I’ve got to give Amy credit. If Arnie was my little brother, I would have sought revenge much sooner than she did. Arnie is an absolute brat and their parents don’t even discipline him. He gets away with everything and Amy has just reached her limit.
“Arnie is ruining my life!”
It’s time for revenge of the sticky, oozy blue slime variety. Only things don’t exactly go to plan.
I’m old, so my introduction to R.L. Stine dates all the way back to the late 80’s, when The Babysitter had me not wanting to answer the phone (the kind that plugged into the wall). Having been indoctrinated for a couple of years by The Baby-Sitters Club, Stine also managed to turn me off babysitting for life.
I thoroughly enjoyed being terrified by Stine’s Point Horror books. By the time the Goosebumps books were published, though, I thought I was too old to read them and I’ve always felt like I missed out on something special.
Now I’m old enough to no longer care what anyone thinks of my reading list and this slimefest looked like the perfect reintroduction to one of my favourite authors from my childhood.
This read was just as fun as I’d hoped it would be. Amy’s voice is engaging and her struggles with a little brother whose behaviour had me considering an exorcism are relatable, even with the elements that don’t feature in that many childhoods.
I know kid me would have adored it as well, and probably would have mixed up a batch of slime to see what happened. Adult me has made note of where to find the list of ingredients, just in case.
I haven’t read enough R.L. Stine books to know if he sneaks in pop culture references but, intentional or not, when the creature bounded out of Amy’s closet, it brought to mind the Terror Dog we first met in Louis’ apartment in Ghostbusters. I then spent most of the book hoping a character would blurt out ‘He slimed me.’ But enough about my Ghostbusters obsession. I was also pretty chuffed that the horror movie director’s surname was Craven.
I’d like to think I’d brave Arnie to claim some of his mother’s Friday night homemade pizza. Minus the quills, of course.
I can foresee a Goosebumps binge in my future.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
Lots of little brothers can be pests and troublemakers — but Amy’s brother Arnie is a MONSTER …
In this R.L. Stine family-friendly scare fest, Amy and her friend, Lissa, don’t know what to do about Arnie’s bullying, bad-boy behaviour, and mean jokes and pranks. The little monster is ruining their lives!
The girls decide it’s payback time. Total humiliation for Arnie. They find a recipe for blue slime on a YouTube channel and mix a big bucket to pour over Arnie at his birthday party.
To their horror, the girls instantly discover that SLIME DOESN’T PAY! Before their eyes, Arnie’s whole body starts to change. The slime turns him into a real monster.
Now Amy and Lissa have two frightening dilemmas: Can they save their town from the raging Arnie Monster? And is there any way to turn the monster back into Arnie?
Schizanthus Nerd 