Lights, Camera, Die!

Spinetinglers #20

by M.T. Coffin

Running the Oddity Theater, the mysterious Mr. Faust plays horror films day and night, inviting youngsters to be special guests only to place them into the dangerous worlds of the on-screen monster movies. Original.

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jason Harlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was clearly meant to be Spinetinglers' answer to A Shocker on Shock Street, and it does its job well. The story follows a boy named Ian and his two friends Billy and Elizabeth who love horror movies. They enter an odd theater (known as "The Oddity") and the creepy owner ends up having them participate in his deranged horror films. This had way too much action and the setting changed with almost every new chapter, which was a little obnoxious. However, I loved that the characters were constantly in danger and the ending was exactly what I was hoping for. This is definitely worth tracking down if you're a fan of stuff like this, but it won't be very easy. I think this may have been a K-Mart exclusive or something but I don't know for sure. At the very least, there were a few cool nods to Gimme Back My Brain (which had yet to be released at the time this was published) and a few others from the series. This was a fun read.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished another Spinetinglers book,this one being called,Lights,Camera,Die.I was pleasantly surprised with this book.I never really hear much about it.The Story follows three characters Ian,Elizabeth and Billy.Ian is our main protagonist.Billy is the nerdy kid,and we have Elizabeth as the athletic one.These kids love watching scary movies together and reading scary books.They start on the way home and see this weird short overweight guy that is standing outside a movie theatre.He introduces himself as Mr.Faust.He informs the kids that he is opening the theater and wants to know if they want to come by and see a movie.It turns out he only plays horror movies.The kids end up going and they get invited to Mr.Faust's private office where they see alot of posters of famous actors and actresses.One of the posters has a girl named Marilyn who looks scared in the picture.They get ready to leave and Ian notices the picture change.They go and watch the movie and notice they are the only ones there.Mr.Faust explains that the reason for that is that there is a big storm approaching.The movie starts and it's about these other three kids going inside this house with a cemetery out front.Before you know it the kids watching the movie looks around and they are on top of tombstones.All of the tombstones belong to kids that were in the movies.They see something approaching them and it's this thing inside a hood that has long sharp claws and yellow teeth.The kids run away and go inside a crypt and find a secret tunnel and they end up seeing a skeleton with a half written message on the wall.They end up running into the Marilyn girl and she explains what is going on.Basically Mr.Faust is a movie director and wants to make a really good,scary movie.The kids have to make it to the end of the movie or they die in real life.The thing that is chasing them is called a creeper and it's basically a child actor that sold his soul for fame.In order to get through the movie you must capture all of the famous monsters and put them back the film they came out of.We first run into a vampire followed by werewolves,a mummy,a Frankenstein knock off,the Creeper and Mr.Faust himself.I had a lot of fun with this book.It reminded me alot of Trapped In Bat Wing Hall from the Give Yourself Goosebumps book series.You had to get parts off of classic monsters.I also really liked how the characters had to use their strong points to get the monsters back in the film.I'll also say the monsters were written very scarily.The scenes with the werewolves chasing the characters scratching on the cabin was really cool.The scene with the Creeper chasing the kids through the tunnels scraping his claws against the pipes was really awesome to.I had alot of fun with this book The only complaint I had was probably some scenes were paced a little slow and I wish we learned more about Mr.Faust.I give Lights,Camera, Die a five out of five stars.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://twitter.com/Spongey445/status...

Solid 3.5.

[House of Goosebumps · Rating 2 out of 5]

4.5/10


Going into this read I was expecting a story similar to Phantom Of The Auditorium, however this book mostly had themes of A Shocker On Shock Street, and also the first Goosebumps movie. This book had so much potential but was executed poorly in my opinion. The reason I say this is because the book felt repetitive and predictable.

The book opens with the main character and his friends encountering “The Director”. Who invites him and his friends to the grand opening of his theatre that specialises in horror movies, which excites our main characters, as they love horror movies and books.

The next day they arrive at the theatre and begin to watch a film. The kids then get sucked into the film as the main characters of the film and have to face the monsters of the film.

Overall an interesting and intriguing concept but with so much wasted potential. Certainly not a bad book, but also not amazing.