Little Comic Shop of Horrors Read online

  Now it’s not only your face that hurts. The skin all over your body seems to bubble and sag. So do the organs inside. Even your bones seem to be melting.

  “What — what’s happening to me?” you scream.

  Your throat feels clogged with slime, and your eyes go all blurry….

  Will you be able to read what happens on PAGE 113?

  The crowd still isn’t moving, and the robot is only a couple of giant steps away.

  “Have you used these magic words?” you ask.

  Wally nods. “I started out in another comic. I was some superhero’s dopey sidekick. Then I met Alex, and we came here. All you have to do is think of another comic, and say the magic words.”

  “Okay. That gets you to another comic. But isn’t there a way to get back home? Back to the real universe?” you ask.

  Wally glances at you. “I think so. A mad scientist can send you. But you have to talk him into helping you.”

  You can barely hear him. People are screaming and bumping into you. “What’re the magic words?” you beg.

  Wally closes his eyes, thinking. Then he yells, “Guest shot!”

  And he disappears!

  You think of the two comics you’d been studying on the comic rack. Both of them have mad-scientist villains. Will the magic words take you to them?

  Time to find out! You close your eyes.

  To visit the world of Super-Doer, go to PAGE 104.

  If you like Ballistic Bug better, turn to PAGE 66.

  Tex Loudsnore cackles with glee. “How do you like my new batch of creature creator, Super-Doer? It even works on you!”

  He grins evilly up at you. “I believe you’re my finest creation. You’re the biggest and scariest of them all.”

  You take one angry, giant step toward Loudsnore.

  The mad scientist yells, “Freeze, ugly!”

  Your muscles suddenly lock up. You can’t move at all. In fact, you nearly fall on your horrible, tusked face!

  Tex Loudsnore puts his hands in his pockets and beams up at you. “Best of all, my formula makes you my absolute slave. Now, you just stand there. Don’t move a muscle until I decide what to do with you.”

  You try desperately to move — but you can’t!

  Uh-oh! Can you move on to PAGE 67?

  You recognize the other hero. It’s Stinky Stanley, the mutant whose horrible breath is his weapon.

  “The professor is waiting,” Stinky Stanley calls.

  Professor Yves Yaboum is also known as Professor Y. He’s a powerful mutant, the leader of Y’s Guys … and a famous scientist.

  You follow Stinky Stanley to join the rest of Y’s Guys. Then a flying chair enters the room. Seated in it is Professor Y!

  He’s hard to miss — after all, he’s covered completely in bright red hair. In fact, he looks like an ape, except for those serious, wise eyes.

  “Y’s Guys!” he exclaims in a deep voice. “My mental powers have detected a disturbance in the great flow of being. Somehow, aliens from beyond this universe have invaded.”

  You gulp. Could Professor Y be talking about you?

  You hope not. Especially when you hear what else he’s got to say.

  “We must destroy these invaders immediately!”

  To ask Professor Y more about these aliens, turn to PAGE 17.

  To try to talk the professor out of his planned battle, turn to PAGE 63.

  You’ll have to be fast — very fast — to veer away from the building. And there are other buildings all around you. You’ll have to avoid them too!

  There’s only one direction to go. Tilting your body so it faces straight up, you pour on the speed.

  Up, up you go. Faster. Faster. Now your body is a mere streak. You zoom past the building. Whoa. You’re really moving!

  In fact, you’re moving so fast, you can’t slow down. The air is getting thin. The sky darkens until you’re in the blackness of outer space. There’s no air at all out here. But that’s all right. Super-Doer can hold his superbreath.

  A second later, you notice something large and gray in your path. Oh, no! It’s the moon!

  Your superskin and maximuscles might have survived a crash into a house. But the moon is a different story.

  “Aaaaaaaah!” you scream.

  Nobody hears you in outer space. The air simply gets sucked out of your lungs. You don’t even have the breath to yell, “Guest shot!” before you splat into the moon.

