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Give Yourself Goosebumps #26
Alone in Snakebite Canyon
The gift shop at the Lonestar National Park is filled with the usual cheesy souvenirs, but these magic souvenirs draw the reader into some scary adventures, which include coming face-to-face with a gigantic spider and a hungry panther. Original.
137 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
8 people are currently reading
642 people want to read
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,679 books18.6k 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 5, 2025
Eventually the quality of the Give Yourself Goosebumps series fell off a cliff, but it still had plenty of pep at book twenty-six, Alone in Snakebite Canyon. You are vacationing at Lonestar National Park with your parents and older brother, Pete. A week of camping in Snakebite Canyon could be fun, but the real intrigue begins at the Visitor's Center gift shop. The man working there offers to sell you two supposedly magical items: a pair of "snake eyes" that can transform the owner into any animal, or a map leading to a gold mine filled with riches. You can afford to buy only one item. On the off chance the shopkeeper's claims are true, which adventure do you prefer?
At first glance the map looks ordinary, but soon you notice that its contents change depending where you are. In the middle of your first night in the canyon, you and Pete sneak out of the tent and go treasure hunting while your parents sleep. The map tells you to go to the chapel of San Vicente and peer into the reflecting pool at dawn. You and Pete take a bus to San Vicente—you can head right to the Lost Mine, but do you dare defy the map?—and the reflecting pool reveals a cave on a steep, craggy mountainside. The route through the mine seems easy, but ancient treasure is bound to be guarded well. The Watchers of the Mine—three creatures covered in eyeballs—demand you solve a logic puzzle in order to enter the Golden Chamber. If you do, they award you a golden key, which makes accessing the treasure considerably easier than in any other story path. The gold is protected by a vicious panther, but will you recognize how to properly use the key to earn your prize without losing your life? Alternative routes to the Golden Chamber don't require you to do and say all the right things, but you might have to battle a giant spider, evade a mouth full of razor teeth, or face a ghost killed centuries ago while extracting gold from this very mine. Your best hope for success is to perfectly obey the map.
Maybe you couldn't resist the snake eyes the storekeeper offered you. The glowing stones are accompanied by a legend: long ago there was a rattlesnake with enchanted eyes, who could morph into any animal. But an eagle stole the snake's eyes and presented them to the Quezot Indians. The Indians have possessed the eyes for hundreds of years, but beware: according to the story, the rattlesnake still lives, and will stalk anyone who uses the eyes to turn into an animal. The transformations are temporary, but you must keep hold of the snake eyes or you'll be unable to return to human form. That night in your tent, you look deep into the stones and see two images: one of a falcon in flight, the other of a black bear. Rubbing the stone containing the falcon soon sees you soaring high over the canyon, but a thousand heartbeats is all you're allotted before the magic wears off. That's easy to forget, but the snake eyes offer additional transformation options if you get into trouble. You could become a mountain lion, surefooted on the rocky terrain; a bat, capable of seeing in dark caverns; a kangaroo rat, able to hide underground among a vast colony of others of your species; or a Mojave rattlesnake, hard for humans to spot but deadly if you want to be. These are only a few of the animals you can change into, but as the legend warns, the ancient eyeless rattlesnake obsessively chases you. Maybe you chose at first to be a bear instead of a falcon, but controlling your ursine aggressiveness isn't easy. You might face an army of park rangers armed with tranquilizer guns, and they won't take kindly to a bear harassing campers. The rattlesnake pursues you all the while, demanding in a sibilant whisper that you return its eyes. You might wind up turning into a mouse, flying squirrel, hummingbird, fish, dog, owl, jackrabbit, or wild pig, but outrunning the rattlesnake is impossible. Could you make peace with your blind tormentor? There aren't many completely satisfying endings, so congratulations if you find one.
This is an enjoyable book. The variety of story paths is impressive, and the two main branches intersect in clever ways, occasionally too clever for their own good. The internal continuity is almost perfect, though a couple of endings go off the rails. Alone in Snakebite Canyon is one of the better gamebooks credited to R.L. Stine.; your vacation to Lonestar National Park isn't what you had in mind, but if you survive, you'll have proven yourself smart and resourceful, and had a wild ride you're not apt to forget. I fondly recommend this book.
