Creature in the Teacher

Spooksville #13

by Christopher Pike

On their first day back at school, Adam and his friends are horrified when they learn that their science teacher is an alien monster who eats his students and gives bad grades on purpose. Original.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Paranormal, Childrens, Horror Thriller

114 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin McFadden. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction who specializes in the thriller genre.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

McFadden was born in New York but grew up in California where he stills lives in today. A college drop-out, he did factory work, painted houses and programmed computers before becoming a recognized author. Initially unsuccessful when he set out to write science fiction and adult mystery, it was not until his work caught the attention of an editor who suggested he write a teen thriller that he became a hit. The result was Slumber Party (1985), a book about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. After that he wrote Weekend and Chain Letter. All three books went on to become bestsellers.

Reviews

[Brandon]

Creature In The Teacher is one of my most anticipated books in the series.In earlier books there are mentions of school and teachers and I was really excited.The story begins with  Adam Sally and Cindy in class .It's the first day of school and They are talking about some of their adventures when this kid speaks up and talks to them. He asks if all of what the kids are saying is true.This kid is named George and he seems very timid.This teacher shows up.He introduces himself as Mr.Snakol by simply writing his name on the board.The teacher is kind of odd looking.He has different color hair,he has clothes that looks as if they will fall off of him,and he even walks a little different.When the teacher turns around,the kids notice he also has bright green eyes.He tells the class that they will be dissecting things and asks if anyone has any problems with that.Sally speaks up and says she does and they argue for a bit.George raises his hand.Mr.Snakol basically tells the kids if they have issues with this they need to go to a different class.Sally stands up for George and tells him he was basically being rude and Mr.Snakol tells them they need to stay after class.Sally says she can't and has an appointment.George eventually does.They are in the courtyard having lunch and Watch and Bryce are there now.The kids see a tombstone and Bryce and Watch explains that it is Anne Templeton's sister,who died.She apparently died while choking on mashed potatoes,but there is a rumor that this guy named Bill stabbed her,but he was possessed by this alien from another sun at the edge of a galaxy.There is also a rumor that these kids are lunch at the tombstone and they developed sores.Adam is looking for George,because he told him to meet them at lunch and they haven't seen him.They decide to go back to school and try to find George at the end of the day.They go to school and don't find Mr.Snakol or anybody.They decide to just go to George's house and see if he is there.Bryce,Sally and Watch go to the arcade and we get some pretty cool lore about the owners.They say you can get in cheaper If you give blood and  kidneys let's you stay all night.They find George's house thanks to information.They get there and meet George's mom and she tells Cindy and Adam that George hasn't made it home yet.Adam comforts her by telling her he probably got lost on his first day and then for George to call him when he returns home.George never calls,so Adam calls George's house and his mom is really worried.There is a super cute scene involving Cindy and Adam,where Cindy basically asks if Adam likes her.Adam ends up meeting the others outside of the theater and he tells them he wants to break into the school.Bryce says he has a lock in kit that doesn't take long and that's what they do.They get inside the school and hear noises coming from this door next to the class.They crack the door and it's completely dark.They go all the way in and turn the lights on and find a bunch of hamsters and George's bloody clothes.The door shuts behind them locking them inside.They assume Mr Snakol locked them inside.Adam decides to go through the ac duct and open the door from the outside.He climbs up and gets to the roof of the building.Here he sees Mr.snakol outside eating hamsters His mouth contorts really big and it reminds me a lot of The Girl Who Cried Monster.The next chapter is probably one of my favorite chapters in all of Spooksville.They meet the principal.Her name is Mrs Strawberry.She refuses to acknowledge anything negative.There is an exchange between the kids and They ask her what did she tell George's mom.Mrs.Strawberry tells the worried mom that she is still young and can have more kids.This was insane.I love it.They end up going to school and Me.Snakol has the class dissecting frogs.Sally refuses and after class,despite Adam warning Sally not to,she confronts Mr.Snakol and we get a reveal where he takes off his face Normally,I wouldn't spoil this,but this book has an blurb at the beginning of the book about what Mr.Snakol is,which I don't like.I felt like the mystery aspect was way more fun.Bryce,Cindy and Adam go back to the classroom,because Sally doesn't show up for lunch and they find this weird cube thing in a closet.They press a button and this wave shoots out and it sends a hamster cage away.They press the button again and the cage and hamster come back,but it's dead.They think it's a transporter of some kind and the hamster couldn't make it because it sent it to outer space.They decide that maybe the ship Mr.Snakol is on is above spooksville,so Watch gathers some telescopes and decides to transport Bryce and Adam on the ship,because Mr.Snakol might return to the school.Back on the ship,Sally wakes up and finds George in a room with her alive.It turns out George stayed after school and Mr.Snakol tried to take his blood,when George fought back and got blood all over his clothes.Mr.Snakol sent him to this ship with his transporter.Sally says she just got knocked out,but she really fainted when she saw Mr.Snakol's face.There are other beings on this ship that are eventually giving the name Lizzies.We do learn what these things are here for and Watch comes up with a very clever solution.I am going to leave the plot of this book here,because I've already spoiled to much,but that's not my fault.I suggest if you read this book,try not to read the beginning blurb.This book was a lot of fun, especially the first half.The second half was good too,but honestly lost me quite a bit.We've already seen aliens in this series and I was hoping for something a little different.This is still a very strong book in the series though.I give Creature In The Teacher a four out of five stars.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings)]

