Publisher’s summary: While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old toy store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It’s fun to play with at first. And Evan’s dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some! But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy stuff—it seems to be growing…and growing…and growing. And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite.…
I’ve been reading a Goosebumps book for the Hallowe’en season for nearly a decade now. It’s one of the small traditions I look forward to the most. But it’s always a struggle to write about them. Mostly because I always feel the same about all of them. I started reading these books as a boring adult person, and so I’m forever cursed to view them from a slightly disenchanted direction. They’re goofy and cheesy. They’re fine and inoffensive. But I still manage to have a tremendous amount of fun with them. While growing up, I always saw Hallowe’en as this frivolous, throwaway sort of holiday. That aspect still holds a lot of appeal for me, and I think few things embody it more perfectly than this charmingly schlocky series by R.L. Stine.
All this to say: I read Monster Blood. It was fine! Solid three-star read, as usual. To be perfectly transparent, I went with this one mostly because it went well with the slime green theme I’ve gone with this season, but I’m glad to say it delivered on the gak department with gross, gleeful gusto. Traditionally I like to follow up one of these books by watching the respective episode from the original show, but I saw the adaptation for this one a couple of years ago when I was working my way through the series and it was positively awful so we don’t really have to do that again.
Want to take the opportunity to write about the new series here. The initial trailer didn’t do much for me, but five episodes in and I am utterly sold. I’m really digging its approach to the source material, which manages to remain faithful while also modernizing it considerably. It’s darker and mature without veering into irreverent and edgy territory. My friend Ally wrote about how well it falls into that overlooked gap between middle grade and young adult fiction, and it’s true. It’s a gorgeous show — the production and set design are amazing. And the performances are just as stellar: Justin Long is the obvious stand-out*, but the younger cast don’t lag behind at all. They’re all great. The kids are alright, etcetera.
Just thoroughly impressed by this show all around. Looking forward to the rest of the season.
ricardo reading 