My Name Is Evil Read online

  People who study palms attach meaning to all the patterns and lines on the palm:

  Wavy lines mean you can be inconsistent and distracted.

  Branching lines that point up are a good thing.

  Branching lines that point down mean a disappointment or weakness.

  Star shapes are very rare—they can be signs of good luck—or tragedy.

  The vertical line that crosses the head and heart line is the fate line. Not everyone has one—in fact, most people don’t have one. A deep fate line shows strong direction in our lives. No fate line means you have to figure it out as you go.

  More About Maggie

  Maggie O’Connor’s Nightmare Room experience was so strange and so terrifying that she has no desire to relive it. However, she did agree to answer some questions from the nightmareroom.com members—just this once.

  Question: Is Maggie O’Connor your real name?

  Answer: No.

  Question: What was the scariest part of this experience?

  Answer: It was all scary. The worst part was losing my friends. How would you feel if everyone were against you?

  Question: Did fire really shoot out of your fingers? How did it feel?

  Answer: I have no memory of that. I guess I blacked it out, but other people swear it happened. Someone told me that some people have burst into flames and died. It’s called spontaneous combustion. Luckily that didn’t happen to me.

  Question : How are the triplets? They seemed cool.

  Answer: Jilly, Jackie, and Judy are cool. We’re still good friends, but we never, never talk about what happened. In fact this is that last time I’m ever going to talk about it again.

  Question: What did you learn from this experience?

  Answer: It made me braver, but also it made me realize that nothing is more important than true friends.

  Question: How are you going to celebrate your next birthday?

  Answer: I’m not going to a carnival, I’ll tell you that.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  R.L. STINE says he has a great job. “My job is to give kids the CREEPS!” With his scary books, R.L. has terrified kids all over the world. He has sold over 300 million books, making him the best-selling children’s author in history.

  These days, R.L. is dishing out new frights in his series THE NIGHTMARE ROOM. When he isn’t working, he likes to read old mysteries, watch SpongeBob Squarepants on TV, and take his dog, Nadine, for long walks around New York City, where he lives with his wife, Jane, and son, Matthew.

  “I love taking my readers to scary places,” R.L. says. “Do you know the scariest place of all? It’s your MIND!”

  (Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author)

  Take a Look at what’s ahead in

  THE NIGHTMARE ROOM #4

  Liar Liar

  As I fell back, I heard a high-pitched giggle in my ear.

  I tumbled to the ground. Spun around quickly. Jumped to my feet.

  And stared angrily at Jake.

  “What are you doing out here?” I cried. My voice cracked.

  That made Jake giggle even harder. His eyes flashed excitedly in the dim light. He loves scaring me. It’s a total thrill for him to sneak up behind me and grab me or shout, “Boo!”

  “What are you doing outside?” I repeated, grabbing him by the shoulders.

  His grin grew wider. “I saw you coming.”

  I squeezed his tiny shoulders harder. “When did Mom get home? Does she know I went out?”

  “Maybe,” he replied. “Maybe I told her. Or maybe I didn’t.”

  “Which is it?” I demanded.

  “Maybe you have to find out,” he said.

  I loosened my grip. I smoothed the front of his T-shirt. “Listen, Jake—help me out here. I—”

  The dining room window slid open. Mom poked her head out. “There you are, Rosssss.”

  I could tell by the way she hissed my name that she was totally angry.

  “Get in here,” she said. “Both of you. Right now.” She slammed the window so hard, the glass panes shook.

  She was waiting for us in the kitchen, hands pressed tightly against her waist. “Where were you, Rosssss?”

  “Uh … nowhere,” I said.

  “You were nowhere?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  Jake laughed.

  Mom’s eyes burned into mine. “You weren’t home when I got here. Were you?”

  “Well … it’s not what you’re thinking,” I said. “I mean, I didn’t go to Max’s party.”

  “Yes, you did!” Jake chimed in.

  “Then where did you go?” Mom asked. “Why are you wearing a bathing suit? And why is it wet?”

  “Uh … you see, Jake was watching a video. And I was so hot … I just went outside to cool off. I took a swim in our pool. Really. I knew I was grounded. So I just hung around the pool.”

  Jake laughed.

  “Shut up, Jake!” I shouted. I spun away from him. “He just wants to get me in trouble, Mom. I was in the backyard. Really.”

  Mom scrunched up her face as she studied me. I could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to believe me.

  The phone rang.

  Mom punched the button on the speakerphone. “Hello?”

  “Oh, hi. Mrs. Arthur?”

  I recognized Max’s voice. I could hear the party going on in the background.

  “Yes, Max. Did you want to speak to Ross?”

  “No,” Max replied. “I was just calling to tell him he left his towel and his extra suit at my house.”

  I slumped onto a kitchen stool. Caught again.

  Mom thanked Max and clicked off the speakerphone. When she turned back to me, she did not have her friendly face on. In fact, she was bright red.

  “I’m really worried about you, Ross,” she said in a whisper.

  “Huh? Worried?”

  “I don’t think you know how to tell the truth anymore.”

  “Sure, I do,” I said. “I just—”

  Mom shook her head. “No. Really, Ross. I don’t think you know the difference between the truth and a lie.”

  I jumped off the stool. “I can tell the truth!” I protested. “I swear I can. Sometimes I make up things because … because I don’t want to get in trouble.”

  “Ross, I don’t think you can stop making up things,” Mom said softly. “When your father gets back from his shoot, we need to have a family meet

  ing. We need to talk about this problem.”

  I stared at the floor. “Okay,” I replied.

  And then I suddenly remembered the boy in the pool. And I had to ask.

  “Mom, can I ask you a strange question? Do I have a twin?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me for a long moment. Then her answer totally shocked me. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, you do.”

  Credits

  Cover illustration by Vince Natale

  Cover design by John Fontana

  Copyright

  THE NIGHTMARE ROOM: MY NAME IS EVIL

  Copyright © 2000 by Parachute Publishing, L.L.C.

  Go Deeper Into This Nightmare… & © 2000 Parachute Publishing, L.L.C.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  R.L. Stine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  EPub © Edition MARCH 2001 ISBN: 9780061756979

  First print edition, 2000. ISBN 0-06-440901-5

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