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From Haunted Houses to Zombies: The Most Frightening Scary Horror Games

Do you enjoy the adrenaline rush of being scared out of your wits? Are you a fan of horror movies and looking for a new way to experience fear? Look no further. In this article, we will explore some of the most terrifying scary horror games that will leave you trembling with fear. From haunted houses to zombies, these games will push your limits and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Haunted Houses: A Classic Thrill

If you’re a fan of haunted houses, then horror games that feature eerie mansions or abandoned buildings are sure to provide an exhilarating experience. One such game that comes to mind is “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.” Set in a dilapidated plantation house in rural Louisiana, this game combines atmospheric horror with intense gameplay. As you navigate through dark corridors and solve puzzles, you’ll encounter grotesque creatures and terrifying jump scares that will keep your heart pounding.

Another notable haunted house game is “Amnesia: The Dark Descent.” In this first-person survival horror game, players find themselves trapped inside an ancient castle with no memory of how they got there. With limited resources and a lurking presence that feeds on fear, this game is guaranteed to make even the bravest players feel vulnerable and terrified.

Zombies: A Never-Ending Nightmare

Zombies have been a staple in horror culture for decades, and scary horror games featuring these undead creatures are always popular among thrill-seekers. One standout title in this genre is “The Last of Us.” Set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by infected humans turned into zombies, this action-adventure game blends intense combat with an emotionally gripping storyline. The realistic graphics and immersive gameplay make every encounter with the infected a heart-pounding experience.

For those seeking a more intense zombie experience, “Resident Evil 2” is a must-play. This remake of the classic survival horror game takes players back to Raccoon City, where a zombie outbreak has turned the population into flesh-eating monsters. With its atmospheric setting and relentless undead enemies, this game will keep you on your toes as you fight for survival.

Psychological Horror: A Mind-Bending Challenge

If you prefer horror games that mess with your mind, then psychological horror games are perfect for you. “Silent Hill 2” is often regarded as one of the best examples of this subgenre. As players control James Sunderland through the foggy town of Silent Hill, they unravel a deeply disturbing story filled with symbolism and psychological torment. The game’s haunting atmosphere and psychological twists will leave you questioning reality long after you’ve put down the controller.

Another mind-bending horror experience is “Layers of Fear.” In this first-person exploration game, players step into the shoes of a disturbed painter as they navigate through a constantly changing mansion. Delving into themes of madness and obsession, this game uses clever storytelling and visual trickery to create an unsettling experience that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Survival Horror: Fight or Flight

For those who enjoy intense gameplay and heart-pounding action, survival horror games provide an adrenaline-fueled experience like no other. “Outlast” is a prime example of this genre. Armed only with a camcorder, players must navigate through an abandoned psychiatric hospital filled with deranged inmates. With no means to defend yourself other than hiding or running away, every encounter becomes a tense battle for survival.

Another standout survival horror game is “Alien: Isolation.” Set fifteen years after the events of Ridley Scott’s iconic film “Alien,” players assume the role of Ellen Ripley’s daughter as she tries to survive aboard a space station infested by one relentless xenomorph. The game’s AI-driven alien enemy constantly adapts to the player’s actions, making every encounter a nerve-wracking game of cat-and-mouse.

In conclusion, if you’re a fan of being scared senseless, these scary horror games will provide an unforgettable experience. Whether you prefer haunted houses, zombies, psychological torment, or survival challenges, there is a game out there that will cater to your darkest fears. So grab your controller and prepare for a night of terror as you dive into these spine-chilling virtual worlds.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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• Movie characters
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• Goosebumps Series 2000 (characters)
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The Haunted Car (character)

• View history
• 1.1 The Haunted Car
• 1.2 Goosebumps (film)
• 2.1 Physical appearance
• 2.2 Personality
• 3.1 Artwork
• 3.2 Regional depictions

History [ ]

The haunted car [ ].

