Under the Magician's Spell

by R. L. Stine

  “Hey, now we know the book won’t be seen if we put it in the fishbowl,” you tell Sid. “Either the fishbowl or the water makes things invisible. We’d better put the book in something to keep it from getting wet. But what?”

  Sid reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a plastic bag. It has half of a peanut butter sandwich in it. He removes the sandwich and stuffs the whole thing into his mouth. “Here you go,” he mumbles with his mouth full.

  You take the Baggie from Sid and slip the book inside. Then you drop the Baggie into the fishbowl.

  Joanie comes up beside you. She picks up a short black stick sitting on the shelf and taps it on the fishbowl.

  “What do you think this is?” she asks.

  “How should I know?” you snap. “Maybe it’s the Magician’s magic wand. Quit playing with it.”

  Joanie sticks the wand into the bowl and stirs.

  Oh, no! Maybe she shouldn’t have done that!

  Turn to PAGE 100.

  Joanie grabs the book from your hand.

  “There must be some clue,” she says. You stare at Joanie. She is still fading! Her hands are barely visible. It almost looks as if the book is floating in the air.

  “There’s no time left,” you say. “We’ve got to get the book to the Magic Shop before you disappear completely.”

  You have a plan. It’s a simple plan. But it just might work. And it’s the only way to save Joanie.

  “I’ll take one path,” you explain. “If you hear me scream, the two of you take the other path. That will be my signal.”

  You stand between the two paths. “Bring the book with you,” Sid says. “Maybe it can help.”

  You stare at the two identical stone paths. Which one should you take?

  All you have to go on is luck. Is today a lucky day?

  That depends on the day you are reading this book.

  If today’s date is even, take the left path. Turn to PAGE 111.

  If today’s date is odd, take the path on the right, and turn to PAGE 129.

  You are positive something Joanie did was the clue to your escape. But what was it?

  You retrace her steps. Sid follows right behind you. When you come to an abrupt stop, Sid bangs into you.

  “I’ve got it!” you cry, jumping up and down.

  “What?” Sid demands. “You’ve got what?”

  “Joanie, you are fantastic!” You swoop over to her and plant a big kiss on her head. She stares up at you.

  “Wh-wh-what did I do?” she stammers.

  “When Joanie threw her fit, she stamped her foot,” you explain. “It made a hollow sound. That means there must be a trapdoor underneath this spot on the floor.”

  The three of you quickly roll back the rug. There it is — a shiny metal latch in the floor. Your key to freedom!

  The trapdoor opens with a creak and a groan. You can see the top of a set of stairs. A wave of damp, musty-smelling air rises up the steps.

  “Come on,” you say. You lead the way down the stairs.

  “I can’t see anything,” Joanie complains behind you.

  “Shush,” you whisper. “We don’t know what we’ll find down here.”

  That’s when you hear it. A bloodcurdling scream.

  Go on to PAGE 81 — if you dare!

  “I called you,” you manage to say. “We need help escaping from here. We want to go home.”

  The giant genie opens his mouth and lets out a blast of laughter that sends you halfway across the room.

  “You’ve called the wrong genie,” shouts the huge genie. “I’m the Evil Genie. Humans serve me.”

  The genie reaches down and picks you up. He neatly tucks you under his arm. He is so enormous he can fit Joanie and Sid under his other arm.

  “You will soon get used to your new home,” he growls. “I live in a castle far from here. You will clean the castle, rake the hay, chop the firewood, and herd the cows. Of course you will also cook my meals and do anything I say.”

  The genie shouts a strange command. The room begins to fade away.

  Well, you wanted a way out of the factory.

  Now you’ll have to find a way to escape from the genie!

  THE END

  “Okay,” you tell the others. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The giant opens a trapdoor in the floor. He pulls Joanie through it. Sid follows closely behind.

  You peer into the dark hole in the floor. A damp smell makes your nose crinkle. You see crooked steps leading down.

