The Blob That Ate Everyone

Goosebumps #55

by R.L. Stine

They're baa-ack! Make way for the bestselling children's series of all time! With a fresh new look, GOOSEBUMPS is set to scare a whole new generation of kids. So reader beware--you're in for a scare! Read it and scream! A famous horror writer. That's what Zack Beauchamp wants to be. He's writing a story about a giant blob monster. A pink slimy creature who eats up an entire town! Then Zack finds the typewriter. In a burned-down antiques store. He takes it home and starts typing. But there's something really odd about that typewriter. Something really dangerous. Because now every word Zack writes is starting to come true. . .

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

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

[Justin Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top-tier among the original 62-book canon. The blob proves an excellent metaphor for the power, pleasure, and pain of writing fiction. Zackie learns how mere words can conjure elements and people into being, but his creativity also puts him face-to-face with a dark side of himself: an all-consuming, vengeful monster.

Stine’s layering of reality and fantasy is remarkable here, all the way down to the unexpected conclusion. We constantly second-guess what is fact and what is fiction, which is entirely the point.

I originally read this over 20 years ago and vaguely recall being disappointed there wasn’t more action. Now, as has been my experiencing re-reading all the original 62, I find the story much more compelling. There are underlining themes that didn’t cross my mind as a kid.

For example, Stine includes many winks and nods to the struggles of being a writer, and hints that revenge fantasy is a motivation for horror lovers. The “audience reaction” finale is strangely profound in classic, slapstick Goosebumps fashion.

The screenwriters were clever, I think, to borrow the premise of this book for the Goosebumps movies. In many ways, The Blob That Ate Everyone is a defining plot that encapsulates what the series is all about.

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Attack of the Blob Monster!

Alex and Zackie are friends. Zackie loves writing and telling Alex scary stories and Alex loves listening to them.

Zackie writes a story about a blob that is attacking the town where they live. He is using an old fashioned typewriter, of course. The typewriter is magical.

The typewriter has the ability to make whatever Zackie type come true. It even makes people he doesn’t like disappear from the world.

All Zackie has to do is type the person’s name and wish them away. It’s fantastic!
And it works every time!

Stine chooses Zackie as the narrator for this story and he is very reliable. His use of flashbacks and flash forwards is just the right kind of mix for the story.

This book will rate as four stars. ✨✨✨✨

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blob That Ate Everyone follows young protagonist Zackie Beauchamp and his friend Alex as they wander one evening into the ruins of an antique store that was hit by lightning and burned to the ground in a massive storm the night before. Zackie, who writes horror stories in his spare time, sees an old typewriter in the burned out store that appears to be in mint condition. He thinks it might be fun to write his stories on the old typewriter instead of the new computer his parents recently bought him, and after an encounter with the store owner, Zackie is given the typewriter and a nice old fountain pen for free, and sent on his way. But there's more than meets the eye with this typewriter, and Zackie's bargain may end up turning into a nightmare!

I really enjoyed this book, and as of this writing I consider it in the top three of the original sixty-two Goosebumps books I've reread so far (I've reread fourteen so far). The same repetitive writing and overuse of crutch words that I've seen in other entries in the series are still present here, but slightly less so, and I identified with the characters in this one more than with most of Stine's other characters, which are often "developed" in a single sentence or two describing their hair colour, eye colour, and physical build. These characters actually had a bit more depth; particularly Zackie, who is an aspiring writer.

The plot of this one also made sense, and didn't have a lot of holes, which are two common problems with most Goosebumps books. The twist endings in most series entries are completely stupid, and some are so bad that they ruin the entire book, but the twist ending in this one, though incredibly bizarre, really worked, in a silly, crazy " classic Goosebumps" way that you'll only understand if you've read these books. So many of the books try to do this with their twist ending and fail horribly, but this is a good example of one that really works.

Some moments in this book were also genuinely scary, and the monster in this one is real, not a fake out like in some other Goosebumps books. And I really liked how Stine got his characters out of the bind they were in near the end. If you've read these books, you know that Stine usually either puts his characters into a really tough bind, or has a major element to the story that he has yet to reveal by the end of the book, and he usually gets the characters out of the bind or drops the major plot reveal in such an insultingly stupid plot twist that it ruins the entire book. In this one, however, he got the characters out of the bind and moved the story forward in a clever way, and I really enjoyed that.

On the negative side, the book felt a little plotless at times. And Stine really dragged out the character's coming to realize certain things that were totally obvious to the reader early on, to the point where you wondered if the characters were morons for taking so long to figure it out.

