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Goosebumps #40
Night of the Living Dummy III
They're baa-ack! Make way for the bestselling children's series of all time! With a fresh new look, GOOSEBUMPS is set to scare a whole new generation of kids. So reader beware--you're in for a scare! When dummies speak . . . everybody listens! Trina O'Dell's dad used to have a ventriloquist act. That's why he has all those dummies in the attic. He calls it his Dummy Museum. There's a dummy with freckles. And one with a sneer just like Rocky. Trina and her brother, Dan, think the dummies are pretty cool. But now there are voices in the attic. And dummies keep showing up in the strangest places. No way those dummies could be alive! Right?
144 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1996
137 people are currently reading
4255 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,680 books18.7k followersRobert 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 319 reviews
October 21, 2018
#40 "Every dummy has his day- and his night!"
They're baaaaaack!!!! That's right there back with yet another adventure. But this time Trina is the object of their affection. Her dad had a ventriloquist act years ago and keeps his old dummies up in the attic. There are lots of different ones and they're all pretty cool. But when strange things start to happen and the dummies start popping up in strange places things get a little, well... strange!
They're baaaaaack!!!! That's right there back with yet another adventure. But this time Trina is the object of their affection. Her dad had a ventriloquist act years ago and keeps his old dummies up in the attic. There are lots of different ones and they're all pretty cool. But when strange things start to happen and the dummies start popping up in strange places things get a little, well... strange!
February 17, 2025
In Trouble Again!
Slappy is no dummy. In fact he’s very intelligent. He’s moved on from his last family and now he is with another one.
Dan and Trina are both children. Siblings, l should say. What are their ages. I know not.
They have a cousin named Zayne. He is twelve years old. They have played pranks on him, repeatedly, when he visited last.
Now, Trina and Dan are feeling like pulling some new fantastic tricks on him. They have convinced themselves he deserves it, for being such a wimp.
Slappy is up to his old tricks again. It matters not where he lives. He wants to get those children into trouble, if it’s the last thing he wants to do.
Will he help Trina and Dan pull off a trick on Zayne? Stir the pot a little. I’m thickening up the stew.
Four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Slappy is no dummy. In fact he’s very intelligent. He’s moved on from his last family and now he is with another one.
Dan and Trina are both children. Siblings, l should say. What are their ages. I know not.
They have a cousin named Zayne. He is twelve years old. They have played pranks on him, repeatedly, when he visited last.
Now, Trina and Dan are feeling like pulling some new fantastic tricks on him. They have convinced themselves he deserves it, for being such a wimp.
Slappy is up to his old tricks again. It matters not where he lives. He wants to get those children into trouble, if it’s the last thing he wants to do.
Will he help Trina and Dan pull off a trick on Zayne? Stir the pot a little. I’m thickening up the stew.
Four stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 29, 2015
"I found this [dummy] in the trash can," he told us. "Do you believe someone just threw it away?"
Yes. It's evil. It will kill you and your children.
The Night of the Living Dummy subset of Goosebumps is the most frightening. In this third installment, Slappy once again tries to enslave young children.
Trina and her little brother Danny aren't the nicest kids. Last time their cousin Zane came over to stay they scared the shit out of him. This visit, they've sworn to their father that they will not pull any practical jokes on their wimpy cousin. But their dad has just come home with a new dummy. A dummy he pulled from the trash. A dummy with a huge crack in his head.
He names the dummy Smiley. But his true name is revealed when Trina reads some nonsense words she found in his pocket. And he slaps her across the face.
After that, weird shit starts happening. Objects are destroyed. Rooms are trashed. And the kids can hear scuttling and laughing in the attic.
...
As Trina's dad is a former ventriloquist who has (with Slappy) thirteen dummies in his attic (Lucky 13!), this book's scariness is amped up. What's scarier than a living dummy? Thirteen living dummies. No joking - check out the cover of this book and tell me you're not creeped out. o.O There's only 10 dummies on the cover, though - not sure why.
Once again, Slappy is shocked when he plans for enslaving children go awry. He is ALWAYS surprised when they fight back and refuse to be slaves. You think he'd learn by now.
