Goosebumps: Chicken, Chicken by R.L. Stine is Goosebumps book 53 in the original series order. I have read and watched a couple of Goosebumps blogs where they rate Chicken, Chicken as one of the worst Goosebumps books in the series and I did not feel that way, it is not great but the story made sense and for the most part, was focused. I liked the final twist a lot, and it was pretty memorable. I find turning into a chicken terrifying, and I thought Stine’s descriptions were pretty good I imagined the pain of having to remove feathers daily and how much pain that would bring. If my lips began to harden and form a beak I would be terrifying. I think the reason this book is so low is it will have dialogue consisting of “clucks” and “bucks”, but I will give Stine some credit as he mixes them up. I liked the witch who cursed them and I do the kids to blame for it. The pace is a little slow until the brother and sister start to change which is at 40%. This is Sine’s version of Kafka’s Metamorphosis. This book is a body horror for kids. Chicken, Chicken was published on March 1, 1997.

Plot Summary: Crystal hates living on the farm in a small town the chicken drives her the craziest. Crystal, and Cole, her younger brother, decide to join their friends in pranking a local woman rumored to be a witch due to her preference for always being black. The kids play to fill her mailbox with water but Vanessa, the woman, comes out early and spots Crystal, Cole, and another friend all of who were watching and not participating in the prank. This freaks everyone out since she makes eye contact and makes it known she saw who did this. Then the kids literally run into Vanessa and knock her over spill all her groceries and break her eggs the kids are stunned and don’t say anything, and Vanessa whispers “Chicken, Chicken” and the kids begin to become chickens.

What I Liked: The metamorphism is very slow. I do like that Vanessa is one breed of Chicken and Cole is another. I like the choir solo where Cole can only sing in “bucks”. I liked Vanessa and her reason for turning the kids into chickens was great. The ending twist was both funny and clever it was a twist that you saw coming after Vanessa described her reasons for why they were turned chicken, but I liked the setup and the delivery. I thought the beak and the dried eyes were pretty frightening.

What I Disliked: I did not like the water prank and thought something else needed to be there. The chicken sounds do get a little much. I don’t know if the landscape of the town made sense. The kids live far and remote yet they can get to town and around town on their bikes. I wanted a little more of the horror aspect, but there were some good ones.

Recommendation: I will recommend Chicken, Chicken it is ridiculous but the story is not bad. The pacing could have been better at the beginning. The concept for this story reminded me of Why I’m Afraid of Bees but where that story was more educational this one is more fun and goofy. This is not the worst Goosebumps book and not the best, just in the middle. Chicken, Chicken will not scare you but make you think, What if I was turning into a chicken?

Rating: I rated Goosebumps: Chicken, Chicken by R.L. Stine 3.3 out of 5 Stars.

Here’s my full ranking of the 53 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) Beware, the Snowman, 15) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 16)Attack of the Jack-O’-Lanterns, 17)The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 18) Say Cheese and Die, 19) Let’s Get Invisible, 20) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 21) Welcome to Dead House, 22) Monster Blood II, 23) The Beast From the East, 24) The Girl who Cried Monster, 25)Deep Trouble, 26) The Ghost Next Door, 27) Say Cheese and Die – Again! 28) Night of the Living Dummy 2, 29) Chicken, Chicken, 30) My Hairiest Adventure, 31) Be Careful What You Wish For…, 32) Return of the Mummy, 33) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 34) The Haunted Mask II, 35)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 36) How to Kill a Monster, 37) Attack of the Mutant, 38) Go Eat Worms!, 39) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 40) The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 41) Bad Hare Day, 42) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 43) Vampire Breath, 44) How I Learned to Fly, 45) Monster Blood, 46)Night of the Living Dummy III, 47) The Barking Ghost, 48) Egg Monsters from Mars, 49) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 50) You Can’t Scare Me!, 51) Legend of the Lost Legend, 52) Calling All Creeps! and 53) Monster Blood III.