Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Book that Started a Phenomenon, October 19, 2001
R.L. Stine and his "Goosebumps" series were just starting to become popular with my classmates during the 1993-94 school year (sixth grade for me). Everybody was reading them and talking about how cool they were. That is, everyone except me. I remember thinking, "That stuff is so stupid. I can't believe anybody would read that kind of junk. I never will." Oh, how naive I was at such a young age. Curiosity killed this cat, and in the eight years since then, I still find the time to read these books. All 62 of them. "Welcome to Dead House" is the one that started it all, and it is a classic, in this reviewer's opinion. This book is definitely darker in tone than some of his later books, and I really enjoyed it. This series was aimed at my age level (I was 12 at the time), and R.L. Stine hit the mark perfectly. He knew just what buttons to push to keep his readers reading. The thing that really enthralled me about this first book was how everything about Dark Falls (the town featured in the book) was so creepy. Amanda and Josh would take walks, and there would never be anyone around. No one mowing the lawn; no one walking the dog; not even a car would pass by. That is definitely something that would seem odd (and not to mention creepy) if there were real places like that. I loved all the references in this book to seeing kids in the house when they weren't really there, to seeing the gravestones and realizing that everyone is really dead, to the climax where Amanda and Josh are called on to save the day. R.L. Stine does a wonderful job of holding the suspense and moving the story along in his first outing. I'll always remember "Welcome to Dead House" as being a great story that was really creepy and fun to read. And I'll always remember how wrong I was about the entire series as a whole - "I can't believe anybody would read that kind of junk." Millions and millions of people around the world would tend to disagree.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A comment from a 50-year-old on this series., May 30, 1999
By A Customer
This is the first book in an extremely popular series for kids called "Goosebumps." All of the stories are the scary stories that children seem to love. There are many adults who have commented on how they dislike this series. They say that the stories are usually not that great, there is little to be learned from them, and that there are so many better books to read by children in this age group. I take a slightly different stance. Any book or series of books that can get children into the habit of reading (period!) in today's world of TV and video games are great! More power to them. I find too many students today, even here at the University, who simply don't read. In this first volume, a family with two children move to a small town in which the inhabitants appear to be zombies!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fiendishly Good!, October 6, 2006
This review is from: Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps Series) (Paperback)
Amazon lists the age range for this series at 4-8, but I cannot imagine a 4-6 year old who would really be able to enjoy this on their own...or would really want this read to them, this stories are more involved and require a slightly higher level of sophistication on the part of the reader. I'm thinking the best age range for this book (and probably the series) is 8-14, with the 10-12 age range being ideal. This is our first encounter with the Goosebumps series (my daughter is 8) and I'll probably hold off for another year (ish) before I hand these over to read. I understand that Welcome to Dead House is one of the better (and more creepy) books in the series, and while I think it's a fine kick off for a series of horror stories aimed at 3rd-6th graders, this is a little much for my child this year. She's reading her way through the Mostly Ghostly series, which is slightly simpler in presentation while still maintaining the same horror flavor that Stein seems to be famous for. This particular volume, we meet Amanda and Josh (and their parents of course) who have just inherited a big old house in Dark Falls (love the town name), from an Uncle they didn't know they had. Dark Falls is a town that where no one ever seems to be out and about in the day and where there always seems to be lingering shadows. Right from the start Amanda notices things that seem off about the house and the town, but no one else seems to notice. Slowly over the summer, they make friends with the local kids...or so they believe. As the summer draws near Amanda and Josh learn something quite gruesome about the other residents of Dark Falls and just how they came to live in the dead house! This is quite creepy and does contain a few genuine thrills and chills, I found myself wanting to keep turning pages, hooked on finding out what happened next (and I'm 35). It's not as well written as some other horror I've read, but Steins style is certainly not the worst either. I think Welcome to Dead house is a promising start to this series and I'm looking forward to reading through it! Next year, when the Girl's reading level increases, we'll definitely be adding this series to her list!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