In the end,
Tl;dr - Scares all around. Nothing like a living dummy to make people quake in terror!
Yes. It's evil. It will kill you and your children.
The Night of the Living Dummy subset of Goosebumps is the most frightening. In this third installment, Slappy once again tries to enslave young children.
Trina and her little brother Danny aren't the nicest kids. Last time their cousin Zane came over to stay they scared the shit out of him. This visit, they've sworn to their father that they will not pull any practical jokes on their wimpy cousin. But their dad has just come home with a new dummy. A dummy he pulled from the trash. A dummy with a huge crack in his head.
He names the dummy Smiley. But his true name is revealed when Trina reads some nonsense words she found in his pocket. And he slaps her across the face.
After that, weird shit starts happening. Objects are destroyed. Rooms are trashed. And the kids can hear scuttling and laughing in the attic.
...
As Trina's dad is a former ventriloquist who has (with Slappy) thirteen dummies in his attic (Lucky 13!), this book's scariness is amped up. What's scarier than a living dummy? Thirteen living dummies. No joking - check out the cover of this book and tell me you're not creeped out. o.O There's only 10 dummies on the cover, though - not sure why.
Once again, Slappy is shocked when he plans for enslaving children go awry. He is ALWAYS surprised when they fight back and refuse to be slaves. You think he'd learn by now.
In the end,
Tl;dr - Scares all around. Nothing like a living dummy to make people quake in terror!
March 11, 2025
JAJAJAJAJA qué buen final!!! 🖤
Otro título de la colección que disfruto leyendo en compañía de las peques... Y qué buen rato hemos pasado!!!
Pronto reseña ⤵️
https://www.facebook.com/LaLocadelosL... 🖤💀📚
Otro título de la colección que disfruto leyendo en compañía de las peques... Y qué buen rato hemos pasado!!!
Pronto reseña ⤵️
https://www.facebook.com/LaLocadelosL... 🖤💀📚
March 4, 2024
The book is so slow, but did I like most of the buildups? well the atmosphere is spooky and that's great for these Goosebumps books. The feel of climbing up in the attic room and meeting lifeless (or were they?) dummies staring deep in your soul is scary.
I also like the banter of the siblings and their cousins, I find the back and forth conflict fun and the mean spirited ending is just awesome.
It's not great as Night of the Living Dummy 2 but it's still a fun read and I still enjoyed this one and way more dummy books and could have been worse especially in the modern era of Dummy books in comparison (Slappy Birthday to You)
I also like the banter of the siblings and their cousins, I find the back and forth conflict fun and the mean spirited ending is just awesome.
It's not great as Night of the Living Dummy 2 but it's still a fun read and I still enjoyed this one and way more dummy books and could have been worse especially in the modern era of Dummy books in comparison (Slappy Birthday to You)
September 26, 2023
Unexpectedly great! Wow! Review to come.
September 8, 2021
The final ‘Night of the Living Dummy’ of the original series, it has all the main elements you’d expect for this final part of the trilogy.
Mr. O'Dell brings home an old broken dummy to add to he’s collection, at the same time Trina and Dan’s cousin Zane comes to visit.
During he’s stay another of Mr. O’Dell’s dummies constantly appears in various locations around the house.
Surly it’s the kids just playing pranks on each other??
I really liked how the reader instantly knows that the new Dummy is Slappy and are in on the joke from the start.
This entry might not be as strong as the other two, but it’s still a fun entry in the series.
Mr. O'Dell brings home an old broken dummy to add to he’s collection, at the same time Trina and Dan’s cousin Zane comes to visit.
During he’s stay another of Mr. O’Dell’s dummies constantly appears in various locations around the house.
Surly it’s the kids just playing pranks on each other??
I really liked how the reader instantly knows that the new Dummy is Slappy and are in on the joke from the start.
This entry might not be as strong as the other two, but it’s still a fun entry in the series.
September 27, 2020
گفتم برای تنوع یه کتاب با ژانر جدید بخونم،از قسمت کتاب های گروه سنی نوجوان کتابخونه ام این کتاب رو برداشتم و توی کمتر از یک ساعت خوندمش،خیلی مسخره بود😂🤦🏻♀️
February 7, 2021
De los tres que he leído fue este mi favorito, y el final me encanto!
