Thanks for being patient during this brief hiatus we just had. This one took longer because the week I was meant to do this review, I came down ill and then Christmas happened and I was caught up in all the yearly traditions and activities.
But here we are, past that, new year creeping up on us, just around the corner, and I hope you've all had as happy a holidays as 2020 would allow. And I hope your travelling and socialising was kept to a safe and sensible minimum.
Now, you've waited ever so patiently for this one, so let's not waste any more time. 'Goosebumps' book 8: 'The Girl Who Cried Monster'
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| I don't know if there are Christmas themed Goosebumps books This one is not. |
There are a couple of things that make this book distinct. It is one of only a few, so far, that have been written in first person. It doesn't even try that hard to be scary, instead opting to be more of a children's adventure with slight horror elements. Unlike Monster Blood, which does the same, this book isn't complete crap. Or even mostly crap. The villain is an actual character, instead of a vague looming threat. That's unusual for the series, so far. Because it's not much of a horror, there's also not much mystery or suspense. The monster - and I hope it's not a spoiler to say there is a monster - is present and described in detail from very early in the story. RL Stine doesn't try to be funny, much, which is a rare relief. Uh, what else...
Oh yeah.
The twist ending is totally fucking nuts.
I imagine most of you along for this ride with me have either read the Goosebumps books, or are adults who are as mildly curious about them as I was when I started, and very few, if any of you, are going to read the books after reading my blog. But if you are - if that is what you are doing - then please stop reading this blog and go read the book first. I am going to spoil the ending, and regardless of whether or not the ending is good, whether or not it is a satisfying twist (and see the Monster Blood review for what isn't a satisfying twist), this twist is worth experiencing first hand, unspoiled.
You'll get one more warning before I spoil the twist ending.
So as the name suggests, 'The Girl Who Cried Monster' is just Aesop's Fable 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' but Goosebumps-ified. Modern (well, by 90s standards) suburban setting, a monster in place of a wolf, shitty parents, and an utterly bananas twist ending.
Our protagonist is Lucy, a young girl who likes making up stories about monsters to frighten her brother and trick her friends. But one day, she stays late at the local library and sees that the librarian, Mr Mortman, is a monster. Lucy tries to tell everybody that she has seen a totally real definitely actual alive and real monster, but of course they've heard her tell these stories for a long time, so they don't believe her.
At this point in 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf', the real wolf eats the village's live stock and, depending on the version, the boy. But 'The Girl Who Cried Monster' goes off in its own direction here and we follow Lucy's adventure as she tries to first confirm what she saw - Mr Mortman turning into a monster - is real, and then prove it to her friends and family.
And here is also where we also run into the biggest problem with this story.
Mr Mortman isn't a good wolf. Some of the scenes in which he transforms are unsettling. He is usually observed while feasting on moths, flies, and even a small turtle, and that does kind of churn the stomach, but there's no indication he is a threat, and it isn't until near the end that he even knows Lucy is onto him. So there's very little at stake in this story. Lucy isn't in danger and her goal isn't to stop Mr Mortman or save anybody, it is just to make people believe her and stop calling her a liar. Even though she is a liar, and it just happens she is telling the truth this time.
And that also undermines the point of the fable this story is based on. Which makes this novel kind of hard to say anything interesting about. It's an Aesop Fable without a moral. You know the first half of the story, and the second half, while a decent page turner, is also kind of sterile. There's no sense of danger, no suspense, no comedy (failed or otherwise), and unfortunately quite a bit of repetition of scenes of Lucy spying on Mr Mortman, seeing the same thing, getting scared, and escaping unscathed. That takes up most of the second half of the book.
And then the ending happens.
Lucy is finally validated when her friend Aaron also sees Mr Mortman transform into a monster. And backed by her friends' testimony, Lucy's family invites Mr Mortman to dinner.
And I'm about to spoil the twist ending of the story so if you want to know what the fuss is about, if you want to try and experience this wild wacky nonsense for yourself, go get a copy (the ebooks are cheap) and read it. The whole book will probably take you 20 minutes to read. These aren't dense or lengthy fiction. Okay. Warning over.
Mr Mortman arrives for dinner and makes small talk with Lucy's parents and then THEY FUCKING GROW FANGS AND EAT MR MORTMAN. It turns out that Lucy's family are all monsters, and they don't like other monsters living in their town, so when one does show up, they eat them. No monsters have shown up for some 20 years, so Lucy's parents didn't believe her until a non-monster corroborated the story. Lucy and her brother don't eat Mr Mortman because they're not old enough monsters to have fangs and eat other monsters, yet. That's also why Lucy's brother, a monster, is afraid of other monsters. He's not big enough to be the predator just yet.
And Lucy and her monster family live happily ever after.
And...
What the fuck.
This is not a satisfying twist. Or rather, it shouldn't be. It has none of those good qualities I have described good twists having. It doesn't come with any suspense, just surprise - to use Hitchcock's language.
But it's so completely out of nowhere, so random, so over-the-top... I kind of love it.
Seriously, I can forgive the rest of the book's flaws for going all in for wild absurdity at the end.
But its such nonsense, and like most of the book, so undermines the point of the fable it is based on that it leaves me with very little to say about the rest of the book.
And you know, that's okay.
I called the ending absurd, a few paragraphs ago. And I meant that in the common sense of "wildly ridiculous". But in philosophy, the term 'Absurd' also has a more specific meaning. The Absurd is the desire for meaning where there is none, or where you couldn't understand it even if you found it. And philosopher Albert Camus suggests that we learn to be okay with the absurd, to recognise how it limits us, accept it, and go on with enjoyment in your absurd life.*
Absurdist art has been around a long time, and they tend to leave you with a sense that maybe this art could mean something, that there could be a message, but you could twist yourself in knots trying to find it and still come up empty handed. The play 'Waiting For Godot' by Samuel Beckett is a famous example of Absurdist Art.
And the way 'The Girl Who Cried Monster' presents itself as a re-telling of an Aesop Fable, but actively guts it of meaning, and swings radically into its out-of-nowhere twist ending does play out like a work of absurdist art. We think it should mean something, because of its fable origins, but ultimately, it seems it doesn't.
So I'm not going to dig deep on this one or reach for any greater meaning or message. I'm not going to squeeze a Marxist take out of it. I'm just going to laugh, shrug my shoulders, and say "that's fuckin' wild and I love it."
It's what Camus would want us to do.**
*This is an extremely simplified summary of Absurdism and Camus' work.
**Camus would also teach you about Absurdism, and I guess I'm doing that, too, despite saying I'm not going to read much into this one. Can't help myself, I guess.
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