Coloring Update #3

 I know I started tracking days but I honestly lost track of the days so we're doing it this way now.

And WOW have I done a lot of coloring since the last time I posted. I won't post all the photos but I want to discuss two different "categories" of images that I colored in the past few days. 

The first is something I've found very satisfying to do, which is using this website to find a random color palette, and then choosing an image to color using only those colors. I'll pick out two-ish pencils per color on the palette and then only use those pencils for the entire page. 

Here are a couple of those: 

Mein Frühlingsspaziergang by Rita Berman
Color Palette #213 (colorpalettes.net)

Nice Little Town by Tatiana Bogema (Stolova)
Color Palette #17 (colorpalettes.net)

The fun thing about that strategy is that it saves me the trouble of having to choose my own colors, plus the color palette is already for sure going to look good because that's how color palettes are designed. 

The other two pages I wanted to share are the two big pages I colored. These are from the books Mythographic: Animals by Joseph Catimbang and Beauty of Horror by Alan Robert. I bet you can guess which one is from which book. 

These were both very exciting accomplishments because looking at blank images as big as that zombie one is or as detailed as the frog one is, was extremely intimidating and I wasn't sure I was going to have the patience to finish something like that, but once I got started and the images started to come to life, it really wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. 

So there you have it, my latest coloring update featuring a few of my favorite completed pages from the past few days. I can't wait to see what's next! 

Coloring Day 2

 I started my day back in Karen Sue Chen's Secret Worlds  because there was a page in there that was a bowl of ramen and the way the ramen noodles were coming out of the steam clouds made me think of rainbows and I really wanted to make rainbow noodles. So I did.

And I thought it looked really cool, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the rest of the page, so I did something I never imagined I would be able to do, and I put it aside, and colored something else instead. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but I am very proud of myself.

So then I colored another page in the same book that was a little circus scene inside of a cupcake, and I used wild and bright colors and it was really fun but it looks pretty crazy now that it's completed. I'm not going to include the photo because it's not that important because then, my colored pencils and my new coloring books arrived. 

I decided to test my colored pencils in a new book that I was particularly excited about, Mein Frühlingsspaziergang by Rita Berman. (That's German for "My Spring Walk/Stroll" if you were wondering). The art in this book really appealed to me and she also has the other seasons, as well as a few other books. I chose the Spring one because even though it's technically still Winter, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow which in Minnesota means "only six more weeks of Winter!" and I'd rather look ahead to Spring than focus on Winter. If this hyperfixation lasts, I do hope to get the other seasons books by this artist because I really like this one. But anyways.

I decided to test my colored pencils on this page in Rita Berman's book that had a bunch of beetles on it because it felt like the kind of page where I could use as many colors as possible. I ordered a set of 120 colored pencils by Kalour and the set came with a pre-labeled swatch sheet so I wanted to use as many colors as I could and swatch them as I went. 

I've always been resistant to adult coloring books in the past, partially just because I'm not a colored pencil person. I've never liked them, and definitely preferred coloring with crayons over any other medium, and the spaces in most adult coloring books are just too little for my crayons. I will say, that the experience of using a colored pencil that is of higher quality than the box of golf pencil sized Crayolas I had been using before is way more pleasant. So that's good. I do still prefer the markers though just because it's faster and I'm impatient, but some pages have too much detail even for the fine tip markers, and some of them (like this one) have double sided pages so if I used markers, the ink would bleed through. 

Also, this coloring book is smaller than I thought it would be at about 8''x8'', but honestly I like it more that way because it feels way more manageable than some of the larger detailed books that I will get to one of these days. 

So anyways, coloring day 2 was a success and I can't wait to see what day 3 brings! 

Rules That I WILL NOT Make During My Coloring Journey

 So I'm a colorist now, it's all very exciting, and as I mentioned in my first post about it, one of the reasons I'm trying to get into adult coloring books is to help myself create without expectation of perfection. And I wanted to elaborate a little bit on that.

