Sooooo... Book two. I liked this story quite a bit more than the series opening book. It had some issues, but on the whole, it was a better story and made a hell of a lot more sense than Welcome to Dead House. The premise here is that the family moved to Cali for Dad to take a job in a science lab... but then his experiments started getting a little... strange and dangerous, and so he was let go. But he didn't care, he just kept up the work -- IN THE BASEMENT THAT EVERYONE SHOULD STAY OUT OF! He's down there nearly 24 hours a day. He doesn't eat with the family, or talk to them anymore, or do any of the responsible parent things that he should be doing... just works in his lab constantly. (How they were paying bills and suchlike during dad's unemployment is a mystery to me, because Mom wasn't working. Savings? You sure don't get a severance package when you're fired for cause, so they weren't living off of that.)Anyway, Dad keeps getting weirder... growing leaves out of his head... eating plant food. Wait, sorry, "Disgusting plant food!" (That's how it was described every time, as though the tweens would need to be reminded that nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (oh my!) in a soil compound probably wouldn't taste too hot. Although, to be honest, there was no information given about what kind of plant food it was, except that it came in a package - so it could very well have just been manure. Gives a new meaning to "Eat shit, Dad!" huh? I digress. The kids snoop around to see what dad's working on, and they find creepy plants in a equatorially hot basement (again: paying for this excess summer heating how?) and things get weirder from there - but in a pretty predictable way. Once again we have a brother and sister combination. Once again we have a "just moved here" story. And once again we have a couple of kids encountering weird stuff and questioning themselves constantly to find out why they should be freaked out by it. Over and over and over. "Why am I so afraid? Why does this weird thing bother me so much? Why am I nervous and scared?" I dunno... maybe because your dad is acting like a weird imposter and hasn't talked to you in 3 weeks and has leaves growing out of his head and bleeds green now?? Other than that... no reason. This was predictably safe reading - though criticizing it for that feels a little unfair, given the age group that it's for. But still, I think it's valid. I mean, when you find the clothes of a person that came to your house and you never actually saw leave... there's a logical conclusion that one comes to. And kidnapping isn't it. WHY remove the clothes and hide them? I feel like it was included that way to amp up the tension and danger, but Stine couldn't go the full monty and actually kill someone off. Plus, then the happy ending wouldn't be possible. And there MUST be a happy ending. But then we get to the issue that dropped this back down to a two star read, which is the lack of addressing some pretty important ethical questions. (view spoiler)[Dad's experimentation was to combine plant and animal DNA into one organism. And he succeeds, and thus, despite things almost going catastrophically wrong, he's given his position back at the lab and everything goes back to "normal" and all's well in the world. However - this really reminded me of a Island of Dr. Moreau or Frankenstein kind of story, where some crazy guy who has just a bit too much scientific understanding and time, and not quite enough forethought or ethics, gets it into his head to play God and create a new species that was never intended to exist. They may technically succeed, but what kind of life is it for the being that was created? They don't have a place in the world, they can't reproduce, and they are generally treated as an abomination. It's inevitable that these experiments will always be the ones the suffer for the "scientific method" that was used to bring them into being - and the ones responsible are never truly held accountable in any satisfying way. (At least to me - and I think death is too easy a punishment for those who deserve far worse for causing such suffering in innocent creatures needlessly.)This is true here, because not only does Dad not learn his lesson about trying to play God (only just to be more careful with his samples), but he's REWARDED for it by getting his job back. (hide spoiler)]
This is the 2nd book in the Goosebumps series, and I do think the first one was better, although both tales have similar scores. I've always wondered whether people whose favorite genre is horror are really frightened by what they read. And if not, then why do they keep coming back. Fear is an emotion everyone wants to avoid. Genuine fear has only recently in our history been isolated from its companion, Danger. The fear in a bungee jump, say, is almost devoid of danger, that's why it's a pastime. Bungee jumping is a way to experience fear. It's popular. Even if it doesn't have suspense, or skill, or playable features, it's popular. Why? Because fear devoid of danger is supposedly fun. But don't tell that to a paranoid. Trying to extract fear from this layout of freakish plants was going to be an uphill struggle. The main characters are Margaret, her brother Casey, their friend Diane (who is smarter and maybe prettier than Margaret) their mum, their dad Dr Brewer. The journey of escalating fear takes about one or two weeks. The writer makes the school cancel classes just to finish the story quickly. The plot is that of Dr Brewer becoming a mad scientist. He is a freshly sacked scientist who continues his experiments at home. That affects both of his kids. The kids are forbidden to venture in the basement. They do it anyway. Several times. I like any small novel that has siblings or cousins of both genders as characters. There's a realness about them. There's a vivid sense of life likeness about any story that features brothers and sisters. This book benefits from such a cast. Since I don't live in the US, and since children's tv shows aren't lifelike, books like this really make the American family come to being. Both first books of the Goosebumps series have kids playing. Focusing on kids while not relegating adults is a balancing act. This book is partly well written. There's some surplus screaming going on though. This side of the story is fake. No matter, though. It all adds to the quaint charm of this book. I noticed that the first time the kids' father is caught lying, the kids can' assimilate this fact quickly. I enjoyed the relationship between the dad and the kids. I liked how the kids(sometimes Diane included) break the rules. How they rationalize their disobedience. Also when it was clear that their dad was no longer normal, Margaret especially lives in fear and doubt. When a kid breaks a small petty rule compared to what is going on with the parents then the reader will always side with the child. There are parallels that can be drawn between the monster dad and real parents' serious abuses and errors, like adultery. I don't know if there are stats, but I guess that more than half of couple commit adultery, even if they have kids. This book reminded me of the stressful bond and what happens to it when parents misbehave. That's my interpretation anyway.
