In A Nightmare on Clown Street, a better-than-average Goosebumps book from the Most Wanted series, young Ray Gordon goes to spend the summer at Koko's Klown Academy, an all-clown circus where his uncle Theo works. Ray thinks it will be fun, getting to be a clown for the summer and soaking in the circus atmosphere he enjoys so much. But over time, Ray realizes something is wrong at this circus.
The clowns keep referring ominously to a place called "Clown Street", where you'll get sent if you screw up or anger the circus' ringmaster, Mr. HahaFace (I'm not kidding, that is actually his name). In addition to this, all the clowns are terrified of Mr. HahaFace for some reason, and some clowns seem to be disappearing. What is going on? Can Ray uncover the truth? Or will he disappear without a trace, just like the others?
This one wasn't bad, compared to most other Goosebumps books. In a reversal of most such books, which usually have atrocious, garbage endings that ruin the entire book, I actually liked the ending of this one, mostly. It was genuinely creepy at times, and waded a bit into horror/sci-fi/monster B-movie territory. For the most part, though, the story is really bland, and I feel like this book, more than any other Goosebumps book I've ever read, was written for five-year-olds.
For example, the characters have such ridiculously childish names, it takes anyone older than five out of the story. Names like: Mr. Belly Bounce, Mrs. Giggle-Wiggle, Bingo-Bongo, and of course the aforementioned Mr. HahaFace. The character dialogue is also painfully childish, and left me rolling my eyes. I get that these books are for kids, but many can be read and enjoyed by adults, and some involve mature themes. This one, however, was clearly written for very, very young kids, which I found a little off-putting, reading it as an adult.
Overall, this isn't bad, for a Goosebumps book. I wouldn't go as far as recommending it, but it was okay. If you have really young kids, they'll probably enjoy it.
CAWPILE rating:
Characters: 6.0
Atmosphere / Setting: 6.5
Writing Style: 7.0
Plot: 7.0
Intrigue: 7.5
Logic / Relationships: 6.5
Enjoyment: 6.5
= 47 total
÷ 7 categories = 6.71 out of 10
= 3 stars