Three Shocking Tales of Terror

Goosebumps Triple Header #1

by R.L. Stine

The spooky spokesmonster whose three heads sport the names, Lefty, Slim, and Righty, presents a hair-raising collection of tales including "Ghost Granny," "Spin the Wheel of Horror," and "Teenage Sponge Boys From Outer Space." Original.

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction, Short Stories, Horror Thriller

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 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

[C.J. Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my final reads for my Goosebumps July reading. This was technically the final GB spin-off that I had yet to read from, so I’m glad I was able to pull it off.

Like the holographic cover art shows, this features the spooky spokespeople Lefty, Slim, Righty and each of their choices for spooky short stories. These stories are a bit chunkier than those featured in Tales to Give you Goosebumps, but they’re still quite a ways off from the full books.

Featuring “Ghost Granny”, “Spin the Wheel of Horror”, and “Teenage Sponge Boys from Outer Space”.

Spooky, quick, and fun. Personally a 4/5*.

[The Gooseblock Bruce · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a crazy disappointment. Ive heard pretty good things about this story collection for years, and when i finally got to reading it… i kinda hate it.

The first story, Ghost Granny, is just complete shit in every way. I cant even describe how much i dislike this one, from the “granny”, to the horrible ideas brought to the table, and some annoying ass dialogue. Even talking about this story makes me cringe, 0.5/10.

The second story, Spin the Wheel of Horror, is just not good. I found myself wanting the story to end as soon as 10 pages in. I guess the idea is fine, but the execution is tiring for me, 3/10.

And the final story, Teenage Spongeboys from Outer Space was just… oh my god. Out of nowhere you have two characters introduced with nothing to them, which are then kinda revealed as antagonists? But they aren’t really villainous at all, so who the hell knows. The story barely progresses and feels like it could be 25 pages shorter, 2/10.

Overall this is a bad story collection, and i absolutely do NOT recommend.

2/10.

[Tiffany Spencer]

Triple Header Goosebumps: Three Shocking Tales of Terror Book 1
“Ghost Granny”
Granny Denner was a friend of Kelly’s grandmother’s sister. She came to visit one day and never left. She stayed for three years. During the time she was there, she ruined Kelly’s family’s lives. She slurped her soup and let it run down her chin. She clicks her teeth and burps really loudly. She grabs food off her brother's (Jeff’s) plate and gobbles it down. Sometimes she uses his napkin to blow her nose. She drinks milk straight from the carton, lets her dentures fall into the carton and keeps drinking, follows Kelly around when her friends come over, and wipes her mouth on her art project.

Kelly gets fed up and goes to her parents. Her dad says he agrees she’s horrible, but she’s just an old woman and has nowhere else to go. When Kelly storms off and goes to her room, she finds Granny moving her own clothes into her closet and throwing her things out because her closet, she says, is too small. Kelly wants to scream, cry, and throw Granny out herself. But that night… she dies.

No one comes to Granny Denver’s funeral. She never went out of the house. Granny looks peaceful and healthier than she did in real life. Kelly tries to feel sad, but she can’t. That night at dinner, everyone is cheerful. They eat chocolate ice cream and burst into laughter for no reason. In the middle of the night, Kelly hears a thudding noise and thinks it’s Jeff-up because he ate too much ice cream. She goes downstairs to the kitchen and flips on the lights. Standing there in the dark is… Granny Deaver.

Granny tells the family she came back because she didn’t want them to miss her. She says she’ll be reclaiming her room in the attic even though it’s drafty. She then retreats to her room, leaving cold, sour air behind. They’re all shaken. Dad says they’ll figure it out tomorrow. Kelly reminds them that tomorrow is her birthday party. She can’t have a ghosts floating around. It would ruin everything. Her mom assures hr she’ll be gone by the time the party starts.

Kelly can’t sleep that night. She finally drifts off. Then a cold hand brushes her cheek. Its Granny Deaver and she wants to talk since she can’t sleep now that she’s dead. Granny tries to hug Kelly. Kelly nearly throws up. Granny starts to ramble about the nice dead people at the cemetery. Some were hideous and falling apart. She said she tried to tell them that being dead is no excuse for not keeping themselves up. Granny senses Kelly isn’t listening (even tho she says she is) and gets offended. She leaves the room and tells her she can take a hint.

Then she hears Granny howling like a banshee upstairs. Kelly lies there and whispers to herself, “What am I going to do? I can’t take this.” The next morning, Granny Deaver is already at the table. She tries to eat ggs, but they go straight through her. Her upper lip has fallen off, and her eyes are sunken into her skull. She accuses Kelly and Jeff of whispering about her. She lectures Jeff for slouching, complains about the eggs, and about being dead. Mom mentions Kelly’s party, and Granny is outraged that they can have a party when she just died. She asks if she’s invited and Kelly yells that she isn’t. She says she can take a hint and drifts out of the room.