  You hope this wasn’t a mistake.

  You climb down the steps. You find yourself in a dark tunnel. Mold and cobwebs cling to the rough walls. The others are far ahead of you. You have to follow the sounds of their voices.

  You finally come to an open doorway. You glance inside. You are met with a weird sight. Sid is sitting on the giant’s knee. There’s another kid sitting on the giant’s other knee. The ugliest kid you’ve ever seen.

  But you don’t see Joanie anywhere. What’s going on?

  Rush into the room on PAGE 5.

  You take one step onto the left path. You stop and glance around. So far so good. Nothing terrible has happened.

  You gather up your courage and continue to walk. But slowly. Very slowly. Your hands are clenched into tight fists.

  You scan ahead, looking for signs of trouble. You see someone — she stands on the path in front of you. She is wearing a silky white dress.

  She is waving her hand at you. She is trying to tell you something. You can’t quite hear her.

  You hurry toward her.

  “This is the wrong path,” she says sweetly.

  The wrong path! Her words echo in your ears. You try not to panic. Your body turns cold, then hot.

  You’ve got to try to turn around. You have to run back, but your feet won’t move.

  A huge black tentacle wraps around your ankles. The tentacles come from beneath the woman’s dress.

  You hear a high-pitched laugh. The beautiful woman’s face dissolves into a mass of worms.

  Your heart starts pounding and you can scarcely breathe. Tentacles snap forward and wrap around your chest. They start to squeeze. And squeeze.

  Turn to PAGE 13.

  The man is tall and dressed in a sequined white suit. He wears a blue mask that covers half his face. You can tell he has no idea he is standing on the Magic Book.

  You want to keep it that way.

  “Welcome, welcome, welcome,” the Masked Man says. “Are you my new assistants?”

  “Uh, why, yes we are,” you say. You glance at Joanie. She gives you a little nod. Then you wink at Sid. He winks back. He understood your plan immediately.

  You approach the Masked Man and shake his hand, pulling him off the book. “Nice to meet you,” you say, walking him toward Sid. You glance back to see Joanie grab the Magic Book and slip it into her backpack.

  “Oh, good,” the Masked Man replies. “I can never seem to keep assistants. Now come along.”

  The Masked Man leads you over to a low table. You don’t like what you see. On it is a long, gleaming sword and a very sharp saw. A long box lies on a table nearby.

  “Which trick would you like to do?” the Masked Man asks. “The Cabinet of Swords? Or would you rather be sawn in half?”

  You don’t like those options. But he’s waiting. Choose!

  To be sawn in half, turn to PAGE 49.

  Try your luck in the Cabinet of Swords on PAGE 55.

  You were right. Behind the curtain is a brick wall. But there’s something else, too. A wooden cabinet with rows of glass shelves. And on the shelves are heads.

  Human heads.

  You, Sid, and Joanie stand frozen in fear. You can’t tear your eyes away from the horrible sight. Twelve shrunken human heads stare back at you.

  “You monster!” you shout. You force yourself to face the evil Magician.

  But he disappears through the brick wall. Again.

  You have to think of something. You real
ly don’t want to have your head shrunk. You don’t even want to see Joanie get her annoying head shrunk.

  “Now what?” Sid asks.

  “Let’s give back the book,” Joanie says.

  “I don’t think we should,” Sid argues. “He might not let us go after we give him what he wants. That book is our only assurance that he won’t hurt us — at least for an hour,” he adds, glancing at the hourglass.

  “But if we don’t give him the book, he’ll take our heads for sure!” Joanie counters. They turn to you for a decision.

  If you think you should give the book back to the Magician now, turn to PAGE 78.

  If you think you’ll have better luck by hanging on to the book and trying to find a way to escape, turn to PAGE 36.

  “Joanie, don’t move!” You race to her side. Your mom will be furious if you allowed Joanie to chop off her finger. You force yourself to look down at your sister’s hand. You hope you’ll be able to stand the sight of all that blood.

