This month in Gothic Bite Magazine, I give you one of the Goosebumps Books on the list with number eight, The Girl Who Cried Monster.

Original 1993 Summary

She’s Telling the Truth… But No One Believes Her!

Lucy likes to tell monster stories. She’s told so many that her friends and family are sick of it. Then one day, Lucy discovers a real, live monster: the librarian in charge of the summer reading program.

Too bad Lucy’s told so many monster tall tales. Too bad no one believes a word she says. Too bad the monster knows who she is… …and is coming after her next.

“Monster!”

Here we are again dear readers and this is a doozy of a book. I have had a few reviews go out of order to match up with a monster of the month and because of that to catch up this month will have two separate reviews. The first is book #8 The Girl Who Cried Monster, from Goosebumps, let us begin.

This book begins by introducing us to our key characters, Lucy Dark and her younger brother Randy.

The girl who cried wolf is the theme of this book as Lucy is very active in the art of scaring her brother by claiming there are ghosts, or monsters, anything honestly that will scare the 6 year old. Lucy being 12 is scared of nothing of course. Yet.

Summer Time

In the town of Timberland Falls, it is summer and like most towns the local library has a reading program to help students discover new worlds regardless of age. Mr. Mortman, the librarian, helps students find books that call out to them.

Lucy is not really that big of a reader but is fascinated by horror, which is a good thing because as she stays in the library after closing she gets way more than she bargained for.

There is obviously something strange about seeing a grown man eating handfuls of flies after transforming into a monster. Lucy sees Mr. Mortman for his true self and runs away in terror.

Lucy is so excited to tell someone what she has witnessed she gets home and tells Randy. Her Father overhears and thinking she is just trying yet again to scare Randy, he gets upset with her. She gets just as angry that he thinks she is making it up and decides that she will prove that Mr. Mortman really IS a monster.

Misery and Mayhem

Putting so much effort only to be thwarted at every turn, poor Lucy goes through a lot just to prove she isn’t lying. Things take quite a turn when Mr. Mortman begins to follow her to her home!

If Lucy is able to prove that she isn’t crying wolf is up to you dear reader as this one will have no spoilers. But in the end I will admit there is quite a twist that even I didn’t remember from reading this book and it was quite enjoyable.

Conclusion

This one was a good read but not one of my favorites from the series. The ending is one that makes you truly think about what it is exactly that you can truly know about a person and that is something that made this even more of a good read.

The next book however is one of my favorite tales as we head to Camp Nightmare for a swim in the lake. Join us next time readers for book #9 Welcome to Camp Nightmare, as always be prepared for a scare!

Kendra Hale