The 13th Warning

by R.L. Stine

Joseph has always had such good luck that his nickname is Lucky. Tomorrow, he is going to turn thirteen on the thirteenth of the month. He’s the thirteenth child in a family with thirteen kids…and both of his parents are also thirteenth children. With so many thirteens, his luck is bound to run out! An old man and a woman with a black cat visit Lucky to warn him that he has too many thirteens in his life. And if he collects thirteen thirteens by midnight on his birthday, he’ll unleash evil spirits. Almost as soon as the old man and the woman leave, the bad luck begins. And the thirteens just keep the thirteen doughnuts his teacher gives him, the thirteen he scores on his pop math quiz, the thirteen barks from his normally quiet dog. Now Lucky is driving himself crazy adding up everything he comes across. Can he break the curse of thirteen in time? Clever and fun, The 13th Warning is certain to spook young readers.

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Audiobook, Short Stories

80 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2015

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

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐

Good book. Sort of creepy with all the thirteens. Glad Joseph was able to stop the evil from coming. Wonder what will happen to him now.

[Vishnu Chevli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another bedtime read for my kid. He liked it so that's okay for me.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 13th Warning starts off with Joe, or lucky as everyone else calls him, telling us all about how he got his nickname and stuff .He is the 13th child of his siblings .His mom and dad both have twelve brothers and sisters .They live at 13 Horseshoe Lane. With all the thirteens in his life, he still always comes up lucky ,not getting called to dinner during his favorite tv show ,winning coin tosses and his teacher never sees his homework.Joe's thirteenth birthday is aproching and he's trying to decide which kind of cake he wants from his favorite diner ,The Lucky Duck a restaurant where ducks roam around while you eat .He's doing home work and knocks over his math book on his dog while simultaneously his doorbell rings. He answers and there's this old couple that calls him buy his full name, Joseph and warns him that he has to many thirteens .When he turns thirteen tonight he will release evil spirits. Of course he doesn't believe any of this and he gets his mom to order a cake the shaped in number thirteen. Soon after this bad luck starts to happen. He crashes his bike .He knocks over his mom's vase .He's late for swim practice. he falls in the water.Things get scary pretty fast for Joe. He starts getting paranoid about the number thirteen. Everything he does ends up thirteen. His dog barking ,his swim jersey and much more .Now he can't get thirteen thirteens before midnight or the evil spirits will be released.The 13th Warning was a book released after the Series 2000 books ended .There was like six books, very short novellas and this is one of them .I really liked it .I did not expect what the evil spirit actually was and I thought it was kind of unique .If this would have been one of the series 2000 books I would have loved to see a full fledged book. The ending is very rushed ,but it's 64 pages .What can you do ?There's also a missed opportunity to have 13 chapters in this book
Instead there's 14 .I give The 13th Warning a threr out of five stars.

[Austin Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so good I read it 13 times.

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up for my Paperwhite the other day and decided to sneak it in this morning, and finished it on one sitting..

Everyone calls Joe Lucky because luck is always on his side. He's also surrounded by the number thirteen. But when two strange old people and a black cat from the Superstition Society come knocking a day before his birthday, and warn him about what will happen if he gets thirteen thirteens by midnight, everything changes...

This was such a fun short story! But it was also creepy as hell, and keeps you on your toes. Poor Lucky goes through a lot on the day he should be the happiest. After all, turning thirteen for someone who loves the number should be an awesome thing.

I liked Lucky's voice. And also liked his sister Lindy, as well as their dog Barker.

Yeah, this was a very creative, fast-paced short story that'll take you by surprise when you reach the end.

And the cover is really cool! :)

[Shainlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read RL Stine -Fear street but not goosebumps. I saw the old show. Some of those were definitely worthy of the title.
D and I watched the new Goosebumps and have seen the movies. I love this series. I’m going to start reading ones that might help me learn the lore when I can.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My girls, 4 & 6 really loved this book. My six year old took turns reading every other page with me. There is nothing like a book which grabs a child and encourages them to read. ♥️ We will be reading more R.L. Stine for sure!!!!