Minor complaints aside, this is easily one of the best Goosebumps books I've reread to date, and I definitely recommend it!

CAWPILE rating:

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

= 53.9 total
÷ 7 categories = 7.7 out of 10
= 4 stars

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

#55 "He's no picky eater!"
This book should really be called The Haunted Typewriter, because when Zackie find an old typewriter in a burnt down antique store he starts writing his greatest story yet... The story of the blob monster that ate the whole town! Little does he know that everything he rights on this typewriter comes true!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 más bien.
Me estaba gustando bastante, pero para mi gusto el final lo estropea un poco. Esta vez el giro no ha funcionado...

[Gavin Hetherington · Rating 3 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 where I review them from worst to best here: https://youtu.be/lBfaxCOwAnA

[Carmine R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il rosa non discrimina

Divertente libercolo che racconta di macchine da scrivere "magiche" e - per non farsi mancare nulla - mostruosi blob con il vizietto di fagocitare tutto quello che capita loro a tiro. La storia, pur non eccezionale, si riabilita con il classico finale a ribaltamento narrativo.

[Narges Amooei · Rating 3 out of 5]

زاکی، پسری که علاقه به نوشتن داستان‌های ترسناک داره، تو یک مغازه‌ی تازه تخریب شده، ماشین تایپی پیدا می‌کنه و با خودش به خونه می‌بره. وقتی شروع به نوشتن جملات اول داستانش می‌کنه، تک‌تک نوشته‌هاش در واقعیت اتفاق می‌افتن!
دم جناب استاین هم گرم.

[Olive · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was good but not that scary but I like the ending

[Isabel Orama · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that I read today was mostly about two best friends named zackie and a girl named Alex. They are both best friends and zackie longs to become a famous scary story writer some day. One day, a storm strikes their town causing a few houses and shops to break down. After the storm, zackie and Alex finds a store that was totally wrecked. Zackie chooses to go in it, but Alex thinks it's a bad idea, but he goes anyway. Alex has no choice to follow zackie into the shop. Then, zackie finds a old type writer that he really wants. Then, the owner of the store comes inside the store and finds then both in it. The owners wants to know why they are in it, and they say that they where just looking around. Zackie tells the owner that he really like the old type writer, so the owner gives it to him for free. Zackie was really happy when he got the type writer. Many strange things started happening with the type writer. Everything that you type comes true!! Zackie tells Alex about the type writer and she believed him. They started messing with the type writer until, Adam, another friend of theirs, writes about a monster wanting flesh that eat everyone. To stop the huge monster, zackie and Alex needs to break the type writer. It is simply impossible to do it, so they just throw it out the window which really breaks the haunted type writer. Now, zackie wants to type on his new computer instead of typewriters. The end.

[CJ "Knee Knibbler" Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Goosebumps books, always have always will. This one was actually so good! I take away a star because the kids talk like adults and it's kinda weird but it's no big deal, I'd probably only take away half a star IF THAT WAS A THING.

The ending was actually a surprise, I didn't expect it.

Edit: Actually I would take away a full star for one reason. THE MAIN CHARACTER'S FRIENDS SUCK
They're awful to him 80% of the time, Alex is tolerable at times but Adam and the twins are horrible to Zackie the entire book! They suck as friends, should've permanently been eaten.

[Imaydahjr · Rating 2 out of 5]

اتمام
۲۰/آبان/۰۲
19:56

[Skylar · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up
in not going to say stephen king wrote this, but I definitely think r.l. stine read one of his books before whipping up this one. only bad part was all the end of chapter fake outs

[Chardonay Willard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het verhaal is wel grappig en origineel. Twee jongeren en een vervloekte typ machine. Dat schreeuwt gewoon om problemen. Leuk verhaal om even tussendoor te lezen.

[Ashley Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely don't remember reading this one when I was a kid but I wish I had! Total blast!

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another great, if not all that original, idea that suffers from the franchise it sits within. Considering how short these books are, it took a long time to get to the crux of the story. Those scenes, when Zackie and his friend were realising the truth, were pretty well done and had the potential to do great things. Unfortunately, it petered out and the rest of the story was pretty run-of-the-mill. The end 'twist' was particularly grating, partially as it makes no sense at all, but also it completely cheapened the quality of the story as a whole.

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ομολογώ πως το βιβλίο ήταν διασκεδαστικό και πως έπιασα τον εαυτό μου να γελάει σε πολλά σημεία, αλλά μάλλον κάπου χάθηκε το τόπι. Σαφέστατα και η σειρά των "Ανατριχίλων" χαρακτηρίζεται από την αρμονική συνύπαρξη του τρομακτικού και του κωμικού στοιχείου, αλλά στην προκειμένη περίπτωση το δεύτερο υπερτετρεί δραματικά του πρώτου. Το αποτέλεσμα είναι να φτάνουμε σε ένα μέτριο, έως και γελοίο κάποιες στιγμές, αποτέλεσμα, που προσωπικά δεν με έπεισε.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zach loves writing scary stories, he can’t believe he’s luck when he discovers an old typewriter. But there’s something really odd about the typewriter, everything that Zack writes seems to come true.

It’s a silly but fun read, Stine has great fun in tapping into the idea of young kids creating their own scary stories.

[Chantal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm I didn't like this one like the books I had already read of RL Stine. It was a little to simple and logical for me. Not scary at all. There are better books out there.

[Shraddha Patidar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good and I loved the idea of blob but the book was mainly about a haunted typewriter so the title should have been about a typewriter.

[Breanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

according to redfoo his name aint santa but shes sitting on my lap, in this case i will be the sitter the blob can be santa xx
slappy and blob have my loins

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goosebumps - The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine is a middle-grade horror about a typewriter that can make horror stories come true. The author writes about a killer blob. The Blob That Ate Everyone is book 55 in the Original Goosebumps Book series. The story feels like a mix between Stephen King's The Dark Half and the 1950s movie The Blob. The overall theme is the power of words. There's a long scene where Zackie (worst character name ever) is writing and making things happen. At first, this is done by accident. Then he starts doing it on purpose. This scene was great and shows the God-like power of writing and story. The ending was pretty intense but Stine cops out of it. This book features the worst final twist of all, almost it was all a dream but different. The final scene reminded me of the ending to the two-part Goosebumps television episode One Day at Horrorland where the monsters are watching a TV show at the end. The Blob That Ate everyone had potential and was intense. The horror elements are a big Blob that eats people, getting caught snooping, the dark, going into the dark basement, and fearing your parent is no more. This book has three end-of-chapter scares, which is a scare that Stine will set at the end of the chapter to make you think something scary when it is only a prank or a common animal. The Blob That Ate Everyone was published on May 1, 1997.

Plot Summary: Zackie, Alex, and Adam are all hanging out discussing what is scary until a big blob is about to eat them. But it was only one of Zackie's stories and he likes to write about him and his friends. They continue talking about what scares them with Adam making fun of Zackie saying his stories are not scary and nothing can scare him. Zackie wants to prove him wrong. Zackie and Alex see a building downtown that caught fire due to lightning the day before, and the kids decide to explore. Zackie finds an old typewriter that he wants for his stories. Zackie and Alex hide in the burned-out store when they hear someone coming. The person catches them and tells Zackie he can have the old typewriter and a blue pen. Zackie tries out a new scarier version of his Blob story, but when he types, a dark and stormy night. Thunder and lightning appear suddenly and knock out the power. Zackie's dad brings a candle so he can finish the story, but everything he's typing seems to be happening. Is it the typewriter or something else?

What I Liked: The twist about the typewriter was great. The scene where Zackie thinks he can control the story was written very well. At first, it is a coincidence then he starts messing with things. The way the tension was written in the story. I did like the way the woman reacted to kids messing with her burned-out store. This is the first character I can think of that pointed out it was an African-American. Alex was a good friend and I liked the way she was written. I do like all the rampage the Blob causes and even eats people.

What I Disliked: The final twist was a spit in your face for reading this story and trying to figure it out. I was not a fan of all the end-of-chapter scares. The dog scare was just not needed.

Recommendation: The Blob That Ate Everyone is an interesting read I liked the writer having power over his imagination. But the novel gets in its way too much and Stine clearly did not have an ending in mind with what he did. I will not recommend you read this Goosebumps book.

