The Werewolf Of Fever Swamp (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
This was interesting. Grady (12), Emily (16) and their two scientist parents move down to Florida so that Grady's dad's can do some experiments with 6 swamp deer he has. I looked up swamp deer on Wikipedia. They really do exist. But Stine claims they're from South America and Wiki says they're only found in India and are called Barasingha. They are cute. :) When Emily and Grady decide to explore the swamp a little (Grady in shorts and sandals - moron move right there) they discover a small, crude wooden shack. And there is a swamp hermit living in the shack! With "amazing" black eyes and grey-white hair pulled back in a ponytail, he's an intimidating figure. Emily and Grady flee instead of introducing themselves.Grady makes two friends about his age - Will and Cassie. Cassie is convinced that the swamp hermit is a werewolf. Will is skeptical. But he does tell Grady why it's called Fever Swamp. A hundred years ago, everyone who had been in the swamp developed a horrible fever that killed most of them. The ones it didn't kill went crazy.Grady promptly comes down with a fever the next day. He starts hearing howling from the swamp every night. Other nights he and his sister hear scratching at the door. But when they open it, nothing's there.A few days later a gigantic 100-pound dog appears. He's super-friendly and very affectionate with Grady. He has very blue eyes. Grady convinces his parents to keep the dog, which he names Wolf. Then animals start getting brutally killed......(view spoiler)[ Will and Grady explore the swamp with Wolf. Wolf has to be let out every night because if he isn't, he goes crazy and wrecks the house. Emily and the parents suspect Wolf is the one killing all the animals. (I knew this wasn't true because he's still eating all the dog food Grady is feeding him.) Ed Warner, a neighbor, goes into the swamp to hunt turkey and never returns. Cassie is convinced the swamp hermit is the werewolf and he killed the animals and Mr. Warner. The swamp hermit chases the kids screaming "I'm the werewolf! I'm the werewolf!" But then he says he's just kidding. Grady gets bitten by a snake.After a deer is killed, Grady's dad is convinced Wolf is the killer and says he must be put down. Grady chases the dog off in order to save it. At night he sneaks out and discovers Will is the werewolf. Will is going to kill Grady, but Wolf saves him and kills Will.But since Grady was bitten by Will, he's now a werewolf who hunts in the swamp the three nights a month when the moon is full. (hide spoiler)]
Grady Tucker and his sixteen year-old sister Emily have both moved to a new house with their scientist parents. Their father, Dr. Tucker, studied deer in Vermont until he came into possession of six Swamp Deer from South America. Because of this, Dad had to move with his scientist wife and the two kids to Florida so he could test his hypothesis: Deer can live in Florida. Though he keeps them in a pen in the backyard for now, Dr. Tucker intends to release the deer with tracking collars into the wild.Grady and Emily go exploring in search of a bird. Emily learned all about forests and swamps in school so she fills Grady in on all the scientific details. Emily and Grady suddenly find themselves lost in the swamp. They wander around, eventually finding a small shack. A crazed white-haired man exits the shack and chases the two children, who run around until finally they find the door to their house. Once inside, they tell their parents about the wild man. Dad coolly tells the kids that he's just a swamp hermit. Then he says that the guys at the hardware store said the swamp hermit was completely harmless.Later that night, Grady is just kicking it in the backyard when another twelve year-old boy, one of his new neighbors, introduces himself as Will. Will is a big kid and tells Grady that the only other kid their age on the block is a weird girl. Will walks over to the deer pen, picks something up and utters "Yuck. Deer Slime." Will tells a story about how Fever Swamp got named. A hundred years ago, everyone in town caught something from the swamp that started with a fever and most died and those who didn't die went crazy. Late that night Grady comes down with a fever. Woken from a fever dream, Grady hears howls coming from outside. He goes down to the kitchen to investigate and hears scratching on the exterior door. Emily wakes up too and the two siblings sit in the kitchen, listening to the howls and scratching at the door. Grady bravely opens the door but sees no one outside, and since it's midnight, doesn't go outside to investigate further. The two siblings listen to the sounds some more and then their Dad wakes up and insists on taking both of their temperatures.
What do You think about The Werewolf Of Fever Swamp (2003)?
The Werewolf of Fever Swamp is one of the most nostalgic books in the series. Not because of my memories of reading it as a child. No, this book takes me back to when I was a kid. Playing with your pet dog, exploring the woods with your friends. These were all things I loved doing in elementary school and when reading the Werewolf of Fever Swamp, I'm taken back to the woods I explored everyday growing up.As for the story itself, it's strong. We are kept guessing throughout the entire book. Is there really a werewolf or is Grady's new dog Wolf the real killer? If there is a werewolf, is it the hermit, of his new friends, or somebody else? We never know for sure until the climatic battle at the end. In a series that is often full of predictable twists, true surprises really elevate the story. ****Spoiler Alert****The ending is also great. It was a nice balance of dark (the werewolf will being killed by wolf) and sweet (Grady, now a werewolf, exploring the swamp at night with his pet Wolf). It was a much more complex ending than we come to expect in this series.If I have one issue with the book, it's the title. I kind of wish it was simply called Fever Swamp. While it was fun trying to guess who the werewolf would turn out to be, having werwolf in the title ruins the surprise from the very beginning. Stine could have introduced the surprise of what was haunting the swamp later in the book while keeping us guessing who the villain was at the same time.So where does it rank? Between true surprises, a great ending, and the nostalgic aspect, it's pretty high. While Werewolf of Fever Swamp might not be the most famous or popular Goosebumps books, it is one of the best:1. Night of the Living Dummy2. Say Cheese and Die3. Welcome to Dead House4. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp5. The Haunted Mask6. Welcome to Camp Nightmare7. Stay Out of the Basement8. Monster Blood9. The Ghost Next Door10 The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb11. Let's Get Invisible12. The Girl Who Cried Monster13. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder14. Be Careful What You Wish For
—Jay
Grady Tucker and his family move to Florida after this dad gets a hold of a few deer. His father is a scientist and he wants to see how the deer react in a swamp environment. Grady meets a neighbor, his name is Will and they become good friends. Grady also finds a big dog who he informally adopts and calls Wolf. Thy hear strange news about a few disappearances lately. One day Grady and his older sister Emily go out exploring. They get lost and find find an old hermit, whom they find to be a little sketchy. Then a few nights later they find that their deer has been attacked and killed. They think it might be a werewolf but Grady's dad does not believe so. In the end Grady finds out that Will was actually the werewolf and the big dog Wolf saved Grady's life when he was about to be attacked by Will.I think this story is a classic. It has always been one of my favorite Goosebumps books. It still is really good. I like how I was lead to believe that the old hermit was probably the werewolf until near the end of the book when I found out that Will was the werewolf and the creepy old hermit was actually a good person. It is a good twist to the story. It also helped me realize how quick I am to judge people just because they are different. I didn't like the old hermit, in part because the book made him seem untrustworthy.
—Omar A.
This book is about a boy who goes to live near a swamp with his family. He hears howls every night, and every morning something new is found torn to shreds. Their dog is blamed for it. The boy also meets another boy, who together go investigating with the dog to see about the howls. The other boy disappears, and it turns out he was the wolf. I would recommend this book to someone. The ending was pretty scary and weird, and was actually the scariest scene in the book. The action and dialogue also helped draw me into the book. Overall, for someone who likes horror, this is a good book.
—Cailan Dougall
