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The Creatures from Beyond Beyond
Randi and her twin brother, Tyler, didn’t think it was such a great idea for their family to spend the summer in a vacant house in a small town called Blairingville. Boringville seemed more like it. But as it turns out, the vacation was anything but boring!
There’s a surprise in every closet here—and not the good kind. Alien creatures are lurking, mysterious dolls are growing, and there’s a sinister twelve-year-old boy with a powerful hypnotic pendant who may hold the key to the entire mystery. Now if Randi can just escape a monster’s clutches, send some space visitors back to who knows where, and regain control of her free will, she might just get her family back home in one piece. It’s another scary good read from the master of shriek-out-loud horror, R.L. Stine.
There’s a surprise in every closet here—and not the good kind. Alien creatures are lurking, mysterious dolls are growing, and there’s a sinister twelve-year-old boy with a powerful hypnotic pendant who may hold the key to the entire mystery. Now if Randi can just escape a monster’s clutches, send some space visitors back to who knows where, and regain control of her free will, she might just get her family back home in one piece. It’s another scary good read from the master of shriek-out-loud horror, R.L. Stine.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 13, 2012
About the author
R.L. Stine
1,729 books19.3k 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 - 30 of 40 reviews
Did Not Finish
May 18, 2026Not bad, just not for me right now.
June 20, 2020
Bed time read for my 5 year old. One time read even for kids.
August 22, 2026
I decided it was time to listen to my audiobook of this, especially since I have a video talking about this book (and the other novellas) coming here soon, and… I’m shocked this held up so well. I thought I would’ve had a lot more to dislike this time around, but this is still just a batshit and fun R.L. Stine novella. For once, Bob manages to mesh things that wouldn’t work together i.e. growing objects, dolls, aliens, hypnotism, and visceral horror, and MAKE THEM WORK. It’s an example of what books like Say My Name! x2 could’ve been, had he made all the ideas blend and make sense together in one weird ass world. Here, they flow congruently, and they’re all neat ideas in their own right. I love the disgusting imagery here with some hints of body horror amongst other things in the back-half of the book, and it’s wonderful. Randi and Tyler are both very likable characters who are, for once, siblings who get along and even refer to each other as best friends, which is a nice breath of fresh air. The villain, who I shan’t spoil since it’s a twist, is not only the glue that makes all the seemingly out-there ideas connect seamlessly, but a great antagonist to follow. They have immense power and a good twist reveal, and are fun to follow along with. Their inevitable demise also adds a hint solemn which wraps them up nicely, complimenting their earlier behavior. Ending was good too, I liked the alien aspects whether it be themselves or their tech, and I think the book is pleasantly long, being a tight 90ish pages and is very impressive at that. Overall, a perfect score of 10/10 for me. I’m flabbergasted January 2024 me knew my shit; this truly is a Stine story for the ages and one of the weirdest of his bibliography. I head-canon this as a S2K.
July 21, 2022
Creatures From Beyond Beyond starts with twins Tyler and Randi going to a vacation house with there family in Blaringville. Tyler gets the better room, one with posters of super heros and all kinds of cool stuff, while Randi gets one with a bunch of dolls. One night while trying to sleep Randi notices that one doll in particular is very big and lifelike .She notices that he has a sticky patch on the back of his head.She Presses it a few times and the doll turns into a real kid ! The kid goes under the bed for something but before he can get to it her brother sees the patch and begins pressing it turning him back into a boy .The kids naturally freak out and leave the boy doll alone for a while until they let their curiosity get the better of them and bring him back to life .This time tying him up with only his mouth available, so he will be able to explain.They bring him back and the boy tells them his name is Brad and explains why he got turned into a doll and I'm not even going to spoil anything else because this story is super short and I think it's another one to go in completely blind. The explanation is actually really dark and weird but it ends up not being entirely truthful .We get a second explanation that leads to another body swapping plot, wich gets pretty gross .I will admit the first half of Creatures From Beyond Beyond is alot better. The middle still finds a way to meander even for a short book, but it's still a really fun book. I give Creatures From Beyond Beyond a four out of five stars.
