But I knew that buying a really gross and frightening mask would instantly cheer me up. Then I could go ahead with my plan to terrify the Hogs, to get my revenge.Revenge!What a beautiful word.When I'm older and have my own car, that's what I want it to say on my license plate.Yeah, hopefully when you get older you'll have some dang sense and realize that revenge is vastly overrated....This book was excellent. Stine is in rare form here, charging across the children's horror genre with long, easy strides.This is the sequel to the classic children's horror book: The Haunted Mask. As you well know, in that novel, scaredy-cat Carly Beth purchases a scary face mask from the creepy Halloween store, only to find that the mask has a rather startling effect on her once timid nature. Running around the neighborhood, terrorizing children, stealing candy and scaring the everlovin' shit out of the kids who bullied her - Carly Beth was having the time of her young life. Until she realizes that she can't remove the mask.Flash forward to now. Stine gives us a great opening paragraph.I don't know if you have spent any time with first graders. But there is only one word to describe them. And that word is ANIMALS.First graders are animals.You can quote me.Turns out Steve Boswell, 6th grader, is the new coach for the first-graders' soccer team, who call themselves The Hogs.You might want to know why I chose to coach their soccer team. Well, I didn't choose it. It was a punishment.Someone set a squirrel loose in the girls' locker room. That someone was me. But it wasn't my idea.Wow, we are only on page 1 and I love this book. Look at this little cheeky beggar! LOL Turns out it was a joint effort of Steve and his best friend Chuck. However, Chuck weasels out of coaching duty by claiming he has an after-school job. Did I mention this kid is 12? The teacher just accepts this. What a dumbass. A 12-year-old kid can't have an after-school job! That's illegal. I can't believe she doesn't even ask his parents about it!Anyway. The first graders are nightmares. Not even exaggerating. They tackle him, knock him down, trip him, put gum in his hair, trick him into kicking a lump of concrete (luckily he doesn't break his foot), pour honey and feathers all over his textbooks, etc. etc. Okay. So at this point I'm feeling sorry for Steve. Not to mention, where are the adults? Am I supposed to believe that the grown-ups just handed a 12-year-old boy who has disciplinary problems a whistle, pointed to the soccer field, said, "Have at it," and left him alone day after day with a pack of wild 6 and 7-year-olds?Also, this is about the 20th case of Stine writing about a bunch of kids who need their asses beat, and ain't nobody beatin' on their asses. Seriously, I don't know HOW kids get away with this shit in Stine novels. I don't know of a single neighborhood where kids can act like total shits and not get any form of retaliation. It's almost as bizarre as the weird monsters Stine cooks up. No group of kids would act like this. Either other 6 and 7-year-olds who are "nice" or the "good kids" would stand up for Steve, or adults would step in (where are the adults?) or SOMETHING but let me tell you, I have a hard time believing these kids are getting away with this crap and abuse of Steve for so long.Steve doesn't want to hurt the kids - I mean, they're kids - but he sure would love to seize the opportunity of Halloween to scare the daylights out of 'em.Then Chapter 3 starts and I realize that Steve deserves none of my sympathy.For many years, making Carly Beth scream had been our hobby. That's because she was a really good screamer, and she would scream at just about anything.WTF? These are the little shits who were tormenting Carly Beth in The Haunted Mask! Feeding her worm sandwiches and stuff!Chuck and I took bets on who could scare Carly Beth the most and who could make her scream. I guess it was kind of mean. But it was funny too.And sometimes when you know that people are real easy to scare, you have no choice. You have to scare them as often as you can.Of course, since last Halloween, Carly Beth is now nigh impossible to scare. But Chuck corners Steve and convinces him to attempt to scare Carly Beth and her best friend Sabrina as they are walking home from school. Luckily, due to Carly Beth being through some shit, she's a badass now. Steve and Chuck's attempt to scare her backfires, and she and Sabrina end up giving the boys a good fright. But then Steve asks Carly Beth about her Halloween mask. Where'd she get that scary mask last year? He needs one this year to scare some kids. Carly Beth refuses to tell him anything. So he steals her ceramic head (it's important to her - read her book to find out the whole story) and threatens to destroy it if he doesn't get the information he wants. Charming. He deserves whatever he gets, Carly Beth. Just tell him.She does. But she tries hard to warn him about the evils of the mask. He laughs at her and refuses to believe her warnings.When Chuck and Steve go to The