  THE END

  I’ll stick with a power I’ve used already, you decide.

  You stare slightly cross-eyed at the big vault door, the way Super-Doer looks when he uses his magma-vision.

  Nothing happens.

  You try again. And again. You stare so hard, your head begins to pound. You’re getting angry. All you see is red.

  But you smell something odd — scorching paper.

  You remember the time you burned a hole through a comic book by focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass. The paper turned brown, then it burned.

  Suddenly, you notice that the flat, brightly colored world around you is changing color. Everything is getting brown. The sharp, burning smell is growing stronger.

  Finally, it hits you. You’re in a comic book now! And somehow, your magma-vision has set the paper on fire!

  You suck in breath to yell, “Guest shot.”

  But when you inhale, the smoke sends you into a coughing fit. You can’t get the words out!

  Flames crackle. Your body may be super, but it’s only as strong as the paper it’s printed on.

  Is it getting hot in here, or is it you?

  Actually, it’s

  THE END!

  “What script?” you sputter.

  “Oh, ha-ha, very funny,” Dr. Doof snaps. He shifts his grip on your throat. “The script says you’re supposed to beat me by shaking the floor to pieces with your Super-Sonic Buzz-a-ronic power. But, no, you have to make a grandstand play with your little lightning bolt! Thanks a lot! I could have gotten hurt!”

  Well … wasn’t that the idea?

  You blink in confusion behind your helmet-mask. This is too weird. Is Dr. Doof saying that all those great comic battles — the ones you’ve always loved — are rigged?

  Oh, well. At least that explains how the superheroes always win.

  But you can’t think about that right now. A furious Dr. Doof is hissing in your ear, “Well? I want some answers, bug!”

  You gurgle as his steel fingers tighten around your throat!

  Take a deep breath and apologize on PAGE 83.

  Bob moves confidently through the maze. In some areas, though, he motions for you to be quiet. You tiptoe along. And you notice that he keeps his slingshot ready.

  “This maze is an abandoned subbasement for the whole block,” Bob explains. “It’s full of crazy, mixed-up animals. Each has its own hunting ground.”

  “And you fight them with that?” You point to Bob’s slingshot.

  Bob shrugs. “It’s all we’ve got,” he admits. “I was lucky with the lion-thing. It just hates getting hit in the nose!”

  Soon after, a weird noise echoes through the maze. SHHHHH! SHHHH!

  Bob stops. His face turns pale.

  “What —” you begin.

  He shakes his hand at you. “Quiet!” he whispers.

  Bob seems to be listening carefully. You realize he’s trying to figure out where the sound is coming from.

  At last he makes up his mind. “It’ll be here in a second,” he whispers. “Come on.”

  He boosts you up to the top of the wall, then leaps himself.

  And misses! He bangs against the plywood. Then you hear a loud hissing sound.

  Go to PAGE 27.

  “Why?” you ask. “Why did you do this to us?”

  Milo looks at you in surprise. “You know, you’re the only one who ever asked. This is the deal, kid. I’ve got a shot at a comeback. One of the TV networks wants to make a show out of The Cellar of Scary Stories.”

&n
bsp; He frowns. “But they’re not sure my stuff is scary enough. So I got my old creature crew together and GLOMPFed a bunch of you kids to see if we’ve still got it. What do you think?”

  You remember the slow-moving Frankenstein, the snoozing mummy, the toothless werewolf. “To tell you the truth,” you answer, “your creatures seem pretty … lame.”

  “Lame?” Milo growls. “LAME?”

  Your prisoner flings you off.

  Uh-oh.

  “H-hey, guys?” you call to the other kids. “Uh — I could use a little help….”

  Milo makes a magical gesture. All the other kids disappear! You’re alone with Milo the Mutant!

  “So.” Milo glares at you. “The greatest monsters of all time aren’t scary enough for you. You think you could do better?”