Jeff wonders if she’s gone forever. Dad says no. She’s just upstairs. Kelly begs her mom to get Granny to stay in the attic during the party. Her mother says we’ll see. They spend the morning getting ready for the party. Kelly’s first guest arrives at 2. Then she screams. Gina just forgot Kelly’s present and runs back to get it. Kelly opens her presents, has pizza with her friends, and sings camp songs. Then it's cake time. A low moan is heard, and Granny Deaver appears in the doorway. One of her eyeballs is missing and her teeth are falling out. In a raspy voice she asks Kelly if she’ll save her a slice of cake.

Granny Deaver’s ghost floats over the dining table. The girls scream and run out of the house, terrified. Granny loses a tooth in the cake and has a cracked chin with bone showing through. She complains that the cake is chocolate and not vanilla. Not that she can taste it. Kelly gets mad and screams it’s not her party. She then tries to rush her. Granny Deaver grows fangs and claws. One eye glows red. She warns Kelly that she doesn’t want to see her evil side. Kelly realizes this isn’t Granny Deaer. It’s a creature using her skin. It suddenly retreats back inside her, she says she’s tired, fades in and out, and then heads upstairs.

Dad says they have to find a way to ask her to leave. They go out to dinner. Kelly says it’s the worst birthday she’s ever had. Jeff wants to stay at a motel. Kelly wants to sell the house. Mom says maybe she’ll be gone by the time they get back. She isn’t. Her howls are again heard that night coming from the attic. Then the police show up. He says he’s received complaints from the neighbors about howling. Dad says it’s the dog and says they’ll make him stop. Kelly tho tells him they have a ghost in the attic. The police look at her like, sure you do, but then Granny Deaver appears behind him and roars and he gets the hell out of there.

Granny demands to know if they called the police on her. Kelly says no. She says LIAR and swipes her claws across Kelly’s face. Then Kelly realizes… she can’t feel it. Granny Deaver can’t touch her. This makes her furious, and she explodes. Kelly tells her brother it's because each time she stood up to Granny, she took away her power. Their happiness doesn’t last. There’s a knock on the door and it’s a dozen ghosts who say they’re friends of Granny Deaver. She invited them to stay. When they tell them she’s not there, they say they’ll wait, come in, and make themselves comfortable.

“Spin the Wheel of Horror”
Tyler, his sister Emmy, and their parents are on their way to be contestants on the game show “The Wheel of Horror”. How it goes is, the contestant spin a wheel, are sent to a scary location, and they must not scream. If they win, they’ll get 1000, 000. They get lost on the way, which makes them late. Then they get stopped by a police officer. But it's not a police that knocks on the door, it’s a hideous monster. It has green scaly skin, three spinning red eyes, and a bubbling hole instead of a mouth. Dad just laughs and says he must be there to guide them to the show, and that this must be the back entrance.

Dad asks for direction, and the monster points down a narrow road. They arrive at what looks like an abandoned building. Mom thinks they’re in the wrong place. They go inside. Everything is pitch black. All of a sudden, something grabs Tyler around the waist. It’s a skeleton creature. They all run. The skeleton chases them through hallways. Then through double doors.

They burst onto the set of Wheel of Horror. The audience is full of werewolves, ghosts, mummies, and alien creatures. The audience cheers. The host (a wolfman) welcomes them and asks if they’d like to be baked or fried. Dad says it’s a joke. Mom picks baked. The host approves and then has them spin the wheel. The choices are “Haunted House”, “Slay Land”, “Hotel for Ghouls”, “Tunnel of Terror”, “Monster Mall”, and “Gross National Park.” It lands on Hotel for Ghouls.

The host tells them to check in. He hopes they check out. There’s a silver bell is sitting on the desk with a skeleton hand on it. Tyler thinks it's plastic. He pushes the bell. Something wraps around his leg. Then more and more (snakes). Emmy stops Tyler from screaming. The games just started. Tyler tries to convince himself they’re rubber. They aren’t. There are now hundreds, and they start to pull Tyler and Emmy down. Tyler tries to grab the desk, but his fingers slip. He and his family are now being buried alive in a sea of snakes.

Tyler fights back and starts to peel the snakes off him and tosses them. He rescues Emmy and pulls her onto the desk. Together, they untangle the snakes and finally get them all off. They can’t get on the desk, so they slither away. They wonder if they’re real. They look for their mom and dad, but they’re gone.

