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A review by rkking
Let's Get Invisible! by R.L. Stine
3.0
I recently got a bit of the nostalgia bug when thinking back to the Goosebumps books I read as a kid. Goosebumps, and by extension the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark series, definitely introduced me to the genre of horror. After Goosebumps I moved onto classics like Dracula and Jekyll/Hyde, then on to the gown up stuff throughout my life and to this day. Well, this nostalgia bug got me wanting to re-collect the original 62 run of Goosebumps books, and in their first run printings because of the amazing covers. Perhaps the best part of the series was the covers. Next up;
#6, Let's Get Invisible!
I categorize this one in along with Say Cheese And Die, being a monster-less story revolving around a special object. In this case. a mirror.
The mechanics of how the kids turn invisible is interesting enough, and as they test the boundaries of how long they can remain invisible, RL Stine does a great job of expressing sensations and feeling of the ethereal. Losing one's physical grip of the world is neat to read in this perspective.
There was one lingering issue with this story though; the number of times the kids go invisible. In terms of upping the stakes in narrative tension, you tend to follow a 3ish step pattern. First time invisibility happens is an occurrence. Second time is learning the ropes. Third, maybe fourth time, is the sweet spot of where their real troubles should enter. But in this book, I actually lost count of how many times the kids went invisible, supposedly a dangerous endeavor, and it took way too long for the final show to drop. When it did though, another interesting mechanic was introduced that could perhaps play on in later Goosebumps books, greater universe kind of thing perhaps?
Not as much of an iconic entry in the series, but interesting anyway.
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#6, Let's Get Invisible!
I categorize this one in along with Say Cheese And Die, being a monster-less story revolving around a special object. In this case. a mirror.
The mechanics of how the kids turn invisible is interesting enough, and as they test the boundaries of how long they can remain invisible, RL Stine does a great job of expressing sensations and feeling of the ethereal. Losing one's physical grip of the world is neat to read in this perspective.
There was one lingering issue with this story though; the number of times the kids go invisible. In terms of upping the stakes in narrative tension, you tend to follow a 3ish step pattern. First time invisibility happens is an occurrence. Second time is learning the ropes. Third, maybe fourth time, is the sweet spot of where their real troubles should enter. But in this book, I actually lost count of how many times the kids went invisible, supposedly a dangerous endeavor, and it took way too long for the final show to drop. When it did though, another interesting mechanic was introduced that could perhaps play on in later Goosebumps books, greater universe kind of thing perhaps?
Not as much of an iconic entry in the series, but interesting anyway.
Join the RK King readers' list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes