Το σκιάχτρο περπατάει τα μεσάνυχτα

Goosebumps #20

by R.L. Stine

Η Τζόντι λατρεύει τις διακοπές στη φάρμα του παππού και της γιαγιάς. Εντάξει... Δεν είναι δα και το πιο συναρπαστικό μέρος του κόσμου. Ο παππούς όμως ξέρει απίθανες ιστορίες τρόμου, και οι τηγανίτες με σοκολάτα που φτιάχνει η γιαγιά είναι οι καλύτερες του κόσμου.

Φέτος το καλοκαίρι όμως, η φάρμα έχει αλλάξει εντελώς. Η σοδειά του καλαμποκιού δεν είναι πολύ καλή. Η γιαγιά και ο παππούς φαίνονται κουρασμένοι. Και το πιο σημαντικό: το μοναδικό σκιάχτρο του χωραφιού αντικαταστάθηκε από δώδεκα καινούρια σκιάχτρα, που φαίνονται πολύ απειλιτικά.

Ένα βράδυ, η Τζόντι βλέπει κάτι πολύ παράξενο. Τα σκιάχτρα φαίνονται να κουνιούνται. Να στριφογυρίζουν πάνω στους πασάλους. Να ζωντανεύουν...

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery

134 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

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

[Overhaul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Jodie le encanta visitar la granja de sus abuelos. No es el lugar más excitante del mundo, pero el abuelo Kurt relata estupendas historias de terror. Y las tortitas con perlitas de chocolate de la abuelita son las mejores del mundo.

Este verano, la granja no parece la misma. La cosecha de maíz es escasa..🌽

El abuelo y la abuela parecen haber envejecido mucho. Y han cambiado al único espantapájaros que había por una docena de aspecto perverso. Una noche, Jodie ve algo realmente extraño.

Parece como si los espantapájaros.. se movieran. Como si se retorcieran sobre sus estacas.

Como si cobraran vida… 💀

Pues me ha gustado mi primera lectura de esta famosa saga de pesadillas del autor R.L Stine.

Sería una lectura perfecta para el otoño 🍂 ya que trata sobre espantapájaros en un ambiente perfecto, es espeluznante.

En este libro conocemos y seguimos a Jodie y Mark, dos hermanos que viven en la ciudad pero vienen durante un mes cada verano a visitar a sus abuelos en su granja.

Cuando Stanley, el ayudante de los abuelos, los lleva a la granja, Jodie lo escucha decir "el espantapájaros camina a medianoche"..

Ella lo ignora, pero los niños no sabían que su verano normalmente feliz iba a ser totalmente diferente este año.

Un libro muy breve y de fácil y muy rápida lectura. R.L. Stine tiene un forma de escribir que te atrapa. Pero sobretodo me encantó la idea de la historia y el concepto porque para mi los espantapájaros pueden llegar a ser muy espeluznantes..👻

Gran lectura para cualquier persona y para cualquier edad que quiera una lectura rápida y pasar una noche espeluznante, pero que tampoco tiene tiempo para invertir en una historia de 400 páginas.

El escenario de una granja rural pintoresca y bastante aislada donde cualquier cosa puede pasar. Perfecto. Un gran escenario con el gran ingrediente que son los espantapájaros.

Sin duda seguiré con los libros de Pesadillas. Ahora mismo buscaré algo más sobre espantapájaros..✍️💀

[La loca de los libros · Rating 4 out of 5]

En febrero leí con las peques el segundo libro de la colección de Pesadillas.
Sigo en modo nostálgico 🥺😂
Y he de decir que nos ha gustado más.
Un día en Horrorlandia es muy divertido pero este nos ha parecido más real, más cercano, por decirlo de alguna manera.
Nos hemos metido más en la historia y hemos pasado un poquito más de miedo, no mucho 😅 que ya tengo muchos libros de terror a las espaldas jajajaja.
Pero los espantapájaros tienen ese "algo" que solo de pensar que cobran vida me entra mal cuerpo.