April 2, 2019
5 ⭐
An interesting read. Glad Randi was able to stop Brad. Wonder if her parents will adopt the creature. Also wonder if there are aliens among us.
An interesting read. Glad Randi was able to stop Brad. Wonder if her parents will adopt the creature. Also wonder if there are aliens among us.
February 7, 2022
If there was ever a book that felt like the now infamous “throw some random shit in there, see what sticks” archetype, it’s this one. But boy is it a dark and disturbing one. There is much consternation about this books history. It was apart of the Parachute Press Six Novellas released sometime in 2000/2001 during the transitional period of Goosebumps ending to Stine creating The Nightmare Room over with a different publisher. It’s been confirmed 3 out of the 6 books have origins outside of the novellas. The Adventures Of Shrinkman, thought to be lost and archived via Wayback Machine, was revealed sometime ago and reinforced that it is Series 2000 #26, The Incredible Shrinking Fifth Grader. Three Faces Of Me (shoutouts to Spongey444) is actually a Jovial Bob Stine book released in BantamnSkylark called The Amazing Adventures Of Me, Myself, and I. And My Alien Parents is actually a book Stine wrote for a UK exclusive series called “A Twist In The Tale”. That book is called You’re Not My Parents!. So what is The Creatures From Beyond Beyond? The Art Of Goosebumps by Sarah Rodriguez dropped some major knowledge that there was a slated book #27 in Series 2000 called “When The Snake Bites”. The question is now: is this book that book? But I’m getting sidetracked. Let’s discuss this book a little more.
So the main character is on vacation with her family and end up vacationing in a secluded, rural part of the country. Because the parents like vacationing to odd places. They end up in this house with weird rooms, to which her brother gets the coolest room. She’s stuck in a room full of dolls. One doll catches her eye and looks rather real or too real I should say. When her and her brother start messing with the doll after a bit of suspicion, something may or may not come out of that.
Then the story ventures down this weird concept of dolls potentially coming to life from alien technology that uses the technology to transport humans back to their home planet for buffet feasting or something to that effect. When they accidentally set off a beacon of contact to the aliens, they must hide and wait it out.
After that whole ordeal, the entire books tone shifts. A Deux Ex Machina of sorts is revealed by a certain character we meet in the story and for the main character comes a grizzly realization. The story goes down the ideas of torture, mind-control, body swapping, and skin-melting body horror. Luckily for our main character, she’s able to stop what is happening to her and the ending (which I won’t spoil) is very satisfying.
When it comes to a book like this, I’m honestly shocked this didn’t make it into the catalog of Series 2000 books. Was it bad timing to the series being cancelled or was this a story that Stine’s editors scrapped for being too OUT THERE? I couldn’t tell you. But I came away from this book feeling immensely satisfied. I haven’t addressed the elephant, why a 4⭐️ review? Well it’s a high 4 ⭐️‘A for me, I gave it a 4.7 out of 5 ⭐️. Which is a clear cut A. But I do have a drawback with it. Let me address this, and I’ll be blunt, there is a massive change in direction and tone about midway after the first half wraps up. It is rather wonky. BUT it has more positives than negatives, at least for me. Strangely enough, I like that recipe because it essentially offers two separate climaxes in one story, which I don’t see often done in Goosebumps books. And it isn’t like what you might be thinking, there are two completely different acts of this book both having conflict and resolution in their own regards. There’s some ideas here I absolutely love. The main villain is an intimate villain, using manipulation, deceit, alien technology, mind-control, sadistic behavior, and family to get what they want. And the main character, who is rather flat but is base level enough to work, has some genuinely creepy things happen to them in the book. I’ll leave you with one scene: basically the villain reveals themselves to the main character and reveals what he plans to do with her, and her family. It’s shuddering to read that entire thing, you’ll know when it happens when you read it!
I have lots more of what I want to say but I’ll leave it with this, PICK THIS BOOK UP. Recently Amazon acquired publishing rights back in 2012 and if you have prime, it’s $5 shipped to your door. It’s weird, gross, scary, intense, and satisfying for how experimental it feels. Don’t miss out, try this one.