School has started in Spooksville, and Watch and Sally haven’t exaggerated its weirdness. On Adam’s very first day, he meets a strange new science teacher, and a new student goes missing. Adam and his friends are convinced that Mr. Snakol must be responsible, and then they discover something even more terrifying: he’s actually an alien from a reptilian race that can swallow live animals whole–and maybe students as well! Trigger warnings: animal death, blood, injury, threats.

This series is such good fun, and I found myself missing it after a three-month break. (Summer reading challenge took precedence over all my other reading commitments.) I’ve been looking forward to the start of the school year in Spooksville, and Pike doesn’t disappoint with a creepy and mysterious new teacher who’s overly preoccupied with dissections. As if that isn’t bad enough, he also seems to be an alien who eats children. Nothing is ever safe in Spooksville!

I love how I can always tell when it’s a Pike novel because the plot doesn’t go in a direction I’d expect. Much as I complain about alien subplots, they’re fairly diverse. His aliens might be evil, they might be more evolved and benevolent than humans, or they might be a lot like us with different features. Often, they stress understanding over violence, and I enjoyed the unexpected twists in this book–as well as Sally’s big mouth landing her in hot water, as usual. There isn’t character development, exactly, but the story takes a turn or two that shows us how characters’ strengths might not always be strengths in every situation. I enjoyed seeing them from a slightly different perspective.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

[Alex Joseph]

“Their teacher was not normal.” Yeah, no shit? These title taglines are dumb, as was this entry. I feel obligated to say that Spooksville might have jumped the shark, as I think its last truly spectacular book was Little People, which was a good while ago. Creature in the Teacher (insert vore joke) is a frustrating read for me. I think it’s merit is native to most Spooksville books: I like the characters and their dynamics, there’s good stakes, and the threat of the weak is kinda cool. And I think the first half gave us a great setup for a teacher-is-a-monster story that could’ve been standout. But aside from that, the “villain” Mr. Snakol is brushed aside for most of the back half, and I feel the “villains” could’ve easily avoided the conflict of the story had they actually explained wtf they were doing to our gang instead of trying to aura farm. That makes no sense in hindsight. Just spill, dumbasses. The ending is mindless as well as it not only brings up a plethora of errors, it feels cheap and poorly thrown in. This is becoming a pattern in these books now, to varying quality; Wishing Stone, Wicked Cat, and Hidden Beast especially have closes that vary in satisfaction but are in general just really brisk. The whole final chapter is not at all what I wanted from the book, whether it be too fast or unfocused on the actual idea (they battle fucking lions, dude….), and the book as a whole just didn’t go the direction I wanted, as after the first three-fifths I’d say, it does some weak alien stuff. There’s also some stuff that never gets explained, like the blood pulls and the need to strip George and Sally down to white robes. Overall, 6/10. Hoping to Natural Evolution that the Halloween volume will be a return to form.

[Thomas]

When it comes to middle grade horror books where the protagonist finds out an authority figure is a monster through him eating live animals, this is the better of the two I've read.

[Erin]

Another classic installment in the Spooksville series, Creature in the Teacher finds our protagonists Adam, Watch, Sally, Cindy, and Bryce facing off against an endangered alien race that is attempting to inhabit Earth.

Like all Spooksville books, this was a fun, quick read with a fast-moving plot and a satisfying end. I am starting to sense a bit of a repetitive nature, though, so I hope that Christopher Pike will begin branching out later in the series.

[আহসানুল শোভন]

স্পুকসভিলে নতুন একজন সায়েন্স টিচার আসেন, যাকে অ্যাডাম, ব্রাইস, স্যালি, ওয়াচ আর স্যান্ডির এলিয়েন বলে সন্দেহ হয়। এর মধ্যেই স্কুলে নতুন আসা জর্জ নামের একটি ছেলে উধাও হয়ে যায়। ওদের সন্দেহ তাই আরও পাকাপোক্ত হয়।

[Elusive]

In 'Creature In the Teacher', the first day of school in Spooksville is anything but ordinary. The science teacher, Mr. Snakol is strange and creepy, from his name to his choice of food.