Jodie y Mark van a pasar el verano a la granja de sus abuelos, como tienen por costumbre, pero ese año están raros, se nota en el ambiente y en que no se comportan como antaño.
Allí trabaja el excéntrico y bromista Stanley que vive con su hijo Sticks en la casita de invitados.
Y desde que llegaron dice cosas que no vienen a cuento; "los espantapájaros caminan a medianoche" es la frase que repite como un mantra. Y luego están todas esas extrañas supersticiones y ese libro que no para de nombrar. Stanley parece obsesionado y asustado pero Jodie y Mark no le dan mucho crédito. Están seguros de que no se trata más que de delirios de un viejo.
Y luego está Sticks, que seguro se divierte asustando a esos niños de ciudad, como el mismo les asegura en más de una ocasión. Ese tira y afloja entre los personajes ha sido muy divertido, hasta que una noche se descubre la terrorífica verdad.
Los abuelos no tienen un solo espantapájaros como recuerdan de otros años, en lugar de ello se cuentan por decenas.
Y parece que en las noches de luna llena algo se mueve en el maizal...

¿Qué ocurre en la granja de los Kurt?
Descúbrelo rememorando este viaje a los 90' 😍

[✦BookishlyRichie✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS!!

This is one of the ones I didn't get to read as a kid. I loved the TV episode and this was pretty close to the story line on the show, which I appreciated. This had its creepy moments but I also listened to the audio book and the narrators voice was annoying as hell haha but I still enjoyed the book. Good old cheesy 90s horror! :)

- Richard

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight is the first Goosebumps book I've read since putting the series down in the late 1990s. I never planned to reread this series, and going into this book I was a bit skeptical. These were horror books written for children decades ago. Would they still hold up today? Would they still be enjoyable to read as an adult? After reading this one, I'm thrilled to say that I absolutely loved it.

Midway through this one, I was loving it so much that I went to a used book store and bought twelve more of the original Goosebumps series, which has sixty-two books. I'm not sure if I'll reacquire and reread all sixty-two of them (I no longer have my large collection of Goosebumps books from when I was a kid...sad face), but it's an enticing concept. I've heard that some of them are absolutely terrible, but it's definitely an interesting idea that I could reread all sixty-two of them and rank them from best to worst. Is that something you, the reader of this review, would be interested to see? I might just do it anyway...

Ok, so...The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight. This book follows two siblings, Jodie and Mark, as they leave the big city for their annual month-long summer stay at their grandparent's farm. But things aren't as Jodie remembers. Her grandparents look worn down, and they're acting strangely. And their longtime farmhand Stanley is acting even stranger, ominously repeating that "the scarecrow walks at midnight", without ever explaining what he means. Can Jodie and Mark figure out what's going on? Do the scarecrows really come alive?

I enjoyed this one a lot. I love the setting of a scenic, isolated rural farm where anything can happen and help is far away; it's the perfect setting for a scary story, and this story definitely has its scary moments. The characters were mostly good, and the story flowed well and kept me heavily invested. I was genuinely excited to read more of this book each time I picked it up, which is more than I can say for a lot of books I've read in the past year or so.

The writing wasn't Nobel Prize material by any means, but what do you expect? Not only was this series written for children, but the entire sixty-two-book series was written between July 1992 and December 1997. That's roughly five and a half years. If you do the math, that means Stine had to pump out one of these books every month, for five and a half years straight! And he claimed in a Reddit AMA to have written them all himself! It's impressive, but given that fact I don't expect them to be perfect.

Going back to the possibility that I reread all of them and rank them. If I'm going to do that, I need to use a ranking system other than stars, simply because there are so many. If you ranked fifteen of the Goosebumps books 3.5 stars, how can you order them? They have an identical rating. So, I will use the CAWPILE rating system, which arrives at a pretty exact number out of 10, and then translates into a star rating. When ranking them at the end, I'll use the rating out of 10 to do so. Here's the CAWPILE rating for this book (each category is out of 10)

Characters: 7.0
Atmosphere / Setting: 8.8
Writing Style: 7.5
Plot: 7.8
Intrigue: 8.5
Logic / Relationships: 8.0
Enjoyment: 8.5

= 56.1 total
÷ 7 categories = 8.01 out of 10
= 4 stars

[Matteo Fumagalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

RILETTURA, DA ADULTO, DEI PICCOLI BRIVIDI N.14

Jodie e Mark sono due fratelli di città. Ogni estate fanno visita ai nonni che abitano isolati in campagna, accerchiati da infinite distese di granturco. Quest'anno, però, tutto sembra molto diverso: i nonni sono molto strani e non più gioiosi come un tempo. La nonna ha dimenticato come si fanno le frittelle e il nonno non racconta più storie del terrore al caminetto. Ad aggiungere ulteriore stranezze ci pensa il redneck Stanley e il suo inseparabile libro delle superstizioni e, soprattutto, una lunga distesa di inquietanti spaventapasseri che prendono vita di notte.