14-year-old Becka Douglas took her father's car out on a joyride, leading to her death. Mr. Douglas became so distraught from her death that he became desperate to get rid of the car. At some point Becka started haunting the car, and told her twin sister she plans to get revenge for dying so young.

When Mitchell Moinian 's dad got the car, Becka started forcing Mitchell to get in so she can kill him. However, she accidentally saves his life by taking him on a ride while his house is catching fire. Because her mission is evil, she melted away.

The car apparently relies on Becka to run and doesn't require a car battery as when Becka melted away, the car stopped working entirely the next morning.

Goosebumps (film) [ ]

The Haunted Car appears in the Goosebumps movie as a means of transportation for Slappy , driving on her own due to both her nature as a possessed automobile and because Slappy's legs are too short to reach the brakes, although she never speaks in the film.

After he released the car and destroyed her manuscript, he used her to rampage through Madison, Delaware . He also threw various Goosebumps manuscripts books out the driver's seat window after unlocking them. The car later appears when Slappy prepares for the attack on Zach Cooper 's school, using her afterburners to destroy the remaining manuscripts after the other Goosebumps monsters were released by the Lawn Gnomes .

Although the car's ultimate fate is left unknown at the end of the film, it is implied that she was sucked into the newly written Goosebumps book along with the other monsters (barring Brent Green ).

General information [ ]

Physical appearance [ ].

As a ghost, Becka is a rotting corpse, with rotted skin. In life, she had wavy blond hair and dark catlike eyes, just like her sister Marissa.

Personality [ ]

In life, Becka seemed to be very reckless, due to taking the car on a joyride at a young age. As a ghost, she claims to be evil, and constantly tries to kill Mitchell so someone can join her in the afterlife forever. She's so dedicated to evil that saving Mitchell's life causes her to melt away forever.

Gallery [ ]

Artwork [ ].

Regional depictions [ ]

• In the Spanish version of the film, specifically when the Haunted Car is released from her book in front of Stine's house, one can hear her whispering "embrujado." When translated, the term means "haunted."
• In the book, the car is described as a sleek, blue sports car. Resembling a C5 Chevy Corvette on the cover art. In the movie, the car appears as a slightly modded, shiny, black 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark 3.
• The Haunted Car, especially her depiction in the Goosebumps film, shares similarities to The Car from the 1977 horror-thriller The Car .
• The Haunted Car is Slappy's closest ally in the film, since he used her for transportation throughout the film.
• In Goosebumps: The Game , the moving van driver mentions a story about a haunted car to his partner, swearing that the story was true. The Haunted Car is later shown as an achievement within the game.
• The Haunted Car appears in Goosebumps HorrorTown , but only as an item you can decorate the town with.
• 1 Say Cheese and Die!
• 2 List of Goosebumps books
• 3 Go Eat Worms!

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The Haunted Car (Classic Goosebumps #30) (30) Paperback – April 28, 2015

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Mitchell Moinian tried to do some homework. But he kept jumping up and going to his bedroom window to peer down at the car.

A street light made the chrome bumpers sparkle and the sleek blue body glow. Mitchell couldn't resist. He had to sit in the car.

Holding his breath, he crept down the stairs and out the front door. He stepped around to the driver's side of the car and grabbed the handle.

"Go ahead," a voice whispered. "Climb in." Mitchell had no idea how scary this ride was going to be.

• Reading age 8 - 12 years
• Book 3 of 3 Goosebumps Series 2000
• Print length 144 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 7
• Dimensions 5.25 x 0.5 x 7.75 inches
• Publisher Scholastic Paperbacks
• Publication date April 28, 2015
• ISBN-10 9780545828857
• ISBN-13 978-0545828857
• See all details

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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0545828856
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Paperbacks; Reissue edition (April 28, 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780545828857
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0545828857
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.2 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.5 x 7.75 inches
• #185 in Children's Superhero Fiction
• #478 in Children's Spine-Chilling Horror
• #1,373 in Children's Humor

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About the author

R. l. stine.

Why is Tim Jacobus R.L. Stine's favorite illustrator? Maybe because they've done so many scary books together. Tim did the cover paintings for more than 80 Goosebumps books, as well as the six amazing Amazon books. Recently, the two of them got together and asked the questions they've always wanted to ask each other...

