The Knight in Screaming Armor

Give Yourself Goosebumps #9

by R.L. Stine

Your cousins, Kip and Abbey, have come to visit you from jolly old England -- and guess what they brought with them? Two huge crates, each containing a suit of armor and a curse. But it doesn t matter, 'cause you're "dying" to see what's inside.
If you open the crate marked "Evil Knight," you will be hypnotized by the knight's sparkling medallion and will have to face an ugly sorceress. If you open the "Good Knight" crate, you'll discover a room full of mannequin heads that talk. Before you know, it you've lost your head. Can you pull yourself together before time runs out?
The choice is yours in this scary GOOSEBUMPS adventure that's packed with over 20 super-spooky endings!"

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Choose Your Own Adventure, Middle Grade, Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

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

[Eos BookCar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primo libro game che leggo, non sapevo che la serie "Piccoli Brividi" ne comprendesse uno.
Carino, un po' difficile da seguirne il filo, poiché ci sono tantissimi finali (ben 22), alcuni spaventosi ma neanche poi tanto (secondo me).
Personaggi poco descritti, un bambino si immedesima giusto perché il narratore è in prima persona, ma per il resto no.
Horror ma anche un po' fantasy.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok YES I was a goosebumps nerd when I was in elementary school. It's true. I really liked being able to choose my own ending. :)

[Susanna Gervasoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not the best goosebumps.

[Tyler Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book. it had tons of different ending . my favorite one was that you bet the evil knight. my lest favorite was you get turned to a baby by your cousins. there was a lot of hard decision to make. like to go left or right fight or run.i would recommend this to anybody how like thriller

[Kaitlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh. Not one of the better ones.

[Alli Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahh the nostalgia.... Always been such a Goosebumps nerd. My ending didn't end well but still enjoyed it

[Nash Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

I unfortunately got caught right out....but such a cute, fun story even for adults

[Sarah Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A visit from cousins that brings an evil curse along. Being hypnotized could be an option, cause there’s no escape from the Evil Knight. This was my least favourite out of them all but I still enjoyed it.

[Jennifer Epling · Rating 4 out of 5]

this one was fun. loving my re-read of all things R.L Stine.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got the trapped in a cuckoo clock alone ending

[Grace]

I could never finish this one without something horrible happening to me! I don't even know if there was a non-horrible ending to this one..

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Knight In Screaming Armor
PLOT: The basic plot is I have two cousins coming to visit from England (Kip and Abby). And an Uncle who has to give a presentation at a museum so he's brought some artifacts. In two large cases are two suits of armor. One is of an evil knight. The other one contains the suit of armor of Sir Edmond Saxton an ancestor. After repeating some words on the label I find out the evil one has a curse on it. (And I might have just activated it) A long time ago an enchantress cursed one of the king's knights because he killed her favorite dragon. So she sensed him as " a gift" a suit of armor that contains an evil spirit that screams all night. The next morning all the Saxtons are dead. But one son who was out hunting. And he just keeps the suit because he's scared to get rid of it. (Already I call BS because that suit would have been LONG GONE) I would have shipped it to someone's historical museum THAT SAME DAY! Now one day its said that it will arise again hungry for Saxton blood. They only way it will meet it's defeat is through a good Saxton taking it out. I then talk some junk about "What's an evil suit of armor going to do to me?" (sighing and you know from here on out it'll be A LOT just for talking crap about the thing). But late at night, I hear a scream coming from the basement where we put the crates so I...