I was looking forward to the school setting but aside from Sally being awesome as always, the story was underwhelming due to the following:

- The new character, George was boring.

- The names of certain characters (Mr. Snakol and Mrs Strawberry) were too on the nose.

- There was too much telling instead of showing.

- Aliens yet again but nowhere near as interesting as in the previous installments they were featured in.

Overall, 'Creature In the Teacher' was mostly dull, lacking in action and suspense.

[Ella]

Sure

[Sue A.]

I was super excited to find this book. And, once again, Christopher Pike did not let ,me down! Loved it!!

[Mauri]

Medio pelo, pero zafa

[Ali]

Fun and campy as always. Sally's snarky remarks were the best parts

[Florence Mullot]

Un treizième tome dont la trame rappelle trop La bête cachée et qui perd donc un peu de son intérêt, sans compter que c'est la troisième fois que nos héros sont face à des extraterrestres. le folklore fantaisie / fantastique ne manque pourtant pas de créatures.

Les vacances sont terminées pour nos héros et il est temps de reprendre les cours. On aurait pu croire qu'avec moins de temps libre, Sally, Tic-Tac, Adam et Cindy arriveraient à moins se mettre dans le pétrin, mais non ! Il faut dire que les professeurs du lycée n'ont pas forcément une bonne réputation et le nouveau professeur de sciences est vraiment très étrange… Sa passion pour les dissections n'augure d'ailleurs rien de bon.

J'ai particulièrement trouvé ce tome treize étrange. Christopher Pike se moque vraiment des adultes depuis le départ, mis à part Anne Templeton qui sort carrément du lot, mais là… La directrice de l'école qui n'a rien à carrer de ses élèves, surtout quand l'un d'eux est porté disparu, c'est tout de même difficile à avaler. On savait que les forces de l'ordre n'étaient d'aucune utilité à Spooksville, mais cela passait un peu mieux. Là, j'ai eu du mal. Tout comme le fait qu'on parle de la mort d'un enfant de douze ans comme si ce n'était pas grand-chose. On rappelle tout de même que la cible visée de la saga est des enfants de douze ans, et je ne suis pas certaine qu'ils arrivent à comprendre la dérision de l'auteur.

Les actions de Sally sont aussi complètement incompréhensibles. du début à la fin du roman, je n'ai pas compris ses choix. Je suis pourtant maintenant habituée à sa « psychologie », mais là j'avoue qu'à plusieurs reprises, elle manque carrément de jugeote et fait n'importe quoi. Ce comportement est un peu compensé par son courage, mais tout de même…

Le revirement de situation est aussi peu crédible et tombe comme un cheveu sur la soupe. J'ai l'impression que parfois, l'auteur n'assume pas ses méchants ni son idée de départ, et qu'il fait une pirouette au dernier moment, en mettant en avant le génie de Tic-Tac bien souvent. La saga est sexiste à bien des égards, et même si j'ai envie de mettre en avant le fait qu'elle ait été écrite il y a longtemps, cela a quand même du mal à passer.

Comme j'en avais gardé un plutôt bon souvenir lors de ma première lecture (je parle de la saga en général), je me dis que mon moi adulte voit certainement plus de choses qui ne vont pas que mon moi adolescent, mais… quand même… Et à côté de cela, le mystère entourant la sorcière n'est toujours pas mis en avant… Un suspens qui dure un peu trop.

[Rizwan]

I just randomly came across Spooksville this past week while on the ethereal internet, discovering that there was a new children's TV show being made based on the books.

Which made me realize that even though I liked the books as a kid (again this is pre-HP and LoTR days) the books never became popular where I lived so I never read all of them (or even most of them).
Additionally I have no problems reading fiction written for children as long as it is well-written. Although I guess it won't be as enjoyable as had I read it when I was 10.


Ofcourse I went and watched it.

So after watching a few episodes of the show, and while admitting they had taken a major departure in the main story arc and I was unsure about it, but still liking the fact that they still kept many of those little details in I embarked on a journey to find more Spooksville books.

And the first one I came across was this.
The book is pretty average - and I guess the complete craziness is why I liked the series as a kid. I would give it 2.5 stars, but nostalgia played in and I rounded it off to a 3.

I also like to think that the other Spooksville books I had read were better written.
But the plot is pretty formulaic like the earlier books.
So the story goes like this - alien shows up as a teacher, kidnapping ensues, negotiations, evil becomes good and they just need help and it all works out in the end.

[Carla]

Citas: http://hechaensilencio.blogspot.com.a...