TIM (the illustrator) asks R.L. STINE (the author):

TIM: When I illustrate, I can "see" the image in my head before I start to draw. Do you "hear" a story when you write?

R.L.: I hear kids when I write. I try to hear the voice of the boy or girl who is telling the story. I visit schools a lot and talk with kids so I can keep up with what they are saying these days and what real kids sound like. Then I try to hear their voices tell the story as I write it.

TIM: You've written so many books I can't do the math, but I bet you've used millions of words. What's you favorite word?

R.L.: Someone once got in an elevator with a very witty author named Noel Coward and said, "Say something funny." And Coward said, "Kangaroo." Kangaroo has been a favorite word of mine ever since I heard that story. But as a horror writer, I guess my favorite word is SCREAM!

TIM: Where is the strangest place you have come up with an idea for a story?

R.L.: An empty movie theater. My wife and I went to see a scary movie in a big, old movie house-- and we were the only ones in the theater. It was kind of creepy. Then about halfway through the movie, I turned around and saw that the back row was filled with people sitting straight and still. Suddenly, I thought-- They are zombies! I'm trapped in a dark zombie theater! And that's where the idea for the book Zombie Town came from.

TIM: If you couldn't write-- and you possessed all skills-- what would you like to do for a living?

R.L.: I drew comic strips from the time I was in 4th grade, and I always dreamed of being a cartoonist. You can imagine my shock when the other kids told me how bad my art was. They were right. I stunk! I got over my extreme disappointment by starting to write. But if I had the skill, I would love to do what you do, Tim.

R.L. STINE (the author)asks TIM (the illustrator):

R.L.: If you couldn't be an artist what would you like to be?

TIM: I would like to be a "Snowmaker" at one of the big ski resorts, out west, like Mammoth Mountain in California. You work at night when everyone goes home. Set up the snow guns, cover the slopes, and groom them with the Sno-Cat track machine. It's kinda like a snow tank! Then, you get to ski for free! I love that snow!

R.L.: When we were kids, my brother and I used to go to a horror movie every Saturday. We loved them all. The covers on our six Amazon books look like movie posters to me. Were you also influenced by horror movies? If so, which ones?

TIM: I was a complete "chicken" as a kid. I couldn't sit through any horror movie. The first scary movie I saw was on TV. It isn't really a horror movie. It was the Hunchback of Notre Dame-- the black-and-white version with Charles Laughton. That movie freaked me out! The mutant, Quasimodo, was something that REALLY could exist. Black-and-white movies, black-and-white photos—they all seem more "real" than full color to me.

R.L.: You have painted so many great covers. I think your scariest Goosebumps cover was for The Barking Ghost. And the black cat on The 13th Warning is really creepy. Do you have a favorite cover? Is it a scary one or a funny one?

TIM: It's hard to pick a favorite. But you gotta love the blue bathroom blobs in Monster Blood IV. That one is a little creepy and WAY funny. For just outright scary, I love the ticket taker in Zombie Town!

R.L.: What was the weirdest thing someone ever asked you to draw?

TIM: Oh, I have drawn a lot of weird stuff. One time, I had to paint a pimple! You know... acne! It was a medical illustration. Gross. When I first started illustrating, I painted pictures of food. My food illustrations were used in the Sunday newspaper for the local supermarket. I painted every food you can imagine. I can draw a pretty mean potato!

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Goosebumps: The Haunted Car

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• Tags : Age 10 - 13 Children English Fiction
• Description

The original books featuring the scariest creatures from the Goosebumps movie, in theaters October 16, 2015! Mitchell Moinian tried to do some homework. But he kept jumping up and going to his bedroom window to peer down at the car. A street light made the chrome bumpers sparkle and the sleek blue body glow. Mitchell couldn't resist. He had to sit in the car. Holding his breath, he crept down the stairs and out the front door. He stepped around to the driver's side of the car and grabbed the handle.

