GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND #10: HELP! WE HAVE STRANGE POWERS!
by R.L. Stine
Scholastic Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780439918787
Ages 9-12
160 pages
Jillian and Jackson are twins, yet they're quite different. Jillian is an athlete, while Jackson hates any kind of exercise. In one way they're alike: they despise the new kids at school. Nina and Artie Lerner are also twins, but they're bumbling, clueless, and just plain difficult to be around. So Jillian and Jackson are not exactly pleased when Nina and Artie show up at the movies, joining them and managing not only to ruin Jackson's new sweater but to get all four kids thrown out of the movie theater. And Jillian and Jackson don't even get to see the superhero movie they've been dying to catch.
Both Jillian and Jackson are in foul moods after they are ousted from the theater. But they perk up when they see a fortune teller's booth with a wooden fortune teller inside. They can't resist. They put a quarter in the slot, but the old fortune teller's hand doesn't reach the opening in the booth. So Jackson reaches way deep inside the booth, while Jillian pushes on his shoulders to extend his stretch. And that's when they get zapped with electricity --- so hard that Jillian actually bites her tongue. When they finally manage to recover, they read the fortune teller's card:
"Welcome to HorrorLand."
The twins have no idea what that means, so they just forget about it --- until much later. Meanwhile, life continues for the twins, but it's not exactly the same. For one thing, they can't help but notice that Jillian can read everyone's mind (which means she's answering questions people are just thinking). Jackson can suddenly levitate objects, such as a bottle of syrup during breakfast along with a waffle or two. He even makes one of the school cafeteria chairs float in the air. The twins decide they need to figure out more about their newly acquired powers, although Jackson can't resist freezing the clock to avoid a quiz in class.
While Jillian and Jackson grapple with how to use their superpowers, the Lerner twins continue to be obnoxious. Artie accidentally slams a soccer ball into Jackson's stomach so hard that Jackson can't breathe. Nina borrows class notes from Jillian, and then ruins them so Jillian can't study from them. When Jillian and Jackson try to teach Nina and Artie a lesson, though, their retaliation backfires. Frightened, they head to a park at night to test exactly how strong their powers might be --- and that's when they meet someone who will introduce them to true terror.
HELP! WE HAVE STRANGE POWERS! is another enjoyably frightening installment in the ever-so-creepy Goosebumps HorrorLand series, topped off with (cue spooky music here) the expected invite to the scariest amusement park on earth. R.L. Stine manages to twist the plot in a totally unforeseen way and to inject some laugh-out-loud moments, while continuing his tradition of terror-filled tales. Fans of the series will also be happy to catch up with the characters from the previous episodes as they all strive to survive the fear-provoking events in HorrorLand: "Where Nightmares Come to Life!"
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon
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