Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns

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

The cover shows five Pumpkinheads and a pumpkin-headed dog walking down a street.

Plot
Drew Brockman absolutely loves Halloween. Unfortunately, her last two Halloweens have ruined by two kids named Tabby and Lee. Two years ago, Drew and her friends Walker, 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 had intended to use at the party burned a hole through Drew's couch.

Drew and her friends decide to plan 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 disappearance of four adults at a nearby town. Drew points out that the targets were all fat. Luckily, Drew's dad argues that Drew can 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 Pumpkinheads. Tabby and Lee are convinced that the two are Shane and Shana. The two pumpkin-headed people take the kids to a street that the kids are sure was never there before, saying they will get 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 kids 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 find that there is no head beneath them and that the jack-o’-lanterns are still talking.

As the hours drag on, the two Pumpkinheads 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 Pumpkinheads 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 Pumpkinheads 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. Tabby and Lee decide to make a run for it, leaving the others.

At this point, the two Pumpkinheads reveal that they are 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 shape shifting, 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 but that she needn't worry yet, she's not an adult yet, and besides (They squeeze Drew's arm to feel how chubby she is) she's not plump enough yet.

Trivia

 * Shane and Shana had moved away years early, and had been visting during the events of the book. This further foreshadows the surprise ending.

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 television episode was adapted into Goosebumps Presents Book #16.
 * This is the first of three television 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.
 * Walker does not know that Shane and Shana are aliens.