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• Publisher Scholastic Fiction
• Publication date 2016
• ISBN 10  1407157388
• ISBN 13  9781407157382
• Binding Paperback
• Edition number 2
• Number of pages 120
• Rating 3.85 avg rating • ( 1,452 ratings by Goodreads )

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by R.L. Stine

series Goosebumps

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About this book, in this series, books related to goosebumps: the haunted car, more by r.l. stine, ebook details.

• Scholastic UK
• Release Date: January 7, 2016
• Imprint: Scholastic Fiction
• ISBN: 9781407167145
• Language: English
• Download options: EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM)

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Goosebumps Series 2000-The Haunted Car

Hello, Spongey here.

Last month, I went big and looked at a whole trilogy from Stine. After that we need something simpler to deal with for this month’s review. I went back and forth and decided I wanted something in the Goosebumps world after so much Fear Street. But what could be both in the GB realm and simple enough for me to not have to analyze it super deeply?

For that, I settled on a return to Series 2000. I usually wouldn’t cover two of those in one year but after Scream School, I felt bad giving it a middling review. I wanted to visit the series again on the blog for a review that is more positive. Although I guess even if I didn’t, I could say The Adventures of Shrinkman counts.

But even with that, I wanted to do this one so here we are. We’ve covered some from earlier in the run, and one from in the middle, and with this we go towards the end. The last portion of Series 2000 was interesting to me. The last portion of the original series had a bunch of last minute brilliance before taking a dump at the last minute. Series 2000 switches between last minute brilliance and taking a dump, before sort of petering out.

I already noted some of the problems Stine had with Scholastic that likely lead to some of those lesser ones, but we’ll get to those in due time. For now, we’re focusing on this. Like plenty of Series 2000, it went unnoticed but in this case, the cover caught the eyes of the people making the 2015 film. Thus, the titular car not only appears in the movie, it also earned a reprint, making it more well known.

I first read it off the ebook back in 2019 or so, and so we’re here to give it a closer look. To get it out of the way, yes this is inspired by Christine. Stine’s cribbed from King plenty of times, so it’s nothing new. Hell, he’s even done Chrstine before with Fear Street’s The Cataluna Chronicles. Oh those are a can of worms, but that’s a story for another time.

Anyway, let’s peek under the hood. I’m not sorry.

This, is The Haunted Car

The cover is pretty good. It’s simple with some nice trees, and the car looks decently menacing. You notice more details the further you look at the car too. Nothing great but it’s a pretty solid and simple bit of art.

And here’s the reprint cover, which is also pretty solid. It’s more action-y, showing the car in a more monster-y form. I kinda like this one more for it being more action-y but both are equally solid. Good stuff here.

The book begins with our protagonist Michell Moinian bragging about he knows more about cars more than anyone else. That’s his quirk but it goes a bit further than just that. He has tons of car models in his room, he draws cars, he can spot any model, and he even dreams about cars. And given certain things he does, I am sure those are wet dreams.

Okay that’s gross, I’m sorry. His family has recently moved into a new house in Forrest Valley, because it’s been a while since we’ve used that cliche. The house is a fixer upper, and dad picked it because he’s a wannabee handyman. He thinks he can fix anything but really he breaks everything. I see we’ve got another model parent.

Mitchell’s younger brother Todd has been getting spooked, and thinks ghosts are everywhere. That name reminds me there can be car more unhealthy obsessions for these characters than cars. Todd comes in claiming to see a ghost again but it’s just our first fake out.

Todd still insists ghosts are real though, he even says “the truth is out there” as he crosses his arms in front of his X Files T Shirt. Subtle. Anyway, they hear a loud crash that turns out to be a bookshelf Dad built. He appears and says he has to go to the hardware store to get some new brackets for the shelf.

