Escape from Horror House

Escape from Horror House is the thirty-seventh book in the Give Yourself Goosebumps gamebook series. It was published in 1999.

The cover illustration depicts a run-down house. The house has twisted and warped into features that seem to form a monstrous face.

Blurb
HOME IS WHERE THE HORROR IS!

Strange things have been happening at your house all week. Chairs are overturned. Pictures are hung upside down. Weird messages are appearing on the walls. Your parents are convinced you are responsible. But you know the truth. Poltergeists have moved into your house!

Can you get rid of the evil spirits with just a little help from your friends? Or will you need the help of a trained professional like the creepy medium Madame Matilda?

The choice is yours in this scary GOOSEBUMPS adventure that's packed with over 20 super-spooky endings!

Plot
Strange incidents of vandalism are happening at your home, and your mother refuses to believe that you didn't do it. She orders you to clean up, then leaves you at home alone. Your friend Bobby's words make you think that perhaps there is a poltergeist in your house, and indeed it turns out there is. It writes a message to you, saying that it's going to take over your body. At this point the doorbell rings, and a woman called Madame Matilda appears. She says she can help you get rid of the poltergeist, and the reader must decide whether or not to trust her.

Story A
You trust Matilda and let her into the house. Together you hold a séance and summon the poltergeist. Another ghost hunter called Marvin appears at your door, but he and Matilda hate each other and won't work together. The reader must then decide whether to work with Matilda or Marvin to get rid of the poltergeist.

Story B
You shut the door in Matilda's face and refuse to let her in. Rather than face the poltergeist by yourself, you decide to ask your friends Bobby and Lisa for help, so you go down to the basement to email them. There, you discover ghostly faces in the walls. The faces tell you that there are multiple poltergeists in your home, and that the poltergeists feed on negative emotion. You have to find a way to stop them and make sure that no one around you is expressing fear or anger...

Side story C
From story B, you get trapped in the basement, and have to convince the ghostly faces (who, in this storyline, are the poltergeists) to let you out. They will agree to release you only if you promise to find bodies for them to inhabit. When your friends arrive, the three of you have to work together to find animal bodies that the poltergeists can use.

List of endings
There are eighteen bad endings and eight good endings.

Trivia

 * Prior to this book's release, one online source claimed the book's title would be They're After You, suggesting this was the working title.
 * This book employed little of the type of humor characteristic of the series.
 * The title of the book is a misnomer, as this story does not actually focus on the reader escaping their house. Instead, it is all about the reader attempting to get rid of the poltergeist taking over their house and managing their fear. The cover art is also misleading, as the reader's house doesn't actually twist and warp to form the monstrous face.
 * The house featured in the 2006 film, Monster House, bears a striking resemblance to the house on the cover of this book.
 * Page 59 contains three erroneous sentences in the last two paragraphs: "Your flesh bubbles, then melts down your face as the inhuman energy spreads though your muscles. Your limbs. You heart thumps faster and faster. [...] You weren't using exactly using your head!"