Un "Piccoli Brividi" di pura atmosfera che vince facile grazie all'inquietudine suggestiva suscitata dagli spaventapasseri e dal gracchiare della paglia. Letto da piccolo, terrorizza sicuramente.
Regge bene la suspense per tutto il volume, fino ad arrivare a un finale scemotto ma non buttato lì.
In ogni caso, togliete quel libro voodoo a Stanley! Vi prego!

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

#20 "It's a field of screams!"
Jodie is visiting her grandparents at their farm this summer. It is a quaint little place and Jodie loves it there. but the corn isn't the only thing moving on this farm! The scarecrow's are really getting to her... literally!!!

[☠Kayla☠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with a good old goosebumps story! This one in particular is the perfect fall read since it deals with scarecrows and is a little spooky.
In this book we meet Jodie and Mark, siblings who live in the city but come for a month every summer to visit there grandparents on there farm. When being driven to the farm by Stanley, there grandparents farm hand, Jodie hears him say "the scarecrow walks at midnight." She brushes it off thinking he was just saying weird things, but little did the kids know their normally happy summer was going to be very different this year.
This book is short and a quick and easy read. Definitely could get through it rather quickly and R.L. Stine has this way of writing that sucks you in. I loved the idea of this story and the concept because honestly scarecrows can be a little spooky at times. Great read for anyone who wants a quick and spooky read but doesn't have the time to invest in a long story and doesn't like extremely scary stories. Like i said you can never go wrong with a good old goosebumps book, plus they have so much nostalgia for me personally considering I grew up on the books and show.

[Nicola Montague · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mostly gave this book such a high rating due to my own history with it. Although anyone who knows me could tell you now that I am a HUGE horror fan, the scarier the better when I was younger I was...how to put this? A wuss. A major wuss. A complete cry baby. So who knows what I was thinking when I decided to get this book out from the library. Aged seven, tucked up in bed reading that night I read in fascinated horror unable to look away from the sense of dread (can one SEE a sense of dread?) anyway I was being very brave in my own opinion until.
The Scarecrow's nose twitched.
Its nose twitched.
TWITCHED!
Why a moving scarecrow was such a terrifying surprise to me in a book about scarecrows coming to life, I don't know but I threw the book to the other side of the room and ran downstairs crying my eyes out. When my mum got me calmed down enough she asked me why I kept reading if I was so scared and I answered in a small voice..."I wanted to know what happened next."
Now, 15 years later, I do know.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was actually scary!

Jodie and her brother Mark spend every summer on their grandparents' farm. But this summer, things are different. Instead of just one scarecrow in the fields, there are over a dozen. Stanley, the hired hand (who around here would be called one can short of a six-pack), has been avidly struggling through a superstition book and sees signs of good luck and bad luck everywhere. Not only do the kids' grandparents look older and more defeated, but they've been acting weird. Grandpa refuses to tell scary stories anymore. Grandma claims she's forgotten how to make her famous, delicious chocolate-chip pancakes. They're baking cherry pie instead of apple pie - even though Grandpa's allergic to cherries!

What's going on?

Jodie looks out the window one night and sees the scarecrows twitch. "It's just the wind," she thinks, until she realizes that they're all twitching in unison, shuddering as they pull themselves off of their stakes and start marching towards the house...
...

Wow. This book was creepy. It was a horror-mystery! I always enjoy Stine's Goosebumps books more when he goes to a fun, different location. The farm was perfect for this! Running in terror through the corn fields, being isolated, having things like barns and horses that can play into the horror - it was a perfect set up!

Also, Stine tackles something a bit more serious in creating Stanley, the hired hand who is mentally slow. He is also the bad guy. He used the superstition book to raise a scarecrow army. He told the grandparents that he would put the army to sleep - if they obeyed his every command! Bwahahahahahaha! That's why they are so careful not to make him upset or angry. They bake only his favorite foods and desserts, Grandpa stopped telling scary stories, and Grandma stopped baking chocolate-chip pancakes. But, Stanley either doesn't understand the book or is doing the spell wrong because although he THINKS he put the scarecrows to sleep - they're still alive! And walking! The scarecrows walk at midnight! There's also mentioned (although not explored) the fact that Stanley has a son named Sticks and how difficult it can be to have a parent who is more like a child than you are.

Although this book is good, and one of the more enjoyable Goosebumps, it doesn't escape from the regular Goosebumps stupidity. It's obvious to me that the book should be wrenched away from Stanley and burned. Especially after the climax! They still allowed him to have that thing and be reading it!?!!?? Stupid.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - 3.5 stars

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight is the 20th book in the Goosebumps series. It is a little fun, a tad creepy, with a little mystery and action. Loved it.

