Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns

Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns was the forty-eighth book in the Goosebumps book series. It was written by R.L. Stine. It was preceded by Legend of the Lost Legend and followed by Vampire Breath.

Plot
Drew Brockman absolutely loves Halloween. Unfortunately, her last two Halloweens have ruined by Tabitha Weiss and Lee Winston, two annoying kids who think they can get away with anything. Two years ago, Drew, along with her friends Walker, and twins Shane and Shana, were targets of a mean prank where Tabby and Lee staged a fake break-in at Lee's Halloween party. The year after, Drew planned a scary Halloween party, only to learn that Tabby and Lee were spending Halloween at Lee's cousin's.

What's worse, the fake slime that Shana had used for the party burned a hole through Drew's couch. Drew and her friends are planning the ultimate prank to scare Tabby and Lee straight. On Halloween, Shane and Shana tell Drew and Walker to invite Tabby and Lee to go trick-or-treating with them, and the two will meet the other four later on for the prank. When Halloween comes, Drew's mom is reluctant to let Drew go out, due to the disappearances of four overweight adults. Luckily, Drew's dad argues that it's okay for Drew to go out, as long as she stays with a group.

As Drew, Walker, Tabby, and Lee head out, they run into two people dressed in costumes with pumpkin heads. Tabby and Lee are convinced that the two are Shane and Shana, for sure. The two pumpkin headed people take the children to a street that the children are sure was never there before, for the purpose of getting lots and lots of candy from the incredibly generous inhabitants.

But when it starts to get late, Drew and the others learn that the two pumpkin headed children will not let them go home and want them to trick-or-treat forever. Tabby and Lee are still not scared, so they try to take the jack o'lanterns off the two. But when they do, they learn that there is no head beneath them and that the jack o'lanterns are still talking!

As the hours drag on, the two jack o'lanterns force the kids to eat the candy they already have to make room in their bags (Tabby and Lee have pillowcases). This appears to be quite a lot already, since it takes a long time. The pumpkin-headed creatures get impatient and order them to eat faster, leading Tabby to accidentally smear chocolate in her hair.

The children then complain that they are painfully full, but the pumpkin heads continue to demand that they eat every piece that they were given. They plan to take the kids back to the mysterious streets that they were visiting. They wail and summon a circle of creatures that surround the four. Then four creatures step into the middle and hold four extra pumpkin heads, one for each child. Tabby and Lee try to escape, only to have pumpkin heads of their own slammed onto their heads.

Surprise Ending
At this point, it turns out that the two jack-o'-lantern creatures were Shane and Shana, and that the entire ordeal was merely the prank that the four had created to scare Tabby and Lee.

It turns out, Shane and Shana are actually aliens with the strange abilities like shapeshifting, and the other people in the neighborhood were all part of the prank, and possibly more aliens. As Shane and Shana prepare to depart, Drew offers them some candy. But the two tell her that their people eat human flesh. Since she's not an adult yet, she shouldn't worry yet. Besides (They squeeze Drew's arm to feel how chubby she is) she's not plump enough yet.

Television Adaptation

 * In the book, the pumpkin-headed creatures make them eat the candy in their bags, to make room for more. In the televison episode, the pumpkin-headed creatures merely dump the candy out on the street.

Television Episode Trivia

 * This episode was adapted into Goosebumps Presents Book #16.
 * This is the 1st of 3 episodes on the Goosebumps DVD of the same name.
 * Erica Luttrell (Drew) played Kim in Season 1's, Piano Lessons Can Be Murder.
 * Philip Eddolls (Shane, played Corey Sklar in Season 1's, The Phantom of the Auditorium.