So the main character is on vacation with her family and end up vacationing in a secluded, rural part of the country. Because the parents like vacationing to odd places. They end up in this house with weird rooms, to which her brother gets the coolest room. She’s stuck in a room full of dolls. One doll catches her eye and looks rather real or too real I should say. When her and her brother start messing with the doll after a bit of suspicion, something may or may not come out of that.
Then the story ventures down this weird concept of dolls potentially coming to life from alien technology that uses the technology to transport humans back to their home planet for buffet feasting or something to that effect. When they accidentally set off a beacon of contact to the aliens, they must hide and wait it out.
After that whole ordeal, the entire books tone shifts. A Deux Ex Machina of sorts is revealed by a certain character we meet in the story and for the main character comes a grizzly realization. The story goes down the ideas of torture, mind-control, body swapping, and skin-melting body horror. Luckily for our main character, she’s able to stop what is happening to her and the ending (which I won’t spoil) is very satisfying.
When it comes to a book like this, I’m honestly shocked this didn’t make it into the catalog of Series 2000 books. Was it bad timing to the series being cancelled or was this a story that Stine’s editors scrapped for being too OUT THERE? I couldn’t tell you. But I came away from this book feeling immensely satisfied. I haven’t addressed the elephant, why a 4⭐️ review? Well it’s a high 4 ⭐️‘A for me, I gave it a 4.7 out of 5 ⭐️. Which is a clear cut A. But I do have a drawback with it. Let me address this, and I’ll be blunt, there is a massive change in direction and tone about midway after the first half wraps up. It is rather wonky. BUT it has more positives than negatives, at least for me. Strangely enough, I like that recipe because it essentially offers two separate climaxes in one story, which I don’t see often done in Goosebumps books. And it isn’t like what you might be thinking, there are two completely different acts of this book both having conflict and resolution in their own regards. There’s some ideas here I absolutely love. The main villain is an intimate villain, using manipulation, deceit, alien technology, mind-control, sadistic behavior, and family to get what they want. And the main character, who is rather flat but is base level enough to work, has some genuinely creepy things happen to them in the book. I’ll leave you with one scene: basically the villain reveals themselves to the main character and reveals what he plans to do with her, and her family. It’s shuddering to read that entire thing, you’ll know when it happens when you read it!
I have lots more of what I want to say but I’ll leave it with this, PICK THIS BOOK UP. Recently Amazon acquired publishing rights back in 2012 and if you have prime, it’s $5 shipped to your door. It’s weird, gross, scary, intense, and satisfying for how experimental it feels. Don’t miss out, try this one.
May 9, 2016
Emanates weird, vibrant -- the combo of tropes, acknowledged by Stine in the intro, surprises enough to hold the reader's interest. Lagged a bit when the protagonist was being controlled; also wish we had learned a bit more about the aliens.
September 5, 2018
Like Stephen King, R.L. Stine is what he is, unashamedly. This is a silly, young-middle-school-boy's "horror" story.
December 30, 2025
8.5/10
Such a fun and wild read. I highly recommend this one.
Such a fun and wild read. I highly recommend this one.
March 27, 2019
I really enjoyed this short story/novella. It's really more of a children's story, but this adult loved it too. It was a lot of fun, from beginning to end, to see how Randi manages to outwit the alien that has her under his mind control, & saves her family.
August 7, 2014
Tristan liked this book, and so did I!
August 14, 2014
Pretty dark for children's story. short interesting adventure
October 22, 2014
Sammy (7) thought the book was amazing, fantastic, wonderful. I (not 7) thought it was a good read but not out of this world.
May 19, 2026
The Premise
Twins Randi and Tyler think their summer is going to be incredibly boring when their family moves into a vacant house in a tiny town called Blairingville. But the vacation turns out to be anything but dull. The house is full of terrifying surprises—including growing, mysterious dolls and alien creatures hiding right in the closets. The biggest threat of all, however, comes from a creepy 12-year-old neighbor named Brad. Brad possesses a powerful, sinister hypnotic pendant that gives him control over mind and free will, and he might just hold the terrifying key to the entire alien mystery.
