Goosebumps: Welcome To Dead House

Goosebumps: Welcome To Dead House - Summary & Book Review


About the Author

R. L. Stine is an american author famous for writing 'Goosebumps', the best-selling horror series for kids. Their popularity can be estimated from the very fact that they have been translated into 16 different languages. He is also credited for creating the successful series 'Fear Street'.

Characters

The main characters of the book 'Welcome To Dead House' include-

1) Amanda: A 12 year old girl who is quite mature for her age but sometimes behaves silly when scary things occur.

2) Josh: Amanda's 11 year old brother who is frustrated, stubborn and whiny most of the time and makes a big fuss about something to get his way.

3) Parents of Josh and Amanda.

4) Petey: The dog of Josh and Amanda. He is a white, curly-haired terrier. 

5) Compton Dawes: The realtor who appears to be a friendly young man but is not so friendly.

Background

The story begins with Amanda narrating to the readers about how creepy and wierd the the old house is that her family is moving into. In fact, the whole town of Dark Falls seems dark & strange. It seems to be covered in the shadows of the gnarled, old trees that bent over it. The reason why the family was shifting to this new house was because it was for free. Amanda's father received a letter from his lawyer which stated that his great Uncle Charles had died and left the house to him in his will. But the strange thing was that no one knew about his Uncle Charles. Josh didn't liked the idea of leaving their old house and was complaining about it. Whereas Petey, who was mostly well behaved was now continuously yowling and barking at everyone especially the residents of the town. Amanda sees an apparition of a boy on the second floor of the house and when she tells this to her family,  they don't believe her. During the first night of their stay in the house, Amanda finds it difficult to get a sound sleep. She gets a nightmare and wakeup almost sweating. The next day, after breakfast, their parents tell them to go out and make new friends. The two kids walk down the street and meet a boy named Ray, who happens to look just like the boy in the window whom Amanda saw during their first day in Dark Falls. He says he used to live in their house. This leaves Amanda quite confused and puzzled. Then they get introduced by Ray to a large group of children among whom some were of their age and some were teenagers. Their names were George, Jerry, Karen and Bill. The children were really creepy and started to close in Josh and Amanda. The siblings felt terrified. Suddenly Mr. Dawes, the realtor shows up who was on his way to visit their parents. The creepy children then disperse and after that they had a wonderful game of baseball. Then one night, the dog Petey escapes from the house and the two kids were desperate to find him. Their parents left for a neighborhood party leaving them at home alone. At midnight, the kids decide to go and search for Petey at the cemetery, someone appeared to be following them. It was Ray. He didn't want them to go there. In fact, he almost threatened them not to do so. But why? Suddenly they notice Petey who had lowered his head and was trotting towards the cemetery. But he didn't seem to recognise them nor did he respond to their calls. The siblings couldn't understand that. Why was Petey behaving so weird? They then discover an amphitheatre in the cemetery. Amanda notices the names of Ray, Karen, George, Jerry and Bill inscripted on the gravestone. She is confused as well as terrified. And suddenly Ray appears in front of them whose eyes were flickering red. 
1. What was all going in the town of Dark Falls that Amanda and her family was unaware of ?
2. Would Amanda be able to save her innocent family from the creepy residents of Dark Falls?
To get answers of all these questions, do read the book 'Goosebumps: Welcome To Dead House'.


Review

One of the primary reasons why we would read this book is due to its cover illustrations. It is so colourful and creepy as well with some eerie lightning coming from door and illuminating some creepy guy in the window. Then comes this little phrase on the book, "Reader beware - you're in for a scare!" It certainly gives you a spooky feeling like reading this book at once. Then comes the story. It is neither too long nor too short. Just the right length. The story is quite engaging from the beginning itself. The author has not used very complex language instead kept it simple and easy to understand. (Its obvious that its meant for kids.) Every scene is described so well that readers can easily understand as well as imagine it.
The story is full of twists and turns. There's a scene in the story where the creepy children are introduced to Josh and Amanda. Among those children, a girl named Karen says to Amanda that she used to live in her house hinting at something evil about to happen. The only thing which some readers might not like is the ending of the story. It was not good as expected. The author could have ended the story in a different way. But overall, the book is amazing!

Final Verdict

If you're looking for a short, spooky and engaging book, then this book is a must.

Rating

3.9/5




Book Details

Title - Goosebumps: Welcome To Dead House
Genre - Children's Horror Story
Author - R. L. Stine
Cover type - Paperbound
Pages - INR 250
Pages - 123
Publisher - Scholastic Corp.






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