The Blob That Ate Everyone (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
Zackie Beauchamp is a young boy who wrote a story about himself and his best friend Alex Iarocci. Then a blob attacks Zackie and Alex, but it turns out it is really a story that Zackie wrote to entertain his friends during a boring Spring Break day. Alex likes the story a lot. Zackie's other friend, Adam Levin, mocks it. Zackie reveals his goal in life is to be a great horror writer. Adam makes a big deal about how he never gets scared, and then gets horrified by a cat.Later that night, Zackie and Alex stumble upon an entire block of a small shopping center that has been destroyed by lightning. Zackie sees a sign on one of the dilapidated buildings that says "Danger-- Keep Out," and his first instinct is to keep in. He forces Alex to join him inside the abandoned and crumbling storefront. Alex sanely suggests that maybe a flooded and gutted building is not a good place for two twelve-year-old children to go snooping, but before Zackie can nay-say her, he gets shocked by a loose wire. Alex tells him his whole body was encased in a blue flame. bZackie spots an old typewriter in the shop and decides he will take it.A woman enters the abandoned store. The woman shines her light on the two children, who huddle down to hide from her. Upon being hit with the light, Zackie pretends to be a statue and this fools the woman. But then she comes back physically accosts both Zackie and Alex, and angrily asks these two children if they are "doing some late night shopping." She introduces herself as Mrs. Carter, and tells the children that this was her store. Zackie sees this as the perfect time to ask if he can have the typewriter. She gives it to him and also gives him a free pen.Zackie's parents naturally make fun of him upon his return home, though only about the whole wanting a typewriter thing. He sets the machine up in his bedroom and it begins to bathe in a blue glow. This causes him to excitedly utter, "My typewriter!"At school the next day, Zackie tells Alex about the blue glow, and how he is going to retype the Blob story on the creepy typewriter, because then that will make the story even scarier. Zackie opens his locker and a mouse that Adam jokingly placed inside his locker jumps out at him. He gets scared and some people laugh at him. After everyone laughs at him, Alex helpfully picks off the mouse hair from his shoulder.That night, Zackie is still obsessing over his embarrassment. He tells Alex that people were making "mouse faces" at him all day. Zackie starts writing the new draft of the Blob story on the typewriter. Zackie's new first line is "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT" and this causes the sky outside to suddenly pour down rain all over his red dog house. The power goes out in the house, but Zackie tells Alex that he is going to keep writing, since all great horror writers should write by candle-light. "Cool" is her response. Zackie's next line is "THE WIND BEGAN TO HOWL."Zackie's next line states that Alex and Zackie were all alone in the darkened house. Zackie forgot about his father down in the basement, who has now disappeared. Alex tries to convince Zackie that everything he is typing is coming true, but Zackie is stubborn. Alex grabs Zackie's handwritten draft and types the next line of the story: "THEY HEARD A KNOCK ON THE DOOR." Then there is a knock on the door.When Zackie goes to answer the door, there is no one there, so Zackie sits down at the typewriter and writes that Adam is at the front door. And so he is. Zackie types the storm ending to prove to Adam that his typewriter can control reality. Adam mocks Zackie and grabs hold of the typewriter. Adam writes that the blob monster is waiting in Zackie's basement for some fresh meat, then turns and runs out of the house. The children suddenly hear a series of thuds leading from the basement... the door opens... and it is merely Zackie's father. Alex drags Zackie down into the basement to see whether or not there is in fact a blob monster waiting for them. There is not.The following Saturday, Zackie's mother sends him out to pick up some food items. He goes into a local meat market run by friendly Italians. Zackie returns home to work on his book. Zackie's mother interrupts his story and asks him to return to the market for a loaf of bread. Zackie bikes back to the market and sees... a giant blob attacking the whole town. A random woman tells Zackie as she is running away that, "It's a horrible monster!"The blob monster begins to eat various police officers and citizens in the manner which Zackie has already written. As the carnage is unfolding, Zackie tries to remember exactly what he had written so as to predict what occurs next. Naturally, Zackie had already typed that the blob monster followed him home. Zackie races home but then he remembers that he wrote himself falling off his bike. Alex and Adam see the blob monster chasing Zackie. Adam thinks the creature is some sort of balloon. The Blob Monster eats Adam. Alex and Zackie continue to run