  Answer Milo on PAGE 135.

  You try to run, but the snake-thing moves fast.

  Its scaly body catches you in the shins. You stumble and fall to the floor. Before you can get up, the thing twists around you.

  You can’t move an arm or a leg. Thick coils of muscle have you all tied up.

  The snake-thing’s human face stares into your eyes as its grip slowly tightens.

  The creature’s lips stretch in an evil smile.

  “You’re sssso ssssmall, I should let you grow a bit more,” it hisses.

  “Really?” you squeak.

  The snake’s smile grows bigger and wider until its mouth is large enough to swallow you whole.

  “Naaaah,” the snake replies. “Just kidding!”

  GULP!

  THE END

  Dr. Doof wants to conquer your world? You never thought of that possibility when you asked for his help.

  You’ve got to stop him! But how?

  Then you notice something. Even though you’re halfway into your own universe, you’ve still got the costume and the wings of Ballistic Bug. You can stop Dr. Doof just the way the hero does in the comics!

  “Oh, no, you don’t, Doof!” you cry. You try to leap forward and grab Dr. Doof.

  But you can’t move.

  The hole in the universe has shrunk — and you’re stuck!

  Dr. Doof laughs. “Soon the hole will close completely. It’s curtains for you, Bug!” Then he strolls off to terrorize your hometown.

  “Doof! Come back!” you shout helplessly.

  Well, at least your top half made it home safely. But the shrinking hole cuts off your rear

  END.

  Looks as if luck is against you! You fall way short of the boy’s reaching hands.

  Instead, you bang into the wall, then crash to the floor.

  You lie there, frozen. The lion-bull-eagle beast clomps closer. It growls in triumph.

  Then the beast leaps backward suddenly, yelping in pain. It paws at its nose.

  What happened? Well — maybe luck is with you after all!

  You look up. The boy is still leaning over the wall. He holds a slingshot in his hand.

  “Try again!” he yells.

  You scramble to your feet. The patchwork beast lets out a furious roar.

  Zing! Something flies past your ear. The beast yelps again. Bull’s-eye! Right in the snout!

  You leap again. A hand catches your wrist and hauls you up.

  But the lion-creature is right behind you!

  Head on up to PAGE 129.

  Milo’s ears twitch. He begins to turn around.

  He heard you!

  “Everybody run!” you yell.

  Jack and Cammie take off as if they’re training for the Olympics. You try your best to keep up. You can’t let them out of your sight, or you’ll be totally lost.

  Your lungs are burning by the time your new friends stop. “Where are we?” Jack asks.

  Cammie stares. “What do you mean? I thought you were keeping track of our route!”

  They begin to argue. Great! Now you’re all lost!

  Jack suddenly breaks off and stares at the wall. He points. “Look!”

  Both Jack and Cammie turn pale.

  You glance at the symbol scratched into the plywood beside the doorway. A capital D.

  “What does it mean?” you ask.

  “D stands for danger,” Cammie whispers. She looks scared. “It means we’ve reached the Danger Zone!”

  Find out more on PAGE 23.

  Kid? You peer down.

  You’re not Super-Doer anymore. You’re yourself!

  Hey! This is the vacuum store that was next to the comic shop! “I was trapped in the comic shop,” you gasp, pointing.

  “You couldn’t have been,” the old man declares. “That place has been closed for years.”

  Huh?

  You describe the comic shop owner. The old man gives you an odd look. “That was Milo. He died three years ago.”

  Whoa … have you traveled in time?

  You ask for today’s date. It’s the same day as when you left for school this morning!

  You dash outside, heart pounding wildly. The stores all look the same — except one. The windows of the comic shop are boarded up. The nails on the plywood panels are all rusty. The shop has obviously been sealed up for years.

  You head for home, totally creeped out.

  Could it have been a dream? It seemed so real….

  One thing is certain. You’ll never take another walk through this neighborhood. And you hope you’ll never, ever find yourself in the comic shop of horrors again.

