by R. L. Stine
I landed unsteadily. Dizzy, I struggled to gain my balance.
Before I realized what was happening, the mummy’s tarry hands swung around Shannon’s waist—and lifted her off the floor.
“Noooooo!” Shannon’s cry rang off the walls.
The mummy swung her over his shoulder. She punched with both fists and tried to kick him. But he didn’t even seem to notice.
Behind us, everyone still struggled to slap and shake the swarms of ancient insects off them. And I glimpsed Slappy, standing to the side, laughing, enjoying it all.
“You kids are wimps!” the dummy shouted. “They’re not biting you. They’re only tickling! Hahaha!”
Arragotus strode rapidly toward the mummy room. My sister bounced on his shoulder. I followed after them. I felt totally helpless. What could I do to save her?
“They’re only tickling!” Slappy shouted again from down the hall.
And then I saw a strange look on my sister’s face. Shannon stopped punching and kicking. She raised her eyebrows and a weird smile spread over her face.
And then I watched her reach one hand down and brush it against the side of the mummy’s head.
What is she doing?
The mummy slowed his pace.
Shannon ran her fingers against his face.
I finally realized what she was doing. She was tickling him!
The mummy stopped walking. His hand loosened around Shannon’s waist.
She reached lower—and tickled him under the chin.
He pushed his head back and made weird sounds.
“Grrummmpphhh grummmppph.”
Shannon curled her fingers and tickled under his chin again. Then she tickled the sides of his face some more.
“Hummmpphhh grrummmppph.”
What were those strange sounds?
Was it mummy laughter?
He lowered Shannon to the floor.
She tickled his belly with one hand. Then two hands.
He appeared to double over. Yes, he seemed to be laughing.
And as I watched in total shock, the mummy was on his back on the floor. And Shannon was leaning over him, tickling his stomach. Tickling him … tickling. Until he roared with laughter.
I stood with my eyes bulging, heart pounding, arms crossed tightly in front of me. Watching Shannon’s fingers as she tickled the laughing mummy.
And then Arragotus gave one last laugh, a hard laugh that made his head and chest rise up. Then he dropped back to the floor and was silent.
He didn’t move.
I waited … waited. Waited and watched, barely breathing.
Waited … until I was sure.
The mummy was dead again.
I lifted Shannon off the floor and hugged her tight. “You did it! You saved us!”
Dad came running and wrapped us both in a joyful hug.
“The Mad Tickler struck again!” I said, laughing and brushing away the tears from my eyes.
Dad gazed down at the mummy, flat on his back, arms pressed stiffly at his sides.
“I guess Arragotus needed something to laugh about. He hadn’t laughed in five thousand years,” he said. “All that roaring and smashing things and carrying on and frightening everyone. He just wanted a little affection.”
“Hey!” a shrill voice called from down the hall. I turned to see Slappy waving his arms above his head. “How about some affection for me? How about it, losers? I’m going to be needing your affection for a long, long time! Hahahaha!”
“Is it safe?” Mrs. Uris called. She led her group back down the stairs. My family was scattered in the hall. Logan and Aaron were sprawled on the floor, backs against the wall, heads down.
The screams had stopped, but I could still feel the panic in the room. Thank goodness the vicious, angry mummy had been put to rest.
But now I realized we all had another foe to deal with.
Slappy wasn’t joking. He was serious about becoming our master. The only reason he had tried to defeat the mummy was because he wanted to be the one to terrorize us.
Now he waved his arms for everyone’s attention. “Listen up, everyone!” he screeched. “Now that Kleenex Face is sleeping the good sleep, let me tell you how you will spend the rest of your lives. You’ll be serving me! Hahaha!”
I gritted my teeth. His shrill, ugly voice sent chills up the back of my neck.
Enough horror for one night! I told myself.
I knew what I had to do.
Tickling wouldn’t work for Slappy. But I was pretty sure I knew how to put him back to sleep.
He was waving his hands in triumph, raving and ranting. “You’re the lucky ones!” he cried. “The lucky ones to have me as your master! Haha!”
As he shouted and waved, I crept toward him. Walking on tiptoe, I moved silently, trying to stay in the shadow from the wall.
I knew where I was going, and I didn’t want the dummy to stop me.
Squinting hard, I saw the sheet of paper on the floor at the side of a broken bookshelf. I kept my eyes on it as I made my way across the room.
You’re going to sleep for a long, long time, Slappy, I thought.
My heart thudded. My legs were trembling. I had to force them to keep moving.
That sheet of paper seemed a mile away.
Could I get there? Could I read the words on it before the evil dummy did something to stop me?
With a gasp, I dove for the paper. My hands shook as I lifted it off the floor.
