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Bone Chillers #3
Back to School
Hating the disgusting cafeteria food at Maple Grove Middle School, Fitzgerald Traflon III refuses to eat it, even when Miss Buggy takes over, and when his voracious classmates start fighting for seconds, he knows something weird is happening. Original.
137 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 1994
5 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Betsy Haynes
123 books109 followersABOUT ME
Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?
My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade
I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.
Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.
I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.
Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?
My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade
I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.
Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.
I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 20, 2025
I've been intrigued for a while by the Bone Chillers series, as it's one of the more popular Goosebumps knockoff series from the 1990s and had a total of twenty-three books. This one follows a group of kids at Maple Grove Middle School, who have a new cafeteria chef, the ridiculously-named Miss Larva, who is obsessed with insects. Her cooking is world-class, and soon the students and teachers are all addicted to her food. Until they start...changing.
If you're into body horror or gross-out horror, both are in abundance in this book, but otherwise the story is pretty "meh" and it sort of fizzles out in the second half. It wasn't bad for $1 though, which is what I paid for it at a charity bookstore. I don't think I'll seek out any of the other books in this series, but if you're into middle grade horror this is a serviceable read.
2.5 stars
If you're into body horror or gross-out horror, both are in abundance in this book, but otherwise the story is pretty "meh" and it sort of fizzles out in the second half. It wasn't bad for $1 though, which is what I paid for it at a charity bookstore. I don't think I'll seek out any of the other books in this series, but if you're into middle grade horror this is a serviceable read.
2.5 stars
August 31, 2024
I decided to read this because it's that time of year, summer's coming to an end and everyone is starting to return to school (my daughter went back today). From the outset we know who our antagonist is going to be and with that its obvious as to the kind of gross food based scenes we're going to encounter but what I wasn't expecting was the arc our protagonist would go on and what our villains ultimate end goal was going to be. This goes from gross out to scary body horror. My only issue was the resolution and method the characters used to defeat their foe, it felt rather weak although it was foreshadowed earlier in the story so I gotta give it points for that.
September 10, 2017
More 90's nostalgia. I remember being determined to collect all of these, Goosebumps, Goosebumps 2000 and Spine Tinglers when I was about 7 or 8. I only succeeded in one of those 4 though.
So, this is a short horror/suspense story, meant for younger kids. It has very simple language and plot, so it is not difficult for any reader, and it has very little violence so is suitable for younger kids there as well.
Speaking from an adult point of view, it is more funny than anything. I would say, though, preview each of these before the kids, since some are more violent and scary than others.
So, this is a short horror/suspense story, meant for younger kids. It has very simple language and plot, so it is not difficult for any reader, and it has very little violence so is suitable for younger kids there as well.
Speaking from an adult point of view, it is more funny than anything. I would say, though, preview each of these before the kids, since some are more violent and scary than others.
August 30, 2024
2.5⭐
I actually prefer the episode adaptation of this. The TV series is so much fun!
I actually prefer the episode adaptation of this. The TV series is so much fun!
October 11, 2024
Quite a few Goosebumps read-a-likes popped up in the 1990s. Betsy Haynes's Bone Chillers thrived more than most, continuing for twenty-three books. Twelve-year-old Fitz Traflon III is miffed in the opening pages of Back to School; today is the first day of the school year at Maple Grove Middle. On the walk there he has to deal with Sarah Cherone, an annoying girl with a crush on him, and her slightly nerdy friend Lexi Palmer. At school, Fitz's best friend Brian Collins introduces him to the new cafeteria cook, Miss Larva Webb. She has a disconcerting affect, a bizarre fixation on bugs...and did Fitz imagine it, or does she have eyes like a fly beneath the sunglasses she always wears? He doesn't find her charming.
The students are spellbound at the gooey, flavorful pizza Miss Larva presents for the first day's lunch. They'll save up their money and buy the school lunch if it's going to be like this! Fitz has no money that day and Lexi's allergies prevent her from partaking, but the others gobble the pizza and come back for seconds. To Fitz's surprise, Miss Larva brings out a creamy layer cake for his birthday today, but his delight spoils as she announces those aren't chocolate chips in the cake, but chocolate covered ants. Fitz is horrified, but the others are sure she's joking. Fitz doesn't share their confidence.