What Worked (The Good)
Brad as a Great Villain: Brad is an excellent, genuinely unsettling R.L. Stine antagonist. The psychological fear of a kid having total hypnotic control over everyone around him adds a great layer of tension that goes beyond just a standard monster story.
Fun Sci-Fi/Horror Mashup: This book delivers the best of both worlds. You get classic, creepy "monsters in the closet" and weird growing dolls mixed with sci-fi alien invasion elements.
Fast-Paced Survival: Once Randi realizes what Brad is up to and how high the stakes are to save her family and escape, the book shifts into high gear. It’s an incredibly fast, fun, and easy read.
What Kept It From 5 Stars
The "Boringville" Setup: The initial setup of the family moving into a random vacant house feels a little standard for Stine's formulas, meaning it takes just a few chapters to really get to the unique parts of the alien/hypnosis plot.
The Verdict
With aliens in the closets and a mind-controlling kid next door, The Creatures from Beyond Beyond is a fantastic, highly imaginative 4-star ride. Brad makes for a wonderfully memorable villain, making this a hidden gem for fans who love a fast, sci-fi-infused Stine thriller!
Twins Randi and Tyler think their summer is going to be incredibly boring when their family moves into a vacant house in a tiny town called Blairingville. But the vacation turns out to be anything but dull. The house is full of terrifying surprises—including growing, mysterious dolls and alien creatures hiding right in the closets. The biggest threat of all, however, comes from a creepy 12-year-old neighbor named Brad. Brad possesses a powerful, sinister hypnotic pendant that gives him control over mind and free will, and he might just hold the terrifying key to the entire alien mystery.
What Worked (The Good)
Brad as a Great Villain: Brad is an excellent, genuinely unsettling R.L. Stine antagonist. The psychological fear of a kid having total hypnotic control over everyone around him adds a great layer of tension that goes beyond just a standard monster story.
Fun Sci-Fi/Horror Mashup: This book delivers the best of both worlds. You get classic, creepy "monsters in the closet" and weird growing dolls mixed with sci-fi alien invasion elements.
Fast-Paced Survival: Once Randi realizes what Brad is up to and how high the stakes are to save her family and escape, the book shifts into high gear. It’s an incredibly fast, fun, and easy read.
What Kept It From 5 Stars
The "Boringville" Setup: The initial setup of the family moving into a random vacant house feels a little standard for Stine's formulas, meaning it takes just a few chapters to really get to the unique parts of the alien/hypnosis plot.
The Verdict
With aliens in the closets and a mind-controlling kid next door, The Creatures from Beyond Beyond is a fantastic, highly imaginative 4-star ride. Brad makes for a wonderfully memorable villain, making this a hidden gem for fans who love a fast, sci-fi-infused Stine thriller!
February 7, 2021
It is difficult to talk about the story without giving away anything, but I will try
(SPOILERS just in case)
The parents are cliche archetypes: they don't pay attention to children, they don't listen to kids when trouble starts, and they are reactionary (grounding children that normally behave when they do something out of the ordinary). So, that was disappointing.
The story left me with far more questions than gratification of reading a mystery, thriller, sci-fi story. Who was the family that allowed their house to be put up as a swap house, when dangers abound within their walls? Like, was the family the enemy the whole time, and they swap houses for seasons at a time to lure or bait victims? That would have been cool.
Right of the bat I knew not to trust the doll. I mean, its a doll for starters. Beyond that (no pun intended, but beware SPOILERS), the character knew absolutely too many details about the "antagonists" to simply have been just another victim. What was the reasoning for their dire circumstance? What nefarious deeds had they committed?
I think my problem is that this story was condensed, poorly, into a children's tale when it could have been easily a young adult fiction novel of more girth. Addressing the plot holes and such would have made this a far better read.
With that said, I tried to rate it based on the intended audience and if the goals were executed. For my personal reference, ignoring intent and audience, I think I would rate 2 stars.