I raised it close to my face. Cleared my throat. And shouted the words on the page as loud as I could:
“ABASEEGO MODARO LAMADOROS CREBEN!”
Struggling to catch my breath, I turned to my dad. “Wait. Are those the right words?”
Hahahaha!
Was that a happy ending?
Maybe it’s a happy ending for Arragotus. He’ll be back on his feet in no time.
Looks like Arragotus and I will have to share the spotlight. Oh well, we can both have fun terrorizing those kids.
As I always say, “Two deads are better than one!” Hahahaha.
Does that make sense? Don’t trouble your little mind over it. Instead, remember that I’ll be back before you know it with another story.
After all, this is SlappyWorld.
You only scream in it!
Have I mentioned that I hate Ari Goodwyn?
I guess I haven’t mentioned it yet.
But I hate Ari, and you’ll soon see why.
My name is Frankie Miller. I’m twelve. My magician name is Magic Miller. My story starts while I’m onstage in the auditorium in front of everyone at Han Solo Middle School in Barberton, Ohio.
As you can probably tell, I like to be serious and careful and accurate and correct. Those are all important for a magician—especially for a magician who is just learning how to do dangerous tricks.
I’m in a magic club with my friends Melody Richmond and Eduardo Martinez. And Ari. One reason I hate Ari Goodwyn is that he is not serious and careful. And there are two other things. Ari is a goof. And he’s a flake. And there’s no place for a goof or a flake when you are performing magic.
Our magic club meets every Wednesday after school. We study the history of magic. We read about all the great magicians of the past. And we learn how to perform new tricks.
We don’t really want Ari in our club. He makes fun of us. He messes up our tricks. He has no interest in the history of magic. He has a bad attitude. And that’s the best thing I can say about him.
The problem is, the rec room in Ari’s basement is the only place we can meet. It’s the only place that’s big enough for us to spread out and try new tricks.
Also, Ari’s mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies and the sweetest lemonade. She brings them downstairs for us every week and then goes back upstairs and leaves us alone.
So, what choice do we have?
We have to keep Ari in the club—even though we wish he’d go upstairs with his mother and leave us alone, too.
I’m onstage in the auditorium. Mrs. Hazy, our principal, has introduced me as Magic Miller. And I am about to perform the most difficult illusion I know.
I am about to levitate myself off the floor.
I’m going to appear to float off the floor and hang suspended six feet in the air.
Of course, it’s an illusion. I can’t really float off the floor. I admit I have tried it several times when no one was watching. But I quickly learned the hard truth. I don’t have any special powers.
Everything I do has to be a trick, an illusion.
Some nights I dream that I can fly. In the dream, Melody, Eduardo, and I are performing a magic act onstage. We are wearing long red capes and holding magic wands. And as we end the act, our capes rise up behind us. We raise our wands in front of us. And we fly off the stage and out of the auditorium.
The dream is so real, I think I can feel the cool wind on my face. The three of us fly—like superheroes—across the starry night sky.
I’m always so disappointed when I wake up.
As I said, I’m a serious, sensible guy. So I’m always surprised when my dreams are so wild, so unrealistic.
Anyway …
I’m about to amaze everyone in my school by levitating above the stage.
It took a long time to set up the illusion properly.
I have a harness strapped to my back that no one can see. The curtain behind me is black. And I have a strong black cord that stretches up from my harness. No one can see the cord because it matches the curtain.
There is a catwalk above the stage. It’s like a metal scaffold with a wide walkway. The catwalk is hidden by the curtain.
So no one in the audience can see that Ari is high above me. He is kneeling at the top of the catwalk.
The black cord stretches from my harness up to the catwalk. Up there, it is coiled around a big metal wheel. You know, the kind of wheel you wrap a garden hose around.
When Ari turns the wheel, the cord will go tight. And then, as he turns it more, the cord will lift me off the floor. It will look as if I am floating up on my own.
Ari will pull me up at least six feet off the floor. All he has to do is hold onto the wheel. Hold it steady so I appear to float. Then he will lower me slowly to the floor as the audience claps and cheers and goes wild.
It was hard to set up. But an easy illusion to perform.
Melody and Eduardo were watching me from the side of the stage. Melody flashed me a thumbs-up.
I stepped into place. I could feel the cord tugging at the harness hidden on my back. I made my announcement to the audience:
“I will now perform the levitation trick known only to a few magicians in history,” I shouted. “Watch carefully. Without any props or devices, I will rise up from the stage and float in mid-air. Don’t try this at home, kids!”
I thought that was a pretty good joke. But only a few kids laughed.
I took a deep breath and raised my right hand. That was the signal for Ari to start pulling me up.
I felt the cord jerk. Then a hard tug.
And yes. Yes. The cord pulled me up. I stood straight with my hands out to my sides.
I heard a few kids gasp as my shoes left the stage floor.
Higher. A few inches off the floor.
I heard shouts in the audience. A few more gasps. Some kids started to clap.
The cord tugged hard as I rose. Two feet off the floor now. Slowly floating higher. Higher. Three feet. More.
A hush fell over the auditorium. I glimpsed Melody and Eduardo smiling at me from the wings.
I raised my right hand again. Ari followed my signal. He held tight, allowing me to float in place for a moment. I was at least four or five feet off the floor. One or two more feet to go.
The audience started to clap. I took a short bow with my head. My shoes dangled in midair.
And then …
I felt something go wrong.
Was the cord loosening?
Yes.
My breath caught in my throat as I felt myself start to go down. Fast.
And I opened my mouth in a frightened scream: “NOOOOOO! HELLLLLP!”
R.L. Stine says he gets to scare people all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 400 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. The Goosebumps series has more than 150 titles and has inspired a TV series and two motion pictures. R.L. himself is a character in the movies! He has also written the teen series Fear Street, and the Mostly Ghostly and Nightmare Room series. He is currently writing a series of graphic novels entitled Just Beyond. R.L. Stine lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher. You can learn more about him at rlstine.com
GOOSEBUMPS®
HALL OF HORRORS
#1 CLAWS!
#2 NIGHT OF THE GIANT EVERYTHING
#3 SPECIAL EDITION: THE FIVE MASKS OF DR. SCREEM
#4 WHY I QUIT ZOMBIE SCHOOL
#5 DON’T SCREAM!
#6 THE BIRTHDAY PARTY OF NO RETURN
GOOSEBUMPS®
MOST WANTED
#1 PLANET OF THE LAWN GNOMES
#2 SON OF SLAPPY
#3 HOW I MET MY MONSTER
#4 FRANKENSTEIN’S DOG
#5 DR. MANIAC WILL SEE YOU NOW
#6 CREATURE TEACHER: THE FINAL EXAM
#7 A NIGHTMARE ON CLOWN STREET
#8 NIGHT OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE
#9 HERE COMES THE SHAGGEDY
#10 THE LIZARD OF OZ
SPECIAL EDITION #1 ZOMBIE HALLOWEEN
SPECIAL EDITION #2 THE 12 SCREAMS OF CHRISTMAS
SPECIAL EDITION #3 TRICK OR TRAP
SPECIAL EDITION #4 THE HAUNTER
GOOSEBUMPS®
SLAPPYWORLD
#1 SLAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
#2 ATTACK OF THE JACK!
#3 I AM SLAPPY’S EVIL TWIN
#4 PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE WEIRDO
#5 ESCAPE FROM SHUDDER MANSION
#6 THE GHOST OF SLAPPY
#7 IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE!
GOOSEBUMPS®
Also available as ebooks
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY
DEEP TROUBLE
MONSTER BLOOD
THE HAUNTED MASK
ONE DAY AT HORRORLAND
THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
SAY CHEESE AND DIE!
THE HORROR AT CAMP JELLYJAM
HOW I GOT MY SHRUNKEN HEAD
THE WEREWOLF OF FEVER SWAMP
A NIGHT IN TERROR TOWER
WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE
WELCOME TO CAMP NIGHTMARE
GHOST BEACH
THE SCARECROW WALKS AT MIDNIGHT
YOU CAN’T SCARE ME!
RETURN OF THE MUMMY
REVENGE OF THE LAWN GNOMES
PHANTOM OF THE AUDITORIUM
VAMPIRE BREATH
STAY OUT OF THE BASEMENT
A SHOCKER ON SHOCK STREET
LET’S GET INVISIBLE!
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY 2
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY 3
THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF PASADENA
THE BLOB THAT ATE EVERYONE
THE GHOST NEXT DOOR
THE HAUNTED CAR
ATTACK OF THE GRAVEYARD GHOULS
PLEASE DON’T FEED THE VAMPIRE!
THE HEADLESS GHOST
THE HAUNTED MASK 2
BRIDE OF THE LIVING DUMMY
ATTACK OF THE JACK-O’-LANTERNS
ALSO AVAILABLE:
IT CAME FROM OHIO!: MY LIFE AS A WRITER by R.L. Stine
Goosebumps book series created by Parachute Press, Inc.
Copyright © 2019 by Scholastic Inc.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing 2019
Cover design by Maeve Norton
Cover art by Brandon Dorman
e-ISBN 978-1-338-22306-4
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