I am re-reading this series for nostalgic reasons.

The Goosebumps series was a staple in our house. My kids absolutely loved them, and to say I read these books with them once is an understatement. We read them many times as each of my three kids became old enough to read them. They still have them and are getting to read them with their kids.

[Miquel Reina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the second book I read from the collection of Nightmares stories. Although I read it some years I still remember this collection of youth horror books with great affection, I think that Hollywood had made a movie too! ;) The history of The Midnight Scarecrow walk is definitely one of the best (though my favorite is still A Day in Horrorland). It's a book I recommend to all young people who like scary stories, especially for those who want to start.

Spanish version:
Éste fue el segundo libro que leí de la colección de Pesadillas. Aunque ya haga algunos años (cada vez más) que lo leí, aún sigo recordando esta historia con absoluta claridad. Recuerdo esta colección de libros de terror juvenil con gran cariño. La historia de Los Espantapájaros andan a Medianoche es sin duda una de las mejores (aunque mi favorita sigue siendo Un Día en Horrorlandia). Es un libro que recomiendo a todos los jóvenes que les gusten las historias de miedo, sobre todo para los que se quieran iniciar.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ummmm look Scarecrows are actually pretty damn creepy so congratulations to this book for taking something already creepy and magnifying it a bunch.

I definitely loved how terrifying this one was as a kid! Probably one of my favourites!

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: The Scarecrow Walks At Midnight

What I thought about this book as a kid: I remember this being one of the early ones I owned as a kid.I had around seven or so books and This one I read close to last.I remember staring at the cover a lot and when I finally did read it all I remember was the twitching scarecrows and the kids blaming it on the wind and thinking that was neat.This is the book everyone that follows my reviews can thank, because that's literally all I remember from this book.So I knew I had to reread this eventually.Ill say upfront I now know why I didn't remember much as a kid from this book.

Plot:The story starts off with siblings Mark and Jodie getting off at the train station being picked up by their Grandpa's helper on the farm named Stanley.They are staying with their grandparents like they do every summer.And they usually have a terrific time.Grandma usually bakes chocolate chip pancakes and Grandpa tells super scary stories.This year,however is a little different.Immedietly when the kids get off at  the train station,Stanley tells them "The scarecrow walks at midnight".He tells them he learned this from a superstitious book he has.He also panicked when he sees rotted corn and different things like that.Stanley is a character that's described as being a little slower then average.He is definitely different so the kids don't really think much about it.But one night the kids both see the scarecrows twitching on their poles.The kids also notice there is a lot more scarecrows then last year.And this is basically the plot of this book.There are a few fake out scares like when the Grandma is holding a broom and Jodie assumes she's a scarecrow and when they go fishing and she trips over a weed in the grass and she thinks it's a scarecrow.But there is also real scares Jodie ends up seeing a scarecrow running through the woods and at a barn but she assumes it's Sticks,Stanley's son pulling pranks on them.This leads to Jodie wanting to scare Sticks,by dressing mark as a scarecrow.And you can guess what happens next.

What I thought about this book as an adult:I feel like I had every right to forget most of what this book was about.There isn't a ton of substance.I liked Stanley.I loved the setting.I also loved the tie in to Jodies allergies and the kinda funny sequence with the scarecrows at the end,plus the actual ending.But the pacing and the actual scarecrows were kinda a miss for me.Even when the scarecrows do get there hands on the kids they don't do much.I feel like these weren't super scary or intimidating villains.And I can totally see why I didn't remember this one much as a kid.I give The Scarecrow Walks At Midnight a three out of five stars.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jodie and her brother Mark love staying on their grandparents farm over the summer. Their grandfather is great at telling spooky stories, and their grandmother does amazing pancakes. Except when the two arrive, things seem a little bit strange. Both their grandparents seem to be afraid of their farmhand Stanley, and there are scarecrows everywhere...

This has a good amount of spooky atmosphere, with ominous warnings and chilling predictions. The descriptions of the scarecrows in the field also set up a nice visual. I just wish there was a little more substance to the backstory and a little more build up of tension as the ending is incredibly quick and simple to achieve. There's no real threat involved, and yet again we have scenes that end up being dreams. This is the worst Goosebumps trope going - it's so lazy and disheartening to read.

Not bad, but not great. The potential was there though. Scarecrows are pretty creepy without much effort.

