Little Comic Shop of Horrors Read online

  On tiptoe, you sneak through the maze. At last, you find a little room with only one doorway. It’s hidden behind some old sheets of plywood. They’ll never find you here!

  But in just a few minutes, you hear an odd noise. It sounds like someone sniffling. Trying not to cry.

  As the sound gets louder, you realize it’s not someone sniffling, but someone sniffing!

  A weird, humped shadow appears in the doorway. It looks like a dog, sniffing out a trail. No! It’s a shaggy-headed boy, crawling along with his nose on the floor. Jack!

  A chill trickles down your spine.

  A second later, Jack and Cammie block the door.

  Turn to PAGE 109.

  You figure you should let Dr. Doof finish the scene. It’ll give him time to calm down. Then you’ll be able to talk to him quietly.

  You’re sure you’ll be able to convince him to help you!

  “Let’s go on with the fight, Doc,” you suggest.

  “Okay,” the villain says. “Since we already trashed the script, we’ll have to fake it. But make it look good. Rev up your wings.”

  You start your wings buzzing. Dr. Doof suddenly leaps back.

  “My grip!” he roars. “How did you break my grip?”

  I didn’t, you think. He let me go, the big phony!

  What a cheat these fight scenes are!

  You buzz around Dr. Doof. He shouts threats while zapping blast-bolts at you — and missing.

  “Okay. Get ready for the old A-233!” Doof whispers.

  What’s the old A-233? you wonder frantically.

  The next thing you know, Dr. Doof grabs you by the ankles!

  What is the old A-233? Find out on PAGE 91!

  You roll, bounce — even tumble in a somersault. Then there’s nothing underneath you!

  You shoot past the end of the metal slide and slam into a plywood wall. Then you thud down onto a concrete floor. “Ooof!” you groan. That hurt!

  On your hands and knees, you try to climb back up the slide that used to be a stairway. But it’s too steep and slippery. You just slither to the bottom again.

  Trying to stay calm, you gaze around. You’re in a small, shadowy room. Its walls are made of plywood. An opening leads to a plywood hallway, lit by a single bulb.

  You walk down the hall. After a few yards, it turns. You find yourself in another little room. This one has three doorways. You choose the right-hand one — to find yet another hall. That one zigzags to two more rooms, then a four-way intersection of corridors.

  “What’s going on?” you mutter. “I feel like a rat in a maze!”

  Turn to PAGE 47.

  You’ll go with Bob. After all, he saved you from the lion-bull-eagle monster. He knows what he’s doing.

  “Everybody for Bob’s route, raise your hand,” Russell calls.

  You raise your hand. So do Dan and Alicia. Bob’s shortcut wins! Russell seems annoyed, but he doesn’t say anything.

  As you file along Bob’s route, you notice that the walls of the maze are covered in gray gunk. It looks like mold. In some places there are piles of it on the floor.

  “Have you ever seen this stuff before?” Russell asks Bob.

  The other boy shakes his head. “No, and we shouldn’t take any chances with it. Nobody touch the walls.”

  The stuff has a sharp, peppery smell. Your nose twitches as you move into a room where it coats the walls thickly.

  It’s too much. You can’t help yourself. “AAAAAH-CHOOO!”

  Your sneeze blows a clump of the mold loose from the walls. It swirls around you in a gray cloud.

  But it doesn’t act like any cloud you’ve ever seen. Instead of spreading out, it gathers in, circling around you and your friends.

  Then the cloud breaks into five separate clouds. One for each of you!

  Hold your nose and turn to PAGE 111.

  Huge jaws snap hungrily just inches below your feet. But then you’re safe on the other side of the wall. The patchwork creature roars again. It clomps off to the right.

  You stare at the kid who helped you. He’s bigger than you are, and older.

  “Wh-who are you?” you babble. “What are you doing here?”

  He grins. “It’s a long story. To start with, my name is Bob.”

  You introduce yourself, but he’s not really listening. “That lion-thing knows its way through this maze. It’s going to find us if we stick around. What do you say we get out of here?”