At first glance the map looks ordinary, but soon you notice that its contents change depending where you are. In the middle of your first night in the canyon, you and Pete sneak out of the tent and go treasure hunting while your parents sleep. The map tells you to go to the chapel of San Vicente and peer into the reflecting pool at dawn. You and Pete take a bus to San Vicente—you can head right to the Lost Mine, but do you dare defy the map?—and the reflecting pool reveals a cave on a steep, craggy mountainside. The route through the mine seems easy, but ancient treasure is bound to be guarded well. The Watchers of the Mine—three creatures covered in eyeballs—demand you solve a logic puzzle in order to enter the Golden Chamber. If you do, they award you a golden key, which makes accessing the treasure considerably easier than in any other story path. The gold is protected by a vicious panther, but will you recognize how to properly use the key to earn your prize without losing your life? Alternative routes to the Golden Chamber don't require you to do and say all the right things, but you might have to battle a giant spider, evade a mouth full of razor teeth, or face a ghost killed centuries ago while extracting gold from this very mine. Your best hope for success is to perfectly obey the map.
Maybe you couldn't resist the snake eyes the storekeeper offered you. The glowing stones are accompanied by a legend: long ago there was a rattlesnake with enchanted eyes, who could morph into any animal. But an eagle stole the snake's eyes and presented them to the Quezot Indians. The Indians have possessed the eyes for hundreds of years, but beware: according to the story, the rattlesnake still lives, and will stalk anyone who uses the eyes to turn into an animal. The transformations are temporary, but you must keep hold of the snake eyes or you'll be unable to return to human form. That night in your tent, you look deep into the stones and see two images: one of a falcon in flight, the other of a black bear. Rubbing the stone containing the falcon soon sees you soaring high over the canyon, but a thousand heartbeats is all you're allotted before the magic wears off. That's easy to forget, but the snake eyes offer additional transformation options if you get into trouble. You could become a mountain lion, surefooted on the rocky terrain; a bat, capable of seeing in dark caverns; a kangaroo rat, able to hide underground among a vast colony of others of your species; or a Mojave rattlesnake, hard for humans to spot but deadly if you want to be. These are only a few of the animals you can change into, but as the legend warns, the ancient eyeless rattlesnake obsessively chases you. Maybe you chose at first to be a bear instead of a falcon, but controlling your ursine aggressiveness isn't easy. You might face an army of park rangers armed with tranquilizer guns, and they won't take kindly to a bear harassing campers. The rattlesnake pursues you all the while, demanding in a sibilant whisper that you return its eyes. You might wind up turning into a mouse, flying squirrel, hummingbird, fish, dog, owl, jackrabbit, or wild pig, but outrunning the rattlesnake is impossible. Could you make peace with your blind tormentor? There aren't many completely satisfying endings, so congratulations if you find one.
This is an enjoyable book. The variety of story paths is impressive, and the two main branches intersect in clever ways, occasionally too clever for their own good. The internal continuity is almost perfect, though a couple of endings go off the rails. Alone in Snakebite Canyon is one of the better gamebooks credited to R.L. Stine.; your vacation to Lonestar National Park isn't what you had in mind, but if you survive, you'll have proven yourself smart and resourceful, and had a wild ride you're not apt to forget. I fondly recommend this book.
November 17, 2025
Nearing the conclusion to my Give Yourself Goosebumps journey, I wanted to save at least one of the earlier blackspines for last. Snakebite Canyon was praised by a friend of mine and had a particularly interesting plot, so this one felt fit; plus, I like reading out-of-season sometimes lol. This entry was a great one, having some really fun material. My favored arc here was the treasure arc; it had some of the more scary moments and some great riddles/puzzles, which I whole-heartedly adore in these books. It feels like some Indiana Jones crap and I ate it up (mind you I’ve never seen Indi. J). The endings are consistently okay, with only a few rough ones in the batch. The snake eyes storyline—not to be associated with gambling—is quite literally Animorphs, and I had a lot of fun with that one and it had some interesting mechanics with the shape-shifting stuff. This book as a whole is really fun and was just a solid time, but it does have two minor issues. The snake eyes storyline is a bit directionless and doesn’t have an apparent goal, aside from evading the evil rattlesnake (not much a spoiler; ‘tis in the blurb). It needed something more I feel. There is also… how do I put this?… nudity. I’m not one to bitch about it, but there’s an ending in here that’s just off-putting. In said ending, which was the last page I read of the book, you flash a group of hikers varying in all ages. Completely naked. What the actual fuck. Oh, and from less of an icky standpoint, there’s a literal retcon of the nakedness when you divert arcs via running into your sibling—still bare ass, mind you—and it’s never even brought up that you don’t have any garments. Just blatant lazy writing there. But yeah, just a bizarre writing choice for the snake eyes mechanic; just make it so you keep your clothes on when you switch… I mean, it’s already magic lol. Overall, 9/10. Pretty darn fun, had some neat puzzles and ideas, but some mild missteps in the snake eyes arc. Ghost writers working too much overtime for this series lmao.