Rating: I rated The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine 2.6 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: The full ranking of the 55 Goosebumps books that I have read in order from 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) Ghost Camp, 8) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 9) One Day At Horrorland, 10) Night of the Living Dummy, 11) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 12) A Shocker on Shock Street, 13) The Phantom of the Auditorium, 14) Beware, the Snowman, 15) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 16) Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns, 17) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 18) Don't Go to Sleep!, 19) Say Cheese and Die, 20) Let's Get Invisible, 21) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 22) Welcome to Dead House, 23) Monster Blood II, 24) The Beast From the East, 25) The Girl who Cried Monster, 26)Deep Trouble, 27) The Ghost Next Door, 28) Say Cheese and Die - Again! 29) Night of the Living Dummy 2, 30) Chicken, Chicken, 31) My Hairiest Adventure, 32) Be Careful What You Wish For..., 33) Return of the Mummy, 34) Why I'm Afraid of Bees, 35) The Haunted Mask II, 36)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 37) How to Kill a Monster, 38) Attack of the Mutant, 39) Go Eat Worms!, 40) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 41) The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 42) Bad Hare Day, 43) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 44) Vampire Breath, 45) The Blob That Ate Everyone, 46) How I Learned to Fly, 47) Monster Blood, 48) Night of the Living Dummy III, 49) The Barking Ghost, 50) Egg Monsters from Mars, 51) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 52) You Can't Scare Me!, 53) Legend of the Lost Legend, 54) Calling All Creeps! and 55) Monster Blood III.

[Jason K. Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siempre hay que tener muy presente que las historias o relatos de R. L. Stine son eso, narraciones cortas y dirigidas tanto a un publico juvenil como para un publico adulto con alma juvenil, es decir lo podemos disfrutar todos pero sin exigirle lo que a una novela o libro de otra indole le pediriamos. Con esto quiero decir que nunca vamos a ver elementos como lo serian un desarrollo de personaje, un marco argumental bien estructurado y desarrollado, o que tengan mucho sentido ciertos elementos, factores o circunstacias descritas en estos relatos que dicho sea de paso gozan de una fuerte carga de fantasia lo cual nos lleva a lo anterior; en resumen solo trato de decir que teniendo en cuenta todo eso, es la manera en que en mayor medida disfrutaremos y calificaremos estos relatos o cuentos. Es decir no hay que ser tan exigentes y solo disfrutarlos sintiendonos jovenes y recordando esas historias de terror que a muchos nos encantaban desde muy jovenes.
Siempre voy a decir que me gustaria que fuesen un poco mas largos estos relatos simplemente porque logro disfrutarlos, me distraen y me "relajan" de alguna otra carga emocional despues de leer algún otro libro denso o pesado estas historias de Stine tienen ese poder en mi, me sacan como de algún tipo de bloqueo lector; son una lectura muy fresca por decirlo de alguna manera.

La historia en si nos habla de un chico un tanto antisocial que solo se rodea de una amiga llamada Alex muy leal a él y de un amigo llamado Adam que mas que un amigo parece todo lo contrario pues siempre esta recibiendo por parte de él burlas y bullying, pero a Zackie quien es el protagonista le gusta vivir en la fantasia creando historias de terror pues quiere algún día ser un gran escritor, hasta que en un momento todo cambia pues sus historias parecen cobrar vida propia.

⭐️3.5⭐️

[James Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fell like the concept was very good and it had a lot of potential but the story… a bit meh. We follow the main character Zachie (that name for some unknown reason just irritated me) who had a passion for weighing scary stores which his best drink Alex loves, but is also scared of a a lot of things - something his friend Adam takes advantage of and mocks him for. He come in possession of an old typewriter and what he writes comes true. Is is coincidence? Or does the typewriter have a special power? Or is it him?… yh it was alright, characters and writing okay with an interesting concept of the typewriter but the actual plot wasn’t my favourite. It also reads a bit too quickly with lots of very short chapters and a oh don’t get to embrace it as much as I’d want to.

I did film a reading vlog and review video on my BookTube with the 10 Goosebumps books I read if anyone wants to check it out https://youtu.be/2quZD9vtoh8

[Ninjakicalka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otwierając pierwszą stronę trafiamy od razu w środek akcji. Potem oczywiście wyjaśnia się co i jak. Mamy święta wielkanocne, zaczyna się wiosna a wraz z nią burze, ulewy i mocny wiatr. Dodajcie do tego siedzenie w domu o świecy i pisanie swojego własnego opowiadania grozy! Taki właśnie panuje tu klimacik, dla książkoholika pozycja idealna. Całość wieńczy śmiechowe zakończenie, bardzo dobre, jak to goosebumpsy mają w zwyczaju.

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Zackie gets an antique typewriter, he is so excited because he is a writer and wants to type out all of his stories, but when he finds out that everything, he types comes true. He realizes that he has brought a monster into their town. Or did he? No Spoilers! I highly recommend this book as well as the series!

[Craig B · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Lachlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zackie learns a lot about good and bad

[David Andrew Edmundson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read! Pretty underated these days!

[Cassandra Doon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the series when I was a kid.
Loved them so much! They are the perfect type of scary to read when your young.
Then I ReRead the whole series to my son.
And he loved them as much as I did.