Pressure mounts on Fitz to buy the school lunch as Miss Larva's delectable offerings grow more popular daily. Watching his friends devour the tasty morsels is torture, but after Fitz sneaks into the kitchen and sees Miss Larva making lasagna with live bugs in the sauce, there's no way he'll eat it...is there? Fitz tells Brian and other kids what he witnessed, but they either don't believe him or don't care, scarfing down the food in greater quantities. Lexi's allergies force her to abstain, but Fitz gives in and joins the orgy, hoping he's wrong about bugs in the food. That's when the lumps start forming on the kids, painful masses that move underneath the skin like living creatures. What is Miss Larva's endgame? Are the students’ lives in jeopardy, and can their addiction to her food be broken?
If Bone Chillers is one of the better Goosebumps knockoffs, Back to School is the best book of its early run. When something bad is going on and the crowd tells you not to believe your own eyes, will you succumb to the temptation to fit in? Peer pressure can cause you to do things you would never otherwise consider, acting in ways that harm you mind and body. There are consequences to abandoning your convictions. Lexi is a crucial part of Back to School because after Fitz bends the knee, she represents the way to redeem himself and stand against Miss Larva. I rate Back to School a solid two and a half stars, and if you read only one Bone Chillers book, I might suggest this one.
The students are spellbound at the gooey, flavorful pizza Miss Larva presents for the first day's lunch. They'll save up their money and buy the school lunch if it's going to be like this! Fitz has no money that day and Lexi's allergies prevent her from partaking, but the others gobble the pizza and come back for seconds. To Fitz's surprise, Miss Larva brings out a creamy layer cake for his birthday today, but his delight spoils as she announces those aren't chocolate chips in the cake, but chocolate covered ants. Fitz is horrified, but the others are sure she's joking. Fitz doesn't share their confidence.
Pressure mounts on Fitz to buy the school lunch as Miss Larva's delectable offerings grow more popular daily. Watching his friends devour the tasty morsels is torture, but after Fitz sneaks into the kitchen and sees Miss Larva making lasagna with live bugs in the sauce, there's no way he'll eat it...is there? Fitz tells Brian and other kids what he witnessed, but they either don't believe him or don't care, scarfing down the food in greater quantities. Lexi's allergies force her to abstain, but Fitz gives in and joins the orgy, hoping he's wrong about bugs in the food. That's when the lumps start forming on the kids, painful masses that move underneath the skin like living creatures. What is Miss Larva's endgame? Are the students’ lives in jeopardy, and can their addiction to her food be broken?
If Bone Chillers is one of the better Goosebumps knockoffs, Back to School is the best book of its early run. When something bad is going on and the crowd tells you not to believe your own eyes, will you succumb to the temptation to fit in? Peer pressure can cause you to do things you would never otherwise consider, acting in ways that harm you mind and body. There are consequences to abandoning your convictions. Lexi is a crucial part of Back to School because after Fitz bends the knee, she represents the way to redeem himself and stand against Miss Larva. I rate Back to School a solid two and a half stars, and if you read only one Bone Chillers book, I might suggest this one.
August 22, 2021
It's been a while but we're finally getting back to a round of the rip off stuff, wit but h more Bone Chillers. I was gonna pick this as my next one anyway, since it's the least one with a TV episode I need to read but the podcast Speaking of Which covered this recently so I wanted to get to it sooner rather than later.
This was a pretty good one, although it has one big flaw that does drag it down. Our protagonist Fitz doesn't like the school lunch or bugs. But one day these things combine. There is a new lunch lady named Larva Webb (subtle) who makes these great lunches. However, she is into bugs and wants to teach kids about them, she even kinda looks a bit like a bug. Fitz isn't interested but everyone loves it, as it's quite tasty and addictive.
Things get worse as Fitz starts to suspect the food has a buggy secret and the truth ends up being worse than he expected. I wanna get my problems out of the way. We don't get tons of explanation for how Webb is doing this per say, who she is beyond the basic nature of her. That doesn't bother me because it's out there enough that any explanation would raise more questions. The very ending bit is rushed but the climax is good this time.