  Joanie slowly pulls her hand from the guillotine. She grins up at you, waving all five fingers.

  Do you strangle Joanie now? Turn to PAGE 25.

  Or do you use every ounce of strength and try to ignore your little sister’s tricks? Turn to PAGE 6.

  “Oh well,” Joanie sighs. “I thought it was a good idea.”

  The handcuffs are still on Sid’s wrists.

  Sid stands up to search for other tools. He trips over a box. He falls to the floor — and the handcuffs snap free!

  “Do you believe it?” he says, holding out his arms.

  “The cuffs must open automatically if you fall,” you reply. “Let’s get back to the mall so we can return the handcuffs and the book.”

  “And get our bikes,” Joanie adds.

  You, Sid, and Joanie hurry back to the mall. You are just about to enter through the main doors when you hear a voice behind you. “Well, look who’s here. The nerd patrol.”

  It’s Larry Green. Larry Green is the school bully. This year he has chosen you as his latest victim.

  “Go away, Larry,” you say. You try to sound cool. “We don’t want any trouble.”

  Buddy and D. J., Larry’s only two friends, step out from behind some parked cars.

  “We’re collecting for charity,” Larry tells you.

  “Yeah,” D. J. sneers. “Each of you gives us a donation.”

  “Only if you can spell donation,” you joke. This makes D. J. mad. He grabs Joanie’s backpack.

  Oh, no! The Magic Book is in there!

  Turn to PAGE 59.

  Joanie has taken you completely by surprise with her goofy idea. “Are you crazy?” you snap. “Our only chance is to run for the window.”

  Before she can argue with you, you grab Joanie’s sweater and shove her ahead of you. You race to the broken window, pushing her hard. Joanie jumps out onto the fire escape.

  You’re so close. You stretch your arm forward. Your fingers grab the sill. You have one foot over the edge.

  Bam! The weight of the dog hits you. His powerful jaws clamp shut around your right leg. The dog yanks hard, dragging you backward into the room.

  Your fingernails scratch on the dusty floor as you desperately try to resist the pull of the dog. But it’s useless. There’s nothing to hold on to, nothing to grab.

  You twist and turn, hoping to wrench your leg free. This seems to make the dog angry. It snarls through clenched teeth, clamping down harder on your leg.

  Turn to PAGE 94.

  “The dog looks friendly now,” you warn, “but a minute ago he was ready to take a chomp out of me.”

  “I think the spell worked,” Sid says.

  “Me, too,” Joanie agrees. You notice the dog eyeing you.

  “Maybe you should read that spell again,” you tell Joanie. “And Sid and I will find out if the dog is really our friend.”

  “Good idea,” Sid says.

  You and Sid slowly approach the dog. You place yourselves on either side of him. “Nice doggie,” you say.

  Joanie reads the magic spell over again. You reach out to pat the German shepherd.

  You feel the strangest sensation — as if you’re shrinking inside your skin. Your body begins to shake. You fall to the floor. You roll over a few times, then sit back on your heels.

  Oh, no! No! No! No! You look over at Sid. The same thing is happening to him. What spell did Joanie read?

  Joanie stands over you. Her eyes are wide with shock. The paper in her hand falls to the ground.

  You read the first line —

  Spell to Turn One Into a Playful Dog.

  THE END

  Your eyes adjust to the semidarkness. You quickly discover the two glowing eyes belong to a mean-looking German shepherd. It bares its teeth. A low, threatening growl comes from its throat.

  This is not a friendly dog.

  You try to remain absolutely still. Your mom always told you that dogs can smell fear. “Uh, nice doggie?” you manage to say. The huge dog growls again.

  Slowly, very slowly, you glance over your shoulder to see what Sid and Joanie are doing.

  Joanie has already followed you in through the window. Now she is pressed up against the wall. Sid is still outside on the fire escape. His eyes are wide with fear.

  “Back up,” he calls out to you. “You can make it through the window.”