  Sounds like a great idea to you.

  Bob starts leading you through the maze. “There’s more of us trapped down here,” he explains. “We’ve got a kind of camp set up.”

  He gives you a long stare. “I think everyone will be glad to see you,” he announces. “Very glad.”

  March along to PAGE 39.

  Nervously, you climb into the metal box. Tex Loudsnore slams the lid closed.

  You lie there in darkness. Suddenly, you’re surrounded by a blinding light, like a camera flash. Then Loudsnore opens the box and helps you out.

  “Your story seems to check out,” he admits. “According to my readings, your atoms don’t belong in this universe.”

  “Can you figure out a way to send me back?” you ask.

  Loudsnore’s smile is evil. “Maybe — just maybe! And if I do it right, I may get rid of Super-Doer forever! Every other time I kill him, he comes back to life later.”

  “How will you do it?” you ask, a little alarmed.

  “To escape from this dimension, every atom of you — and of Super-Doer — must be destroyed,” Loudsnore declares.

  Your teeth chatter as you repeat, “D-d-destroyed?”

  Loudsnore nods. “That will free you from this comic — and me from Super-Doer!” He grabs your arm. “Just stand here in front of the unconfrabulator — and don’t move!”

  To try this route home, go to PAGE 122.

  To try to escape before your atoms get destroyed, go to PAGE 96.

  “I’m not going to hang around like an idiot!” you fume.

  You step through the opening. Now, which way did Bob go?

  There’s yet another hallway. At the far end is a room.

  As you scout around, you realize that this room is different. The walls are the same old plywood. But there’s a trapdoor in the middle of the concrete floor!

  Your heart beats faster. Could it be the way out?

  You’ve got to investigate! The door is made of wood, with a big metal handle. You grab hold and heave.

  Get on down to PAGE 110!

  “Hey, lighten up,” you complain. “I mean, I told Wolfen-bean he would turn into an inkblot. The writing was on the wall!”

  Y’s Guys aren’t laughing. You try again.

  “Uh — how about if we change his name to Spot?” you suggest.

  Whoops. Bad joke.

  “Get that kid!” the Fighting Vegetable shrieks.

  Y’s Guys hurl themselves at you.

  As you sink under the attack, you think sadly, Why did I have to be such a wise guy?

  THE END

  You stretch and stretch. But you can’t grab your ankle in your hand.

  “Sorry, you fail the test,” Russell says. “You’ll have to go.”

  Go? This nerdy-looking guy wants you to face this dangerous maze alone?

  You’re furious! You argue, shout, then plead. But Bob and Russell won’t take you to their hideout.

  “Fine!” you yell at last. “I can make it on my own. I’ve done all right so far.”

  You stomp off. You’re so mad, you aren’t paying attention to where you’re going. And you’re making lots of noise.

  Still fuming, you step through a doorway and trip over something. It’s long, cool, and scaly.

  Oops! You just bumped into the snake-creature again!

  Stumble to PAGE 41.

  The hairy hand of Professor Y points right at you!

  “Um, ah …” It’s not the smoothest answer. But it’s the best you can do when your mouth is dry
with terror.

  But Professor Y’s hand swings past you to point at Stinky Stanley. “No!” the professor cries. “It’s you! No — wait!”

  He turns to Jean Greene. “Now my powers point to you!”

  Something very strange is going on….

  The professor goes from one Y’s Guy to another. “And you! And you!” His voice drips with horror. “Great Googly Moogly! You’re all from outside this universe!”

  You stare at the other superheroes. Could this be true? Could they all be kids who were sucked into comics?

  “Death to the invaders!” Professor Y snarls. He flings deadly hair balls at all of you. You’ve seen these things in the comic — they can choke you to death!

  Turn to PAGE 53.

  You might as well go for it.

  “Yes,” you answer boldly, “I could do better!”

  “Yeah, right,” Milo scoffs. “Okay, close your eyes and think of the scariest creature you can.”

