I hope you prepare yourself for this twisted tale of magic and blood readers. This scare will make your hairs stand on end. Goosebumps by R.L. Stine is now into Monster Blood!

Original 1992 Summary

While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old toy store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It’s fun to play with at first. And Evan’s dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!

But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy stuff–it seems to be growing. And growing. And growing. And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite…

The Monster!

Meet Evan Ross; he is an average 12-year old whose family is dealing with a job transfer out of their state. While his parents have decided to leave him with his deaf Aunt Kathryn while they home search, Evan isn’t quite sure he wants to stay with a woman he has never met.

Not after he overhears his Dad refer to her as weird, even worse when he and his Mom to get to her home for him to be dropped off, she greets them with a bloody knife!

Now, granted she was in the middle of prepping for supper, but that doesn’t stop Evan and his dog Trigger from being suspicious of her. Besides, she hurt his shoulder when she placed her hand on it. Was it intentional? Was she trying to tell him something?

 

When his Mom leaves him with Kathryn and her cat Sarabeth, he thinks nothing in the world could be worse.

Boy, is he ever wrong. While he explores the neighborhood after learning that his aunt can be kind having made a place for Trigger, he meets Andy. Andy is a girl his age who lives in the neighborhood. Together they play and explore until they find a toy shop. What kid can resist right?

As the scour the shelves for hidden treasures, Evan notices a back room full of older items. One, in particular, catches his eye, a can that says Monster Blood: Surprising Miracle Substance. While the owner doesn’t want to sell, we see a trend in writing here as in The Mummy’s Curse.

For just 2 dollars, Evan is the proud owner of his very own can of Monster Blood. As he gets home and his Aunt takes a look at the purchase she gives him the warning of “Be Careful.” Evan will soon find out that it was excellent advice, had he listened to it.

He and Andy try to figure out just what Monster Blood is; the description reminds me of Flubber. I mean they bounce it off the floor and walls. That is until the dog gets intrigued and decides to eat it.

After a bit and seeing that it hasn’t harmed Trigger, Evan gets a series of bad news that for a kid has to feel like the end of the world. His parents need more time to find the house, he meets the neighborhood bullies, and his dog is now overnight double the size!

On top of all that, something has changed with the Monster Blood. It is changing shape and consistency on its own. That and it is warm where it was once cold. Almost as though it were alive.

Now for this one as always, I will not spoil the ending, but this one took a turn that I was not prepared for in the least. Quite the bewitching ending indeed.

What Await Y’all!

 

While Monster Blood isn’t one of my top books from the series, it is a good read and was worth another read to remember where it began. I am looking forward to the sequel coming later in this review series.

Stay tuned readers; the next book is one of my absolute favorites, so remember to smile, Say Cheese and Die! That’s what is coming next time until then curl up and enjoy some scares.

Kendra Hale