August 22, 2025
There's two main paths: one is buying a pair of snake eyes to transform into animals and the other is getting a magical map to find a bunch of gold in a cave. I was really excited to read this one because a long time ago my mom picked up a German copy and I started reading it then but I never got to finish. The animal transformation side is obviously the cooler one that most people would pick but I checked out the treasure map side too.
It's all fine I guess, maybe I'm getting too old for these. I appreciated the variety of scenarios (e.g. you get a decent number of different species of animals to transform into) and how different paths merge or split. As usual for these books, everything moves fast, and the endings are often rushed to fit on a single page (like the good ending of getting the gold feels pretty unsatisfying because it's so short). I was also a little annoyed because I like when these kinds of books reward you for remembering things or choosing the right logical choice but it seems a lot more random in this one. for example in the map story it goes on quite a bit about how sometimes things seem too easy and it's better to take the harder or seemingly wrong choice but that's not always true especially at the end.
Still, overall, fun ideas (the magical eyes or the magical map), and well executed.
It's all fine I guess, maybe I'm getting too old for these. I appreciated the variety of scenarios (e.g. you get a decent number of different species of animals to transform into) and how different paths merge or split. As usual for these books, everything moves fast, and the endings are often rushed to fit on a single page (like the good ending of getting the gold feels pretty unsatisfying because it's so short). I was also a little annoyed because I like when these kinds of books reward you for remembering things or choosing the right logical choice but it seems a lot more random in this one. for example in the map story it goes on quite a bit about how sometimes things seem too easy and it's better to take the harder or seemingly wrong choice but that's not always true especially at the end.
Still, overall, fun ideas (the magical eyes or the magical map), and well executed.
September 21, 2023
I think the book was not that interesting because it really did not catch my attention. It was like really
weird because he can Change into all of these animals while the snake is chasing him through most of
the story. I could hardly read it because it didn't really catch my attention it was like the story was
repeating it's self but with different animals. It kinda confused me because it was talking like I was in
the story with i am not a big fan of that. What I did like in the story tho was when he turned into an
animal it explained what it was like turning in that kind of animal like the bat he was eating
mesquites and the bear like to eat honey we he was the bat he found the gold mine in the back of the
cave. the story was not scary like the cover said. if you like fiction books i recremend this but i like
non fiction books so that ids proble why i wasn't a big fan of this book.
weird because he can Change into all of these animals while the snake is chasing him through most of
the story. I could hardly read it because it didn't really catch my attention it was like the story was
repeating it's self but with different animals. It kinda confused me because it was talking like I was in
the story with i am not a big fan of that. What I did like in the story tho was when he turned into an
animal it explained what it was like turning in that kind of animal like the bat he was eating
mesquites and the bear like to eat honey we he was the bat he found the gold mine in the back of the
cave. the story was not scary like the cover said. if you like fiction books i recremend this but i like
non fiction books so that ids proble why i wasn't a big fan of this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2024
This is the very first Give yourself Goosebumps book that I read. First of all, I was super lucky to find a copy of it because finding books from this series is very hard outside of the USA.
It is a very unique concept, it is like playing a game but by reading, I thought it was very fun. There are so many different ways the story can go, and you just want to read every single option and every single ending.
At the beginning you are presented with two choices, buying a pair of snake eyes or an old map. There are certain scenarios only accessible if you choose one or the other, and others that will repeat themselves depending on the choices you make, I thought that was really cool.
For example, if you buy the map, there is no way to find the snake eyes later on, however, if you buy the snake eyes, there are a set of options that will lead you to running into your brother who bought the map, and you end up in the chamber with the panther, just as if you had selected the map from the beginning.
Very enjoyable and fast paced, there are however, quite a few inconsistencies that I'd like to point out (Spoilers ahead):
1. If you get to the chamber with the gold and the panther without the key, you are eaten by the panther because although it is chained, the chain is long enough to reach you. Supposedly you have to get the key in order to lock the panther in its cage. However, if you reach the chamber with the key, the panther is still chained but somehow now it can't reach you? and then it turns out the key was to either release the panther or open a treasure chest, not to lock the cage.
2. When you turn into an animal, you lose your clothes. It is said many many times that when you turn human again, you are completely naked. The problem is that there is a set of options that will lead you to the cave with the railway tracks as a bat, then you turn human and run into your brother, and that leads you the entrance with the huge snapping teeth. The problem is that while in there, you reach the part where the teeth catch your shirt sleeve, if you get to this part through becoming an animal, how can the teeth catch your sleeve if you're naked?
3. Lastly, if you become a kangaroo rat, you can either speak with the kangaroo rat guards and that will make the snake eyes fall from your mouth, or you can run away, and they catch you either way. If you speak with the guards, they will recognize the eyes as the stolen jewels from their queen long ago, stolen by a Snake, and they will name you their new ruler. If you run away however, they will catch you and believe you are the thief who took the jewels back then and imprison you, and in this scenario their king is a snake??? Doesn't make sense.
But it was a fun read, and I loved that there were endings in which the rattlesnake actually helps you, well sort of.
It is a very unique concept, it is like playing a game but by reading, I thought it was very fun. There are so many different ways the story can go, and you just want to read every single option and every single ending.
At the beginning you are presented with two choices, buying a pair of snake eyes or an old map. There are certain scenarios only accessible if you choose one or the other, and others that will repeat themselves depending on the choices you make, I thought that was really cool.
For example, if you buy the map, there is no way to find the snake eyes later on, however, if you buy the snake eyes, there are a set of options that will lead you to running into your brother who bought the map, and you end up in the chamber with the panther, just as if you had selected the map from the beginning.
Very enjoyable and fast paced, there are however, quite a few inconsistencies that I'd like to point out (Spoilers ahead):
1. If you get to the chamber with the gold and the panther without the key, you are eaten by the panther because although it is chained, the chain is long enough to reach you. Supposedly you have to get the key in order to lock the panther in its cage. However, if you reach the chamber with the key, the panther is still chained but somehow now it can't reach you? and then it turns out the key was to either release the panther or open a treasure chest, not to lock the cage.
2. When you turn into an animal, you lose your clothes. It is said many many times that when you turn human again, you are completely naked. The problem is that there is a set of options that will lead you to the cave with the railway tracks as a bat, then you turn human and run into your brother, and that leads you the entrance with the huge snapping teeth. The problem is that while in there, you reach the part where the teeth catch your shirt sleeve, if you get to this part through becoming an animal, how can the teeth catch your sleeve if you're naked?
3. Lastly, if you become a kangaroo rat, you can either speak with the kangaroo rat guards and that will make the snake eyes fall from your mouth, or you can run away, and they catch you either way. If you speak with the guards, they will recognize the eyes as the stolen jewels from their queen long ago, stolen by a Snake, and they will name you their new ruler. If you run away however, they will catch you and believe you are the thief who took the jewels back then and imprison you, and in this scenario their king is a snake??? Doesn't make sense.
But it was a fun read, and I loved that there were endings in which the rattlesnake actually helps you, well sort of.
August 11, 2023
Handlung
[Klappentext]
„Du machst Campingurlaub in der Wüste. In einem verstaubten Laden am Eingang des Nationalparks gibt es jede Menge cooler Sachen zu kaufen. Entscheidest du dich für die magischen Augen einer Klapperschlange, die dich in jedes Tier verwandeln können? Oder nimmst du lieber eine alte Schatzkarte, die dich zu einer verlassenen Goldmine führt? Aber Vorsicht! Der Legende nach sucht die Klapperschlange voller Zorn nach ihren Augen. Und aus der Goldmine ist niemand hier wieder rausgekommen. Egal, wie du dich auch entscheidest - der Nervenkitzel ist bei dir garantiert!“
Fazit
Der Schreibstil das Buch ist bei den Kapiteln kurz, knapp, leicht verständlich und trotzdem nicht zu knapp an Details. Es macht auf jeden Fall Spaß zu lesen, da man die Handlung der Geschichte selbst in die Hand nehmen und Entscheidungen ohne Vorgabe treffen kann. Je nachdem wie sich der Leser entscheidet, gibt es verschiedene Enden. Auch wenn die Spannung dadurch etwas beschränkt ist, bietet das Buch wie die anderen Teile dieser Reihe auf jeden Fall einen gewissen Spaßfaktor. Teilweise müssen auch verschiedene Aufgaben erledigt werden, was gerade für jüngere Leser zusätzlichen Spaß bringen kann.
Für jüngere Leser ist dieses Buch ganz klar zu empfehlen, dass eine gute Abwechslung zu anderen Romanen oder Büchern ist.
