There are a number of beloved and iconic stories from the original Goosebumps series of books, with arguably the most iconic villain being the ventriloquist dummy Slappy, who has earned a number of adventures over the years. E! News confirmed today that R.L. Stine is reviving the character for the all-new book Slappy, Beware!, which is set to be hitting shelves this fall. The new narrative looks to be turning the tables on the character, however, as rather than Slappy being the one causing mayhem, he becomes the one who has to endure a number of setbacks in his nefarious schemes. Slappy, Beware! hits shelves on September 20th.
The new book is described, “This is Slappy’s world — you only scream in it! But where did he come from? And can he ever be destroyed? Slappy the ventriloquist’s dummy has only one mission in his tiny, deranged mind: do evil every day, all day. His creator, powerful sorcerer Darkwell the Magician, has warned him that should he fail to cause chaos before the sun sets each day, he will sleep FOREVER. Normally, this is a piece of poisonous cake for Slappy ― but he may have met his match in the Carlton family. Each attempt at evil ends in disaster, and the dummy starts to panic. Will Slappy’s scariest day yet bring an end to his reign of terror?”
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“My original title for this book was Slappy’s Terrible Horrible Very Bad Day,” Stine revealed to the outlet. “I think Slappy fans will get a kick out of it because, unlike most books in the series, it depicts the absolute WORST day in Slappy’s evil life.”
He added, “I like this book because it shows Slappy in a whole new light. He’s in danger of never menacing anyone again!”
The Goosebumps novels have been delighting fans for decades, with Stine himself seemingly as much of a fan of writing these stories as fans are of reading them. The author pointed out that, part of the charm of his books is finding ways to deliver fans something entirely unexpected.
“There is a part in every book where the readers realize they have been completely fooled,” Stine recalled. “A lot of children’s books are linear and predictable. I work hard to keep the readers off-balance and guessing.”
Slappy, Beware! hits shelves on September 20th.
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