The kids decide to come with, and it gives Mitchell an excuse to complain about Dad still driving his rusty fourteen year old Chrysler. Dad refuses to get a new car even this one is so beat up at this point. From how it’s described, I can agree and say dad is shaping to be great so far.

They get going but soon he discovers the breaks are out and they get into a crash. Don’t worry, they’re okay, but yeesh that was rough.

“Does this mean we’re getting a new car?”

Ha, it’s funny because you could have died.

The next day, they are finally gonna get that new car. Mitchell found a deal someone on the other side of town is making, that claims you can name your own price. They meet Mr. Douglas, the man selling the car. It’s in good condition, looks like it has barely been driven.

Dad asks why he wants to sell it, and he just says there’s no reason, just wants to sell it. Also the garage has lots of padlocks, he declines getting in it for the test ride, he sells it for super cheap, and wants them to drive it out of here today. ….Well, none of this is suspicious in the slightest.

Mitchell doesn’t mind how creepy this is, and is just super excited. Seriously, at home he can’t wait to take it out for a drive. His parents decline, since they are busy and there will be plenty of time for that. That doesn’t calm him down though.

“I kept thinking about the new car. About its silverly-blue exterior.The soft leather seats. The gentle, steady hum of the engine… “

…You’re making me regret apologizing for the wet dream joke.

That night, he tries to work on homework but is just too dang excited about the car. So he sneaks out to sit in it. But before that happens, a voice whispers “Go ahead. Climb in”. Even if he didn’t write this off as his imagination, he’d still get in there anyway, let’s be real.

He sits in the car and tries to get out after having his fun, but it seems to be locked now. He hears a girl’s laughter, and then said girl pops up to help him out. The girl introduces herself as Marisa Meddin, a lot of M’s in this one. She recently moved here, and happened to be walking by, how convenient.

Todd appears and gets mad that Mitchell snuck out. He explains what just happened and tries to introduce him to Marisa, but she has vanished. Totally not suspicious. They go inside where we get reminded of Dad’s quirk as he gets briefly electrocuted while trying to fix a chord. Mrs. Monian should consider leaving him before this man gets them all killed, geez.

There’s a dream sequence involving Marisa, and the next morning he is shocked to see the car is gone…because Dad took it out to do stuff. I get why he first may have thought the worst but my mind went to the obvious answer so this feels especially dumb as a fake out. Anyway, later on Mitchell gets Dad to take them on a little drive.

Side note, Mitchell would get along with Greg’s Dad is Say Cheese and Die when it comes to being weirdly obsessed with riding in a new car. During the ride, it starts to rain but they can’t find the windshield wipers. Mitchell looks in the glove compartment but just finds a piece of paper reading “I’M EVIL”

I’ve heard of a card carrying villain but this is ridiculous.

They get things settled, and the next day we meet Mitchell’s friends Allan and Steve. A bit late to introduce them, and spoilers they aren’t that important. Oh and Allan has red hair, ding ding ding! They want to check out the car, so they all hop in to look. Suddenly, it starts to get super cold, and it’s locked again. There’s also a girl’s laugh. This scene is pretty effective, I think.

The door opens, and again Marisa is magically here to help. Mitchell should really be getting more suspicious by now. The friends think this was some weird prank and run off, never to be spoken of again. Later, Todd tells Mitchell he thinks they are dealing with a The Haunted Car.

Todd heard the laughing girl too but Mitchell still writes it off as his imagination. That night, he looks out the window and sees an eerie green glow around the car and just has to go down and look at it. When he does so the glow is gone, and that voice comes back, telling him to get in.

He recognizes it further this time but he gets in anyway because truly nothing bad can happen. Tobey fair, he really wants to solve this mystery and it’s still possible he’s hearing things. It’s a good thing he didn’t accidentally grab the keys on his way out and doesn’t put it in the ignition. Oh wait he does.

I’ll just assume the ghost made him do it, as he does so. The ghost turns the car on and suddenly he’s on the joy ride of his life. She takes out for a nice drive, if you’re definition of nice involves being taken to some train tracks, just as a train is coming. She’s nice enough to just make this a false alarm and get away before it hits, but jokes aside this is another really effective scene. Really gives you anxiety as he gets super close to getting hit.