MY STORY
*Ignore it (People in stories rush right into horror situations. NOT ME! It can scream it's head off all night long if it wants to. Although that might be annoying as hell. I imagine that to equal the smoke detector in my hallway that's defective and wakes you up blaring at random times and won't shut off)/
*But then the screams get louder and more chilling (Yup just like that alarm and there's someone at the end of my bed.
*It's only Abbey.
*We go to investigate the basement (because obviously there's no getting out of that in this story).
*There are two crates. One marked "Good Knight" and one marked "Evil Knight". Which to open? (Snorts like that's that much of a decision) Unless the boxes were switched…. Still
*Good knight it is……. But the Evil Suit is vibrating and rocking back and forth. We all decide to get the hell out of there and not open either (BEST POSSIBLE CHOICE). Until we get attacked by lawn equipment and the Evil crate knocks Abbey to the ground.
*And again I have to make a choice which box to open (Still sticking with Good Knight)...
*But when we open the crate it's EMPTY (saw that coming) and there's a piece of paper on the floor.
*Pick it up or Call the Police? (well duh. I'mma do what kid's in books NEVER do and let the authorities shut this down)
*But now the Evil Knights arms has broken out of the box and is trying to chock out Abbey.
*And now the other is crushing her body and it's saying we don't want to see the rest THE END but I don't really think so I'm turning to the next page (that can't be)
*(Nice fake out! The story continues) Dumping oil all over Abbey helps to slide her out of the armor's grip and we manage to nail the other box but now a light is shining from the Good Knights box.
*The door of the crate pops open. There's a blinding white light. Then there's a vision of a white knight. ITS ME. The vision fades to black and a piece of paper falls down. I pick it up.
*It's a poem basically saying that I have to prove myself to wear the suit and that there will be a fight between me and the Evil Knight before the next day is over. I fall asleep. I wake up.
*I choose with them (cause if there's a battle against Voldemort I'd rather have Ron and Hermione with me).
*We wake up in the MEDIEVAL MUSEUM (Karsh must have brought us).
*The walks turn into mud people and they start belting us with mud. Suffocating mud. They gang up on Abbey (Man this girl has bad luck! She just can't get a break).
*The mud people start closing in on me but I ain't going down without a fight so...
*Seemingly the Mud people are illusions because when you hold them up to the light the disappear and have been planted in your mind by the Evil Knight (HUNH?!!! I'm not even going to try to figure out the logic of this. MOVING ON!) If they're holograms you can't actually FEEL the mud their slinging and you can't grip them.
*I spy (with my little eye) a wall of doors (YES PLEASE! Don't really care about my Uncle getting pissed he's lost one of his suits. I'd rather deal with his mouth than be DEAD)
*There's another piece of paper (clue) about "beware the deadly charge and steel" (that says to me there's going to be something coming at me on a horse with a sword in its hand).
*All the doors are disappearing and the walls are caving in. The Evil Knight has returned (Return of the Mack plays in the background).
*Two more doors. I pick the one on the right. We squeeze through just in time. Now we're inside a clock room.
*There's a familiar looking clock and even though I haven't read Cuckoo Clock of Doom yet maybe it's that one just because to a GB book into another GB book would be cool (but we'll see)
*NAILED IT! (and after the description I realize I've seen the episode) So this clock takes you backwards in time.
*You have GOT to be kidding me. The story ends with me reaching up for the clock and when the bird comes out I try to cover my face but I black out. When I wake up it's not the clock and I'm the bird inside the clock. What kind of lame ending .. Well ok I retract that because ..

RATING: 6 Even though I got father into this than the previous read (a while ago) I still didn't like my ending. I didn't even get to face off with the Evil Knight. I think I'm starting to detect a pattern. Does anyone ever win in these books? Here's my first attempt at this story years ago. Still opened the Good Armor crate. Still, choose them with me when we woke up. The bricks still turned to people and started flinging mud at us. BUT this time my cousins got pushed back into the wall by the mud people and got walled in. I tried to fight them off but soon I joined them. THE END. I'm not gonna say the story is bad because it has the potential with the right ending to be really good just neither try did I get the right ending. I'll have another stab at it. But then I heard one of the paths has sheep in it. Glad I didn't get that far.

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weaker GYG but still a good one. This one wasn’t the most fun at times, putting it lightly, and was relatively uninteresting. Also, had bad endings as always. But the medieval vibes (or should I say mid-evil?) we’re really neat, and there were magic and sorcery elements thrown in that were cool. Both plot lines were equally good and the knight battle was pretty good. Some of the villains were neat, especially Night Hawk (who barely appeared) and the mud slingers, and even the robes figures. There is also some dark stuff in here I really liked and it’s very adventurous and semi unique setting wise for the evil knight storyline. I’d give it a 6.5/10 not bad but not great, I know I just have like twenty positives but it applies to almost every GYG anyways and the negatives still bother me. Also, multiple other Goosebumps media is referenced once more so that’s a plus.

[Paige Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I was really into this one but then the ending kind of fell flat for me in the end. Overall it was a good read though and a better encounter in the Give Yourself Goosebumps series.

The Knight in Screaming Armor follows young cousins as they investigate two huge crates containing a suit of armor and a curse. Their parents work for the museum and this is an old artifact many years prior that found their family. Ultimately they are given two choices; one: choose the evil knight. Two: choose the good knight. From here the story takes us on one wild adventure that never lets up. Once I found my end I was kind of excited to see a connection to a previous Goosebumps stories but was sadly let down in the end.

