How I Got My Shrunken Head Read online

  Ingredients & Tools:

  ½ cup lemon juice

  ½ tablespoon salt

  small bowl

  spoon

  one large apple

  vegetable peeler

  butter knife

  toothpick

  small plate

  STEP 1 Mix ½ cup lemon juice with ½ tablespoon salt in the small bowl. Set aside.

  STEP 2 Peel the apple with the vegetable peeler. Using the spoon, coat the apple with some of the lemon juice and salt mixture: It will keep your apple from browning while you work on it.

  STEP 3 Using the butter knife, carve a face into the apple: eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Don’t worry about details—think big: deep eyes, big nose, and a big grimace. As the apple shrinks, so will your carving. You can use the toothpick for any small details you would like to add. If you’re feeling extra creative, place cloves into the eye sockets, add pieces of pasta or rice for teeth, and anything else you can think of!

  STEP 4 Coat your apple with the lemon juice and salt mixture one more time: This will keep your shrunken head from rotting. Who wants a rotten head? Nobody!

  STEP 5 Put your apple on a small plate or drying rack in a warm and dry spot in your house. It will slowly shrink and shrink and shrink, until a week or two later …

  You have your own shrunken head!

  Feel free to decorate your head with yarn for hair, or use markers to add eyebrows and other features. Can you think of any other ways to decorate your shrunken head?

  Be creative and have fun!

  Quicksand Survival Guide

  Have you ever had that sinking feeling? You know the one—you’re walking along in the jungle and suddenly you find that you can’t go on … because the ground has started swallowing you!

  Well, fear not!

  Although books, movies, and television make quicksand look like a death trap, it’s actually quite easy to survive a quicksand attack. All it takes is time and patience.

  RULE #1 Don’t step into quicksand in the first place! Quicksand can be found just about anywhere that’s moist: near lake shores, by rivers and streams, at the beach, in marshes, and in mudflats during low tide. When you’re out in these areas, carry a walking stick, so if you have any doubts about the firmness of the ground in front of you, you can poke it!

  RULE #2 If you find yourself stuck in quicksand, don’t thrash around. You’ll just sink faster if you do. So keep a cool head. Slow and steady wins the race.

  RULE #3 Most patches of quicksand are quite shallow. If you’ve gotten the bottom half of your body stuck, make circular motions with your legs to create space in the quicksand and free yourself.

  RULE #4 If the sand is deep, lay back, relax, and enjoy your day at the quicksand beach. No, really. It’s impossible to pull yourself out while standing straight—lay back as if you were floating on the surface of water and you might be able to slowly move your way to a dry piece of land. And remember to relax and do everything slowly—otherwise you’ll find yourself too tired to go on.

  RULE #5 Once you’ve laid back on the surface of the quicksand, spread your arms and legs to help you float, just like you would in water.

  RULE #6 Breathe deeply. Just like in water, if you fill up your lungs with air, you’ll float better. So take long, deep breaths.

  Eventually, you’ll find your way to a dry patch and you can slowly wiggle your way out!

  Now, please, do yourself a favor and just remember RULE #1!

  Jungle Creatures of the Night

  As Mark knows all too well, night in the jungle belongs to the creatures. And, boy, does it get loud! But what is making all that noise?

  FROGS compete to be heard in the wet jungle at night—it’s not surprising to find hundreds of frogs in a section of jungle the size of a big backyard, and all of them have a distinct croak. Luckily for Mark, most frogs aren’t dangerous. Some are poisonous, but none of them have a habit of jumping into human mouths.

  The male HAMMER-HEADED BAT of the Congo is built for loud HONKING. Where most bats let out barely perceptible squeaking, this one can cut through the noise of the jungle! These bats eat fruit and are harmless to humans (unless your head tastes like a mango).

  Many other insects and animals add to the symphony of the night, but it’s the quiet creatures that you should be fearful of. They’re the ones that can really creep up on you.

  Although most people think VAMPIRE BATS come from Transylvania, they actually call the jungle their home. They quietly creep up on animals in the night and drink their blood, usually while the animal is asleep. Their teeth are so sharp and small that their bite doesn’t wake the sleeping animal! Vampire bats consume half their weight in blood in about twenty minutes and then take off to roost and digest their meal.

  And that’s not the only blood-sucking creature in the jungle; there are VAMPIRE MOTHS (no, we’re not kidding) and kissing bugs. The KISSING BUG gets its name from its nasty habit of biting tender parts of a human’s face, like the lips, to draw and drink blood.

  Some of the stealthiest killers live in the jungle: big cats like JAGUARS, LEOPARDS, and TIGERS. Jaguars are especially fond of the deepest jungles and will stalk and ambush their prey—silently creeping up and pouncing—rather than chasing it. FIERCE FACT: The jaguar has the most powerful bite of any big cat (even more powerful than the lion’s) and has a unique habit of biting right through the skull of its prey!

  WE CAN SEE YOU! Some nocturnal primates, such as the AYE-AYE and the TARSIER, have huge buggy eyes to see in the dark jungle night. Although completely harmless, they look almost alien. The tarsier is especially creepy looking, with gnarled, witchlike hands!

  GLOW IN THE DARK FUNGUS. In some jungles, a GLOWING FUNGUS grows on the trunks of trees, giving them a mysterious shine.

  Say the Magic Words

  Do you know the magic words?

  Kah-lee-ah! Chant this word to unleash Jungle Magic!

  Karru marri odonna loma molonu! These five words have an eerie and often surprising effect on dummies, like Slappy.

  Hocus-pocus, Presto chango, Abracadabra, and Alakazam are all common words spoken by magicians around the globe while making a magic trick happen.

  Voilà! (Pronounced VWAA-LAA!) Another word used by magicians, but usually as they reveal the result of the magic.

  Open Sesame. A phrase that opens a magically sealed cave filled with treasure.

  And don’t forget …

  Please. This is the magic word that everyone wants to hear. It’s perfect for practicing the magic trick known as “being polite.”

  Interested in other magical forces?

  Then check out

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  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  Goosebumps book series created by Parachute Press, Inc.

  Copyright © 1996 by Scholastic Inc.

  Cover design by Steve Scott

  Cover art by Brandon Dorman

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, GOOSEBUMPS, GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First printing, May 2009

  “Behind the Screams” bonus material by Matthew D. Payne

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