Odio los muñecos, pero realmente disfrute mucho leyendo estas historias. Que creo que hasta aquí lo dejo, en las historias clásicas.
Si encuentro los demás libros que tratan sobre Slappy en español quizá los lea, pero por ahora eso es todo para mi ✌
Odio los muñecos, pero realmente disfrute mucho leyendo estas historias. Que creo que hasta aquí lo dejo, en las historias clásicas.
Si encuentro los demás libros que tratan sobre Slappy en español quizá los lea, pero por ahora eso es todo para mi ✌
September 15, 2024
El mejor de la trilogía. Aunque se pueden leer de forma independiente, éste sí podría ser considerado una secuela porque Slappy reaparece teniendo los daños que se le provocaron al final del libro anterior. Eso sí, esa es la única conexión, ya que los protagonistas son otros y la historia empieza desde cero.
En esta ocasión, Dan y Trina, dos hermanos de 10 y 12 años respectivamente, son quienes se tendrán que enfrentar a sucesos extraños tras la llegada del muñeco diabólico a su casa. Su padre colecciona muñecos porque hubo una época en la que se dedicó a la ventriloquia, y ahora guarda una docena en su desván. Un día, encuentra otro tirado en la basura, y a partir de ahí es cuando todo se torcerá.
Me gustó la duda que se sembró en todo momento sobre si Dan, Trina o Zane, un primo que está de visita, tenían algo que ver con las cosas raras que pasaban. El autor mantiene su característica fluidez en la narración y los finales de cada capítulo te hacen querer seguir leyendo de inmediato para saber qué explicación se da a lo que va sucediendo. Los hechos sobrenaturales no son exagerados, por lo que no puedes descartar que tengan una explicación lógica. Lo que me decepcionó es el papel de los adultos porque una y otra vez insistían en culpar a los menores de todo lo que pasaba, nunca tuvieron ni el más mínimo interés de ver más allá de lo obvio. Por tanto, sus apariciones eran prescindibles, ya que se limitaban a amenazar con castigos y ya está.
El desenlace es la mejor parte porque es donde no hay vuelta atrás y hay que afrontar la verdad. El cierre no es autoconclusivo, pero esto es lo habitual en las obras de este autor porque le suele gustar dejar la puerta abierta de cara a recuperar a sus personajes más adelante.
La puntuación real sería un 3,5/5. Redondeo al alza porque me parece que la trama tiene más dinamismo que la de los dos libros anteriores y le da más lógica a determinados sucesos.
Libros anteriores:
La noche del muñeco viviente (Escalofríos, #7)
La noche del muñeco viviente II
En esta ocasión, Dan y Trina, dos hermanos de 10 y 12 años respectivamente, son quienes se tendrán que enfrentar a sucesos extraños tras la llegada del muñeco diabólico a su casa. Su padre colecciona muñecos porque hubo una época en la que se dedicó a la ventriloquia, y ahora guarda una docena en su desván. Un día, encuentra otro tirado en la basura, y a partir de ahí es cuando todo se torcerá.
Me gustó la duda que se sembró en todo momento sobre si Dan, Trina o Zane, un primo que está de visita, tenían algo que ver con las cosas raras que pasaban. El autor mantiene su característica fluidez en la narración y los finales de cada capítulo te hacen querer seguir leyendo de inmediato para saber qué explicación se da a lo que va sucediendo. Los hechos sobrenaturales no son exagerados, por lo que no puedes descartar que tengan una explicación lógica. Lo que me decepcionó es el papel de los adultos porque una y otra vez insistían en culpar a los menores de todo lo que pasaba, nunca tuvieron ni el más mínimo interés de ver más allá de lo obvio. Por tanto, sus apariciones eran prescindibles, ya que se limitaban a amenazar con castigos y ya está.
El desenlace es la mejor parte porque es donde no hay vuelta atrás y hay que afrontar la verdad. El cierre no es autoconclusivo, pero esto es lo habitual en las obras de este autor porque le suele gustar dejar la puerta abierta de cara a recuperar a sus personajes más adelante.