Tyler and Emmy take find a elevator, and inside find an operator with a raspy voice and a shadowed face. He asked to take them to their room. Emmy asks if the game is almost over, but he says it's just beginning. He says he’s taking them to Room 13, but is vague when asked if their parents are there. (We’ll see). So, they get in. They see half normal and half is oozing yellow slime, and an eyeball is hanging out. His teeth are cracked and covered in green fuzz, and he has a long scar. All of a sudden, the lights go off. When they come back on the operator has vanished. Then the elevator starts to fall.

The elevator bounces up and down a couple of times and then stops. When the elevator stops, they find themselves in the basement. There’s green-black slime on the walls, rusty beach chairs, and a pool of moldy, rotten-egg-smelling gunk. They decide to try to find the lobby, but the elevator won’t open. The floor is thick with slime, and Emmy slips. She starts to roll toward the pool, but Tyler grabs her before she rolls in. Then they hear footsteps.

It’s Mom and Dad. When they were in the lobby, a secret panel opened behind them during the snake attack. They’re been wandering the basement trying to find the kids. Mom says this can’t be the real show, but Dad says thinks that it is. The elevator door opens, and two ghouls step out. The ghouls charge. The family runs. The floor starts to tilt and then tilt some more. Emily, Tyler, Mom, and Dad end up in the pool.

The slime goes over Tyler’s head, and he sinks. They all hit the bottom, and there are applause. They’re back on the stage. The host confirms that they’re winners. But this isn’t the Wheel of Horrors. This is the Monster Lodge Annual Banquet. So, it turns out they’re not contestants. They’re having lunch. The host reminds them that they wanted to be baked over fried. Dad yells for them to RUN! The monsters block their escape. Just when they think they’re about to be roasted alive the host congratulates them for not screaming.

The host hands them a check for 100, 000. The host asks if they want to risk it all in next week’s challenge. Dad says no, but he does want lunch. Tyler’s fangs and claws pop out. Mom and Dad transform. They all jump on the host.

“Teenage Sponge Boy from Outer Space”
Mac rushes out the door, telling his mom he’ll fix it when he gets home. Mac likes to take things apart, but he doesn’t always know how to put them back together. His mom questions what he’ll fix, and he says the toilet. Becky is his best friend. She’s obsessed with the Weather Channel. When Mac comes to get her, she doesn’t want to be torn away from “Local on the Eights”. Mac thinks she’s weird, but she likes to watch him take things apart.

They’re running late for school. When they pass the woods, they hear a BOOM and a massive explosion shakes the ground. Mac and Becky decide to investigate and find a thick white cloud. Becky is confused because the Weather Channel didn’t predict fog. Mac realizes it’s smoke. Becky doesn’t want to be late so she heads for school. Mac wants to find out the cause of the crash. Then he sees it.

Mac finds a dark shape that turns out to be a canvas tent. It’s probably been left by campers a long time ago. They head to school. They slip in while Mrs. Mormando is writing on the board. But then she says whoever was late must stand. Becky insists she didn’t see them, but Mac stands. Then Becky stands. Then they find out Mrs. Mormando meant the new twins, Dirk and Deke, in the back of the room. The teacher tells them they’ll all stay after class and write a paper on punctuality.

Mac feels sorry for the twins because they’re new, they’re nerdy, and look like human string beans. Their skin is pale, white, and bumpy. They also keep to themselves. Mrs. Mormando makes everyone come to the chalkboard. Becky answers her problem easily, but Mac struggles and looks to Dirk for help. Dirk writes something and then leans forward to erase it with his head. Dirk and Deke are the only ones who get the problem right.

At lunch, Becky comments on the twins being really smart. Mac says he thinks they’re weird and starts to tell her what he saw, but Becky cuts him off and accuses him of being jealous. She says a lot of people might think he’s weird because he likes to take things apart. Becky says being late was his fault and makes him go get them sodas. She makes him toss hers. It smacks Deke’s skull. Mac immediately starts to apologize. Deke’s bumps turn bright red, and he grunts. So, Mac backs down.

On the way home, they run into the twins passing through the woods. They shove them into the trees. They find out they’re teenage sponge boys from outer space, and they want them to help fix their broken spaceship for long hours into the night. They start to fall behind on their schoolwork. But finally, the spaceship is finished and only needs a power center. So, Mac takes the battery from his dad’s car. Only Becky drops the battery, and they end up getting caught. Thankfully, Dad buys that “they’re doing a homework assignment”. They give the battery to the twins, but there’s one problem. Mac doesn’t know how to put things together. They threaten that he’ll do it or else. Becky is now tired of being bossed around and demands to know or else what. They squeeze his hand and turn it into sponge. Mac screams. They say they won’t stop there if he doesn’t. POINT TAKEN!