Nah, the main thing bugging me is the protagnist himself. For some reason, he's got this thing where he doesn't like girls, most notably this girl Sarah, who has a crush on him. There's also Lexi. For one, I don't know he's repulsed by Sarah beyond the random sexism and her thing for him doesn't go anywhere.
Lexi becomes more important, as Fitz eventually grows to like her a bit more, although they still gotta add "for a girl" at the end there. Sure, it's character stuff which Betsy Haynes likes doing but this example was just weird. It's not especially great and it just turned me off from Fitz early on. I guess he gets better, and his friendship with Brian was alright.
It's just a weird element that didn't need to be there, especially Sarah's part. I'd given Sarah Lexi's role,and removed the sexism aspect. This dynamic worked a bit better when Teacher Creature did it.
Anyway, that aside, the story flows well. It escalates from just seeming a bit odd to get very wild by the third act. There's some gross stuff here that made for effective horror. The third especially gets into some mild body stuff, and the real thing going on here is pretty wild and creepy when we see it.
It can be slow to start but Webb pops up very early on and again, it escalates well with the things given enough room to breath. Webb is an effective villain, with how she takes delight in bugs and the nature of what she is doing. There's good setup and payoff, and the thing that defeats her actually made sense when I googled it.
I feel like Fitz were less shitty and there was good enough character stuff to replace the weak attempt here, this could compete with Frankenturkey for my favorite Bone Chillers so far. It's got a good foundation, solid flow and some good gross horror. I just don't know Fitz needed to be like that, it rises above that but I can see it being a sticking point for some.
The first part made me think this may be a lesser one but as it went on it, it got higher on my ranking. I think this series can suffer from these little problems that prevent otherwise solid books from being better, from animal abuse stuff, to characters being a bit off at first. Still, they've been at least fun and are able to get into some wild stuff, so I'm still enjoying these.
Spoilers, the next one I read will be Frankenturkey 2 when I read it in November. Until then, that's it for this one. Next read will finally be Frightville. Next in the ripoff round, I used a randomizer to pick the series...and well this is awkward after a certain twitter interaction, but it'll be finally time to get Shivers once more.
That is all.
This was a pretty good one, although it has one big flaw that does drag it down. Our protagonist Fitz doesn't like the school lunch or bugs. But one day these things combine. There is a new lunch lady named Larva Webb (subtle) who makes these great lunches. However, she is into bugs and wants to teach kids about them, she even kinda looks a bit like a bug. Fitz isn't interested but everyone loves it, as it's quite tasty and addictive.
Things get worse as Fitz starts to suspect the food has a buggy secret and the truth ends up being worse than he expected. I wanna get my problems out of the way. We don't get tons of explanation for how Webb is doing this per say, who she is beyond the basic nature of her. That doesn't bother me because it's out there enough that any explanation would raise more questions. The very ending bit is rushed but the climax is good this time.
Nah, the main thing bugging me is the protagnist himself. For some reason, he's got this thing where he doesn't like girls, most notably this girl Sarah, who has a crush on him. There's also Lexi. For one, I don't know he's repulsed by Sarah beyond the random sexism and her thing for him doesn't go anywhere.
Lexi becomes more important, as Fitz eventually grows to like her a bit more, although they still gotta add "for a girl" at the end there. Sure, it's character stuff which Betsy Haynes likes doing but this example was just weird. It's not especially great and it just turned me off from Fitz early on. I guess he gets better, and his friendship with Brian was alright.
It's just a weird element that didn't need to be there, especially Sarah's part. I'd given Sarah Lexi's role,and removed the sexism aspect. This dynamic worked a bit better when Teacher Creature did it.
Anyway, that aside, the story flows well. It escalates from just seeming a bit odd to get very wild by the third act. There's some gross stuff here that made for effective horror. The third especially gets into some mild body stuff, and the real thing going on here is pretty wild and creepy when we see it.
