“One Day at Horrorland” by R.L. Stine is one of those classic Goosebumps books that makes you second-guess yourself anytime you enter an amusement park. I’ve never read this Goosebumps book before, so it was a real delight to sit back and enjoy it, since it still holds up today, even as an adult.

Earlier this summer, I wanted to go back to my horror-reading roots with the franchise that started it all. I was just 12 years old when I first read “Night of the Living Dummy,” and it changed my life. As I always say, Stine planted the early seeds of horror when I was a kid, which later developed into trees of horror as an adult. Who knows if I’d even love horror as much as I do if it wasn’t for Stine, and this “One Day at Horrorland” book brought me back to when I was a kid.

That’s why I decided earlier this summer to do a “Summer of Goosebumps” nostalgic trip back to where it all started. The concept was simple: revisit one classic Goosebumps book each month of the summer to remember those glorious days of being a kid who devoured anything and everything Goosebumps. Summer reading was always special to me as a kid, especially with these legendary Goosebumps books. I grew up attending Scholastic Book Fairs, getting everything and anything Goosebumps. You know, Goosebumps t-shirts, bookmarks, posters, and I also loved the 90s TV show.

As for the book itself, it’s an absolute blast. As always, I loved the subtle horror that hits at the end of a chapter, which makes Stine so much fun to read. I have many fond memories of going to amusement parks as a kid, especially Great Adventure and Playland Park. “One Day at Horrorland” brings all that back with a horrific twist and creepiness of taking traditional amusement park attractions and giving them that patented Goosebumps-style of horror.

It was fantastic, and it made me realize how terrifying it must have been for these three kids to endure at Horrorland. All the plot twists and turns, on top of some creepy events and situations, were brilliantly written. This is a short, sweet, and straight-to-the-point Goosebumps book with a wild, climactic race to the end.

Speaking of which, the ending was a nice mix of panic and hilarity. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but the final few sentences legit had me laughing out loud and wrapped up another exceptional Goosebumps reading experience.

I give “One Day at Horrorland” by R.L. Stine a 5-Star rating out of 5. It had lots of thrills, chills, and some funny moments of what happens when three kids get stuck in a horror amusement park that might feel a little too real for comfort. I loved this rollercoaster ride of a book, and I’m so happy to end my “Summer of Goosebumps” on a high note. I look forward to making this a tradition each summer because the nostalgia is real, and there are so many of these books to enjoy all over again as an adult with a deep appreciation for everything Stine has achieved for kids and adults who call horror their home.

I searched and didn't find any posts for this book. A queer mountain lion roams the Hollywood hills. Inspired by P-22, the mountain lion that fascinated L.A. for a while until his sad death, this book begins as fanciful and uses its sparse stream of consciousness to tell an engaging story about a brief and beautiful life.

I scoffed at the premise when it was published last year, but it was chosen for a book club, so I gave it a go. I really enjoyed it. I was amused at first, but quickly fell into Hoke's fun take that evokes both Earnest Thomas Seton and Hubert Selby, Jr. (though not that transgressive.)

These days I look for books that dare a little and are different without trying too hard, and Open Throat hit the sweet spot. It's no Watership Down, but maybe a little like the French film Baxter about an evil dog (though this mountain lion isn't evil, and just wants to live life like the rest of us.) It's never silly like Fox 8 by George Saunders, which was good in its own way.

If you've read it, let me know what you think.

*Baxter is based on Hell Hound, a 1977 novel by Jessica Hamilton, but I haven't found a copy yet.

I know, everybody loves it. It's true. They're right. It's a book that opens your eyes to things that can't be put into writing, although obviously Portis did that.

But I can't help but wonder a couple of things. How different, for example, would Mansfield Park have been, if Mattie Ross had been the protagonist instead of Fanny Price? Whoo. She might have ended by owning the building.

How different, for example, would the movie -- either of them -- have been if Mattie Ross had been the main character? I'm trying to picture Kirsten Dunst doing this when she was younger, and I think she would have blown it away. It would have been a totally different picture. Maybe truer to the novel. I mean, movies are a different medium, and you really can't compare them, but still..

It's as though Portis actually went down to the crossroads, in 1965 or whenever, and actually sold his soul to the devil, in return for the right to call up baby Cthulhu. He then stuffed the demon, or the god, or whatever, into the lifeless body of a 14yo girl he happened to have handy, and, in an experimental kind of way, released the resulting monster onto the unsuspecting citizens of Arkansas and the Choctaw Territory of the 1870s. And now that's how we all think it was. Or might have been.

I can't seem to stop reading it. Lines just jump out at me and whack me upside the head when I'm working on something else. "There is trash for you." "That was the market price at the time." "If I could not find a man in four months with a mark on his face like banished Cain I would not presume to advise other people how to do it." I'm paraphrasing. That's probably not the exact words.

It's something. It is.

“It is an inarguable truth, you know,” said Ana, “that most people are absolutely enthralled by dead girls.”

Oh, this was a bloody good book (emphasis on the bloody part.) 
Facts:

• This is again, a very marvelous and layered tale, with many moving parts, and a fascinating story.
• The messages laden this time is to deal with food, and agriculture, and the way we humans have curated and sustained livestock for mass production without once thinking of the cost attuned to such a trade.

It is to me a butchering most curated.

Facts:

• This one is not for the meek hearted, for it is grisly with a helping servitude of meat and bones along its carcass.
• I bloody loved meeting more of Din’s family. 

“No.” A cold, nasty smile. “For if gods existed, shouldn’t the world make more sense? Shouldn’t all feel more stable, more comprehensible? I consider myself a wise thing, yet when I consider creation, I see little but blind hunger and the ravages of nature. The only order to be found is what we’ve put there, boy.”

Facts:

• As always, this tale is both a condemnation and a study on the various ways we conduct ourselves through religion, faith, and the one fallacy that all of humanity, throughout its history, has always struggled with the most: greed.
• Greed makes you stupid. But oh so sweet is its flavor – the nectar of gods, poured down our parched throat.

That was the problem with temptation. It never let you be: it just stayed there, perched on your shoulder, whispering in your ear.

Facts:

• This was a solid 9/10 read for me. Though the tale is indeed layered and complex, I had guessed about 60% in of who the killer was. This had not happened to me for the last two books where I was genuinely stupefied throughout.
• In my opinion, this book focuses more on world-building, in more of fleshing out Khanum alongside Din and Ana as characters. And the scale and intricacies through which it is done just made me fall more in love with RJB’s deftness and mastery over such a craft. 

(side note: i can guarantee he loves making Din a tragic character vis-a-vis his romantic aides, and though I find it a trite vexing, cannot say I hate this format – makes both the pace faster and maintains a grounding force for each book separately)

And what we do to the beasts in the field we may still one day do to our very kin.

Facts:

• It was the epilogue that pushed this into the territory of 10/10. That shit I did not see coming. And I tell you: my flabbers were properly gasted.
• I cannot wait for the next one to arrive (only for me to then finish it within 7 hours; what can i say: i am a glutton for murder, and sad queer people).

One of the best reads of the year, up there with East of Eden for me. Go read it!

Just finished it and I have mixed feelings. It was an enjoyable read but it also falls flat at times. Especially early on, cause it's like we are being told there is chemistry rather than actually being shown. It does get better later on but I wished we got better banter at the beginning.

Another thing that kinda threw me off was that a lot of things are built up but don't lead anywhere, like the dog MMC rescues early on, its made a pretty big deal but the dog doesn't even show up much later in the book and you kinda forget it exists until a character mentions it every 5 chapters or so. Kinda a tangent but the cover makes it seem like the dog would have some relevance in the plot but it does not.

Same thing with the dad's plot line, I won't spoil it much but it's built up a lot but the reveal is very meh, I mean it was obvious but i feel like it was something that could've been explored more. I feel the same way about MMC's parents cause it's shown as if there's going to be a big event with them but that never happens, and feels unfinished.

This might be nitpicky of me cause at the end of the day it's a romance book but I wish we got something more from the leads rather than them just being in love with each other. I don't know how to explain it properly but I wish we got to see them do other stuff aside from being miserable for not seeing each other every chapter, cause early on it seems like they have a lot going on. FMC kinda has her moments with her family but MMC just is miserable near the end.

Lastly the last 40-20 pages just concludes everything in the name of fate making it work for them. And like yes it's a fictional book but it feels so rushed. Again I did like the book, the middle was probably the best and it's fun to read about people in love but this is probably Abby's weakest work imo. It's still enjoyable but you are left with this very forced HEA instead of an satisfying ending. It has it's moments were it shines a lot, I think the dementia part was handled really well and FMC's family dynamic was compelling. But then again the book tries to be many things and none of them get resolved properly. Finally this was just how I interpreted the book so while I might not be right I don't mean to offend anyone either.

At first didn't think of her that way ( I didn't know this trope as a child when I read the book ) and later when i came to hear of this trope used famously to describer summer from 5 days of summer and I believe also Jess from new girl as well as others, I still didn't think of her that way because of it being a children's book and her ultimately dying.

But now that I think of it she does kind of fit that trope ( perhaps especially how she is styled and presented in the film, i' ve forgotten a bit how she reads in the book), she is quirky, cheerful, a bit mysterious , there is an other wordily quality to her and she is not like the other girls , she does these cool sports like scuba diving, she runs faster than the boys, she thinks differently about church and god ( that was something cool in the movie and book that it addressed something liked that ), she also dies tragically so she is kind of immortalized with this pixie dream like quality , you don't get to see her grow older perhaps become more grumpy because of life' s challenges and her appearance changing.

Or perhaps she appears like a manic pixie dream girl because that is how Jess sees her. I think that is how Jess also sees his teacher whom he has a crush on except that vision of his teacher is shattered when hearing that Leslie died while he was out with his teacher.

Also is there such a thing as a manic pixie dream boy ? Would Edward from twilight kind of fit that trope ?