  THE END

  “Wally,” you cry. “Why are you doing this? We’re pals — well, maybe not pals. But we go to the same school!”

  “I’m sorry,” Wally replies. “But the monster formula also makes me Tex Loudsnore’s slave. He told me to destroy Super-Doer.”

  Uh-oh. Things are desperate. You give the Wally-monster a blast of your magma-vision. His shoulder begins to melt.

  “Ow! Owww!” he yells. “I can’t take this! I’m getting out of here! Guest shot!”

  But when he yells the magic words, Wally doesn’t vanish. A ripple runs through his giant form. The fingers around you feel strangely rubbery. His face looks runny.

  He’s melting!

  Then you realize: Wally’s time has come. He used the magic words once too often. He’s turning into an inkblot!

  You strain to break away. You can’t get free!

  Holding up your hands in front of your face, you see with horror that you’re getting runny, too.

  Bummer!

  Your Uncle Mel always called you a little squirt.

  But now you’ve turned into a big drip.

  THE END

  No problem, you tell yourself. I’ll memorize my route!

  To make it easier, you decide to make only right turns. That works for the first four choices you face. Then you find yourself in a room with only one doorway — on the left.

  By the tenth choice, you’re mumbling to yourself, trying to remember which way you went. This place is definitely a maze. And it’s bigger than the basement of the small comic shop. You feel as if you’ve been walking for miles. How can that be?

  The next room you find is stacked high with old copies of The Cellar of Scary Stories. They’re all the same issue that Horace showed you a slide of. The guy with the face like a warty pumpkin is the series host. His name is Milo the Mutant.

  Hey! Now you realize why the comic shop owner seemed familiar. He looks just like Milo the Mutant!

  This is starting to get creepy.

  Then you hear a noise echoing through the maze. A slow, scraping sound — like a foot dragging on concrete.

  Someone — or something — is following you!

  What should you do?

  If you go back and see who’s following you, turn to PAGE 89.

  If you’d rather get out of there — fast! — turn to PAGE 50.

  You spin out of control, thanks to that shot from Wally. Wind blasts past you, making your cape whip about until it wraps around your head. You’re ready to barf from all the tumbling. And your cape i
s blinding you.

  Wait a second! You’re Super-Doer. And Super-Doer can see through things with his cosmic-ray vision!

  You try that slightly squinty look that Super-Doer gets when he uses this power.

  The good news is that you can now see where you’re going.

  The bad news is that you’re about to crash into a building!

  To use your flying powers to veer away, turn to PAGE 36.

  If you’d rather rely on your superskin and maximuscles to get you through safely, turn to PAGE 94.

  “I — I could use a rest,” you gasp.

  Dr. Doof releases you. “ALL RIGHT!” he yells, glaring into the darkness overhead. “We’re taking a break! Put in an ad or something. Ballistic and I need to talk.”

  You stare upward. Who’s he talking to up there?

  When you ask, the mad scientist shrugs in his armor. “Whoever runs this crazy world must be up there. That’s where our scripts come from, anyway.”

  A brilliant idea bursts in your brain. Maybe you don’t need the help of a mad scientist to get home. Maybe you can take your problem right to the person — or people — in charge of the Comic Books Universe!

  If you stick with Dr. Doof, turn to PAGE 95.

  If you’d rather go over his head, turn to PAGE 31.

  You walk faster and faster, until you break into a run. At first, the footsteps fade. Then you hear loud clomping. It sounds as if there’s a herd of elephants hot on your heels!

  You glance back as you go through a doorway. “Ow!” you yell. You brush against jagged plywood. A two-inch splinter stab you in the arm!

  Gritting your teeth, you pull the splinter out. Blood stains your T-shirt. From several turns behind you comes a rumbling roar. Uh-oh. Can whatever is chasing you smell blood?

  The clomping sound turns into a crashing gallop.