It can be slow to start but Webb pops up very early on and again, it escalates well with the things given enough room to breath. Webb is an effective villain, with how she takes delight in bugs and the nature of what she is doing. There's good setup and payoff, and the thing that defeats her actually made sense when I googled it.
I feel like Fitz were less shitty and there was good enough character stuff to replace the weak attempt here, this could compete with Frankenturkey for my favorite Bone Chillers so far. It's got a good foundation, solid flow and some good gross horror. I just don't know Fitz needed to be like that, it rises above that but I can see it being a sticking point for some.
The first part made me think this may be a lesser one but as it went on it, it got higher on my ranking. I think this series can suffer from these little problems that prevent otherwise solid books from being better, from animal abuse stuff, to characters being a bit off at first. Still, they've been at least fun and are able to get into some wild stuff, so I'm still enjoying these.
Spoilers, the next one I read will be Frankenturkey 2 when I read it in November. Until then, that's it for this one. Next read will finally be Frightville. Next in the ripoff round, I used a randomizer to pick the series...and well this is awkward after a certain twitter interaction, but it'll be finally time to get Shivers once more.
That is all.
March 29, 2015
Pretty cheesy book. Sometimes that works, but here not really. The writing was well done for the young age group, and the character realistic enough as a snarky young boy. Using the school and cafeteria works to play up kids and their thoughts of school lunches and cafeteria ladies. Pacing was pretty quick and kept everything happening well enough. Kids without a lower attention span would get a kick out of that. The story is amazingly out there, predictable (to me, but maybe not a younger age group), and the ending is a rushed events, which again doesn't work well for my age group but may with the young ones.
August 4, 2008
10 yr olds loves this book
June 14, 2022
Lo disfruté porque siempre disfruto de estos libros, es pura nostalgia milenial. Lo leí en catalán.
Son fáciles y muy ligeros de leer. No necesitas una concentración del 100% para poder seguir estas historias. No siempre hay que estar leyendo cosas enriquecedoras y gafapastiles culturetas, de vez en cuando te metes uno de estos o un Pesadillas y vuelves a tu infancia tan ricamente, cosa que también es super enriquecedora.
Son fáciles y muy ligeros de leer. No necesitas una concentración del 100% para poder seguir estas historias. No siempre hay que estar leyendo cosas enriquecedoras y gafapastiles culturetas, de vez en cuando te metes uno de estos o un Pesadillas y vuelves a tu infancia tan ricamente, cosa que también es super enriquecedora.
May 19, 2023
Book quote: “Check out the new lunch lady…”
“It crept me out, thinking the food I once ate at the school canteen when I was a kid contained buggy ingredients.” ~ Chen Pink, reviewer of ‘Back to School’
Have you ever wondered why some foods are so irresistible to your mouth? Can it be the original, fresh ingredients, or some secret recipe that makes you want more? Take a look at the book cover! What do you notice around the cook’s face and head? Find out now, like I did back in the 90s.
“It crept me out, thinking the food I once ate at the school canteen when I was a kid contained buggy ingredients.” ~ Chen Pink, reviewer of ‘Back to School’
Have you ever wondered why some foods are so irresistible to your mouth? Can it be the original, fresh ingredients, or some secret recipe that makes you want more? Take a look at the book cover! What do you notice around the cook’s face and head? Find out now, like I did back in the 90s.
December 7, 2023
This was a really great book. I love the school atmosphere and story play. The best thing is that mustard kills!! Ha
June 14, 2025
Recuerdo haberlo leido cuando era pequeño. Me gustaba mucho y daba miedo. Ahora q lo veo me da risa y me trae buenos recuerdos xD
August 16, 2025
An incredibly fun and well written vintage middle grade book. This tale offered up bug horror and body horror with plenty of the gross-out factor.
November 21, 2024
No Spoilers!
In 90s classic YA horror style, this one does not disappoint! I was more disgusted by some of the descriptions in this book than I have been by other adult horror novels. Bugs just eek me out!
In 90s classic YA horror style, this one does not disappoint! I was more disgusted by some of the descriptions in this book than I have been by other adult horror novels. Bugs just eek me out!
July 4, 2013
its a best story i love it
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews