Escape from the Carnival of Horrors

by R. L. Stine

It’s a mechanical bat.

  All part of the ride, you think. You think about the boat ride. Boy, they really make things seem real at this carnival, you think. You feel much better when you gaze up ahead. There’s a clearing.

  But when you see what’s there — you scream!

  Turn to PAGE 93.

  “Got a winner, got a winner,” the parrot squawks. “You’ve won twenty-five points, plus anything you want in the prize room. Step this way.”

  Eagerly, you follow the bird into a storeroom behind the booth. It’s packed with the weirdest assortment of junk you’ve ever seen. Dusty old catalogs, stuffed rats, a collection of axes, and portraits of headless people holding their own heads!

  “So pick something. It’s getting late,” the parrot says.

  Not this garbage, you think. Then you spot a shelf of small cans with bright labels: PLAY AND GLOW, CLAY SLIME, and MONSTER BLOOD. Monster Blood? Hey, isn’t that the magic stuff you read about in GOOSEBUMPS?

  “I’ll take the Monster Blood,” you decide.

  “Excellent choice,” the parrot remarks.

  As you quickly leave the room with your prize, you wonder, is twenty-five points enough? What do you do next?

  If you want to spin again for more points, go to PAGE 9.

  If you haven’t played Guess Your Weight on Mars yet, go to PAGE 72.

  If you have played Guess Your Weight on Mars, go to PAGE 17.

  You close your eyes. When you open them, your car lunges forward with a burst of speed — and you loop-the-loop. Your mouth drops open to scream, but no sound comes out.

  Now your car starts to plunge downward — like an elevator out of control. Your heart pounds in your chest. This is the fastest and best roller coaster you’ve ever been on! As you near the bottom, you slow down. You begin to catch your breath. And then you see what’s up ahead. A huge black hole — a tunnel!

  As you shoot toward the open mouth of the tunnel, you begin to scream again. The door of the tunnel is about to close!

  Snap! The door comes crashing down — behind your car. You breathe out a long sigh. But now you’re in a tunnel so dark that you can’t see a thing.

  Scary! But not nearly as scary as what happens next.

  What happens? Turn to PAGE 94 to find out!

  “Five, four, three, two, one. We have liftoff,” a mechanical voice announces.

  To your horror, the rocket blasts off! You’re slammed against the side of the capsule with hurricane force. Seconds later, you’ve left Earth’s atmosphere.

  A recorded message comes on: “Congratulations. You are the perfect weight for our Mars explorer. We’ll be monitoring your trip and will bring you back in approximately twenty years — with a plus or minus ten-year margin of error in case something goes wrong. But do not worry. Nothing can go wrong … go wrong … go wrong.”

  THE END

  “What do you mean the magic number could save my life?” you ask Madame Zeno. But the fortune-teller doesn’t answer. She stares off into space. She seems to have fallen into a deep trance.

  You don’t really believe her — these fortune-tellers are all fakes, but you memorize the number anyway. 1–3–2, 1–3–2. I picked red instead of blue, you chant to help you remember.

  Madame Zeno puts the card back in the deck. She closes her eyes and waves you away with her jeweled hand.

  You guess the fortune-telling is over, so you leave the tent to search for Patty and Brad.

  You squint under the bright lights of the midway, scanning all the game booths. But you can’t find them.

  You’re trying to figure out which way to go when you spot Big Al coming toward you. He’s not alone. He’s leading a large group of people. As they come closer, you hear that they are chanting something. What is it?

  “PLAY OR PAY. PLAY OR PAY.”

  What does that mean?

  Turn to PAGE 16 to find out.

  A wave of panic washes over you as the walls crumble around you. You throw your arms over your head and close your eyes.

  Then silence. The shaking stops.

  When you open your eyes, the room and all the costumed people have vanished. And you are outside — in the rides area! But the biggest surprise of all is that you spot Patty and Brad!

