Go Eat Worms!

Go Eat Worms! is the twenty-first book in the original Goosebumps book series. It was first published in 1994.

The illustration shows countless purple worms emerging from Todd's math notebook. Tim Jacobus' trademark signature is found just below the notebook.

Blurb
They're Creepy and They're Crawly-- They're Totally Disgusting!

Obsessed with worms? That's putting it mildly. Todd is so fascinated with worms, he keeps a worm farm in his basement! Most of all, Todd loves torturing his sister and her best friend with worms. Dropping them into their hair. Down their backs. Until one day, after cutting a worm in half, Todd notices something strange. The rest of the worms seem to be staring at him! Suddenly worms start showing up in the worst places for Todd. In his bed. In his homework. Even in his spaghetti! What's a worm lover to do when his own worms are starting to gross him out?

Plot
Todd Barstow is obsessed with worms. Todd and his best friend, Danny, love using worms to scare others, especially Todd's sister, Regina, and her friend, Beth.

One day, while digging up worms on their school's baseball diamond, Todd and Danny begin feeling giant tremors. When the boys try to warn the school, they learn that nobody inside felt the tremors, so nobody believes them. From inside the school, Todd sees Patrick MacKay, one of his classmates, digging up worms. Todd is informed by his sister that Patrick is creating a science fair project about worms. Todd is furious; he wants to have the only worm themed project at the science fair! He storms out to confront Patrick. The boys are called back into school, and Todd doesn't get to learn what Patrick's project will be. The boys run inside when they start to feel underground tremors.

After school, Todd comes home and finds Regina working on her science fair project: a giant, papier-mâché robin. Todd asks Regina where Patrick lives, and she gives him an address. Todd, accompanied by Danny, travel to the specified address. The boys peer through a window, but they are scared by a large dog. The boys run inside, and they peer through a window and see a hides, decayed face staring back at them. The boys run back to their respective homes. There, Todd overhears Regina on the phone; Regina brags about sending Todd to an abandoned house. The house had been used for a Halloween party, and the decayed face in the window was a leftover decoration. When Regina asks Todd if he went to the specified address, he denies going there entirely. Todd secretly swears revenge.

At the science fair, Todd brings his worm farm, but he sees that Patrick has made a worm skyscraper. While the science fair's judges assess Regina's project, the notice what looks like a string. They pull it, and worms pour out onto the judges. Todd recalls filling the bird with worms earlier that day as a way of getting even with Regina. Later, when it comes time to announce the winner, it is revealed that neither Todd nor Patrick won; Danny's balloon solar system won! After this announcement, Regina angrily shoves Todd into a table, which causes the worm skyscraper to come tumbling down. The structure lands on another set of projects, and the projects begin fuming. Everyone is evacuated.

A few days later, Todd is adding more worms to his collection.Todd cuts a worm in half in front of his sister and her friend, and both of the girls are disgusted by this. Regina points out something odd: the worms appear to be watching Todd. Regina says that the worms are plotting their revenge. The next morning,Todd is looking for his hat. When he finds the cap, he puts it on, but he quickly notices that worms are crawling around in his cap. Todd blames Regina, but she pleas innocence. Todd sits down to eat his cereal, but he discovers more worms in his bowl. Later at school, Todd accidentally bites into a worm that was hidden in his sandwich. Todd searches for his sister, and he finds her talking with Patrick and Beth. Todd assumes that the trio is responsible for all of the strangely placed worms that he's been finding. Patrick denies the accusation and explains that he no longer cares about worms. He is too busy creating comic-strips. Todd steals the strip that Patrick is working on; the strip depicts an anthropomorphic worm named Todd.

Todd continues to find worms in strange places. One night, Todd sneaks into the basement so he can inspect his tank of worms in the hopes of figuring out how they have been escaping. His parents catch Todd sneaking into the basement, and they tell him that they are going to get rid of his worms. The next day at school, Todd overhears Regina talking with Beth. Regina admits that she has been the one placing worms in his stuff. Once again, Todd vows revenge. Todd and Danny go to the baseball field after school, and they collect more worms. The ground quakes beneath the boys before splitting open. From the ground comes a giant worm. As the tree-sized worm tackles Todd, he speculates that it must be the mother worm, and she is angry that Todd has hurt her offspring. The worm begins pulling Todd underground, and Danny can't stop it. Danny sees Regina and Beth passing by, carrying their giant, papier-mâché robin home from school. When the girls approach, the worm is scared off by the fake bird, leaving Todd unharmed.

A few weeks later, Todd has taken up a new hobby: pinning butterflies. One night, while Todd is working, he gazes up and sees a giant butterfly wielding a silver pin.

Differences

 * In Portugal, this is the twenty-fifth book in the original Goosebumps series.
 * In the Portuguese adaptation of the story there are some notable differences:
 * Todd Barstow is called 'Tomé Gasparinho'
 * Danny Fletcher is called 'Daniel Romano'

Merchandise
A snapback hat based on Go Eat Worms! was released in 1995.

Television adaptation
Go Eat Worms! was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the sixth episode of season two, and the twenty-fifth episode overall. The title of the episode omits the exclamation mark.

Trivia

 * Regina put a worm in Todd's sandwich as a joke, and Todd had eaten half of it before seeing the worm in the sandwich. That was similar to Steve Boswell and Chuck Green's trick on Carly Beth Caldwell in The Haunted Mask.
 * R.L. Stine has stated that this book is one of his least favorite Goosebumps books, along with The Barking Ghost.

References in other Goosebumps media

 * Although the Worms doesn't appear in the Goosebumps film, the title of the book is mentioned.
 * The title of the book is mentioned as an achievement in Goosebumps: The Game where the player must get 10 different game over deaths.