Goosebumps: The Beast From the East by R. L. Stine is Goosebumps book 43 in the original series order. The story starts fast-paced and is pretty scary for the first 35 pages until the creatures speak their first words, You are it. Then you know what kind of Goosebumps story you’re in for. The story has its lame moments but for the part, I was entertained and enjoyed the pace of the story. The cat and mouse game is changed to the creature and human in this story which makes it fun and exciting. The kids play a deadly game of tag for their lives with the threat that if they lose they will get eaten. The creatures start off scary but ruin it a little when they start to talk. This story is the kid-friendly version of Richard Bachman’s aka Stephen King’s The Running Man. In which unwitting players play a game of life and death where the rules aren’t fully explained and easily broken. I felt the scene and setting were described well, I could easily envision the forest the kids were trapped in. The brother and sister relationship was excellent as the kids worked well together, and the older sister tried to stay calm for the younger brothers. The twist at the finale was lame but it set up a final twist that was decent and made sense. I seemed to like this story more than my fellow reviewers it is not great storytelling but fun. The Beast From the East was published on May 1, 1996.

Plot Summary: Ginger and her twin brothers Nat and Pat are on a nature hike with her parents. Ginger being the older sister is in charge of her younger brothers as they are left to explore but soon realize they are lost and find themselves hiding from these 8-foot blue furry creatures. Ginger and her brothers quickly find a place to hide and in the process, she loses her brother Pat as she hides with Nat. A Creature finds Ginger tags her with its big paw and says, You’re it. You’re the beast from the east. The rules are murky but basically, if you’re it before sundown you’re eaten.

What I Liked: The pace of the story is decently tension-filled, with a couple of breaks to explain the rules. The sibling dynamic works very well and adds to the heart of the story. The descriptions of scenery are some of the best in the Goosebumps series. The final twist worked well and you feel for the kids that are now kind of trapped. The bug scene worked well and made my skin itch.

What I Disliked: The reveal that it is a game of tag was too early and could have more tension built up before the reveal. I rolled my eyes at all the new rules but liked that it did play into the end of the story.

Recommendations: The story that it is all a game of tag will lead to eye rolls and I did too but the story is fun the tension and desperation worked for me. I think the first 30 pages will scare the younger kids because it is described like the T-Rex Scene in Jurassic Park where you hear the creature before you see them. I will recommend this book because it is so fun.

Rating: I rated Goosebumps: Beast From the East by R. L. Stine 4 out of 5 stars. This book barely made it to a 4-star but when looking at my 3-star reviews of Goosebumps books this book was better in a lot of ways.

Ranking: Here’s my full ranking of the 43 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let’s Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Beast From the East, 21) The Girl who Cried Monster, 22)Deep Trouble, 23) The Ghost Next Door, 24)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 25) My Hairiest Adventure, 26) Be Careful What You Wish For… , 27) Return of the Mummy, 28) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 29)The Haunted Mask II, 30)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 31) Attack of the Mutant, 32) Go Eat Worms!, 33) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 34)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 33) Bad Hare Day, 36) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 37) Monster Blood, 38)Night of the Living Dummy III, 39) The Barking Ghost, 40) Egg Monsters from Mars, 41) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 42) You Can’t Scare Me!, and 43) Monster Blood III.