One Day At Horrorland

Plot Summary: Lizzy and her family get lost on the way to a theme park and instead stumble upon HorrorLand, a slightly different theme park. This one is run by a bunch of monsters called Horrors, and all the rides have the potential to end in death! Maybe. It's not really made clear because after the twist of discovering all the danger is real, there's another twist that it's actually all for a monster TV show. So maybe none of the rides were dangerous after all. Either way, the family have to go through a monster maze before finally being allowed to leave. The twist is they get followed and offered tickets to come back, a fact I'm sure won't be mentioned at all in the sequel.

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YES, THIS IS WHAT I WAS WAITING FOR. BEST GOOSEBUMPS BOOK EVER!

Ahem.

Okay, so I can't say it's the best yet but my god, how I loved this book as a child. I am clearly very biased here but I have to say, I think it holds up as one of the best. It has a reasonably original plot (okay, not super original but still) and I loved reading how each of the rides turned gruesome. The protagonist isn't a complete moron and the terror actually involves the entire family which is rare. Also the climax is sooooo cool. Monster. Maze. It's total bullshit that they all survive but still. The only downside is that I guess the TV angle is a little weird, and the characters aren't the best. Still, my love of this book remains in tact. What other Goosebump book might feature an actual human head casually being carried like a yo-yo? What other book starts with the family car literally exploding? NONE OF THEM, THAT'S WHAT.

Worst Bond Line: The HorrorLand Horrors conveniently get defeated by being pinched and Lizzy has this to say: 'See? I always come through in a pinch!'

Most hilarious 'scary' moment: Lizzy panics at the thought of being crushed into 'a human square'.

Best of friends: Luke and Clay, who Luke spends most of the book pinching, punching or otherwise mocking horribly.

Surprisingly dramatic moment: The family car EXPLODES. Right at the end of chapter one. No lame bee-throwing cliffhangers here.

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