Party Place, they find it dark and empty. It has been shut down. But Steve sees that the basement door is open. They sneak inside and start rifling through boxes to find the masks.Chuck let out a disgusted groan and dropped the mask he was holding into the box. "They feel like real skin. They're so warm."To the kids' shock, a man bursts in. He is dressed in a black suit with a black billowing cape. Of course, we know who he is. Steve is scared, Chuck has fled. Steve stammers that he's not a thief and tries to purchase the mask he wants.I jammed my trembling hand into my jeans pocket and pulled out the wad of bills. "Twenty-five dollars," I said, holding up the money so he could see it. "Here. Is it enough for one of these masks?"He rubbed his chin. "I told you, young man. These masks are special. They cannot be sold. Believe me - you do not want one of these."He generously offers to call Steve's parents instead of calling the police. Steve, like the little punk he is, makes a run for it, mask stuffed down his sweatshirt. He escapes. The mask that Steve has picked out is a doozy.The old-man mask. I took the mask of the creepy old man. I smoothed out its long strings of yellow-white hair. Holding it by the big, pointy ears, I lifted it in front of my face and examined it closely.A single white tooth hung down over the bottom lip. A brown wormhole poked through the center of the tooth. ...The mouth was twisted in an evil sneer. The lips curled like two brown worms.The long nose had gobs of green dripping from each nostril. A square patch of skin was missing just above the forehead. I could see gray skull bone in the hole.The whole face was creased and lined. The flesh was a sickly green. The skin appeared to be peeling off the face. Dark scabs bulged from the sunken cheeks.Black spiders appeared to crawl through the stringy, yellow hair. Spiders poked out of the two ears.The next day at soccer practice, the kids beat him up as usual. He casually suggests that he meet up with soccer team tomorrow on Halloween - he'll take the whole team trick-or-treating! The kids agree, and make fun of him.Go ahead and laugh, guys, I thought. Have a good laugh now. Because when you see me on Halloween, I'll be the only one laughing.He rushes home to try on the mask.I could feel the skin of the mask tightening around my face.My cheeks burned. A sour odor swept over me, choked me.I gagged. I sucked in a deep breath through my mouth. But the mask was so tight, I could hardly breathe.I grabbed the ears with both hands. The outside of the mask felt normal. But inside, I was burning up!I tried to tug the mask off. But it wouldn't slide up. The hot rubber stuck to my face.I groaned as the putrid odor washed over me again.Soon Steve realizes that the mask has other side effects. Whereas Carly Beth's mask was that of a demon, who filled her with rage, hatred, and a desire to destroy, Steve's mask has a decidedly different effect.I suddenly felt so tired. So weak.So totally weak.Every breath was a struggle. I bent over. My body began to tremble.I felt so weak. And old.Old.The 12-year-old now finds staying awake a struggle. He can't bend down. His arms feel as if they weigh a thousand pounds. He panics and decides he must call Carly Beth. She'll know what to do.The phone stood across the room beside the computer on my desk. Normally, I'd be over there in three seconds. But it took me three minutes of grunting and straining to get my old body to stand up. Then it took another five minutes to drag myself across the room.By the time I dropped into my desk chair, I was exhausted. It took all my strength to raise my hand and punch in Carly Beth's number on the phone.Of course, Carly Beth's dad answers the phone and thinks Steve is some old weird pervert or something. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Steve falls asleep with his head on the desk and falls asleep.The next day is Halloween. Steve awakens to find the house empty, his parents having gone to a relative's. Crumpling the note in my hand, I made the long trip down to the kitchen, holding on to the banister, taking one step at a time. I had a sudden craving for a steaming bowl of oatmeal and a cup of hot milk.Okay, I am dying laughing right now! This book is funny AND scary! So cool. Anyway, Steve rallies and decides to scare the kids as he originally planned.I was trembling with excitement as I dragged myself up to them. I stepped into the light, my wormy lips twisted in a frightening sneer.I stared from one to the other, giving them a chance to see my terrifying face. Giving them a chance to see the spiders crawling through my hair. The wormhole in my tooth. The patch of skull poking up through my rotted scalp.They grew quiet. I could feel their eyes on me. I could sense their instant fear.I opened my mouth to let our a frightening growl that would send them running for their mommies.But Marnie Rosen, wearing a white bride's dress and veil, stepped up to me before I could get it out. "Can we help you, sir?" she asked."Are you lost?" one of the Power Rangers asked."Do you need directions?""Can we help you get somewhere?"No. No!This wasn't going right. This wasn't going the way I'd planned - the way I'd dreamed!Marnie took my arm. "Which way were you headed, sir? We'll walk with you. It's kind of a scary night to be walking around a strange neighborhood."LOL I am crying with laughter here, Stine! What an excellent turn of events! Oh, gosh, so good. :)Anyway, things just get better from there - we've still got some great stuff ahead!...