Egg Monsters from Mars by R. L. Stine is book 42 in the original Goosebumps series order. This book is not good and stinks like rotten eggs. The Egg Monsters are a little interesting but barely anything happens with them. There's an attempt to communicate that was the most interesting but it is dropped very shortly. The book's little scares are about the fear of the unknown and being trapped and examined. There is one great opening scene during an egg hunt in which kids realize the eggs aren't boiled and have a messy egg fight. The one thing I will give the story is it is a focused storyline about eggs. The novel at the end leans into the weird but could have from the start. The final twist is okay it was pretty obvious but went with the story. It was nice to see a brother and sister relationship where they are not enemies all the time. This is not the worst Goosebumps book but one of them. Egg Monsters from Mars by R. L. Stine was published on April 1, 1996, by Scholastic.
Plot Summary: Dana is a 12-year-old wannabe scientist who appeases his little sister Brandy by joining an egg hunt for her party a week before Easter. Chaos happens when the kids at the party realize the eggs are not hard-boiled and have an egg fight. Dana looks for more ammunition and finds a strange large green colored warm egg by the creek. Dana saves the egg and brings it into the house where it hatches. The egg monster looks like a runny egg but has eyes. Dana saves the egg monster from being put down the garbage disposal but that means he had to touch the warm goo of the creature. He finds a local scientist and takes the creature to his lab. Dana is shocked when the scientist knows the creature and where they are from... Mars. The scientist shows the lab off as Dana tells of his discovery and how he had to save the creature. The scientist then locks Dana away in the name of science to find out what happens to the human body once an egg monster touches him. Now it is up to Dana and the Egg monsters to escape.
What I Liked: The egg fight was great and lasted pretty long, I liked the parents freaking out who were the ones that didn't have time to boil the eggs. I wanted to see more of Dana try to communicate with the egg monsters. I liked the scientist-controlled room with all its devices to avoid outside detection. I liked the book cover, I did think the egg monster was wearing sunglasses but it just has sunken eyes.
What I Disliked: The egg monsters hardly do anything, one time in the writing Dana says, I forgot you were there, referring to the egg monsters. The story did not lean into the weird until the very end and there were plenty of opportunities. I feel like some of the ideas were leftover ideas from the Goosebumps story It Came from Beneath the Sink, a story which I liked, but there were a good many similarities between the egg monsters and a sponge monster. The story was focused but went in some boring directions.
Recommendation: Egg Monsters from Mars may have a cool title and artwork but the story is a dud. I would not recommend this book to your kids and would skip it in the Goosebumps series.
Rating: I rated Egg Monsters from Mars 2 out of 5 stars.
Ranking: Here's my full ranking of the 42 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let's Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Girl who Cried Monster, 21)Deep Trouble, 22) The Ghost Next Door, 23)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 24) My Hairiest Adventure, 25) Be Careful What You Wish For... , 26) Return of the Mummy, 27) Why I'm Afraid of Bees, 28)The Haunted Mask II, 29)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 30) Attack of the Mutant, 31) Go Eat Worms!, 32) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 33)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 34) Bad Hare Day, 35) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 36) Monster Blood, 37)Night of the Living Dummy III, 38) The Barking Ghost, 39) Egg Monsters from Mars, 40) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 41) You Can't Scare Me!, and 42) Monster Blood III.