She needs to shut up about being evil though, we get it.

Mitchell is taken home, where his parents chew him out. He tells him the ghost girl did it and no guesses as to how they react to that. Oh and Marisa magically appears again, but doesn’t do much aside from say she thinks Mitchell may be telling the truth. This doesn’t hit him as odd because he’s slower than Dad’s old car.

Mitchell is grounded and sometime later, he visits Todd as he is playing You Don’t Know Jack/just a game depending on which print you have. This is the only notable reprint change I am aware of but knowing these there’s likely tons of other pointless ones. Todd naturally believes him and turns out to be smarter as he thinks Marisa is the ghost.

Mitchell doesn’t buy it despite all the evidence and takes them to the road she claimed to live on, to prove she’s not a ghost. They are able to sneak out as the parents are in the basement working on a thing dad ruined, and they get into an argument. Someone please get this man away from others, geez.

They hit up the house Marissa mentioned, and it’s totally empty, as if no one is living there, dun dun dun. NOW Mitchell catches on, finally. His next step is to visit Mr. Douglas and chew him out selling an evil ghost car.

However, Mr. Douglas is not in the mood for visitors and tells him to go away. Mitchell is thankfully able to look through the glass storm door to see a picture of a girl labelled “In Loving Memory”. That girl is Marisa. So either it’s now Mr. Meddin or she was Marisa Douglas, either way I like the alliteration more.

Now Mitchell is a believer, he just needs to convert his parents. He tries during dinner but it doesn’t work, what a shock. After getting sent to his room, he gets a call from Marisa. He tells her he knows the truth, to which she says “Now that you know the truth, what are you going to do about it?” His answer is to hang up and not press further, but I can’t blame him with how threatening that sounded.

A bit later, the rest of the family goes out to visit cousin Ella, and they are being picked up by someone so they aren’t taking the car. Mitchell is being left home so he can cool off. I can’t see this leading to anything bad at all. He tells himself he isn’t getting in the car, but the force takes hold so that promise lasts 5 seconds.

This time, our ghost appears in front of him, a blond haired girl. Then Stine remembers this is a Series 2000 book and gives us a great gross description of her decaying ghost form. Also, “rutted” is used and now Goosebumps made me google a word. I’d call ghostwriter if not for a use of “sour” right after, whew.

The car takes off and we’re on the road again. On the way, ghost girl explains her backstory: At the age of 14, she took this car out for a joy ride and crashed, killing herself. She’s haunted it ever since, waiting for someone to join her. By that I mean join her in the afterlife, as she wants to kill him. She brags about how evil she is, so I’m leaning towards she is doing this for the evulz rather than her being truly lonely. That or the way the afterlife/ghosts work in the Gooseverse is just getting more confusing.,

Mitchell demands she take him home, and she agrees since he can easily die there, yikes. She plans to smash into the house but those plans get ruined. That’s because when they get there, the house is on fire! Yeah, and the rest of the family is there watching this in horror. Mitchell realizes that if he stayed home, he would have died in that fire, so the ghost accidentally died him a solid.

So if she did nothing, she would have won. Nice.

She cries out, as doing good ruins her mission of evil. Now she must pay by dying forever, so she melts and that’s the end of her. Well, that was an interesting solution. I rather like it actually. Adds in a nice wrinkle and it amuses me that she was self defeating here.

But why did the house catch fire? Dad realizes it’s because of the wiring. Yes, his attempt to fix the wiring caused some faultiness that made the house catch fire. And that’s the final nail in the coffin for this guy, causing his family to lose their house. Yikes. Love the setup and payoff though. (It doesn’t say if the house fully burned down at least, they mention firefighters trying to put it out but a bit later they mention the smoky ruins of the house so I guess it’s gone)

Everyone’s safe at least. But then Marisa shows up, which confuses Mitchell. That’s because, as it turns out, Marisa is alive and what Mitchell saw was her twin sister. Yes, really. Aren’t evil twins more of a Fear Street thing? The ghost girl is actually named Becka. Last summer, that backstory happened and it broke Mr. Douglas’ heart.

