Piano Lessons Can Be Murder

Plot Summary: Jerry moves into a new house and his family discovers a piano in the attic which appears to play ghostly music. He decides to learn how to play it which leads to him taking lessons from the ominously-named Dr. Shreek. Soon however, it becomes apparent that things are not as they seem and Jerry's piano is being haunted by a ghost with no hands, telling him to stay away. It turns out that Dr. Shreek is in fact a robot and the real villain is the janitor who has been stealing students' hands for years unnoticed. The ghost then saves Jerry and all the hands carry the janitor out to his creepy, unspecified hand-related death.

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Hey Goosebumps book covers-stop spoiling your twists!

Another very unique story in the series, weird but quite compelling. The protagonist is a massive jerk really what with all his practical jokes, but he's also oddly likeable. He has more personality than most of them anyway. The story is creepy and combines several different elements pretty effectively, though I was so sick of hearing the line 'beautiful hands' by the end of it. It also addresses elements often ignored by Goosebumps books, such as parental involvement, and deals with it more realistically than say Night of the Living Dummy. It may be one of the only times the villain actually dies as well, even if it is only implied. The image of hands killing a guy is both hilarious and also genuinely creepy. Only clumsy foreshadowing and general weirdness stop this from being one of the best, but it's definitely one of the better.

Weirdest running joke: 'Drop her/his teeth'.

Best of friends: Jerry and Sean, whose friendship ends with Jerry's move on page 4.

OMG so funny lol and Terrible family alert: Jerry drops a KETTLE on his dad's foot. It wasn't heated up but it's not clear he knows that fact when he laughs maniacally as water pools around his father's feet.

Somebody get this kid a therapist: Oh wait, they actually do. Not that it helps but kudos to his poor parents for trying.

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