  You close your eyes, remembering a horrifying creature from a book you read. A GOOSEBUMPS book. The creature — King Jellyjam — was a huge, quivering balloon of purple slime. Its watery yellow eyes peered over a blob of a nose running with white goo. It had big, rubbery lips that blubbered and burped. It smelled like dirty sweat socks filled with rotten fish — or worse!

  And its gross, gooey body was always sweating. Not just plain sweat. King Jellyjam sweated live snails!

  You open your eyes to tell Milo about the creature.

  Oh, no. This is really bad!

  Milo is changing — mutating. Into King Jellyjam!

  Shiver to PAGE 84.

  The solid steel feels like Silly Putty under your fist! You keep pounding until you tear a hole through the door.

  Then you use both hands to rip an opening large enough to walk through. You step into the mad scientist’s laboratory.

  You recognize Tex Loudsnore easily from the comics. He’s tall, skinny, and he doesn’t have any hair. Instead, the top half of his head is made of a gleaming chrome dome. He’s Tex Loudsnore, the man with the pop-top head! Tex Loudsnore, villain and monster-maker!

  “Super-Doer!” he snarls. “I don’t know how you found me. But my latest invention can handle even you!”

  The mad scientist hefts a test tube in his hand. Then he throws it at you! Can you catch it?

  To find out, hold a twelve-inch ruler straight up, with your thumb and forefinger on the bottom at the one-inch mark. Open your fingers to let the ruler drop. Then catch it again.

  If you catch the ruler between the one-inch mark and the nine-inch mark, go to PAGE 114.

  If you catch the ruler between the nine-inch mark and the twelve-inch mark, go to PAGE 105.

  If you don’t catch the ruler at all … try again!

  When you wake up again, the first thing you notice is that you’re really cold.

  The second thing you notice is that you’re lying on a metal table. Surrounded by people in white coats.

  You blink. “What’s up?” you ask. “Where am I?”

  “The kid’s alive,” a man cries. “It’s a medical miracle!”

  As it turns out, the people in white coats are scientists, studying the ice in Antarctica. Imagine their surprise when they found you — frozen into one of the icebergs. Alive!

  No one knows how you got all the way to Antarctica. Or how you stayed alive inside your ice coating. For the next two weeks, you’re poked and prodded by dozens of doctors.

  Finally, they give up and send you home.

  That’s when the newspapers and TV stations start calling. They all want the life story of the Icekid.

  And they offer you big bucks!

  Soon you have so much money you don’t know how to spend it all. Well, actually, you’ve got a few ideas.

  Starting with a trip to a comic book store….

  THE END

  BEWARE!!

  DO NOT READ THIS

  BOOK FROM

  BEGINNING TO END!

  It’s back!

  And it wants you …

  Your aunt and uncle have a surprise. They’re taking you to a carnival. But once you get there, you realize it’s the Carnival of Horrors! Noooooooo!

  “Play or pay,” says Big Al, the evil carnival manager. You have till midnight to find the ride that will get you out. Or you can try to beat Big Al at his own games.

  So choose: fight squid and ride the Roller Ghoster, or test your game skills at the most sinister arcade ever. One thing is for sure — you’d better hurry….

  You are in control of this scary adventure. You decide what will happen.

  Start on PAGE 1. Then follow the instructions at the bottom of each page. You make the choices. Choose wisely.

  AND NOW, TAKE A LONG, DEEP BREATH. CROSS YOUR FINGERS. AND TURN TO PAGE 1 TO GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS!

  “AAAAAAAAAGH!” you scream. You sit straight up in bed. The room is pitch-black. Your heart pounds in terror.

  You take a shaky breath. It was only a bad dream, you tell yourself. The same bad dream you always have. About the Carnival of Horrors.

  That terrifying carnival came to your town last summer. But instead of taking the usual rides and playing the same hokey games, you had to fight for your life! Somehow, you escaped.

  You sigh and lie back down. Your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness.

  Hey. Wait.

  This isn’t your room!

  Turn to PAGE 2.