[Klappentext]
„Du machst Campingurlaub in der Wüste. In einem verstaubten Laden am Eingang des Nationalparks gibt es jede Menge cooler Sachen zu kaufen. Entscheidest du dich für die magischen Augen einer Klapperschlange, die dich in jedes Tier verwandeln können? Oder nimmst du lieber eine alte Schatzkarte, die dich zu einer verlassenen Goldmine führt? Aber Vorsicht! Der Legende nach sucht die Klapperschlange voller Zorn nach ihren Augen. Und aus der Goldmine ist niemand hier wieder rausgekommen. Egal, wie du dich auch entscheidest - der Nervenkitzel ist bei dir garantiert!“
Fazit
Der Schreibstil das Buch ist bei den Kapiteln kurz, knapp, leicht verständlich und trotzdem nicht zu knapp an Details. Es macht auf jeden Fall Spaß zu lesen, da man die Handlung der Geschichte selbst in die Hand nehmen und Entscheidungen ohne Vorgabe treffen kann. Je nachdem wie sich der Leser entscheidet, gibt es verschiedene Enden. Auch wenn die Spannung dadurch etwas beschränkt ist, bietet das Buch wie die anderen Teile dieser Reihe auf jeden Fall einen gewissen Spaßfaktor. Teilweise müssen auch verschiedene Aufgaben erledigt werden, was gerade für jüngere Leser zusätzlichen Spaß bringen kann.
Für jüngere Leser ist dieses Buch ganz klar zu empfehlen, dass eine gute Abwechslung zu anderen Romanen oder Büchern ist.
October 23, 2023
This book was very suspenseful and always entertaining. It keeps you wanting to read at most parts. But some parts are very boring and make you want to die. The main characters are Jake, Lisa, Alex, and Emma. My favorites was Alex because he was funny and chill. My least favorite was Emma she was trying to hard and was annoying. The setting is a remote creepy canyon with magic creatures. The end was suspenseful. But I think that since the whole book was suspenseful it ended up making it worse. After that much it seemed like the suspense didn't matter that much.
March 11, 2023
Possibly the most influential piece of literature from my grade-school years.
I must have read every ending twice, and still kept coming back for more. It's not going to win an honours among critics, but this novel holds a special place in my library.
5/5 nostalgia-filled stars.
I must have read every ending twice, and still kept coming back for more. It's not going to win an honours among critics, but this novel holds a special place in my library.
5/5 nostalgia-filled stars.
January 13, 2021
The story is actually bad. However I do like the method of reading. Its very exciting.
November 5, 2024
I loved the idea of changing into different animals. That was a cool story.
August 29, 2025
There was a lot of backtracking with most of the paths in this book. The animal transformations were fun at least.
February 1, 2025
Alone in Snakebite Canyon
On the way to a National Park, you visit a gift shop. You only have money for one thing. Two things catch your eye: a pair of snake eyes that can change you to any animal and a map that’s said to help you find a lost treasure. I pick the map. The map shortly after points out a mountain when the sun goes down. Your lead to a chapel and go inside. You hear clacking and the next thing you know a ghost has snatched up Pate and aims a spear at me. He tells us about the Golden Chamber and the history behind it. All of a sudden they’re showing you a hallway and telling you the gold is ours to claim. YEEEEAH! SO NOT FALLING FOR THAT! We try to back away but they tell us that since we won’t claim the gold we can guard it and they back us into a wall spears aimed. We’re DEAD!
My Thoughts:
Nothing attracted me to this book. Not the title which has “Snake” and “Canyon”. Honestly, I just read it because I hate leaving a series incomplete. I read it so fast on first read I forgot the ending I had so I had to re-read it. This time the ending was different but I didn’t enjoy it any more than I did the first one. So the plot wasn’t that memorable either. This one didn’t have my interest from page 1 and it showed. I didn’t even want to re-read it but I knew I had to give it a review.
Rating: 3 This one was just BORING!
On the way to a National Park, you visit a gift shop. You only have money for one thing. Two things catch your eye: a pair of snake eyes that can change you to any animal and a map that’s said to help you find a lost treasure. I pick the map. The map shortly after points out a mountain when the sun goes down. Your lead to a chapel and go inside. You hear clacking and the next thing you know a ghost has snatched up Pate and aims a spear at me. He tells us about the Golden Chamber and the history behind it. All of a sudden they’re showing you a hallway and telling you the gold is ours to claim. YEEEEAH! SO NOT FALLING FOR THAT! We try to back away but they tell us that since we won’t claim the gold we can guard it and they back us into a wall spears aimed. We’re DEAD!
My Thoughts:
Nothing attracted me to this book. Not the title which has “Snake” and “Canyon”. Honestly, I just read it because I hate leaving a series incomplete. I read it so fast on first read I forgot the ending I had so I had to re-read it. This time the ending was different but I didn’t enjoy it any more than I did the first one. So the plot wasn’t that memorable either. This one didn’t have my interest from page 1 and it showed. I didn’t even want to re-read it but I knew I had to give it a review.
Rating: 3 This one was just BORING!
January 13, 2011
the book is so dry
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews