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A review by thecanadagoose
Attack of the Mutant by R.L. Stine
3.0
This was bought for me as a birthday present - it was my favourite Goosebumps book as a child. These books are probably the origin of my penchant for horror (both films and books), having read most of [a:R. L. Stine|13730|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1194380070p2/13730.jpg]'s Goosebumps books over the years as a youngster. As it's only short, I thought I'd give it a go between other books as a nice filler and see if they hold up at all!
The story follows Skipper Matthews and his obsession with collecting comic books, however the one he is truly a fanatic about is the Masked Mutant. Whilst riding the bus to an orthodontist appointment, he gets distracted talking to a girl called Libby and ends up in a strange part of town. After getting off the bus, he sees a building that looks identical to the Masked Mutant headquarters he saw in his comics. Returning a week later, the building has vanished: however this is explained in the following issue of the comic, where the mutant has placed an invisibility curtain around the building. He decides to investigate the building with the help of Libby, assuming it cannot be the headquarters of a supervillainous mutant. Is this really the headquarters or just some kooky building the HQ was modelled after?
As far as I remember, this has a very different feel to all of the other Goosebumps books. I feels weirdly ahead of its time, coming out before the massive superhero boom of the mid-naughties. As far as the rest of the series goes, it's quite an average story - I don't think it was as scary or as surprising as the other books. However, it's nice to read something a little different, and the story was unique and interesting, especially to a closeted comic book fan!
This is clearly a kids book, but because they're such quick reads I think anyone could enjoy the Goosebumps series, and this is a really nice inclusion. Stine has been called the '[a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] of children's literature' and he always delivers, giving fun, quick, quirky horror stories. If you're looking for something deeper than that, this is probably not going to do it for you.
If you're looking for a book to pass an hour, or you want to read some light, fun, horror to your kids, this is definitely something you should be purchasing. Anything more than that, it's not for you. It's for that reason I'm giving it 3 stars!
The story follows Skipper Matthews and his obsession with collecting comic books, however the one he is truly a fanatic about is the Masked Mutant. Whilst riding the bus to an orthodontist appointment, he gets distracted talking to a girl called Libby and ends up in a strange part of town. After getting off the bus, he sees a building that looks identical to the Masked Mutant headquarters he saw in his comics. Returning a week later, the building has vanished: however this is explained in the following issue of the comic, where the mutant has placed an invisibility curtain around the building. He decides to investigate the building with the help of Libby, assuming it cannot be the headquarters of a supervillainous mutant. Is this really the headquarters or just some kooky building the HQ was modelled after?
As far as I remember, this has a very different feel to all of the other Goosebumps books. I feels weirdly ahead of its time, coming out before the massive superhero boom of the mid-naughties. As far as the rest of the series goes, it's quite an average story - I don't think it was as scary or as surprising as the other books. However, it's nice to read something a little different, and the story was unique and interesting, especially to a closeted comic book fan!
This is clearly a kids book, but because they're such quick reads I think anyone could enjoy the Goosebumps series, and this is a really nice inclusion. Stine has been called the '[a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] of children's literature' and he always delivers, giving fun, quick, quirky horror stories. If you're looking for something deeper than that, this is probably not going to do it for you.
If you're looking for a book to pass an hour, or you want to read some light, fun, horror to your kids, this is definitely something you should be purchasing. Anything more than that, it's not for you. It's for that reason I'm giving it 3 stars!