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another read from the novella series, and this is one I had no knowledge about in its general reception and story. The cover is very ambiguous, and kinda not in a good way, but opinions on the art aside, I was pleasantly impressed by the story. Upfront, this is clearly one of the lost Goosebumps stories. I’d be really shocked if it wasn’t. If I had to guess, it’s a story for Triple Header Book 3. Now getting to my thoughts—I was a big fan of the concept and execution. It’s unique and is good at building suspense. The monster in this book, thought brief, is really cool. And the characters are decent, plus the ending is amazing and super yet subtly sombre. Really great stuff here. But the story is repetitive in its “thirteen thirteens” stuff and I wish there was more time with the villain, which I think it could’ve benefited from if this were shorted (of all things) since there would’ve had to had been more page management, so we’d get more focus on getting the entity here a little more time. But they’re good nonetheless. Overall, 8.5/10. It’s a really solid and simple tale. Buying this book for thirteen bucks activates the ultimate curse.

[Mana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know if RL’s books were bigger as a child or I thought they were but this read more like a short story than a full tale. That being said it was still a nice way to spend an hour. Creepy story with some nice suspense

[Perrilyn Pringle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the way Mr.Stine thinks. What an imagination. And how he got the idea for this story was funny and interesting.

[Martha Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Corto, interesante y con un buen desenlace, aunque no tan bueno para nuestro protagonista.

[Paola Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, but good. R. L. Stine nunca me decepciona.

[Lindsay Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

B and I both enjoyed this one although it isn’t a Goosebumps story.

[lil Flex R · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good book. I like it a lot and it’s from one of my favorite authors. I just wish it was longer. I also hope it has a continuation to it!

[Charleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lucky has always had good fortune with the number 13. On the eve of his 13th birthday he receives a warning that if he gets thirteen 13s, a great evil is going to come for him. Too bad that he was born on the 13, his house number is 13, and everything inn his life revolves around the number 13.

I am quite underwhelmed by these R.L. Stine books. I was a big fan as a teenager. I still find myself reading some of the Fear Street books again. This book, The 13th Warning, is aimed at a younger audience, 6th grade and up. The book is short (about 76 pages) and very easy to read. The plot, the narration, dialogue and just about everything is VERY simple. Extremely. Overly simplistic. At age 9, I was reading far more complex books in English (which is not even my first language). The horror in this book is not that scary, so I do not think it will scare children. Some kids are reading [[ASIN:0545162076 Harry Potter]] by this age, sometimes even earlier.

I think I accidentally read the book by flipping through it. That is how short it is. This books, and others like it by this author, are good for children that are just getting into reading. If you child reads at a higher grade than he or she is in, he/she will get bored. This one doesn't have the best plot or action either.

[Veronica Morfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3/5

Yet another Stine book. I can't seem to stay away from them. I adore Stine as a horror author and I tend to enjoy all his book. Like this one. It was kind of funny, sweet and kept you guessing what the next 13 will be.

So the story is about Lucky. He is the 13th child and both his parents are 13th children. His house is the number 13 and it's about to be his 13th birthday. Lucky as the name suggest is extremely lucky but the day before his birthday two people from the Superstitious Society end up on his doorstep, telling him that his luck is out about to run out. And if he gathers 13 thirteens before his birthday is over he is going to unleash a big evil on him.

Naturally, Lucky starts to have some misfortunes and starts to gather 13s. Each one getting closer to the count down. Will he gather them all and what will happen to him if he does?

As I said the book was a sweet, cute and creept story. You count along with Lucky all the 13s in his life. It was kind of funny but nothing really special. I have to admit I read so many books from Stine that were better than this one. But it was on sale and I couldn't resist it.

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice

I like the book but I think it can use a better end to make it feel finish but the rest is pretty good love this book can't wait to read more

[Sherri Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A super quick read while getting my hair done. It was good but a bit slow in spots.

[Chris Meads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a short read by R. L. Stine.

Joseph who goes by Lucky is the 13th child of parents who were 13th in their families. Lucky was born on the 13th day of the month and 13 is his lucky number. He has always been lucky at everything he does. His 13th birthday is coming up and Lucky is excited until... two people from the Superstition Society come for a visit.