Because I am not a "perfectionist" by traditional standards. I have never been one to go back and correct mistakes until I have reached perfection. In school, I tended to write an essay, do a quick proof read for spelling and grammar purposes, and then just turn it in without further thought. I was not good about going back and making edits to the content itself. When I paint, I don't go back for a second layer or to touch up lines. I fill the canvas once over and then it's done. 

But I am a perfectionist in another way, if perfectionist is even the right word to describe it. I have a tendency to create arbitrary rules for myself in everything I do. I don't really know how else to explain that, so I'm just going to provide a list of rules that I would probably make for my coloring if I hadn't decided not to make rules for it, as well as what kind of pressure this puts on me in the process of creating and the result it would probably have.

1. Complete every coloring book in order. Color the first page first, and then make your way through the book. This is a kind of rule that comes up a lot, because I always want to do things in order. But what would probably happen in this scenario is that I would come across a picture that I didn't particularly want to color in that book, and instead of just picking a different picture to color, I would just stop coloring in that book. Because I wouldn't be able to bring myself to break the pattern, and break my own arbitrary rule. So instead, I will be coloring whichever picture I feel like it, in any order.
2. Use the same medium and/or color scheme throughout this entire book. I also love it when things match, and a couple of the books I bought are almost like a story, and it could be that it's the same characters throughout the book, so it is very likely that I would attempt to make it all a cohesive piece. But my attention span is very small, so it is very probable that I would get bored of using only the same colors every time, and once again, I would stop using that book. Because once again, I would rather stop using it than break my arbitrary rule. 
3. You must complete a page before beginning a new one. This will be very hard for me to not do, just subconsciously. The obvious downfall of this one is the same as the others. I would find myself coloring a picture that I'm not enjoying, and when I don't want to finish it, I won't start another one instead and leave that one not completed, so once again, coloring is over. I think I will make an active effort to avoid this by going into some drawings with the intention of not completing them. Maybe I will choose a page with lots of small elements and just color one of the small parts. Or maybe I will pick a page where I really only like one of the flowers, for example, but I don't care about the rest of the image and then just color that one flower. 

There are more rules I could come up with for sure, but I think you get the point. Essentially what happens is that once I do something twice, I've created a pattern. And once I've created a pattern, I have a very hard time breaking from that pattern.

A good example of that is that when I started high school, I went to lunch on the first day to find that they had run out of plates, so I used a bowl for my lunch instead. And then on the second day, they were out of plates again, so I used a bowl again. And then the next day, they did have plates available, but I had already used a bowl for my lunch twice, so I proceeded to eat my lunch out of a bowl for the next four years. 

And this time, I am determined to not form a pattern, and I am very curious to see what kind of impact that has on my hyperfixation experience. 

Coloring Day 1

 It's official! It's day one of my adult coloring hyperfixation. Well, it's day one of having actual supplies to pursue this particular hyperfixation, but don't worry, I have already spent plenty of time watching YouTube videos about coloring while I waited for my supplies to arrive. 

When I first decided to give adult coloring books a try, I first turned to Amazon, where I typed in something like "adult coloring books" to see what I could find that intrigued me. The first coloring books that caught my attention were two by the same artist, Karen Sue Chen. 

I was immediately drawn to the images in both of these books and it seemed like an obvious first choice. I think I found Enchanted first and from there was led to Secret Worlds. I love them both so, Karen Sue Chen, if you're reading this, I love your work.

Without giving it much more thought, I went ahead and ordered both of them, and found some dual-tip markers that seemed to be affordable but decent (according to the reviews) to add to the order. 

Now this was before I did any sort of research on the hobby, so did place another order shortly after this, but since this was the first wave I ordered, it's the first stuff that got here, so these two books with dual-tip markers is where my journey begins. 

I obviously opened up the books first and flipped through them to pick the perfect first page. I landed on one from Secret Worlds. Then I opened up the markers, and got to work! Here is how that turned out.

Delightful. I'm delighted. It was a delight to make and I'm delighted to have this one page completed. Delightful! 

New Year, New Hyperfixation! (Coloring Day 0)

I have a bit of a hyperfixation problem, and every time I find myself with a new hobby, I think, "I should really document this somehow", so this is me, documenting it somehow. 

Hyperfixation of the (undetermined but probably short amount of time) is adult coloring books! 

So here's what happened: 

For a long time now I've been fascinated by the Yoto Player, which is essentially a little speaker for kids that has cards you put into it to make it play different audio books. I've always wanted one, even though I'm an adult who can just use any audiobook platform and listen to audiobooks on my phone, but still, there is just something very appealing about it being screen-free and having those little cards to pick from. 

So I bought one. 

And then I got to thinking that I really needed a hobby to do while listening to my new Yoto Player, and I did some searching, and adult coloring books kept coming up. 

Now I've been hesitant in the past about adult coloring books. I remember when they first became popular thinking they were too hard and the spaces were too small for me to use my crayons, so I wasn't interested. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE coloring and always have, but I've been using my Crayola crayons in kids coloring books very happily for my entire life. 

But despite my past resistance, here are a few reasons why I think adult coloring books will be a good hobby choice. 

1. I've been trying to work on my focus this year so far, and while I love kids coloring pages, they only take a few minutes to complete. I think it will be really good for my ability to focus to have projects that take a little bit longer to complete and I maybe don't even finish in one sitting. 

2. Another thing I've been working on recently is creating without expectation, or really doing anything at all without expectation. I have a tendency to get too bogged down by the details of something and making sure it's just right, which makes creating very challenging, so I've been trying to let go of that because creating in any capacity is really good for my anxiety. 

(To be clear, adult coloring is actually a for real art form apparently, like check out this video by Fesselfee88 on YouTube and Instagram to see what I mean, but my intention is not to create masterpieces, but rather just to add color to cool drawings.)

3. One can collect art supplies and coloring books, and anything where I can collect stuff is a promising hobby in my book. 

So I did what I always do when beginning a new hobby and turned to YouTube for advice on what to buy, and then Amazon to buy it. 

I will write more about the things I bought once they arrive, but for now while I was waiting, I decided to get a head start with supplies I already had at home. I pulled out my box of 12 washable markers and my box of 64 mini colored pencils, (and left my crayons in their bowl to give other mediums a chance to shine), and I googled "free printable adult coloring pages" and picked out a few to try my hand at. 

I (clearly) used colored pencils for one, and markers for the other, and you know what? I had a great time doing it. 

Stay tuned to see how long this hyperfixation lasts, but it seems promising! 

Goosebumps book 20: The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight - It’s a field of screams!

WOW. It has been awhile. But don't worry, I have still been keeping up on my reading, I just lacked internet access for the past month.

Brief Summary: 

Jodie and Mark are visiting Grandma and Grandpa on their farm, but things are weird. Grandma won’t make pancakes and Grandpa won’t tell scary stories and resident farmhand Stanley won’t stop talking about his “superstition book”, which is never described beyond that. The kids start seeing things, it’s as if the 12 new scarecrows are coming alive! But that couldn’t be, Jodie thinks it’s Stanley’s teenage son, “Sticks”, playing tricks on them. And as expected, things get wildly out of control from there. 

Spoilers and Review:

This is pretty standard Goosebumps, but I have some questions. Almost immediately we meet Stanley the farmhand who is described as “weird” and “not very smart” and we are clearly being led to believe that he has some mental differences, and I’ll be honest, I was pretty unsettled by the way Stanley was portrayed, because he is also presented as “the bad guy” or at least the root of the problem, and his entire character development is inconsistent because most of the time he is entirely sweet and well-meaning but also for some reason is blackmailing his bosses to do everything his way or else he’ll send the scarecrows after them? It didn’t make a lot of sense and I didn’t care for it, it made me uncomfortable.