La puntuación real sería un 3,5/5. Redondeo al alza porque me parece que la trama tiene más dinamismo que la de los dos libros anteriores y le da más lógica a determinados sucesos.
Libros anteriores:
La noche del muñeco viviente (Escalofríos, #7)
La noche del muñeco viviente II
November 21, 2024
Μπορεί να μην συμφωνώ όταν ο Stine γράφει 158.000 sequels σε κάποια πολύ επιτυχημένη του ιστορία, αλλά δεν μπορώ να μην παραδεχτώ πως ξέρει πολύ καλά ποιες ιστορίες είναι αρκετά πιασάρικες ώστε να μπορεί να κάνει κάτι τέτοιο. Και η συγκεκριμένη είναι μία από αυτές, και μία από εκείνες που εμένα με αγριεύουν επειδή παίζουν με το μυαλό μου και τους προσωπικούς μου φόβους. Και όχι, δεν είναι τέλεια, αλλά παίρνει πόντους επειδή είναι γραμμένη για κάποια σαν κι εμένα.
December 31, 2021
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
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
February 22, 2021
De los mejores con diferencia de la saga de Slappy
January 1, 2023
I loved it!
Everything was so good
Everything was so good
October 24, 2024
My least favorite of the three Dummy books. It's the same plot each time, the dummy is coming to life and the kids get blamed for all of its mischief.
3 stars.
3 stars.
November 4, 2011
"Can you stand on your head?"
"No, its too high"
Sigh, no wonder the uncle didn't say anymore jokes. Anyways. I'm glad it's the same dummy in all three books, but is the same story. Dummy pulls the pranks, parents get super angry and no one believes the kids. It's so repetitive you can skip the first 15 chapters! In this book the girl is not the one with the dummy act (No, I can't spell the professional word for it and am too lazy to use spell check.) This time it's the father but he doesn't actually use them, much.
The book was in female first person, but for some reason the girls in these books are much more entertaining when the books are in male first person. All the characters in this book just seemed dull, but as an author myself I know it's hard to give each character a personality so I wont hold it against RL. I actually liked the ending to this one. It's a mean yet funny end. It's not a great book, but it was good. I realy miss the insult jokes. That's what made the dummy so great.
"No, its too high"
Sigh, no wonder the uncle didn't say anymore jokes. Anyways. I'm glad it's the same dummy in all three books, but is the same story. Dummy pulls the pranks, parents get super angry and no one believes the kids. It's so repetitive you can skip the first 15 chapters! In this book the girl is not the one with the dummy act (No, I can't spell the professional word for it and am too lazy to use spell check.) This time it's the father but he doesn't actually use them, much.
The book was in female first person, but for some reason the girls in these books are much more entertaining when the books are in male first person. All the characters in this book just seemed dull, but as an author myself I know it's hard to give each character a personality so I wont hold it against RL. I actually liked the ending to this one. It's a mean yet funny end. It's not a great book, but it was good. I realy miss the insult jokes. That's what made the dummy so great.
September 25, 2013
The Night of the Living Dummy III is a really good book to read and is for anyone who wants to read an adventure story or a funny story. R.L Stine was really clever with the way that he put his book together. It is really a book for kids to read and enjoy.
Trina and her brother Dan have a father who used to be a ventriloquist. Now since he is out of that business he keeps all of his dummies in the attic. One day Trina and Dan's cousin comes over to visit. His name is Zane. Everytime that Zane comes over to visit, Trina and Dan always try to scare him with their dad's dummies. But this time they don't try. They keep on hearing voices and foot steps in the attic when no one is really there. There's only the dummies. But when a certain dummy keeps showing up, that is when things get creepy and annoying.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I think you will to. R.L Stine really gives you the chilles in this wonderful story.
Trina and her brother Dan have a father who used to be a ventriloquist. Now since he is out of that business he keeps all of his dummies in the attic. One day Trina and Dan's cousin comes over to visit. His name is Zane. Everytime that Zane comes over to visit, Trina and Dan always try to scare him with their dad's dummies. But this time they don't try. They keep on hearing voices and foot steps in the attic when no one is really there. There's only the dummies. But when a certain dummy keeps showing up, that is when things get creepy and annoying.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I think you will to. R.L Stine really gives you the chilles in this wonderful story.