There are hundreds of wires and cables, but Mac does his best. Becky and Mac try to leave, but the twins say there’s one last inspection. When everything looks like it's checked out, they say oh and by the way, we’re taking you with us. The twins start to shove Becky and Mac into the spaceship, but Becky and Mac tell them they need to stretch first. Unfortunately, their stall doesn’t work very long. Becky then thinks of saying goodbye to the earth and they start to say goodbye to everything.

It starts to rain, and the twins' heads start to grow from soaking up the rain. They put them in the spaceship and send them off. When Mac gets home, his mom notices that he has a bolt in his hands and asks what it is. He says nothing and throws it in the trash. Just then, he hears a BOOM in the woods.

Rating 6: These weren’t so bad. I’ve certainly read worse in this series. I could actually see how cool “Granny Deaver” could be animated if this were a television episode. It made me think of Casper. “Spin the Wheel of Horror” just made me think of “One Day In Horror Land”. I’ll always hold a special place for that book. The last story, “Sponge Boys From Outer Space,” made me think what year is this story written in? All this could have been solved by two things (a cell phone and You Tube).

[Zoey De Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love horror themed anthologies so I will automatically love this one plus with the Goosebumps style, anthologies are not exactly a perfect package deal, there are some that all stories are great, but this book is just a mixbag of good and mediocre

Ghost Granny - 2/5, Kinda dark, the grannny is annoying plus not really a family member so I see why the whole family hates her, even if she's a ghost, there's almost no difference, kinda pointless but some parts can be enjoyed

Spin the Wheel of Terror - 2.5/5, The gameshow type is okay, nothing interesting or new at the journey, the end kinda makes it pointless

Teenage Spongeboys from Outerspace - 3/5, Probably the best of all three, not much happen, the character's habits are kinda funny, the aliens or the villains are kinda funny but not in a good way but enjoyable out of all three stories probably because of the extraterrestrial theme of the story.

2.5/5 stars,
Atleast have a one good story in the collection to make the book worth it, but idk, each story is just about 30 pages long.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The moral of Ghost Granny is to kick out awful relatives because being a relative isn't an excuse to be a horrible bitch. Finally, a good message for the kids.

Also there are other stories I guess.

UPDATE: I have now reviewed this on the blog, here is that: https://spongey444.wordpress.com/2023...

[Austin Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three short stories from the iconic trio of Lefty, Slim, and Righty - the three headed monster as pictured on the cover. How do each of their stories stand up? Well, maybe not the best, but they're not too bad, either. These are pretty average-to-decent stories from Stine. I would recommend this one only for the Goosebumps fans, though.

The first story, Ghost Granny, is about a mean old lady who lives with a family that can't stand her. She dies, much to the family's delight (yikes), but then her ghost comes back to haunt them...
3 / 5 for this one. The whole death thing was a bit dark - but the latter portion of the story leans into humor and edges away from the more mature tones.

The second story, Spin the Wheel of Horror, follows a family that goes on a live game/TV show wherein they "spin the wheel of horror" and have to traverse through whatever haunted attraction luck has granted them. It turns out that the scares are just a little bit too real...
3.5 / 5 for this one. Probably my favorite story of the bunch, even though the ending is as cliche as cliche gets for Goosebumps.

The final story to close out this trilogy, Teenage Sponge Boys From Outer Space, (love the title, by the way) has a couple of kids from school reveal to two of their classmates that they're aliens from another planet, and force the kids to help them work on their spacecraft after it's rendered immobile. What will the kids do in the face of discovering life from another planet, and will they escape unharmed? 3 / 5 for this story as well.

So yeah, this collection was pretty mediocre. I enjoyed these stories but none of them bring anything new to the table. This was written at the tail end of the OG62 series of Goosebumps books and every story here features elements and twists previously used in GB. An okay trilogy but nothing superb.

[Griffin C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid collection of stories overall. Only one story isn't a 10/10 and even then it's far from godawful.
My reviews for each story:
Ghost Granny - 5/10
My main issue with this story is that like Micah from Revenge R Us, Granny Deaver is evil enough to make you hate her, but not evil enough to cause any major, permanent damage so what you end up with is an incredibly irritating villain.
Spin the Wheel of Horror - 10/10
Easily the best story of this book, it's fun and wacky and the ending is great.
Teenage Sponge Boys From Outer Space - 10/10
Pretty fun alien story with good aliens.
Overall: 8/10

[Chris Seltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the concept of an anthology for young readers and frankly I think many of Stine's stories could be compressed down into a 1/3 of the page space by cutting out the fake scares and contrived twist endings.