  “Boy, am I glad to see you,” you say, racing over to them. “Where have you guys been?”

  Brad shakes his head. “You wouldn’t believe the rides we were on!”

  “We’ve got to get out of here before midnight,” you say. Quickly, you tell your friends about the warning from the lady with the red parasol.

  “No problem,” Patty says. “Look. I’m sure the exit is right over there past that ride called the Hall of the Mountain King.”

  “No, it’s that way — near the sign that says ‘Halloween Express,’ ” Brad insists.

  Which way do you think is the right way?

  Halloween Express? Then turn to PAGE 108.

  Mountain King? Then turn to PAGE 107.

  You are about to scream. It seems like the only sensible thing to do.

  And then you remember the sign.

  Reptile Petting Zoo.

  You have an idea. It’s a crazy idea, you know. But everything in this carnival is crazy.

  You can feel the alligator’s hot breath on your arm. But instead of pulling your arm back, you stretch it out!

  “What are you doing?” Patty screams.

  Your fingers reach out. Out over the alligator’s open snout to the top of his head.

  And you pet him.

  “Nice alligator,” you purr as you stroke his scaly head.

  Your arm trembles, but you don’t stop. And slowly — very slowly — the creature’s mouth begins to shut.

  Then he rolls over and falls asleep!

  You slip quietly off the log, charge for the shore — and plow right into Big Al!

  “Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” Big Al sings out. “Come with me. It’s time for The Final Challenge.”

  You have no choice. Follow Big Al to PAGE 84.

  You’re spinning round and round. Everything is a blur. You can’t see, but you hear the crowd chanting, “FI-NAL! FI-NAL! FI-NAL!”

  And then the wheel stops.

  A huge gasp escapes from the audience.

  Did you win or lose?

  Neither. You stopped on SPIN AGAIN.

  Go back to PAGE 25 and spin again.

  The giant looms over you. He’s as tall as the tree outside your house — and a lot meaner. His huge lips part and he says, “You hurt my feelings.”

  Then he begins to cry.

  “I am not a wimp. I am not,” he says between huge sobs.

  He sure looks like a wimp.

  Turn to PAGE 98.

  You’re falling … falling … everything passes as if you’re dropping in slow motion. Is this …

  THE END?

  Yes.

  The tracks stretch up so high that they seem to touch the clouds. Your gaze follows one of the cars speeding around a sharp curve. It looks like the space shuttle. You notice that it has a safety harness that locks over your body — you’ve seen those before. They keep you in when the ride turns upside down. You didn’t want to admit it before, but, like Brad, riding upside down is not your favorite thing.

  Still, the coaster does look amazing — one part enters a tunnel — and you can see that the cars go fast. Really Fast!

  You’re just about to walk through the Space Coaster gate when you hear spooky organ music coming from behind you. You turn around. Looming in the distance is a dark and creepy haunted house.

  You gaze down at your map. It’s called the House of Horrors. Hmmm. You love haunted houses. And this one really looks scary.

  Now you’re not sure what to do. You won’t have time for everything. The coaster or the haunted house? Decide now.

  If you decide to join Patty and Brad on the Space Coaster, get on board on PAGE 26.

  If you want to go to the House of Horrors alone, go
to PAGE 64.

  “Come on!” Patty cries. “Come on!”

  Then, without another word, she races off. You and Brad dash after her.

  I hope Patty knows what she’s doing, you think as you try to catch up. Because right now, it doesn’t look that way.

  Patty leads you through a maze of underground passageways. Then, just as you’re about to yell, “Stop!” — she does. And you find yourself standing outside, in front of a barbed-wire fence!

  Up ahead, you spot an opening.

  “Let’s go in!” Patty says.

  The three of you creep through the fence and trudge through some tall, wet grass. You gaze around. It’s way too dark to see.

  But you can hear perfectly. And the sounds that reach your ears make your skin crawl.