June 5, 2015
This is a good book for people who want to read horror or adventure books.
It is about a dummy named Slappy who wants to enslave the children. It was found in the trashcan with a crack on its head(which is dumped by two sisters, Amy and Sara, in the trashcan at the ending of Night of the Living Dummy II)and it was brought to home by Trina's dad, a ventriloquist. That's when the trouble starts.
Will they get rid of the dummy?
It is about a dummy named Slappy who wants to enslave the children. It was found in the trashcan with a crack on its head(which is dumped by two sisters, Amy and Sara, in the trashcan at the ending of Night of the Living Dummy II)and it was brought to home by Trina's dad, a ventriloquist. That's when the trouble starts.
Will they get rid of the dummy?
November 30, 2017
Essere un po' legnosi
Chi non sognerebbe di combattere una minaccia sovrannaturale in compagni dei propri amici?
Ecco, io no sicuramente; anche perché sarei il primo a fuggire o allearmi con le tenebre per salvare le mie regali chiappette.
L'atmosfera di terrore rimane sempre di basso profilo, eppure non mancano i momenti raggelanti in cui il libro si eleva oltre i propri limiti e non manca di colpire l'innocente pargolo caduto in trappola (vedi il simpatico finale).
Chi non sognerebbe di combattere una minaccia sovrannaturale in compagni dei propri amici?
Ecco, io no sicuramente; anche perché sarei il primo a fuggire o allearmi con le tenebre per salvare le mie regali chiappette.
L'atmosfera di terrore rimane sempre di basso profilo, eppure non mancano i momenti raggelanti in cui il libro si eleva oltre i propri limiti e non manca di colpire l'innocente pargolo caduto in trappola (vedi il simpatico finale).
June 29, 2023
Night of the Living Dummy III by R. L. Stine is Goosebumps book 40 in the original series order. The Night of the Living Dummy series has been my favorite of the series so far. My big fear is wooden dummies, they freak me out. So this series has been generally scary for me until this book which had so much potential but was wasted with dumb pranks. The novel has two highlights a pretty good twist midway and a decent ending, but the story is filled with so much fluff. When the Living Dummy aspect of the story comes in the story is almost over. I'm always happy to see Slappy comeback, but if you have read the other two Night of the Living Dummy stories you know when the spell is read the dummy or dummies come to life. Why Stine hid it until the 75% mark, I do not know. This story had so much potential since there are 13 in total dummies and the story could have done so much more with them. The ending is the saving grace of the story and how well it serves the story. There were only two moments of real scares one was at the end and one was a dummy nightmare scene. Night of the Living Dummy 3 was published on February 1, 1996, by Scholastic.
Plot Summary: Trina and her little brother Dan Jr. live in a house full of dummies 13 to be exact. The latest one was found in the trash nearly torn in half, which their dad put back together. The dummy named Smiley has a suit and Trina pulls out a slip of paper with a set of Latin words on it, which she reads out loud. After a series of pranks where the kids act like the dummies are alive, their dad tells them that their uncle and cousin are coming to stay with them. Their dad warns the kids no funny business with the dummies who they tortured their cousin on his last visit. Right from the moment the cousin arrived pranks with the dummies started happening all directed at him. Dan Jr. and Trina blame the other one but is something more sinister happening? Who is pulling the dummies' strings?
What I Liked: The dummy-filled nightmare was pretty great. Stine does not have the best track record with endings but I feel he nailed the ending here and made it pretty terrifying. I did like Cousin Zane the character and laughed at what he considers photographic art. I did like that the reader go a little rewarded with how the second Night of The Living Dummy ended is exactly how the dad finds this new dummy he restores. I liked seeing Slappy back and trying to make the humans his slave.
What I Disliked: Way too many pranks there are easily over ten in this small story and 2 of them are actually good. only 5 out of the 13 dummies get used I wanted to see more, even if they were just involved in the pranks. 75% was way too long to show what the reader wants to see, a Living Dummy.