(view spoiler)[The kids help Steve get to Carly Beth. First she doesn't recognize him, but once she realizes who he is, she vows to help him. She helps him stagger to his house, in search of the "symbol of love" which will set him free of the mask's influence. He thinks the cookies his mom brought home for him - the cookies she drove two miles out of her way to buy him - will set him free. But when he gets home, his mother informs him that the dog (terrier named Sparky) has eaten them all. (Why is Stine always having dogs eat chocolate in books? Doesn't he realize chocolate is toxic to dogs? Ugh.) Steve despairs, but Carly Beth sees clearly. The dog loves him! But after snuggling and holding the dog for a while, Steve is still trapped. Sad. :( LOL In desperation, the kids head back to the abandoned store, in the hopes of finding the mysterious man in black. He's not there. Luckily, Carly Beth rifles through the boxes and finds the spider-infested suit that matches the old-man mask. The mask leaps off Steve's face and joins the animated suit. The old man escapes into the night. Steve is free!In the final twist, Carly Beth and Steve make it home only to have Chuck jump from the bushes, scaring them senseless. He had stolen a mask from the store, too! Wait. Why won't it come off?Dum dum DUM!!!!!! (hide spoiler)]
The exciting sequel to the "Haunted Mask."Steve , the boy who used to torture Carly Beth, is back! Now since he saw Carly Beth's creepy Halloween mask last year, now he wants one. The shop Carly Beth got her's at is closed down now. But he decides to sneak in anyway. He finds one that looks like a creepy old man, with stringy hair. wrinkles, and spiders coming out of the hair. I can connect to Steve's envy over Carly Beth's old Halloween mask. If one of my friends had a scary mask like that, I would really want one too. Who wouldn't want a Halloween mask that scared everyone in sight? However in the book Steve really goes to great lengths to get the mask he's wanted for so long, which turns out to be a total nightmare to even hold in his hands. I honestly would have listened to the person who has had most experience with this kind of mask (Carly Beth). I give this book 5 stars because of it's numerous connections to the last book. Also because of It's charming wit and happy ending.
What do You think about The Haunted Mask II (2004)?
this was most possibly one of the best goosebumps books of all time. you see unlike the haunted dummy series (which by the way is my favorite mini series in the goosebumps franchise) this actually has some story to it since it takes off a year after the events of the first book, its got the same characters we all know and like, and this time the boy from the book now gets his hands on another haunted mask. the mask from the first book gives him instructions on how to get the mask off and tells him he needs the head of the girl from the first book. so he decides to get the manikin head of the the girls head and take it down to the cemetary where the mask was buried at. he buries the head and thats all you get. read the book to find out what happens next.
—Ianc Ehs
R.L. Stine has a good ability to take his previous story ideas and fashion sequels based upon them that feature new, exciting twists to keep the original concept fresh. "The Haunted Mask II" is a germane example of this. Rather than just settle for a book that could be nearly identical to the first one, R.L. Stine sets off on a familiar (still highlighting the creepy terror of these living masks) but new story, and the results are satisfyingly suspenseful. The idea to switch the narrative from third-person perspective of Carly Beth Caldwell to first-person perspective of her friend Steve Boswell works nicely, too. This is a good, scary story. I do wonder something, however...How did Carly Beth's brother Noah get her mask off after the end of the first book?
—Josiah
Great thing about this was that RL used the same characters from the first book, but changed the lead character. Carly Beth was the person in the first book scaring Steve and his friend. Now it was Steve in this book scaring people....well trying to anyways.This book goes into a descriptive juggernaut! Everything that goes on with the mask and the first graders is explained to the tiniest of details. Not as exciting as the first, but still a very interesting read. I don't have much to say about this book, I can't say much, there is very little excitement that anything I say may ruin the book for you.
—David Santos