from the monster towards Zackie's house. Once inside, the two race towards the typewriter as the sound of the blob monster entering the house fills the living room where Zackie fails to get the typewriter to function. The Blob Monster bursts in and swallows the typewriter, before Zackie can type a word. Zackie suddenly remembers the pen the woman gave him. Maybe it has the same powers as the typewriter! But the Blob eats it too.Zackie and Alex are trapped. Zackie remembers how when Adam wrote something on the typewriter it did not come true. Maybe Zackie does not need the typewriter at all, maybe the power to change things is within him? And so the story ends with Zackie using the power to destroy the Blob Monster and bring back Adam. The three laughed happily ever after......then the surprise is revealed. The story was acutally written by the Blob Monster, and his green-skinned friend liked it, ESPECIALLY when the Pink Blob Monster ate Adam. Green suggests that Pink change the ending so that Pink eats everyone.INFO: Cover artisttTim JacobousPublishertScholasticMedia typetPrint (Paperback)Release datetMay 1997Pagest114Series numbert55Previous booktDon't Go To Sleep!Next booktThe Curse of Camp Cold LakeIn conclusion the book was good but I couldn't quite understand why they didn't just write out the monster before it created trouble in the town. This story is clearly a knock of version of (the blob 1958). But it was a good children's book 8/10!
I really liked this one. Can you imagine typing a story and everything coming true? That'd be awesome. Imagine my book coming to life. Oh Jessica where art thou? A well written book. Alex, a girl, was very smart and a good friend, imagine having someone sit there next to you as you type your story...never mind, that can't get annoying. Anywho, the book was good up until (if you've read my other reviews, I think you know what I'm about to say) Yup, the ending. Chapter 33, the final chapter did not have to be in the book. It's one of those things where it would be good for a TV show, but pointless in a book. The book really ended in chapter 32. Chapter 33 was added on for comedic purposes, I guess, but it failed. Again it would look great on my TV screen, but not in the book, I was really confused hen i read it. Stop reading after Chapter 32, it ends pretty good, no need to read further.
What do You think about The Blob That Ate Everyone (2006)?
Well, here I am, back for more Goosebumps. I never even saw this one as a kid and was expecting this book to be absolutely terrible, but it wasn't that bad. The writing is pretty great and some of the characters are interesting. The protagonist Zackie makes a lot of stupid choices in the book. This reminded me a lot of You Can't Scare Me! with most of the action concentrated in the last few chapters. The ending is just a corny cop-out and then you get to the real ending, which is either incredibly brilliant or incredibly stupid, depending on your mindset. The only thing is that the ending kind of negates the plot of the book. All in all, this wasn't bad, but had way too many flaws to ignore. Easily skipped.
—Colton
I so looked forward to reading this book. I saw the show whereas it was on TV. I liked how it portrayed Zackie & Alex. What I like in the show was also written well, drily by the author in his book. Stine wrote many books. The shows are good. I read The Blob That Ate Everyone and did all humor and colloquialism exceed as I hoped of the Zackie & from his friend Alex as central to being a protagonist character. Stine has shown his ease in writing often, it shows again in his friendship between Zachie & Alex.
—Arthur
The book that I read today was mostly about two best friends named zackie and a girl named Alex. They are both best friends and zackie longs to become a famous scary story writer some day. One day, a storm strikes their town causing a few houses and shops to break down. After the storm, zackie and Alex finds a store that was totally wrecked. Zackie chooses to go in it, but Alex thinks it's a bad idea, but he goes anyway. Alex has no choice to follow zackie into the shop. Then, zackie finds a old type writer that he really wants. Then, the owner of the store comes inside the store and finds then both in it. The owners wants to know why they are in it, and they say that they where just looking around. Zackie tells the owner that he really like the old type writer, so the owner gives it to him for free. Zackie was really happy when he got the type writer. Many strange things started happening with the type writer. Everything that you type comes true!! Zackie tells Alex about the type writer and she believed him. They started messing with the type writer until, Adam, another friend of theirs, writes about a monster wanting flesh that eat everyone. To stop the huge monster, zackie and Alex needs to break the type writer. It is simply impossible to do it, so they just throw it out the window which really breaks the haunted type writer. Now, zackie wants to type on his new computer instead of typewriters. The end.
—Isabel Orama