  Slithering. You definitely hear slithering.

  And hissing.

  You want to leave. You spin around, but you can’t find the opening in the fence! You do see something else. A sign!

  Hurry to PAGE 60.

  The wheel stops on FREE SPIN. You are ready to try again. But the dumb parrot flies over and latches onto your shoulder.

  “Ouch! That hurts,” you cry.

  “Free spin, free spin, you’re going on a free spin.”

  “Turn me loose,” you command. When you swivel your head to glare at the bird, a scream freezes in your throat. The parrot has ballooned into an enormous vulture. His black, beady eyes pierce right through you. He digs his razor-sharp claws deeper into your shoulder.

  Run! — your every survival instinct shouts. But the bird of prey has other ideas. One of them is dinner — with you as the main course.

  The big bird snatches you by the back of your shirt as if you were a rag doll. Kicking and screaming and using every defensive move you learned from karate class, you struggle for your life. But it’s no use. With a jerk he lifts you off the ground.

  And suddenly you have a frightening view of the carnival from twenty feet … thirty feet … fifty feet up.

  Fly on to PAGE 50.

  Thummp, thump, thump. Your heart bangs loudly inside your chest. What kind of carnival is this, you wonder, where a free spin is more like a death sentence?

  You circle a green clump of treetops. You’re really dizzy now. You want to close your eyes. But you know it’s not a good idea — since you’re flying fifty feet high without a plane or a parachute.

  As you circle closer to the treetops, you are met with a horrifying view. Five baby vultures in a nest, five very hungry babies, with mouths gaping wide open.

  The end is near. You are going to wind up as a take-home dinner. Unless you can somehow force the vulture to let you go. Frantically, you reach into your pockets!

  If you’ve won a chocolate bar at one of the Games of Chance, go to PAGE 76.

  If you haven’t, go to PAGE 115.

  You can’t take on both monsters, so you decide to wait until one of them leaves the room.

  You grab hold of Dr. Stone’s hand. He’s a lot stronger than he looks. With one small tug, he pulls you free of the web.

  Then he turns to the monsters. “Okay,” he barks. “Adjust the net. It’s time to practice spiking.”

  Spiking? What does he mean by that?

  The monsters leap up. They rub their hands together in evil delight. Then they untie the net and head to the back of the room, where two huge poles rest on the floor.

  You close your eyes — and hope that when you open them, you’ll see that this was all a dream. A really bad dream.

  But when you open your eyes, you know it’s not a dream. No — it’s a volleyball game. The net has been tied to the poles — and guess what position you play? That’s right. You’re the ball! Watch out for those two-handed spikes! They can be pretty painful!

  THE END

  Just as the clock strikes twelve, the train enters a tunnel.

  You hold your breath, wondering what you’ll see when you reach the other end.

  Chug. Chug. Chug.

  The choo-choo slowly pulls out of the tunnel — and you are surrounded by carnival workers — everywhere!

  Chug to PAGE 24.

  Oh, no! You think the space lady guessed right! Now what’s going to happen?

  The two guards shove you into the space chamber.

  It’s a clear, narrow tube that rises farther up than you can see.

  As the door slams shut behind you, one of the guards barks, “Get on the scale!”

  You step up on the scale — and it shows just how right the space lady’s guess was.

  You press the chamber-door release, but it’s stuck.

  You try again. It doesn’t budge.

  Maybe it’s locked from the outside.

  “Hey! I can’t get out!” you yell to the guards. But they simply wave.

  “Hey, let me out!” Now you’re mad. “Let me out!”

  All at once the room starts to shake and rattle. RRRRRRRR. The thrust of powerful rocket engines echoes in your ears. It sounds as if you’re being launched into space. But that’s impossible, isn’t it?

  Go to PAGE 40.

  Your Halloween Express car pulls up in front of a cottage and the cottage door opens with a creak. You all jerk your heads up to peer at the door. You see a skeleton wearing an evil smile. And he lunges right for you!

  “Trick or treat!” he screeches. Then he stretches out his bony hands to snatch you!

  You pound on the gas pedal, and the car shoots forward — out of the skeleton’s grasp!

  Your heart begins to race as the car speeds out of control. You tear through an eerie forest, speed past more cottages — but still you don’t see a way out.

  And then it comes into view — a service exit!

  All you have to do is stop the car, jump out, and scramble through the fence, and you’ll be free.

  You check your watch — five minutes to midnight!

  “Oh, no!” Patty screams. “Quick, turn left! Don’t stop!”

  Turn left! And go to PAGE 83.

  They’re dummies. That’s why they don’t move!

  “They’ve got to be here somewhere,” you hear Big Al’s voice boom outside the tent.

  “Hey! This dummy looks just like the one in that GOOSEBUMPS book,” Patty says.

  “You mean Night of the Living Dummy?” Brad asks.

  Great! you think. Your friends are chatting about books minutes before you’re about to be attacked by a mob. Then you get an idea.

  “Remember those magic words that brought the dummy to life in that book?” you ask your friends. “Maybe we can bring this guy to life and he’ll help us — he was pretty tough.”

  Your friends agree — it’s worth a try.

  If you think the words are karru marri odonna loma molonu karrano, go to PAGE 69.

  If you think the words are oooopah lupah dummie dupah, go to PAGE 82.

  You leap out of the boat. The putrid brown water splashes into your mouth. Gross!

  You swim a few strokes and suddenly find your knees scraping the bottom of the bog. The water here is less than a foot deep. Unbelievable! You were practically inches away from safety the entire time!

  Slogging through the brown foam, you wade to shore. Your clothes are dripping wet and smell like a sewer. Well, look at the bright side, you remind yourself. At least you didn’t go down with your boat.

  But your troubles aren’t over yet. You’re standing in a dank, eerie forest that surrounds the lake. Creepy screeches echo through the night mist. And you’re totally lost.

  The wind starts to blow. Shivering, you wrap your arms around your shoulders and wonder where your friends are and what they are doing.

  Then — POW! Something black and furry swoops down at you! You duck your head, but it comes at you again and again.

  A huge bat!

  Turn to PAGE 37.

  You open the blue door and peer through. You’re staring down a long dark passageway. At least you think it’s long. It’s difficult to tell. It’s pitch-black
. You don’t know what to do.

  “Maybe I should have picked the other door,” you say to yourself. “I’m getting out of here!”

  But the blue door has locked behind you! Now you’re sure you made the wrong choice. But there’s nowhere to go but forward.

  Your knees begin to tremble as you inch your way down the dark hallway.

  The passage ends in a bright burst of light. And in front of you, a tall purple mountain rises hundreds of feet into the air.

  You breathe out a long sigh of relief. You’re out of the dark!

  You study the mountain. It looks so real! But cut into its side, you spot a doorway. Above it a brightly painted sign reads: DOOM SLIDE. WILL YOU BE THE ONE TO SLIDE FOREVER?

  Turn to PAGE 135.

  Steel bars plunge down from above and drop across your lap and chest, pinning you in place. You can’t move at all. Even your head is held by superstrong headphones that clamp over your ears. A voice comes through them announcing: “Five, four, three, two, one, BLAST OFF!”

  You hear a huge bang. Smoke and fireworks fill the air as your car starts up the first big hill. Your head presses back against the seat as you climb higher and higher. That first hill is endless, but the view is awesome. From the top, you can see the midway, the haunted house, and a shadowy swamp. You can’t believe how big the carnival is!

  “Neat!” Patty yells. “There’s AHHHH —”

  Whatever she was going to say turns into a wild scream as the rocket plunges down the other side of the hill. The wind whips at your face. You are pressed back so hard, you feel like a pancake. Everything passes in a fantastic blur.