Goosebumps – Legend of the Lost Legend by R. L. Stine is Goosebumps book 47 in the original series order. Legend of the Lost Legend feels like a choose-your-adventure book since there are stories within stories. The narrative is all over the place, making the reader question what is real. The book has one thing going for it, a clever ending. This story has one of the better final twist endings in the series but the worst setups to it. The novel has too many scenes that are set up and revealed to not be real. A Shocker on Shock Street had the same setup but it showed some restraint and two scenarios where everything is not real, whereas Legend of the Lost Legend has six scenarios where everything is fake. Goosebumps books are so fast I have never really had a feeling of not finishing a book until this one. There are too many fake things happening where it questioned me to ask what is the point of this story. It is funny that I liked the ending so much because it is the only real moment in the book. The scares were mice, big cats, and being lost, this book didn’t give me any real scares whatsoever. The real horror is bad parenting, which in this book is pretty scary. This book is one of the worst Goosebumps stories so far. Legend of the Lost Legend was published on September 1, 1996.

Plot Summary: Justin and Marissa want to help their story-collecting dad find The Lost Legend a rare book of stories, that is sealed in a silver chest. The kids are camped out in the woods of Brovania with their father. The kids are woken up by a big silver dog. Despite the dog’s size it seems friendly and has a note attached that reads, “I know why you are here, follow Silverdog.” They see the dog leave as they try to wake their dad, who does not wake up and decides to leave him and chase the treasure. Only they lose the dog and are lost, but the forest is not what it seems. Will the siblings ever find the treasure or remain lost, forever?

What I Liked: The final twist was great and was all about the book which I liked. It kind of sort of reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode, To Serve Man, when they decipher the book at the end and it means something different than they thought. I wish the rest of the narrative built up to that premise it would have been a great horror setup. The cover for this book is great and it is a total lie to what the book is about the viking lady is super nice and not at all intimidating.

What I Disliked: The narrative choices were horrible with too many fake scenes, that were set up just to be revealed that it is not real after all, and everything that you’re seeing is an illusion. All the setup scares are lame. The dad wasn’t even looking for the missing kids but the book. I wanted a story with a short Viking warrior that I saw on the cover not what I got in the story.

Recommendation: This is a rare Goosebumps book that I will not recommend. This is one of the worst out of the 47 Goosebumps books that I have read. Really if you see this book thumb down to the last 2 chapters and you have the whole plot of the book and a good twist.

Rating: I rated Goosebumps – Legend of the Lost Legend by R. L. Stine 2 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: Here’s my full ranking of the 47 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!, 46) Legend of the Lost Legend, and 47) Monster Blood III.