Hocus-Pocus Horror

Give Yourself Goosebumps #35

by R.L. Stine

In a story where the reader can choose from more than twenty different endings, the reader finds Mysterio's magical bag of tricks, and even though the label on it says "DO NOT TOUCH," explores what's inside

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Childrens, Choose Your Own Adventure, Middle Grade, Gamebooks, Fantasy

137 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

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.

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Reviews

[Kish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! After the flop that was Welcome to Dead House, this one was entertaining, racy and interesting. Maybe not scary so it ranks lower than Escape from the Carnival of Horrors for me. It also has a very cute puppy, who we also need to rescue along with our friend Zack. Guess who's on the cover. Not Mysterio!

[Dianna M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hocus-Pocus Horror starts with you going to a magic show to see the Great Mysterio! You don’t believe in magic but your best friend Zack does. (He’s a big fan) The only reason you agree to go with him is because you are a big animal lover and want to make sure Mysterio doesn’t abuse his show animals. But when Mysterio asks for volunteers…your friend (against your will) volunteers for you both and soon you become the one that will be forced to play a part of the Great Mysterio’s deadly magic show!

As you are about to go onstage you both realize Mysterio is actually an evil magician (that abuses his dog which he tortures (in order to make him obey) and scares him into (acting good) being a part of the his show… and you can only imagine the things he will do to you!) you get scared and decide you don’t want to be any part of it! so then you go through many different storylines in order to escape him and this otherworldly magical dimension (as well as trying to save his dog from his evil grasp)

Along the way you have to encounter and outrun many deadly magic tricks, evil animals, phantoms, evil magicians…even a genie and a witch! (I would have liked the storyline with the witch to have lasted longer though) With that being said I will say that this book was a decent book, it kept me entertained throughout. I liked that it wasn’t totally random and that the storylines and endings were congruent with the plot. (They we’re also easy to follow and the endings were pretty easy and fast to get to …unlike other Give Yourself Goosebumps books where you kind off just want to be over and done with.)

This one was really straightforward and didn’t go all over the place. I really liked the good endings, I especially liked the scenes with Ralph the show dog. There were really not as many scary scenes as I would have liked (There is this one scene about getting beheaded and which was pretty intense) but I think that is the most I would say “scary” scene, apart from that one..the others were not really scary. Overall I would recommend this book! It is worth the read. I liked that it was about magic, something I have always been interested in (a big fan of) .. and I will say it delivered its purpose! so with that being said…I will give Hocus-Pocus Horror 4 out of 5 stars! :)

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Presto—I’m speechless. Okay, I have thoughts on this one, but not a lot for a change. Hokey Pokey Eeriness finds a bizarre middle ground between boring/bland and fine/good-enough, and I’m unsure if that’s good or bad… I guess it’s a light positive? Most GYGs with repetition of this kind are usually bad, whilst this one wasn’t for whatever reason, and I was actively dreading this one. The entertainment value helps keep this one sailing, there’s a handful of okay endings and some decent sequences, and some basic but passable concepts that come with the magic theming. However, the book has an abrupt and rough opening, a meandering/directionless plot for either arc, a ton of whatever endings—not really any shit ones thankfully—, and a weak villain (Mysterio). Overall, 7/10. It’s just 137 pages of magical madness (not to be confused with the amazing JakeTheDrake piece). Dig in they magic box twin.

[Griffin C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has two storylines, one where you steal Mysterio's bag of tricks and one where you take part in his show. The bag of tricks storyline is the better of the 2 and is very reminiscent of Bad Hare Day. The other storyline is okay but a little boring. 8.5/10

[Drake Sully · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the most boring book in the Give Yourself Goosebumps series.

[Nader Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

[fanboyriot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt so random. The plot was everywhere but it was still entertaining.

[Arya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book that gives you the freedom of choice yet has a nasty twist to each one.