(SPOILERS just in case)
The parents are cliche archetypes: they don't pay attention to children, they don't listen to kids when trouble starts, and they are reactionary (grounding children that normally behave when they do something out of the ordinary). So, that was disappointing.
The story left me with far more questions than gratification of reading a mystery, thriller, sci-fi story. Who was the family that allowed their house to be put up as a swap house, when dangers abound within their walls? Like, was the family the enemy the whole time, and they swap houses for seasons at a time to lure or bait victims? That would have been cool.
Right of the bat I knew not to trust the doll. I mean, its a doll for starters. Beyond that (no pun intended, but beware SPOILERS), the character knew absolutely too many details about the "antagonists" to simply have been just another victim. What was the reasoning for their dire circumstance? What nefarious deeds had they committed?
I think my problem is that this story was condensed, poorly, into a children's tale when it could have been easily a young adult fiction novel of more girth. Addressing the plot holes and such would have made this a far better read.
With that said, I tried to rate it based on the intended audience and if the goals were executed. For my personal reference, ignoring intent and audience, I think I would rate 2 stars.
October 6, 2020
The Creature
Great spooky read. I would recommend this one for older kids aged 12 and up because this could be scary for children younger than that. But parents should read this one with your child because it would be fun to do so.
Great spooky read. I would recommend this one for older kids aged 12 and up because this could be scary for children younger than that. But parents should read this one with your child because it would be fun to do so.
February 11, 2021
Con R.L. Stine enuentras giros inesperados y mucha aventura. Sin duda es uno de los autores que más me han inspirado a escribir. La lectura es ligera y divertida, con suficiente dosis de miedo para los más pequeños; los niños amarán este libro, y los adultos, como yo, también.
March 5, 2023
The Creatures from Beyond Beyond
A really quick read for kids, but it was still fun. Aliens from outer space that look like lizards and take human kids to be served for meals. Worked for nightmares for growing kids and even for some of us grownups. R L Stone is good for everyone.
A really quick read for kids, but it was still fun. Aliens from outer space that look like lizards and take human kids to be served for meals. Worked for nightmares for growing kids and even for some of us grownups. R L Stone is good for everyone.
September 8, 2024
A strange new house and a doll coming to life. Whoa! The kid said aliens had shrunk him. Aliens! Aliens that ate kids! Yikes! Suddenly, these kids were being chased by ugly space reptiles. Then it turns into a case of a body switch. A good, scary read!
April 26, 2026
So This Book was Absolutely Amazing I wished There were more stuff About the Aliens But The Body Horror Was Actually Quite Gory for a kids book and I absolutely love that and also the Twist That Brad was Actually a alien Was Absolutely So shocking highly recommended this
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2017
Loved it
I love r.l stine since I was a child and now I a enjoying then with my 4 year old niece...
Love sci-fi this is a goos introduction to sci-fi. 5 aliens out of 5
I love r.l stine since I was a child and now I a enjoying then with my 4 year old niece...
Love sci-fi this is a goos introduction to sci-fi. 5 aliens out of 5
June 6, 2017
Amazing Book!
Omg okay this book kind of scared me like brad melting monsters aliens all of that! I will recommend this to people who like horror books Seriously this book is great!
Omg okay this book kind of scared me like brad melting monsters aliens all of that! I will recommend this to people who like horror books Seriously this book is great!
September 19, 2019
Love it!
September 23, 2019
One of the zaniest, whackiest RL. Stine stories yet!
January 15, 2020
Wow
Classic R.L. Stine. You like his previous books you'll like this one. Surprised at the ending but in a good way. Nuff said.
Classic R.L. Stine. You like his previous books you'll like this one. Surprised at the ending but in a good way. Nuff said.
May 23, 2020
A very brilliant book of a brother and sister twins and an alien from outer space. Pretty out of this world.
December 15, 2021
Dark an twisted! Loved it!
July 13, 2023
Loved this one too. A very fun read.
July 25, 2023
I feel like it was a lot longer than the other books by R.L. Stine that aren't Goosebumps books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews