¡Cuidado con el muñeco de nieve!

Goosebumps #51

by R.L. Stine

Cuando Jaclyn se mudó a Sherpia con su tía Greta, creyó que se encontraba en medio de la nada. Este pueblo del Polo Norte del que nunca había oído hablar parece absolutamente desierto. Pero una presencia parece colmar el lugar de horror: delante de cada casa hay un muñeco de nieve. Cada uno luce una bufanda roja, una sonrisa malvada y una sospechosa cicatriz en la cara... ¿Serán ellos los auténticos y gélidos amos del lugar?

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Beware, the Snowman, Jaclyn and her caregiver aunt Greta move from Chicago to the remote village of Sherpia, which is near the Arctic Circle. The reasons for their moving to Sherpia are mostly unknown to Jaclyn, as her aunt Greta doesn't talk about it much. Jaclyn soon discovers some strange things about the village. Every house has an identical snowman in front of it, with the same red scarf, black pebble eyes, and scar running across the right side of the face. Why do the villagers all make these identical snowmen? And why do they get nervous when someone mentions the mountain in town and the superstitions and legends associated with it? Could there be some truth to the legend? And if so, is there still a danger to the town and its people? Jaclyn will have to find out!

This was a fun story. R.L. Stine's horrifically repetitive and limited writing is yet again on display here (man does the guy have an affinity for the word "stammered"-- as well as "demanded" and "realized", but mostly "stammered"-- those three words must appear two hundred times in every Goosebumps book), but the character development in this one was a lot better than in some other entries I've read in the series so far, and the story is actually interesting and, at times, a little scary (not much, mind you, but a tiny bit). I also really loved the twists at the end. There is more than one, which is uncommon in the Goosebumps books I've reread so far, and I loved it.

If you're rereading some of the books in the original Goosebumps series, this one is worth checking out.

Recommended!

CAWPILE rating:

Characters: 7.5
Atmosphere / Setting: 8.0
Writing Style: 6.5
Plot: 8.0
Intrigue: 8.5
Logic / Relationships: 7.5
Enjoyment: 7.8

= 53.8 total
÷ 7 categories = 7.68 out of 10
= 4 stars

[Coos Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

En general, me pareció una historia de lo más divertida, muy al estilo Goosebumps. Pero lo que más me gustó es darme cuenta de que es básicamente ese episodio de The Office en el que Dwight le hace una joda a Jim, y le arma muchos muñecos de nieve, así que Jim entra en una especie de paranoia rara.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a promising start, the story starts to full apart once the secrets of the village are revealed.

Moving to the Arctic town of Sherpia, Jaclyn starts to discover a creepy snowman outside every home.
The tension rises as everyone is scared of the snow monster living in the mountains.

The first half is so atmospheric and works really well, even tackling a parents death and the reason why Jaclyn has had to move to the town with her aunt Greta is quite an adult theme for the series.

It’s just a shame the second half doesn’t really pay off...

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the snows blow wild
And the day grows old,
Beware, the snowman, my child.
Beware, the snowman.
He brings the cold.

Jaclyn is very unhappy. Her legal guardian, Aunt Greta, has moved them from Jaclyn's beloved Chicago to the remote village of Sherpia, in Switzerland (?). Jaclyn's mother died when she was five. Her father took off right after Jaclyn was born.

The town is white, nearly empty, and very strange. The locals have a penchant for building snowmen. Well, not snowmen - one snowman in particular. They always build the same one. He has a red scarf and a sneering mouth - and a huge scar across his face.

Jaclyn is living right next to a mountain, and she meets some local kids. When she tells them her intention to climb to the top, they panic and insist she can't do it.

What's at the top of the mountain? Why is everyone almost religious about building identical snowmen? And why won't Jaclyn's aunt answer any of her questions?
...

This was actually an amazing Goosebumps book, despite the rather silly title. It has a great, thick atmosphere of snow and cold. Jaclyn being an only child and being brought into a new village and a new country lends to the spookiness. The book is a combination of horror, mystery and journey (Jaclyn's journey to the mountaintop). I enjoyed it, definitely a stronger entry in the series.

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

#51 "He's got a heart of cold!"
In Chicago things were never this boring. But now that Greta has moved with her aunt to Sherpia on the tip of the Arctic Circle, things are really super boring. There's nothing to do out here. And the nights are really creepy. And what is with all those strange snowmen outside every house? The ones with the scars on their faces. What is their story?

[David Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me realize how much more fun Goosebumps TV show would have been had it been a cartoon (or as their calling it now: animated series")instead of real actors. The book had more twists than an old pretzel. It was fun. Living in a snowy state during winter, I can relate to all the snow. Everything is connected. In other books I've said to skip the first few chapters as their pretty much meaningless, but for this one every chapter is important in telling the story. We have a girl who moves with her aunt from Chicago to Sherpia (Don't ask me what that is)for the fun of it. Later in the book you find out why. Creepy when every house has the same exact snowman built in their yard. A fun read....."He has a heart of cold"? Really? Who comes up with these corny captions?

[Gavin Hetherington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent a month re-reading all 62 original Goosebumps books to see if they still hold up today, you can check out my 3.5 hour vlog here: https://youtu.be/2C73xc1FS5o

You can also check out my entire ranking of the original Goosebumps books where I review them from worst to best here: https://youtu.be/lBfaxCOwAnA

[Brendon Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware, the Snowman is pretty good. It has actual horror elements unlike some in the series involving some supernatural sorcery. I think it would genuinely scare younger kids which is good 🤣. The winter elements also play a big part so is fun to read at this time of year.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the snow blows wild
And the day grows old,
Beware, the snowman, my child.
Beware, the snowman.
He brings the cold

No melting allowed! This installment in the Goosebumps series is the perfect wintry story. It has a snowy remote village with an ice cave, superstitions, sorcerers & sorceresses, AND lots of creepy snowman magic! I ravaged this book and could feel all the imagery. I made me cold and it just felt like a dark, blustery, snowy day here. What a fun book full of twists and turns and everything fun you could think of for Goosebumps. It had some family mystery as well as a problem/puzzle to solve. Throw in a crazy local and you've got yourself one heck of a lineup! It also gave me Edwards Scissorhands vibes in the fact that there is a village next to this ice cave on top of a mountain... but maybe that's just me! Grab some hot cocoa and cozy up with this one... and make sure you check on your snowman each night the next time you build one...

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just about lost it at “I am your father.”

[J.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Jaclyn moves to a small arctic circle Village with her aunt, she can't help but notice all the strange snowmen.

Their beady eyes, red scarves and matching facial scars just creep her out. Finding out the reason they are all over the little town ends up being even more unsettling.

While I did really like the idea of this one, I thought the story was a bit lacking. I would have really liked more creepiness and action in the middle of the story.

It was a good read for winter but just a little slower paced for such a short story.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title says it all. If you make a snowman, take a peek at him each night.

[olivia 𖧷]

no rating lolol

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am surprised to see this usually rated very low on ranking lists for Goosebumps book - and by low, of course, I really mean high. That is, it tends to sit around the start of any worst-to-best list.

But I guess it just confirms the general idiom that people are fucking idiots. This is why Marvel movies are a virus that refuses to die, Disney will keep on forcing out increasingly unpopular remakes of their better films, and even directors and writers who are usually talented have effectively run high-potential franchises like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park into the ground.

People don't know what they want. And when they get what they actually don't want, they are manipulated into thinking they want it and only ever realise too late that the very opposite was true. Being a smug asshole who thinks the sun shines out of his own aforesaid, I take quiet, if still sad and angry, pride that I smelt something off even during my first ever viewing of The Force Awakens. I was in denial for a while about it. I allowed myself to nod along to people saying it was derivative but at least it set a solid foundation on which later films could build on. But I never mimicked that reassurance myself, and it wasn't really until 2017 when I read (and hated) the novelisation, that I finally came to grips with the fact it wasn't just a little superficial, a bit too fast-paced, unoriginal and confused. The very story itself - and every one of the characters, including throwbacks - was atrocious.

While J.J. Abrams was making disrespectful quips about hiding a dead Jar Jar somewhere in the background, the sequels were shaping up to in fact surpass the polarising prequels in awfulness. Again, adjusting my smug fan-club badge, I also never trashed the prequels like the popular majority did. I much enjoyed, and indeed agreed with, Red Letter Media's glorious takedown of the movies. But for all that, they've still always been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.

I have always defended The Phantom Menace, and I think Revenge of the Sith really doesn't need a lot of defending - general consus has always been fairly warm with that one. But Attack of the Clones is an odd one. My least-favourite of the original six, though it does still have its moments.

Anyway, I have just remembered this is supposed to be a Goosebumps review.

So back on topic.

I sidetracked into a misplaced rant because I find it kind of crazy that this later entry in the series is considered subpar, when much earlier, less worthy titles like Welcome to Dead House and The Haunted Mask are held up as classics. It is always going to be subjective, of course. I personally liked Go Eat Worms, which is considered one of the very worst ones. Though I did read it way back in grade-four. I was hardly a discerning critic then.

But yes, I think it's all part of the fun that there are so many books in this series, and everyone is going to have their own opinions of each - formed in part by childhood memory, adult judgement, time and place, personal taste, state of mind and sheer nostalgia. I just needed a sentence to start my review and that's what came along.

Anyway, I guess I just liked the fact this wasn't set, again, in American suburbia. The chilly winter landscape where the story unfolds grants a level of uniqueness to the book. And I honestly think the writing here displays a marked improvement. It feels like Stine was consciously trying to write a slightly slower, more grounded, more young-adult appealing mystery/thriller here.

Was it scary?

No. Most certainly not. And the whole snowman thing was hard to take seriously. But there were still some beats in the plot I actually did not find as annoyingly predictable as usual. So, this one goes up there with my higher rated: Why I'm Afraid of Bees, Let's Get Invisible, Stay Out of the Basement and (my favourite thus far) Welcome to Camp Nightmare.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took a little while to get going, but the twist was fun! I definitely did not see it coming.

[Tori · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Beware, the Snowman" was full of terrible suspense and awful writing. Each chapter ended with a cliffhanger that turned out to be no more than a scary shadow or a creaky branch, not to mention the horrible topic.

I was a little bored before bed, so I picked up this book for a little scare. I didn't know how "little" that scare would be.

Jaclyn DeForest tries to find out what the creepy nightly howling noises are in her new village of Sherpia. The townsfolk are all terrified of the "snowman" who lives in an ice cave on the top of the mountain. Everyone warns her not to go to the top of the mountain, but she does anyway. The gigantic snowman emerges, and asks Jaclyn who she is. She states her name, and then the snowman makes an announcement: "I AM YOUR FAAAATTTHHHHHERRRR!" Oh, please. Give me a break! The snowman says that Jaclyn's mother trapped him inside a snowman's body because she was a sorceress and didn't want him to know his daughter. Jaclyn believes him, and then reads off a spell that releases him from the curse. Of course, it really turns out to be a monster intent on destroying the world. Just as Jaclyn's about to die, her real sorcerer dad turns up and saves the day with an army of little snowmen! They push the monster back into his ice cave for good, saving little Sherpia from an icy doom.

Cheesy suspense, awful topic. Really, a deadly snowman who terrorizes a little village in the Arctic Circle? Who claims to be a little girl's father? And who wants to destroy the world? A dictionary would have scared me more!

I like the Goosebumps books because they're unusual and scary. But I just have to say: R. L. Stine, "Beware, the Snowman" was the worst book in the series. Possibly the world. I expected better from you. :(

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, to say the least. Cute book and surprisingly unpredictable. Clever enough short story although extremely cheesy - should we be surprised of that though, considering the cover, the plot, that it's Goosebumps, and the tagline? HE HAS A HEART OF COLD! Indeed...

[Catastrophe Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad it doesn't snow where I live.

[M.K. Aneal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. It was very magical and strange in many ways. It's one of my least favorite of Goosebumps. It was interesting but the weird magical parts made it very disappointing.

[Yegane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess younger version of me would love this book.

[alyssawhite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Main character was ridiculous

[Martina☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When the snows blow wild
And the day grows old,
Beware, the snowman, my child.
Beware, the snowman.
He brings the cold."

Profumo d'infanzia :')

[Glenn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Currently rereading my original Goosebumps collection

I'm torn on this Beware, the Snowman . The writing style is more mature than most of the other books in the series, with stronger descriptive words and metaphors galore. I also felt this one is one of the more darker Goosebumps. Early on in the first chapter the death of a family member is mentioned, which I think is a first for the series. Also, the way the snowmen are described is terrifying. Especially for younger readers (key moment is when it's revealed what the evil snowman really is). What brings this book down for me is that not much happens until the climatic ending. A lot of it seems like filler. But apart from that it's an entertaining read.

Read from February 2, 2015 - February 2, 2015

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to get into the winter season a little more. It barely snows where I live, so the surplus of snow within the book was really nice. This is a very quick read, perfect for a wintertime snack. While not the best Goosebumps book, it is entertaining, even though it takes forever to figure out what is happening with the snowman. For a short book, it moves a little snow, but who doesn't enjoy the idea of a creepy snowman? I thought it was a creative idea and even thouh the execution of it wasn't stellar, it was still enjoyable. Its best in the wintertime, as it would probably feel awkward or extra peculiar at any other time of the year.

[Emily May · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that started scary and became increasingly unbelievable and stupid. I had to give it two stars instead of just one for the tension and suspense that Stine created expertly in the first half of the book. But I was waiting for him to take it to a very scary and clever climax and that just didn't happen. Instead he warped a good story and made it into a joke. He should have carried on down the path of horror, instead of rationalising a story about a snowman that comes alive to terrorize people.

[Zoey De Leon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a well played out story, It was atmospheric and the setting was cool. Aside from all that, it's nothing special. The twist reveal I think was funny and it was literally the reveal of The Empire Strikes Back, the first two dialogues of the reveal is an exact copy of it. the “nooooo” after that cry gives it away. I am glad atleast that the snowman is not literally the father and it was just manipulation tactic so there's that to it. aside from that it's a forgettable entry

[Mika (Hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It might surprise some as the average rating from this book is low, but this book is one of my favourites of the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine. Let me tell you why; It's scary. It has action. It's original (ever seen some other book about a creepy snowman? I didn't) and most importantly it had a twisted turn. But of course I don't want to spoil anything, you better read it yourself. All I can say is; I had LOTS of fun reading this and it kept me excited till the very end.

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope... αυτό το βιβλίο δεν ήταν για μένα, αφού με έκανε να βαρεθώ ενώ η πλοκή κυλούσε πιο αργά και από το θάνατο. Σε κάθε τέλος κεφαλαίου, ο συγγραφέας μας άφηνε να κρεμόμαστε από μία κλωστή, για να καταλήξει αμέσως μετά να ακυρώσει το όποιο σασπένς προσπαθούσε να δημιουργήσει, οδηγώντας συνολικά την ιστορία του σε ένα τέλμα από το οποίο δεν θα μπορούσε να γλιτώσει με κανέναν τρόπο.

[House of Goosebumps · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

This book starts out strong with the characters, atmosphere and suspense, but the ending is what brings the book down for me. The ending wasn’t necessarily bad, I enjoyed it, however it’s just too strange and flawed for me to rate the book any higher.

[Rosalind Seese · Rating 2 out of 5]

Totally lame that I am adding this to my goodreads but I read it to my son yesterday and I do have my goodreads challenge...so I am adding! GO ME!