  You’re not so sure. The window looks awfully far away.

  Turn to PAGE 99.

  “This is not my book!” the Magician thunders.

  “Now!” you shout to Joanie. She jumps to her feet. In her hand is the real Magic Book. Joanie had been waiting for your signal. While you were stalling, she was searching for a magic spell that might help you.

  “No pra eet pas la nook,” Joanie pronounces.

  “Huh?” you say. You doubt the nonsense she just read will stop the Magician.

  “Nooooo!” the Magician roars. His hands fly up as he tries to cover his ears. Joanie repeats the strange words.

  Amazing! The spell seems to be working.

  “Nooooo!” the Magician wails again. He wraps himself entirely in his cape, as if he hopes it will block out the sound of the spell. He is completely hidden inside it. Then the cape drops silently to the floor.

  The Magician has vanished.

  Did the spell work? That depends. Is today your lucky day? The Magic Book says Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are lucky days.

  If you’re reading this on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, turn to PAGE 134.

  If you’re reading this on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday, go to PAGE 24.

  You decide to search the Dumpster. If D. J. threw away the Magic Book, then you can grab it and get out of this spooky place. When you’re sure Larry and his pals are inside, you, Sid, and Joanie run to the Dumpster.

  Somehow, you’re elected to go into the Dumpster. You step on an old milk crate near the Dumpster and throw one leg over the metal side. You hang on to the edge, gazing at the mound of trash.

  Yuck. Wads of slimy papers smeared with greasy stains clump together. Moldy food containers and banana peels rot in piles. Gross-looking things you can’t even identify are scattered among boards and plaster hunks.

  The smell is overpowering. The rotting garbage must have been in the Dumpster for days. You try to hold your breath as you drop onto the disgusting heap.

  “Do you see the Magic Book?” Sid yells from outside the Dumpster.

  “Not yet,” you reply. “Wait a minute.” You kick away some junk. “I think I see something with a gold cover.”

  You dig through the trash. There it is! You can see the Magic Book. It is lying between two rusty old metal cans.

  You kneel down and reach between the two cans. The trash shifts under you. You make a desperate lunge for the book.

  Turn to PAGE 29.

  The giant scorpion whips his tail back and forth. You know even a regular-size scorpion has a deadly sting.

  “Are you going t-t-to eat me?” you stammer
. Your voice shakes with terror.

  “YES, I AM,” shouts the scorpion, lunging toward you.

  Your legs turn to rubber. You didn’t think he would really answer you! This scorpion talks!

  “Just kidding,” he growls. “I’m going to save you. Where’s that cute sister of yours, and the chubby boy? I thought there were three coming.”

  “You mean this is the right path?” you manage to ask. It’s hard to believe this is the Path to Safety. Giant snakes and huge talking scorpions don’t make you feel very cozy.

  “Yes, indeedy,” the scorpion growls. “You are on the Scorpion Safetyway. Had you fooled, didn’t I?”

  “Ye-yes,” you say. “I thought for sure I was a scorpion snack.”

  “Everyone does.” The scorpion snickers. “That’s why they all scream.”

  Scream? Did I scream? you wonder.

  Turn to PAGE 79.

  Joanie suddenly clutches your hand. Hard.

  “Joanie,” you whisper. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s — it’s …” She can’t seem to speak. She shoves her diary in your face.

  “I don’t want to read your dumb diary,” you tell her. “It’s just full of all that stupid junk you write.”

  She shoves the diary at you again, only harder.

  “Stop it,” you say firmly. “I don’t have time for this. I’m trying to think of a way out of here.”

  You’re beginning to get angry. Why does Joanie always have to act like such a jerk? Sid is about to explode. Larry and his friends have the Magic Book. It’s beginning to look as if there’s no way out of this mess.

  Joanie’s voice breaks into your thoughts.

  “This isn’t my diary!” she cries out. “It’s the Magic Book!”

  Flip to PAGE 105.