But other than that, the scarecrows are actually pretty scary, even though their intentions are never clear, like when all the scarecrows rip their own heads off and keep attacking SO THEY SET THEM ON FIRE was such crazy imagery and I LOVED IT. But seriously, someone’s gotta get that superstition book away from Stanley because the “twist ending” involves Stanley bringing a full sized taxidermy BEAR to life. Nope.

The Rating: 

Definitely not the best story but a fun scary monster. 

1. One Day at HorrorLand (#16)
2. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
3. Why I’m Afraid of Bees (#17)
4. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
5. Deep Trouble (#19)
6. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
7. The Haunted Mask (#11)
8. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
9. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
10. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
11. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
12. Let’s Get Invisible! (#6)
13. The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight (#20)
14. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
15. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
16. Monster Blood (#3)
17. Be Careful What You Wish For… (#12)
18. You Can’t Scare Me! (#15)
19. The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (#5)
20. Monster Blood II (#18)

Next is Go Eat Worms which I imagine is a pretty self-explanatory title. 

Goosebumps book 19: Deep Trouble - Just when you thought it was safe...

Brief Summary: 

Betcha didn't think this book would be about mermaids, because I certainly did not. Billy is staying with his scientist uncle Dr. D on a boat where he's studying some sea life or something. When some people from a zoo show up and convince Dr. D to find a mermaid for their zoo, Billy wants to be a part of the expedition, and what do you know, he finds a mermaid, but he feels a little weird when they lock his new mermaid friend up in a tank! And then she gets kidnapped! And the kidnappers try to drown Billy and his family! Yikes! 

Spoilers and Review:

The ocean both fascinates and terrifies me. I panicked every time Billy went swimming in the ocean in the middle of the night. The cover is misleading because there is not a lot of shark action, and Billy keeps mentioning a sea monster that I would like to know more about, but honestly it was such a dramatic tale! 

Let me just say that one time I was babysitting a five-year-old and the game she made up for us to play was one where we were mermaids kidnapped from our homes by humans who sold us to the circus. Replace the circus with the zoo and tell it from the perspective of the humans who kidnapped us and you have this book.

Except in this book the humans change their minds about the morality of their decisions once the mermaid is re-kidnapped from them, and almost drown (too scary) and then free the mermaid back into the ocean. 

Oh and the betrayal! Alexander, Dr. D's assistant who can't cook, turns on them all and tries to kill them to make money off a mermaid! The drama! I maybe should've seen that coming but I did not. 

But again, why the sea monster? Hopefully the sea monster makes an appearance in Deep Trouble II.

The Rating: 

I don't know how to rate this one because it's such a different vibe, but I loved it for that. I had to do some other rearranging to accommodate ranking this one. 

1. One Day At HorrorLand (#16)
2. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
3. Why I'm Afraid of Bees (#17)
4. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
5. Deep Trouble (#19)
6. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
7. The Haunted Mask (#11)
8. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
9. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
10. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
11. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
12. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
13. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
14. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
15. Monster Blood (#3)
16. Be Careful What You Wish For... (#12)
17. You Can't Scare Me! (#15)
18. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)
19. Monster Blood II (#18)

Coming up next is The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, another one I know nothing about.

Goosebumps book 18: Monster Blood II - He's one hungry hamster!

Brief Summary: 

Evan is back and he has moved to Atlanta and everyone is SO MEAN to him, especially his science teacher and this kid named Conan, and for some reason no one believes he found a magic can of slime that endlessly expands and also makes things grow. Weird. Andy is also there for some reason and she brought some monster blood which was obviously a terrible idea. One thing leads to another and somehow the class pet Cuddles the hamster ends up 10 feet tall and it's up to Evan to save the day.

Spoilers and Review:

I didn't enjoy the first Monster Blood that much but this one was even worse.

First of all, literally no action occurs until over halfway through the book. It's just Evan being bullied by Conan and also his teacher which infuriated me and Andy wore some ridiculous outfits which was great and then they break into this kid's house which was not that fun or entertaining and there's no monster blood action at all until page 83 out of like 120. 

Long story short, Evan is tormented constantly, Andy gives some monster blood to the hamster, the hamster grows to 10 feet tall, Evan decides to eat some monster blood to fight off the giant hamster, it's not going to work, then suddenly everything is back to normal because the monster blood apparently expired just at that exact moment.

In the end Evan acquires Cuddles the hamster and Andy's parents send her NEW MONSTER BLOOD in the mail setting us up for another sequel yet to come.

The Rating: 

This one was not a winner. Nothing happened for most of it and then when things finally did happen they were stupid. 

1. One Day At HorrorLand (#16)
2. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
3. Why I'm Afraid of Bees (#17)
4. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
5. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
6. The Haunted Mask (#11)
7. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
8. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
9. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
10. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
11. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
12. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
13. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
14. Monster Blood (#3)
15. Be Careful What You Wish For... (#12)
16. You Can't Scare Me! (#15)
17. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)
18. Monster Blood II (#18)

Next is Deep Trouble which I actually read before writing a blog post for this one! Oops!

Goosebumps book 17: Why I'm Afraid of Bees - He's no ordinary human bee-ing...

Brief Summary: 

This Goosebumps meets Animorphs special (don't get me started on the Animorphs) stars Gary Lutz, a 12-year-old boy who hates his life. Gary's sister is mean and her cat is worse, his neighbor is a beekeeper and Gary HATES bees, and all the neighborhood kids are always bullying him. So when Gary finds an ad online that suggests he could switch places with someone for a week, he decides to go for it. But something goes wrong in the transformation and Gary finds himself in the body of a bee! Lots of chaos ensues. Will Gary ever get his human body back?

Spoilers and Review:

So this book had a slow start, but once I was in, I was IN. It starts off for the first 6 or so chapters and all I could think was Poor. Gary. Seriously, he is picked on beyond belief. But it really makes me feel for him. 

Then he decides to try to switch places with another kid, Dirk, which is already a great concept, very sci-fi, love that. But anyways something goes wrong and Dirk ends up in Gary's body, Gary ends up in THE BODY OF A BEE, and the bee ends up in Dirk's body! (Side note I would love a story where we follow the life of that bee in a human body, I wish we got more of a story about that, but all we get is a human boy buzzing around trying to drink pollen.) 

This book was mildly educational, because Gary was buzzing around learning things about bees which was fun for sure, and he's like really freaking out because he wants his body back and he keeps trying to talk to humans who can't hear him because he's a bee. And Dirk is really rocking it in Gary's body so when the bee-Gary finally tracks down the body switch lady, she's like "bad news, Dirk won't give up your body, I guess you're stuck as a bee." Yikes. 

Gary is actually kind of getting used to being a bee and gets his revenge on some bullies and also Dirk in Gary's body, and we're happy for Gary.

And then Gary DIES. He stings Dirk in the nose and DIES. And somehow wakes up and everyone is back in the right body again? Sure, we'll just pretend that makes sense. 

So now Gary is happy with his new life and somehow he and Dirk become friends but Gary seems to have a little bit of bee left in him because in the end he tries to drink some nectar from a flower! Classic. 

Mostly this book was Gary buzzing around as a bee trying to get people to notice him in various ways but it doesn't work at all and he just gets slapped around a lot. It was excellent.

Bonus points for an entirely misleading title and cover. He is not a bee with a human head and actually by the end he is not afraid of bees anymore.

The Rating: 

I was not prepared to enjoy this one as much as I did, but it was honestly awesome. I don't even know if I can explain why, but it's getting 3rd place! 

1. One Day At HorrorLand (#16)
2. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
3. Why I'm Afraid of Bees (#17)
4. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
5. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
6. The Haunted Mask (#11)
7. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
8. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
9. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
10. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
11. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
12. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
13. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
14. Monster Blood (#3)
15. Be Careful What You Wish For... (#12)
16. You Can't Scare Me! (#15)
17. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

Join me next time for Monster Blood II. 

Goosebumps book 16: One Day At HorrorLand - Enter, if you dare...

Brief Summary: 

Lizzie and her brother Luke and his friend Clay and also their mom and dad get lost trying to find Zoo Gardens so they settle for HorrorLand, a theme park they've never heard of. When they get there, their car immediately explodes! It seems like they might be stuck in HorrorLand forever! They go on rides like the Doom Slide where they might slide forever, and the House of Mirrors, which tries to crush them, and there are some bats and lots of employees in scary monster costumes and all the families have crying children and lots of stuff goes down. They finally find Mom and Dad and go on one last ride down a river in coffins before heading home, but the gates are locked!

Spoilers and Review:

Theme park horror is one of my favorite genres ever so obviously I was thrilled about this one. The ambiance is incredible and all of the rides were so well done and I would LOVE to go to HorrorLand, seriously it's the best.

But before they even get to the rides their car actually for real explodes, which I thought would somehow be a lie like most of the scary things but it isn't! It's wild. 

I loved this one so much that I don't even have much else to say because it was just so incredible, except the ending. I mean it wasn't bad necessarily but in many cases the end of the book makes the entire story better, but in this case I think it ruined it a bit.

First, in the middle of the action with the family trying to escape, they have the monsters come out like, "thanks for your participation in our TV show on the Monster Network!" Or whatever, which is so classic, and then they take it even further and they end up trying to escape from the park in some sort of horror game/race challenge scenario, and they barely escape from some horrible creatures and then an announcer is like, "3/5 survived!" -- chapter break -- "no, scratch that, 5/5 survivors!" and they all have to make a run for it again and find out that if they pinch the monsters they will deflate which is awesome and then they steal a bus from the park and drive home, only to find a hitchhiking monster that's like, "we forgot to give you your free passes for next year!" 

Actually looking back on it, the ending wasn't so bad. I think my opinion is just tainted because I watched the TV episode before writing this and the TV episode skipped all the good parts of the book and ended in a horrible stupid way. 

The Rating: 

I loved it, it was so action-packed, so much was happening the whole time which is honestly unusual for these books, and it's my favorite sub-genre of horror, I'm giving it 1st place.

1. One Day At HorrorLand (#16)
2. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
3. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
4. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
5. The Haunted Mask (#11)
6. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
7. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
8. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
9. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
10. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
11. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
12. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
13. Monster Blood (#3)
14. Be Careful What You Wish For... (#12)
15. You Can't Scare Me! (#15)
16. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

Join me next time for Why I'm Afraid of Bees. Spooky.

Goosebumps book 15: You Can't Scare Me! - They're coming for you...

Brief Summary: 

Courtney is the worst and so Eddie and Hat (??) decide to try to scare her for a change but are wildly unsuccessful. Also, mud monsters.

Spoilers and Review:

This was a weird one. For one, it was not at all scary. Nothing scary actually happened until the very end, which happens sometimes in Goosebumps, but even then the end was not that fun either. Eddie was just running around trying to scare Courtney (who was SO annoying) and then in the end they get chased by mud monsters which is not even that scary! I can't. Even the cover is gross colors. 

Highlights include when Courtney throws some BEES and Eddie because that's a super wacky thing to do. 

Also, I quite enjoyed the legend of the mud monsters, while not that scary, it was thorough. Apparently in this town when it was founded a very long time ago the poorest settlers built a village of huts along the creek and the townsfolk were real jerks and refused to share the water supply with the mud villagers and they were all starving and sick and then a rain storm BURIED THEM (dark) and now they're some sort of mud zombie who rise up once a year on a full moon. Classic, mildly cool, not that scary though. 

The Rating: 

I've been going back and forth about putting this one in last place because in my mind I really hated The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb but could it have been that bad? Because this one was truly not great. I mean I obviously loved it, but I'm skeptical. In the end I've decided to put it at 14 out of 15 because at least this one was super weird, way weirder than a run-of-the-mill mummy story.

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 Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
11. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
12. Monster Blood (#3)
13. Be Careful What You Wish For... (#12)
14. You Can't Scare Me! (#15)
15. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

Well the next book is One Day At HorrorLand which is the one I have been waiting for, because my favorite genre of horror is carnival/circus/amusement park horror. 

Goosebumps book 14: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp - Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf?

Brief Summary: 

I don't know, something about moving to Florida because of swamp deer and then some werewolf stories and a swamp hermit and a stray dog or whatever.

Spoilers and Review:

So Grady moves to Florida with his family because his parents are scientists (classic) and are trying to introduce swamp deer (a real animal, I Googled it) into Florida swamps. Obviously. 

I'm just going to run through the highlights real quick. First of all, the swamp hermit is my favorite character, he's the best. He's just an old guy who lives in a shack in the swamp and lives off the land and at one point just to scare them chases them around and yells, "I'm the werewolf! I'm the werewolf!" which is honestly horrifying, he's my hero. 

There is a dog in this book and he saves the day several times and we love him. I love dogs. Bonus points because he didn't even die, though the scariest part of the book for sure is when Grady's dad thinks Wolf the dog killed a bunny and one of his precious swamp deer and tries to take the poor thing to the pound and it is implied that he would be euthanized. He got away though, don't worry.

Then there is this really scary part where Grady gets bitten by a snake and all but blacks out in the middle of the swamp. That was also in my top moments. 

Overall, I was intrigued by the swamp fever stories and the swamp hermit was amazing but there was not that much werewolf to be honest. 

But then, get this, in the end, the swamp hermit isn't even the werewolf, it's Will the neighbor boy! I won't lie, I did not see that coming at all but probably should have. I still enjoyed the twist. 

And a beautiful cover, one of my favorites so far. Honestly I should make a separate ranking of just the covers.

The Rating: 

I obviously still enjoyed it because I can't help myself, I love all of them. 

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 Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
11. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
12. Monster Blood (#3)
13. Be Careful What You Wish For... (12)
14. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

#15 is You Can't Scare Me which as usual, could mean anything. See you there.

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... 

Goosebumps book 12: Be Careful What You Wish For... - It might come true.

Brief Summary: 

Samantha Byrd is really tall but also bad at basketball and gets made fun of a lot. Then, she meets a mysterious woman in the forest who grants Samantha three wishes. What could go wrong, am I right?

Spoilers and Review:

Honestly I didn't particularly care for this book. The "genie granting three wishes and it doesn't go as planned" trope doesn't do it for me. But I do love Clarissa "the Crystal Woman". I aspire to be not just a crystal woman but the Crystal Woman. 

I mean it obviously had its moments, I definitely want to know more about the friend how always gets grilled cheese packed in his lunch even though he hates it and bonus points for being a basketball story. I also liked the part when Judith accused Sam of being a witch, it appealed to me. 

And then the main character got turned into a bird in the end which was pretty funny. The TV episode on the other hand has an entirely different ending for some reason but I can't say that I have a preference between the two options really.

I think that's all I have to say about this one. It didn't do it for me.

The Rating: 

I mean I still liked it more than The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb but definitely pretty low on the list. 

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. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
7. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
8. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
9. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
10. Monster Blood (#3)
11. Be Careful What You Wish For... (12)
12. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

Next is Piano Lessons Can Be Murder which is one I've been looking forward to for sure. I'm intrigued.