Goosebumps book 13: Piano Lessons Can Be Murder - Play it again, hands!

Brief Summary: 

Jerry finds an old piano in his new house and decides he wants to take piano lessons. Dr. Shreek, his new teacher, is pretty intense and keeps telling Jerry how nice his hands are. Weird. The piano school is an old, rundown building and there are some freaky rumors going around about it. Also, there seems to be a ghost lady haunting Jerry's piano, and the janitor at the piano school makes all kinds of crazy contraptions. 

Spoilers and Review:

It was pretty obvious that in the end someone was going to try to cut off Jerry's hands because is literally on the cover, but it definitely went about reaching that conclusion without making all the most obvious choices.

I really liked the gray piano ghost lady with droopy skin and a gray skull. It was like two spooky stories in one because we got the ghost and the piano school. And then the teachers were robots and the janitor was the real mastermind which was another fun addition. 

Then there is this really classic bit where Jerry's parents don't believe him about the ghost, which happens in literally every Goosebumps ever, but in this case it was so extreme that they sent him to therapy which was a whole new level. 

The imagery of the recital hall full of pianos being played by floating hands and bald humanoid robot teachers nodding along was amazing and the resolution of the ghost showing up and then the ghosts of all the hands come out in gray dust and carry Mr. Toggle away is also awesome. 

The Rating: 

I actually really enjoyed this one. It had a lot of really cool imagery which made it actually pretty scary. I debated where to put it and originally placed it below Let's Get Invisible but eventually concluded that my reluctance to place it higher was just that the first seven books really feel like the "originals" and I feel like they should always be higher. So here we are. 

1. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
2. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
3. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
4. The Haunted Mask (#11)
5. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
6. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
7. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
8. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
9. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
10. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
11. Monster Blood (#3)
12. Be Careful What You Wish For... (12)
13. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

Coming up next is The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. I'm not particularly fond of werewolf stories but that's because they all sort of seem the same, and I would not be surprised if R.L. Stine has some tricks up his sleeve...