  You open your mouth to scream again. Then you realize where you are. You’re in your bedroom on your aunt and uncle’s farm. They invited you and a friend for a visit.

  Your door opens, and your friend Patty steps into the room. “You woke me up,” she complains. “I don’t know which is worse, you or that dopey, noisy rooster.” She peers at your sweaty face and the rumpled sheets on your bed. “Dreaming about the Carnival of Horrors again?”

  You nod. Patty was trapped at the carnival with you.

  “You guys are awake?” Your cousin Floyd pokes his head into your room. “Amazing. You’re never up this early.”

  Floyd is a year younger than you and Patty. But he towers over you both. He’s really skinny and wears thick glasses. He’s a computer whiz but also a total klutz.

  “Want to help me milk the cows?” he asks.

  Poor cows. Floyd will probably trip and knock them over.

  “We have to get dressed,” you tell him. You sniff the air. Mmmmmm. Pancakes! “And eat!”

  “Good morning!” Aunt El greets you when you get downstairs. She brings a platter of pancakes to the table. “We have a big surprise for you kids!” she announces.

  Find out what it is on PAGE 3.

  “A surprise?” Patty says.

  “Is there a new movie?” you ask. The local theater has only one dinky screen. It’s been showing the same gooey love story for weeks.

  “Better than that!” Aunt El says. “A carnival has come to town!”

  A carnival? You choke on your pancake. “You guys go without me. I think I’m coming down with, um, whooping cough.” You cough a few times.

  They’re not buying it.

  “Nonsense!” Uncle Steve declares. “You don’t want to miss a treat like this!”

  But you do want to miss it! After the Carnival of Horrors, you never want to see another carnival again!

  You turn to Patty for help.

  No luck.

  “Great!” she cheers. “Can we go tonight?”

  You give her a stunned look. “Lighten up,” she whispers to you. “It won’t be that carnival. It will be fun!”

  You can’t argue your way out of it. By evening, you’re all in your uncle’s pickup truck, driving to the carnival.

  Turn to PAGE 4.

  “Hop out here, kids,” Uncle Steve says. He pulls up to the large colorful arches that mark the entrance to the carnival. “We’ll park and meet you at the cotton-candy stand.”

  You, Floyd, and Patty scramble out of the pickup. You gaze at the huge carn
ival in front of you. It’s bigger than some shopping malls you’ve seen.

  A roller coaster towers above the fairgrounds. Giant mechanical dinosaurs swing their heads back and forth over the high surrounding fence. “Cool,” you murmur in spite of your fear.

  “Come on!” Patty cries. She and Floyd charge through the entrance. You follow more slowly, still feeling nervous.

  Relax, you tell yourself. Carnivals are fun, remember?

  You step through the entrance. You hear whistles and bleeps coming from the midway. It must be at least three blocks long, lined by booths filled with flashing video games.

  At first, the blinking lights and blaring music dazzle you. Then you realize the booths look familiar.

  So does the castle looming ahead of you. And the haunted house perched on the hill.

  Oh, no!

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” you gasp. “This is the Carnival of Horrors! It’s back!”

  Turn to PAGE 5.

  “Get out of here?” Floyd repeats. “We just walked in!”

  “You don’t understand!” you wail. “This is the Carnival of Horrors. It’s run by terrible creatures. They try to trap people here forever!”

  Patty glances around. You watch the color drain from her face. “This is the Carnival of Horrors,” she whispers. “Uh-oh. We’re in big trouble.”

  Floyd glares at you and then at Patty. “Quit trying to scare me,” he complains. “It’s not funny.”

  “Believe me, this is no joke,” you tell him. “And if we don’t find a way out of here fast, we may wind up as carnival prisoners ourselves.”

  Floyd gazes at you a moment. You can tell he doesn’t believe you. Then he shrugs. “Fine. Let’s say this is some kind of monster carnival. What do we do now?”

  “Maybe they haven’t noticed us yet,” you say. “We could mix in with the crowd on the midway and sneak back out.”