[Wesley Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really fun. I would suggest this to anyone who likes choosing the room. Ending because that's what you did from the night and screaming armor and I always ended up dying but I want to try to get that 1 ending. Where does you can? But just for the fun it gives you one more.It was really fun. I would suggest this to anyone who likes choosing the room. Ending because that's what you did from the night and screaming armor and I always ended up dying but I want to try to get that 1 ending. Where does you can? But just for the fun, it gives you one more.

[Avalon Roselin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved these books since I was a kid and I still love them. Some of the "bad endings" are really fun, and it's never easy to guess which option is the right one! Knight in Screaming Armor was one of the books I checked out most frequently from my elementary school library so I have especially fond feelings for it. It's great for a fun group activity or solo-play!

[Andrea Yorke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun "choose your own adventure" book that I read with my son, who has loved every Goosebumps book he's ever read. We read it through twice, once with me choosing the adventure and once when he chose it. I liked that there were happy story lines, and not-so-happy story lines...we ended up getting one of each.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm never too old for a childhood favorite. I always wanted to read this one as a child but never got the chance. The store and library never had it in. We'll it's up to my 31 year old self to rectify this. Took a gloomy October evening to have some old school fun. I enjoyed it as an adult, and sure, my child self would have been just as if not more entertained. Early Happy Halloween!

[paige turner ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun on this adventure. I was able to defeat some mud monsters, I didn't have a really bad ending on page 29.

I'll try another attempt at a later date and see what other endings I'll encounter.

[Justin Spanbauer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one was a mess from start to finish. Dull and nonsensical contrived start and only randomness from there on out. I tapped out about half way through which disappoints me but I couldn't take any more.

[Erica Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all the different endings. That was fun.

[Dope Ghost Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the coolest conceived idea R.L. Stine ever came up with, this choose-your-own-adventure horror-fantasy is full of excellent endings and outcomes!

[Cristina Zappa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book to read with kids as an alternative to the tablet.

[sbu_andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why were the pixies there

[Jennifer Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goosebumps books have been my favorite since I was a kid. Re-reading this now, I remember why I loved these books so much growing up.

[Samantha Boudreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I died every ending 😭

[fanboyriot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t really care for this one. The choices were kinda boring. Picking the optimistic options things working out in someway, there wasn’t any horror moments for it.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before trying to convey why I think The Knight in Screaming Armor is the right way to do a choose-your-own-adventure book, I'll tell you the criticisms of it from my friend. According to my friend, the book is too long, and there are too many possibilities for wrong turns and bad endings that it spoils the fun of the book. I disagree on almost all counts, and in fact I think this is one of the better choose-your-own-adventure books out there.

First, the book is not too long. It's about the same length as the other books in this series. Perhaps someone might think it feels like, if, per the second criticism, he or she keeps running into some bad areas that don't pay off.

Second, the book keeps a good pace. You have your British cousins visiting your home, and your uncle will be on his way soon. He has shipped to your house the armor of two knights, a good knight and a bad knight. The armor of the bad knight has a curse on it. Late one night, you find yourself faced with the horrors of the bad knight, and you and your cousins must find out what to do to defeat the bad knight. Nice little storyline there.

The only complaint I would have about the book is that sometimes, some of the mechanics of the book don't fit together perfectly. It's not too bad, but there are some moments where things don't align well. To give an example, there's one possible turn where your cousin gets attacked and you rescue her, but this sequence doesn't have to happen, and so returns to the normal course of events where your cousins are suspicious that there's anything going on at all. The shift in tone doesn't match well, but only occasionally.

Other than that, even though the book's mechanics are not perfect, I think it's one of the best C-Y-O-A books. Highly recommended.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

My memories of this book are strong and clear, and I have refreshed them at times by rereading this excellently suspenseful gamebook and reintroducing myself to one of R.L. Stine's most interesting tales.
I love the way that the plot builds, a display of R.L. Stine's writing skill that is made all the more impressive because he does it in about ten different directions in the book. R.L. Stine builds his Give Yourself Goosebumps stories as well as any gamebook author, and this entry in the series is another fine example of his prowess in this type of writing. Again, as with very many of these books, I would give it two and a half stars.

[Ritika Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would gift this to a geeky kid — maybe my kids in the future. Goosebumps has always been my favorite since school days, and I still enjoy reading them. The Knight in Screaming Armor by R.L. Stine stands out with its engaging writing style — one story with multiple, sometimes open-ended, endings. It's thrilling, full of horror, and keeps you hooked till the last page.

Horror: 3.5/5
Story Build-up: 4/5
Overall: 4/5