The stories in this book were mediocre at best which is probably why there was only a single extension of this series but it's a shame because I would have loved to see more Triple Header books published.

[Alex Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

People shit on this book sometimes. I beg to differ.
Story 1 was probably the best one here, and it was incredible. Story 2 was nasty and eerie in the best way possible. Especially the pool scene. Story 3 is weird, probably my least favorite, but still good! Really fuckin’ loved it!

[Dakota Foote · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really excited to read a Goosebumps anthology with 3 stories instead of 10. I assumed the stories would be a little more satisfying and fleshed out. Turns out, Triple Header #1 is the worst anthology book with almost no substance to it.

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite one was the second story. It was so interesting.

[House of Goosebumps · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good collection of stories

[Pokefanyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, all three stories were great

[Kay Croan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as an adult for Doggie Daycamp. Moving is not always an option, but you wish it was.

[Briar Harvell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost Granny 1 star
Spin the Wheel of Horror 5 stars
Teenage Sponge Boys from Outer Space 3.5 stars

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My oldest son read Goosebumps books in the 90's and also watched the DVDs back in the day. Often his rewards for good grades or getting his chores done was a new RL Stine book. Many of his old books were passed to my 4th grader who loves them just as much.

Lately I've been reading a lot of children's books. Some are ones I loved as a child, and others are ones I always wanted to read but never did. Because my sons both enjoyed Goosebumps books, I decided to read one! Why not? I'm always up for a good scary story!

RL Stine published more than 62 Goosebumpbs books from 1992-1997. More than 350 million Goosebumps books have sold, and the book series inspired more than one television show, a movie and lots of merchandise. For my journey into fear, I chose Goosebumps: Triple Header Book 1. It has not just one story, but 3! I like to live dangerously!

I had to have just the right atmosphere for enjoying Goosebumps. My son told me that Netflix has RL Stine's Haunting Hour on instant view. So, I went into my room, turned the show on my tv, snuggled up with the cat, and started reading.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the nifty 3D cover art. I can see kids picking up this
book just because the cover looks great! It certainly got my attention! The picture shows a three-headed headed monster. Three stories....three heads. Makes sense. The first story is about an annoying old lady who doesn't let death stop her from making the family she lived with miserable. The middle tale is about one family's appearance on a game show that goes shockingly wrong. And, last but not least, the final tale relates the horror of alien sponges that can look like humans. Every tale is introduced by a bit of banter from the three-headed monster, whose heads are named Slim, Lefty and Righty.

Cheesy horror mixed with cute humor. This was a fun read! These books always were creepy, humorous fun! The stories had a light scary edge to them, but nothing was age inappropriate. They were more cute than scary. I'm glad I took the time to read one. I may just read others when I need to lose myself in a fun, quick read. It was a nice way for me to unwind after work today!

And, as an aside, The Haunting Hour is really well done! It's a bit like a kid's version of Twilight Zone. Interesting, well done stories.....a bit of scare, but nothing too over the top.

[Tyler Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had three scary stories in it. One was about someone's grandma who died and came back as a ghost. She was ruining the family's lives. They figured out how to defeat her. Another one was about this family who went to a show and they didn't know where they were. They spun the wheel of horror and it landed on The Hotel for Ghouls. They went through it and it was super creepy. They were all alone apparently. First there were a bunch of snakes, ewww. Everyone got separated. It took a while for the kids to find their mom and dad again. They found a green gooey pool of gross stuff, They had to dive under it to get back to the stage. Turns out the family is all monsters and they eat the people that made them spin the wheel in the first place. The last one is about two girls who go to school and meet two guys who are alien sponges that can change into people. They can also turn people into sponges. The girls had to fix the alien's ship because it crash landed. The girls threw them out in the rain to weaken them since they were allergic to it and then threw them back in the spaceship and it took off and then crashed. I really liked it.

[Devina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku ini berisi 3 cerpen misteri.. Yang paling aku suka itu cerpen kedua yang judulnya Kincir Maut, lumayan serem dan mencekam wkt bacanya.. Tapi buku ini kurang yahud dibanding buku2 Goosebumps lainnya, karna ceritanya yang singkat, jadi agak kurang detail gt.

[Renee P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read during the past few weeks' D.E.A.R. time. Be careful with "Spin the Wheel of Horror"--what a twist!

[Natsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, I love this book!! Especially the first story, it was sooooo annoying hahaha.. If you like reading Goosebumps, you'll like this one even more..