Goosebumps: How to Kill a Monster by R. L. Stine is book 46 in the original Goosebumps series order. This book features the first to feature step-siblings in the series. The book starts slowly and does not feature the monster until over the halfway point. The book is pretty hard to put down once the monster gets involved in the story. The monster is pretty relentless as it goes after the kids, destroying big chunks of the house. The scares featured in the book are trapped in a room full of roaches, trapped without a phone or contact with the outside world, fear of being eaten, and fear of hiding things. The threat of the monster eating one of the kids feels real, but Stine doesn’t let it get too scary as he twists the story in a different direction as too not let the story get too scary. It made me think back to the Beast from the East where the monster in pursuit, slowly rises as it casts the kid in shadows and yells, tag you’re it! It’s different in this book but a lot of the same. The monster is described well and plays on my imagination. The final twist worked well with the story, but the twist with the monster took a lot of bite out of it. Goosebumps: How to Kill a Monster was published on August 1, 1996.

Plot Summary: Gretchen and her step-brother Clark are going to stay in the Georgia swampland with their grandparents while the Parents have business in Atlanta. The Grandparents live deep in the swamp with no working phone and little contact with the world. The house is big like a castle to their eyes and the grandparents are organized hoarders. The kids were bored to death and found some fun in exploring the house that had every room open except one. The grandparents give a vague answer as to why. The younger brother Clark plays hide and seek without consent, Gretchen knows she must find him but can’t. She finds the key to the locked door inside and opens it expecting to find her brother, but finds a monster instead.

What I Liked: The fight against the kids and the monster reminded me of when the kids in Jurassic Park fought the Velociraptor. I like the grandparent’s notes to the kids and how they play out in the story. The setting and the trapped feeling both worked well. The monster was described well I remember seeing a villain toy from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of the 90’s of a swamp creature with overalls that made me think of the monster. I do like Stine including a step-sibling relationship he has had a single parent but this is the first step-sibling mentioned.

What I Disliked: The slow beginning to the story made this quick easy read into a long one. The grandparent’s final act makes no sense to the story and the timing of the act was the worst. The final twist was weakened by the twist that was revealed just before it. There’s not as much fun in this story as in the previous ones.

Recommendation: How to Kill a Monster had a boring beginning and an exciting ending. I ended up only liking half of this book. This book was missing the fun factor of the others. This story will eventually give you some frights but you have to make it past a badly paced 60 pages. I will not recommend you read this Goosebumps book.

Rating: I rated Goosebumps: How to Kill a Monster 3 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: Here’s my full ranking of the 46 Goosebumps books that I have read in order from 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) Ghost Camp, 8) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 9) One Day At Horrorland, 10) Night of the Living Dummy, 11) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 12) A Shocker on Shock Street, 13)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 14) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 15) The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 16) Say Cheese and Die, 17) Let’s Get Invisible, 18) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 19) Welcome to Dead House, 20) Monster Blood II, 21) The Beast From the East, 22) The Girl who Cried Monster, 23)Deep Trouble, 24) The Ghost Next Door, 25) Say Cheese and Die – Again! 26) Night of the Living Dummy 2, 27) My Hairiest Adventure, 28) Be Careful What You Wish For…, 29) Return of the Mummy, 30) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 31) The Haunted Mask II, 32)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 33) How to Kill a Monster, 34) Attack of the Mutant, 35) Go Eat Worms!, 36) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 37) The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 38) Bad Hare Day, 39) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 40) Monster Blood, 41)Night of the Living Dummy III, 42) The Barking Ghost, 43) Egg Monsters from Mars, 44) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 45) You Can’t Scare Me!, and 46) Monster Blood III.