[Ken B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed a quick break, something light between reading tariffs and operating manuals. But, I also wanted something on the darker side and a little bit (or lotta bit) creepy. "The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight" filled that need.

This is the second book from the Goosebumps series that I have read, And, it is the second one to impress me. Both of the stories that I have read so far have been engaging and entertaining. Both were the kind of horror stories that I would have eaten up as a kid.

Not to disrespect the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew that I grew up on, but I would have loved to have mixed in a little bit of Goosebumps horror for variety.


4 STARS

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αυτό το βιβλίο είναι όντως από τα πλέον τρομακτικά της σειράς. Ok... μπορεί αυτό να μην ισχύει για όλους, αλλά προσωπικά με άγγιξε στο επίπεδο που έπρεπε να το κάνει, κάτι στο οποίο ίσως να συμβάλει το γεγονός πως "παίζει" με κάποιους δικούς μου, καθαρά εσωτερικούς φόβους. Όπως και να 'χει, όμως, το αποτέλεσμα είναι αυτό που μετράει και για μένα, ήταν ιδιαίτερα πετυχημένο.

[Gavin Hetherington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent a month re-reading all 62 original Goosebumps books to see if they still hold up today, you can check out my 3.5 hour vlog here: https://youtu.be/2C73xc1FS5o

You can also check out my entire ranking of the original Goosebumps books from worst to best here: https://youtu.be/lBfaxCOwAnA

[JorgeOrts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me he animado a leer algunos tomos de la serie Pesadillas (Goosebumps). Mi primera elección ha sido Los espantapajaros andan a medianoche.

A pesar de ser una colección con un tono infantil, nos encontramos con un libro que nos puede divertir bastante. Es corto, ameno y está muy bien escrito. El escenario es francamente bueno, pocos elementos de las historias de terror clásicas dan más miedo que un espantapájaros (exceptuando los payasos). El sentimiento de nostalgia aporta bastante a la lectura, si eres de las personas que crecieron viendo la seria de televisión seguramente te gustará. Resumiendo, si estás buscando una lectura fácil y que no no tenga una narración adulta dale una oportunidad a este relato.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Source: I own this book.
Cost: Unknown

Title: The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight
Series: Goosebumps #20
Author: RL Stine
Overall Rating: 3 stars

I know, you're all probably really bored seeing me reviewing Goosebumps books okay, but I own them and I need to finish them!

Jodie loves going to her grandparent's farm every summer, but this year something seems off. And rightfully so, heeding the creepy warning that "The Scarecrow walks at Midnight," Jodie can't help but feel she is being watched by not one scarecrow, but twelve.

What do they want from her?

I'll admit it, this was my first time reading this one. My mum used to buy me these in charity shops and car boot sales, so most of them are in pretty beat up conditions, but this one is probably the worst for bad condition. It's previous owners had written all over it, so I never read it.

And reading it now, that fact made me a bit sad because it's actually a really good Goosebumps book that I would've enjoyed a lot as a kid. I don't think I can appreciate it as much now as I would've been able too.

[Faye 🫀 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes I read the classics

[Rachel (Into a Story) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I re-read this for nostalgia reasons. I remember loving this one and thinking it was so scary.

I lol’ed the whole time.

Goosebumps were my jam.

[Chantal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew that scarecrows could be scary. Loved the tension that was build in this book. Loved the funny but weird end. Great read for everybody who likes RL Stine!

[Hniereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was creepy.

[LittleBookLoves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember the Goosebump books from my childhood. This one is definitely a fun little read for any kiddo looking for a spooky story.

[Atharva Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that brings scarecrows to life and its called "The Superstition Book"!! A silly name for some imagination but it adds a great mystery to the book. Out characters as in are a brother sister duo. I find Mike,the brother almost like me, lazy and a fantastic gamer and TV addict. The book takes us to the villages and the Shires of Europe and the great climate there and all the tress and the farm/barn life cheered me up to read the book. The house and the barn seems like a great vacation trip for the "City Kids" as Sticks calls them. I love the dark and the mystery setting of track book that hooks the reader from the beginning. The beginning is very joyful, exciting and comforting all those pancakes, chicken, fishing, sunny days it seems like a good village life. I even like the solemn and changed grandparents of our duo. Stanley is a unique and a great character Stine has created and the owner of the Superstitions book. It would be great if we would have got to see some passages inside the book which can bring scarecrows and other things(as we see at the end) to life. I think they overdid the scarecrow thing. The book is full of scarecrows from the beginning to the end. Just full of it and try don't look or behave so scary that you would freak out, not at all. I mean you could be surprised and confused but "Freaked" is not the word I would ever use. And even the grandparents and heavily built Stanley and his son are scared of scarecrows is a thing that I can't believe, they are just made of some hay and straw. What gives the book a nice background is the great and calm village life. I especially like the arrival at the farm, the changed grandparents and the observation of the kids, the fishing scene, the "Scarecrow walks at Night "dialogue" , Stanley's and Sticks behaviour. The ending was not very great and the book gets much dull after 70℅.
Anyways, its a quick read and very short, easy to understand and will keep you at you edge. If you are reading goosebumps you should surely pick pick this one up.
The idea of the Superstitious book just rocks.
Note:- I think this is the same book book from which a note must have slipped out in Mr.Woods/ Slappys waist pocket when hr comes alive. (In Night of the living dummy)