Recommendations and Rating: Night of the Living Dummy III is a miss for me I will recommend the first 2 but this recycles too many of the ideas that have already been explored and misses every opportunity to add something new. I rated Night of The Living Dummy III 3 out of 5 stars. Here's my full ranking of the 40 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let's Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Girl who Cried Monster, 21)Deep Trouble, 22) The Ghost Next Door, 23)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 24) My Hairiest Adventure, 25) Be Careful What You Wish For... , 26) Return of the Mummy, 27) Why I'm Afraid of Bees, 28)The Haunted Mask II, 29)How I Got My Shruken Head, 30) Attack of the Mutant, 31) Go Eat Worms!, 32) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 33)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 34) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 35) Monster Blood, 36)Night of the Living Dummy, 37) The Barking Ghost, 38) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 39) You Can't Scare Me!, and 40) Monster Blood III.
Plot Summary: Trina and her little brother Dan Jr. live in a house full of dummies 13 to be exact. The latest one was found in the trash nearly torn in half, which their dad put back together. The dummy named Smiley has a suit and Trina pulls out a slip of paper with a set of Latin words on it, which she reads out loud. After a series of pranks where the kids act like the dummies are alive, their dad tells them that their uncle and cousin are coming to stay with them. Their dad warns the kids no funny business with the dummies who they tortured their cousin on his last visit. Right from the moment the cousin arrived pranks with the dummies started happening all directed at him. Dan Jr. and Trina blame the other one but is something more sinister happening? Who is pulling the dummies' strings?
What I Liked: The dummy-filled nightmare was pretty great. Stine does not have the best track record with endings but I feel he nailed the ending here and made it pretty terrifying. I did like Cousin Zane the character and laughed at what he considers photographic art. I did like that the reader go a little rewarded with how the second Night of The Living Dummy ended is exactly how the dad finds this new dummy he restores. I liked seeing Slappy back and trying to make the humans his slave.
What I Disliked: Way too many pranks there are easily over ten in this small story and 2 of them are actually good. only 5 out of the 13 dummies get used I wanted to see more, even if they were just involved in the pranks. 75% was way too long to show what the reader wants to see, a Living Dummy.
Recommendations and Rating: Night of the Living Dummy III is a miss for me I will recommend the first 2 but this recycles too many of the ideas that have already been explored and misses every opportunity to add something new. I rated Night of The Living Dummy III 3 out of 5 stars. Here's my full ranking of the 40 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let's Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Girl who Cried Monster, 21)Deep Trouble, 22) The Ghost Next Door, 23)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 24) My Hairiest Adventure, 25) Be Careful What You Wish For... , 26) Return of the Mummy, 27) Why I'm Afraid of Bees, 28)The Haunted Mask II, 29)How I Got My Shruken Head, 30) Attack of the Mutant, 31) Go Eat Worms!, 32) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 33)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 34) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 35) Monster Blood, 36)Night of the Living Dummy, 37) The Barking Ghost, 38) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 39) You Can't Scare Me!, and 40) Monster Blood III.
November 4, 2025
Muy entretenida y divertida está minisaga dentro de la colección de Pesadillas.
La verdad la historia de este travieso muñeco de ventrílocuo termina aquí siempre queriendo esclavizar a todos y todas que digan la palabras secretas y queriendo convertirles en sus esclavos/as.
Se hace rápida y entretenida su lectura a pesar de ser más bien terror juvenil pero aún siendo adulto lo he disfrutado como un niño volviendo a leer este tipo de novelas cortas del gran escritor R.L. Stine. Más que recomendada su lectura si has leído alguna que otra novela de esta colección.
La verdad la historia de este travieso muñeco de ventrílocuo termina aquí siempre queriendo esclavizar a todos y todas que digan la palabras secretas y queriendo convertirles en sus esclavos/as.
Se hace rápida y entretenida su lectura a pesar de ser más bien terror juvenil pero aún siendo adulto lo he disfrutado como un niño volviendo a leer este tipo de novelas cortas del gran escritor R.L. Stine. Más que recomendada su lectura si has leído alguna que otra novela de esta colección.
January 8, 2024
Not the biggest fan of the slappy books. I just don't find him creepy enough and the stories are all quite similar, at least with the first 3 night of the living dummy. Maybe slappy books in the other series change up a bit, hopefully. This one was definitely better then the first 2.
January 28, 2020
"Every dummy has its day...and its night!"
November 27, 2024
Night of the Living Dummy III turned out to be my favorite of the Living Dummy books so far. That’s a bit of a low bar considering how much I detested the first Night of the Living Dummy. The second book in the series was notably better, but it had a lot of the same problems. This book didn’t reinvent the wheel by any means, but it did manage to become something more. Its greatest success was in its characters. Trina and Danny’s predicament was fun and relatable, and Zane was laughably annoying and pretentious. Their dynamics are what allowed the book to avoid being a tired rehash of the previous books. Having a hoard of other dummies around helped, too. Even the parents were well done; it was nice having a Goosebumps plot that didn’t rely on parents making bizarre and confusing decisions. I still wish that Slappy was more imaginative with his evil. There’s so much room to go darker and creepier with him. His obsession with child enslavement (with no means of enforcement) remains the weakest part of each of the books. I do find it interesting how this trilogy got progressively better while the Monster Blood books started out bad and managed to get significantly worse. All in all, Night of the Living Dummy III was a pleasant surprise. It holds the unique distinction of being an RL Stine sequel that’s better than its predecessors.
Score 3.5
For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog:
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Score 3.5
For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog:
Blog Review I Instagram I Twitter
September 17, 2025
One of the Slappy books tells us "you can't teach an old dummy new tricks!" and that's certainly true of Night of the Living Dummy III, where R.L. Stine recycles familiar tropes from previous dummy tales to diminishing returns. Here, siblings Trina and Dan are unfortunate enough to be fathered by a lunatic who collects ventriloquist dummies; naturally, Slappy is his latest acquisition. Worse, their annoying cousin Zane shows up, and that's the catalyst for mischief as dummies start appearing in odd places, pulling pranks, you know how this works. The original Night of the Living Dummy is one of the series highpoints, the second more paint-by-numbers but still reasonably effective. Besides the weird gimmick of extra dummies (including a "gangster" named Rocky, who dresses like Waldo in the book but talks like Vito Corleone in the TV version), there's absolutely nothing to distinguish III from its predecessors; the first half of dummy torments are a misdirection, then Slappy really comes to life and even worse things happen. It's harmless enough, and kids hooked on Slappy won't mind seeing their favorite carved figure up to more mischief; but already, Stine seems bored of this character and can't hide it. Fortunately, there's only about one hundred more Slappy books to go.
May 14, 2015
I think this book was a good book not the scariest book I ever read. Caroline is better. This book is something like the episode only a bit extra parts to it. I like the bride of the dummy not the same book but better I thought that the dummy wanted to get married to the other doll but no he wanted to get married with the little girl.
January 17, 2017
LOVE IT!!!!
May 19, 2018
El libro estuvó bien, cuando lo leía me generaba intriga sobre lo que podría pasar; me gustabá que al finalizar el capítulo siempre quedaba con una pregunta cómo ¿quién sería el que apareció? ó ¿será que es el muñeco?. Este libro fué cómo mi audiolibro del mes porque lo leía con una compañera; es decir ella me leía un capítulo y yo leía el otro, de esta manera nos ibamos turnando, creó que así haremos con los libros de goosebumps o escalofríos en español.
January 22, 2023
Oh boy! What a ride this book was. I relived my childhood memories through this book. I remember having enjoyed Goosebumps, and wanted to try reading it again and boy, it was amazing.
The dummies are back! The evil Slappy is here to cause trouble to the kids! And there's nobody to believe the kid's version! This was a great instalment and I did remember most of the scenes, but reading it again made me soo happy!
A definite 4 stars!
The dummies are back! The evil Slappy is here to cause trouble to the kids! And there's nobody to believe the kid's version! This was a great instalment and I did remember most of the scenes, but reading it again made me soo happy!
A definite 4 stars!
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