Becka appeared in front of Marisa one day to explain she planned to get revenge for dying so young. How killing Mitchell fulfills that is anyone’s guess. So when Mitchell’s dad got the car, she had to warn him. And by that I mean just mysteriously appear without explaining anything. She says she wanted to but didn’t think he’d believe her.

You could at least try though. Then after that phone car, she figured that since he claims to know the truth, she didn’t need to warn him. So wait, you figured he knew the truth but did nothing to help him? You just thought he knew what to do? You really suck at this. Also, what is up with that empty house then?

It’s likely she lied about her address and last name because she didn’t want him fully knowing the truth I guess but they don’t confirm that. So that’s a weird hanging thread in context. Anyway, he tells her Becka did something good and we’re all good. Mitchell says he’s over cars, he’ll get into sports.

They spend the night at a neighbor’s house. Dad can’t get the car to start, so he calls someone over to look at it. The guy pops up and says he took a look and found something odd. He checked and he finds it strange they’ve been able to drive it at all given it has no battery!

Mitchell figures they’ll have to believe him now, the end. Hey, no twist this time, that’s a plus. Not a bad ending, I must say.

Final Thoughts:

I wouldn’t say this is one of my favorite Goosebumps books, but I think it’s one of the more solid ones. That’s the word I’d use here, everything is mostly solid. To start with the flaws, Mitchell can be slow, taking a while to buy some obvious hints. The twist with Marisa is mostly fine but raises some questions both by itself and given what we saw before.

Both of these could have been fixed easily without changing the flow too much. This one is solid enough to the point where any annoying flaws stand out more, so I’ll dock points but not too many as these aren’t awful flaws by any means. The concept is a simple one that is done well, without too much to make it overly complicated.

Sometimes these simple ones can be that way to a fault but that’s not the case here. The pacing is good, getting started early on and lacking much filler. The setup and payoff with dad’s quirk is pretty good. Sure, it helps make him one of the lesser parents but I like how it’s the cause behind everything that happens, from them having to go to the hardware store at the start right to the end.

There’s some good scares, especially once we see the ghost’s true form. The Haunted Car makes for a pretty good villain, being dangerous with a sad backstory that still manages to not make her too sympathetic. The way she is defeated is a bit cheesy/goofy, but it works in being a unique way to deal with this.

The climax is a bit rushed though, but not horribly so. Mitchell is a fine protagonist, his car thing is an amusing quirk that helps him stand out. But as I said, he’s a bit slow so points off there. Todd is one of the better siblings, and their relationship is alright. There’s just the right mix of bickering and getting along by the end

Overall, The Haunted Car doesn’t quite do anything to make it amazing but it is refreshingly solid. There’s not a lot wrong and it keeps things simple so it can get most things right. After the entry right before this, it was very much needed. Not the best Series 2000 book but it’s on the upper end for sure.

Also, if I had a nickle for every time I reviewed a book this year where a house burns down, I’d have two nickles. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Rating: Good

There wasn’t a ton to mock here, but again I needed something simple. Not much more to say here, really. Next time, we’ll be in October. I did another Twitter poll to see what I review for Halloween this year. And well…I was hoping I’d have to avoid seeing Brenda again for a while but I guess I can’t do that. Next is Halloween Night 2. Oh boy.

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About Spongey444

3 responses to goosebumps series 2000-the haunted car.

Pingback: 2021 Blog Post Retrospective | A Taste of Spongey

Great review Sponge, I mostly agree. This was a pretty solid book but not exactly a favorite. The twist / reveal with the twin girls was kinda weird / didn’t fully make sense, but whatever, not that annoying compared to many other loose threads in other S2K books or even in general. Also, it’s “brakes” not “breaks” 😉

Yeah. And d’oh.

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