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scarecrows lend themselves to horror —Just look at the name— and the remoteness of the countryside/a farm (where scarecrows are most likely to be found) makes the setting an ideal one.

All that to say that R.L. Stine had a good premise here before he even wrote the plot. Jodie and Mark, twelve and eleven year-old siblings respectively, are visiting their grandparents' farm. It’s a summer tradition that they look forward to every year, but this year there’s something wrong.

So far so good; Stine does a good job establishing an eerie atmosphere early on — Stanley’s obsession with superstitions, Jodie’s suspicions, Mark and Stick’s pranks, the false alarms, etc.— but the eventual climax is pretty lackluster (and predictable).

I know it’s the title, but the scarecrows literally don’t do anything but walk. Couldn’t there have been something more specific they were doing or wanted (e.g. rule the farm, make scarecrows out of the humans, etc.)?

Also, why would they think Mark was their leader?

And if Stanley didn’t know that some of the scarecrows were still awake, why did he, at the beginning, tell Jodie that they walk at midnight? Either he should’ve known they were awake and was still actively using them to keep the grandparents in line (but the scarecrows later turn against him), or Stick shouldn’t have known they were awake.

On that note, it’s too obvious early on that Stanley and his book are going to be responsible for the walking scarecrows. As effective as the book’s spooky vibe is, how much better would it have been had Stanley not been going around advertising his superstitions book and instead was just reading it and mumbling all the time?

Furthermore, why hadn’t Stick burned the scarecrows earlier, especially since he was apparently the only person who knew they were awake?

The ending is great, except for the nagging question, “Why wasn’t Stanley’s book immediately confiscated after burning the scarecrows?”

Ultimately, it feels like Stine had a great premise by default, but just didn’t bother to do anything substantial or unique with it.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh, the Goosebump days. I would borrow so many of these from the library they seriously considered extending my limit of books checked out at one time. R.L. Stine you were a reprieve from a harsh and dreary childhood in which my mind wandered far away from the troubles of the day. I stole books into my bed and read far into the night by the faintest of lights. I might have better eyesight were it not for you; however, I regret not one page or line.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goosebumps will always be fun reads. I enjoyed being in a completely different setting, one in which I've never experienced before, when reading "The Scarecrow Walk at Midnight" and therefore rate it 3.5 stars.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight is the twentieth installment in the Goosebumps series written by R.L. Stine.

Jodie and Mark visit their grandparents’ farm every summer. This year, everything is a little off: Grandpa doesn’t tell anymore scary stories, Grandma no longer makes pancakes, and both seem to be nervous of longtime farmhand Stanley. Things get even more out of control when Jodie and Mark start seeing the scarecrows in the cornfield start to move…

This book followed the typical Goosebump formulas of jumpscares, fake-outs, and dream sequences before getting to the climax. It’s still a fun book and I really enjoyed the farmhand character of Stanley. I know that many of the classic books were adapted in the TV series, but unfortunately, I have never seen any of them. While reading this book, I couldn’t help to think this would make for a pretty live-action adaptation.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay for a fresh and creepy Goosebumps book to give me nostalgic mind a little tug. I loved this one - would it have been a much better choice to read around Halloween? Absolutely. But I loved it nonetheless and really enjoyed the aspect that involved a "vacation" to their grandparent's farm house. When I was growing up fewer things made me happier than spending a week or two at my nana and papa's house during summer break. I got spoiled to death, got to hang out with some cousins, and I just had a lot of fun memories on those trips. FORTUNATELY, nothing like this happened on one of my visits! The worst thing that happened to me might have just been stepping in bubble gum on a hot asphalt parking lot and somehow getting the gum ALL OVER MY ENTIRE BODY. The end.