What do You think about Stay Out Of The Basement (2003)?
1. What is the book mostly about? Casey and his friends study the giant plant.2. What is a fact? Monsters are not real.3. What happened in the beggining? Dad acted strange.4. Why was Casey suspicious? Because Dad was strange.5. What is the same between Diane and Margaret? They are scared.6. What do you think will happen next? The monster might scare them.7. What does"amazed" mean? Surprised.8. You could tell that Casey... thinks he/she is cool.9. What is an opinion? That is the most scariest monster!10. What is the author's purpose? Talk to children b/c it helps them learn11. What does "going bananas" mean? Going Crazy12. What could not happen? Monsters appear.
—Ryanhong
In another sibling team-up, Margaret and Casey Brewer are confronted with a chlorophyll-filled nightmare when their father’s experimentations get out of hand in the basement of the family house. After their father was fired from his research position at a biology department, he brought his experiments home, and became a hostile hermit who rarely came up for sunlight or air. He forbids the kids from going to see his lab, but of course they disobey these orders and discover that their father is up to strange and possibly evil things. However, it turns out that their father is not responsible for these terrible acts, but a plant duplicate of him! Stay Out of the Basement is an example of a really well constructed Goosebumps novel. The mystery is slowly revealed through creepy and disturbing observations and realizations. The kids are confronted with a difficult choice as to how to figure out who is their real father is when they have two identical duplicates, leading to a suspenseful climax. I was particularly happy to see that mom was not completely oblivious in this story as it’s hard to explain how a wife manages to not notice that her husband has become a terrible, plant monster. The twist ending was also enjoyable, and not nearly as absurd as some of the other Goosebumps novels get. Overall, Stay out of the Basement is probably one of the stronger stories of the series.
—Maggie Gordon
I remember seeing the episode based off of this novella and halfway through, I remembered part of the ending. Casey and Margaret are living with their parents and naturally, they suspect tyranny is afoot. Their father begins acting rather peculiar and at first, Margaret just ignores it for the most part. Then one day, they decide to go into the basement to talk to their dad and he becomes infuriated and yells up the stairs, well the title of this novella, "Stay out of the basement!" he bellows.After that, Margaret's suspicions thicken. Especially when she sees some kind of green slimy liquid seeping out of her dad's arm. Naturally, her paranoia sets in when their father wants them to eat something that looks like the ooze that came out his arm. I'm thankful that the first couple chapters didn't have to do with the goings on of a dog like the first one. What it did contain was plants taking on human characteristics like breathing for example.I was talking to a friend of mine, and he asked me what I was reading. When I told him, and he's a nice guy so I knew he wasn't being mean, he said, "Isn't that at a 2nd grade reading level?" and he laughed. Yes i'm well aware that these books are for kids, and while I don't really feel the need to defend myself, I don't mind sharing in this review that I am reading these goosebumps books because I am feeling rather sentimental lately. Goosebumps was always a big part of my childhood. Granted, I only read one or two of the books even though I've owned over 40 books from the original 60 plus book-series, but I was a child of the 90s and R.L. Stine's Goosebumps where a part of it. 4 stars because it isn't exactly something I find tantamount, but the story line had no flaws and the idea of plants breathing and taking on human qualities is rather shiver-worthy.
—Andrew