They tell him to beware of the number 13 and that when he gets 13 13's, there will be something evil coming after him. He starts counting 13s and has bad luck along the way. But when he get's to the last 13, well.... read the book and find out. It was enjoyable.

[Leahanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another audiobook. This was a super short story, only about an hour. I read it out of nostalgia for my childhood. I always enjoyed the teen fiction of R.L. Stine. This book wasn’t creepy for an adult, but I would recommend it for 8-10 year old. It’s well written and a fun spin on the superstitious #13. The main character, Joseph (Lucky to all his family and friends), is the 13th child of two 13th parents. He’s turning 13 on the 13th of the month. A creepy old man warns him that he has too many 13’s. If he collects 13 instances of 13 by midnight on his 13th birthday, he’ll unleash a terrible monster.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

jimmy’s review

I chose this book as a simple, short, funny book to read to elementary age kids, and it delivered wonderfully! We finished it in about 3 days but only 2-3 hours of reading aloud with some light conversation intermixed. The plot was somewhat dull but easy to follow, but I would recommend this for a reading comprehension level no higher than 3rd grade. I will say that my group of kids were very unsatisfied by the ending, but that may be a matter of personal preference. Overall- this book served the purpose that was intended, a short and sweet book with an entertaining enough plot to occupy young minds for a short while.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book served his purpose. Funny, horrible (kid perspective) and interesting. I've not read a R L Stine book since I was a teenager and I enjoyed. So the boy is the thirteen son of two parents who have also thirteen brother/sisters. He lives in the 13th house on horseshoe (lucky?) lane and he is thirteen. But instead of bad luck he is very lucky - so far. Until two people from a society appear and tell him that if he collects thirteen thirteen his luck will run out. Oh and people call him lucky. From this moment on, we seem him collecting 13 stuff like score on a grade, doughnuts etc... Very good ending. Will read more from him. - or in this case hear. 68/100

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say I really didn't enjoy reading this short story. If I had known it was supernatural I am sure I wouldn't have read it. I think it probably was a typical RL Stine story and my children when they were younger loved his books, and would most likely have loved this. With that being said, I think it probably is meant for a younger audience. It is most likely me, I just don't enjoy stories like this.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like "The 13th Warning" as much as most of R.L. Stine's other books. It was a bit too dry and predictable. The "cheesy" factor was also a bit higher in this one. That's what happens when I buy books just because they have black cats on the covers! That being said, it was still an entertaining read and I will still be reading these books, for the nostalgia as well as the entertainment factors.

[Glennjoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always understood that the superstition surrounding the number 13 originates from Leonardo da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper wherein Christ and his 12 disciples are portrayed at that fateful meal. In the picture Judas is seen knocking over a container of salt thus precipitating another common superstition. As for not walking under ladders...that's a whole different story! Love reading R.L. Stines creepy tales and looking forward to many more (fingers crossed!)

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kooky as most Stine is

This was a quick read. I read these books out of nostalgia for my childhood. I was entertained by the concept, but I rarely find these books creepy. Even as a kid the covers of the books were the scariest parts. Fun to read, but not meant to be taken seriously.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 9 year old son, Daniel, gives this 4.5 stars. He really liked the story, but didn't like the ending.

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Daniel didn't like that he was left with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end; it didn't spell out exactly what happened to the protagonist.

[Khurshid Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgic horror from my teenage years.

Imagine you were superstitious
Imagine having all the luck in the world
Imagine a strange couple telling you evil is about to come for you

What do you do?

Do you believe and start worrying
Do you ignore

The clock strikes 13
The dog barks 13 times

And then …..

Read to find out

[Ebtisam. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although i'm not a fan of the Goosebumps series, i thought to myself, "it's very short, perfect for a bedtime story! i'll give it a chance." Safe to say, a mistake has been made, never doing it again.

[Amina Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you superstitious?

Joe, the 13th child of 2 thirteenth kids, is turning 13. He is the luckiest boy around… that is until he gets a visit from The Superstition Society, with a warning! Watch his luck turn sour!!!