#55 "He's no picky eater!"
This book should really be called The Haunted Typewriter, because when Zackie find an old typewriter in a burnt down antique store he starts writing his greatest story yet... The story of the blob monster that ate the whole town! Little does he know that everything he rights on this typewriter comes true! ( )

This is one of those Goosebumps book whose cover I would see everywhere, and that I immediately got the reference to. Who didn't giggle at the thought of The Blob? It's an absurd concept, and apparently one that 'Zackie', the protagonist of this book, believes is wholly original.

Zackie wants to be a famous horror writer. He spends a lot of his spare time making up stories, but apparently the idea of a wholly original story is a bit beyond him. All of his stories involve his town and his friends, particularly his best friends Alex and Adam. When he happens to find an antique typewriter that makes everything he writes come true, well, the Blob Monster that he originally imagined becomes a bit of a problem for everyone.

This book was entertaining, but the main character's idiocy somewhat got in the way of me actually enjoying it. It took Zackie too long to realize the power of the typewriter, and ultimately when he did the ways he used it seemed poorly conceived. I think the book would have been better served by gong in a slightly different direction than him typing the town's destruction and being surprised when it came to pass, let alone the actual ending... ( )

## He's no picky eater!

The Blob That Ate Everyone isn't the most original Goosebumps entry, but it is a lot of fun. The plot takes most of its creativity from old 1950s B-movies and Twilight Zone reruns, so it reaches more for comedy than horror.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

Zackie, a budding horror novelist and absolute scaredy-cat, is gifted an antique typewriter by the owner of a burned-out shop. As he sets down with his best friend Alex to write his latest horror story ("It was a dark and stormy night..."), the words he writes immediately come true. Zackie and Alex go nuts exploring the immediate possibilities of this typewriter: The power goes out; weather is controlled; their 'friend' -- a rude boy named Adam who bullies Zackie a bit much -- is placed in unusual circumstances; parents vanish; blob monsters heave hungrily from basements, waiting for fresh meat....

The power of the typewriter is nebulous, and Zackie starts believing all the odd occurrences were just coincidences. After an awful day of teasing from Adam, Zackie launches into writing his newest revenge story about the blob monster terrorizing the town. Zackie makes it to town just in time to see the blob monster at work, eating Adam and the other citizens of town.

The blob monster itself is a gross-out monster, with lots of pulsing and slime and slurping, sucking sounds. In some respects, characters and concepts are run-of-the-mill for Goosebumps. What propels this entry forward is the sense of humor characters are given. The dad is especially great, showing up just to mope about his need for ice cream and, please, don't Zackie and Alex want ice cream so he'd have an excuse to go get some?

I wasn't too big on the twist ending. The last chapter is a self-contained reversal in the story's direction that was just too silly. With the endless possibilities such a typewriter would give, Zackie and Alex's explorations of that power were hard to believe. They barely did anything, and argued too much about how to convince everyone of its power. It's a bit obvious to say you could simply write people to believe, but, personally, I'd give everyone poopy pants.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#54 Don't Go to Sleep! | # 56 The Curse at Camp Cold Lake ( )

This book is one in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. It is about a boy named Zackie who writes scary stories. One day he finds a typewriter and he thinks he should write scary stories on it. He and his friend, Alex, take it home. Alex thinks it has magical powers. I like this book because it describes how Zackie and Alex feel. I also like this book because it is very thrilling. I highly recommend this book to people who like scary stories. If this seems interesting, read the book! ( )

I believe this book would be good for year 4,5 and 6 students who like scary books. ( )