out to make sure it works. They are both excited and scared. The tram ride starts okay, but soon goes off the rails and gets stuck, the one rule Erin's dad said was stay in the tram at all times, but they don't listen and learn monsters are real.
What I Liked: The terror is pretty nonstop, once the kids think they're safe another danger is in front of their faces. I liked the final twist a lot, this and A Night in Terror Tower have been my favorites so far. I liked all the references to 1950's B-movies. I like that this book went for the scares, worms, spiders, skeletons, werwolves, giant bugs, and zombies.
What I Disliked: After the final twist I had questions was the ride supposed to do that? Does it want riders to break the rules? Why is their no safety bar on the ride? I wanted more information on the monsters.
Recommendation: A Shocker on Shock Street is a pretty scary entry into the Goosebumps series, that keeps jumping to danger. The scares are there. The story is pretty Good fro a Goosebumps book. I think this is a great book if your kid wants something a little bit scarier from Goosebumps. I rated A Shocker on Shock Street 4 out of 5 stars.Here's my full ranking of the 35 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) Ghost Beach, 4) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 5) The Haunted Mask, 6) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 7) One Day At Horrorland, 8) Night of the Living Dummy, 9) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 10) A Shocker on Shock Street, 11)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 12) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 13) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 14) Say Cheese and Die, 15) Let's Get Invisible, 16) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 17) Welcome to Dead House, 18) Monster Blood II, 19) The Girl who Cried Monster, 20)Deep Trouble, 21) The Ghost Next Door, 22)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 23) My Hairiest Adventure, 24) Be Careful What You Wish For... , 25) Return of the Mummy, 26) Why I'm Afraid of Bees, 27)Attack of the Mutant, 28) Go Eat Worms!, 29) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 30)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 31) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 32) Monster Blood, 33) The Barking Ghost, 34) You Can't Scare Me!, and 35) Monster Blood III.