Monster Blood Is Back

Monster Blood Is Back is the thirteenth book in the Goosebumps SlappyWorld book series, and the sixth book in the Monster Blood saga. It was published in 2021.

The cover illustration depicts Monster Blood wearing an apron with a chef's hat on its head, a spatula in one hand and a mixing bowl in the other. All while other kitchen utensils are stuck in its mass. Handprints of someone swallowed by Monster Blood can be seen inside.

Blurb
Sascha Nelson and her best friend, Nicole Hillard, love to cook! So when their favorite TV show Kids Big Chef Food Fights comes to their school for a special competition, they're ecstatic! But school cheaters Ashli and Nathan are also in the show. When Sascha and Nicole buy a mysterious can called Monster Blood Is Back, they think they've found the perfect ingredient. Unfortunately, the trouble with Monster Blood always seems to grow and grow. Can they get the slime under control or will it swallow up the competition?

Plot
Sascha Nelson and her friend, Nicole Hillard, love to cook. Particularly, they like to make wild food combinations. They are going to try out to be on the TV cooking show, Kids Big Chef Food Fights. On their way to the show's studio, a black SUV suddenly speeds past them and narrowly avoids Sascha. After recovering from the shock, they continue walking and notice a store called "Very Evil Toys", and head inside to possibly find a birthday present for Sascha's brother, Toby. The two encounter the store's owner, Bardo, who is a creepy looking man. He offers the pair toys, but the kids are not interested.

Sascha and Nicole look around and spot a can labelled "Monster Blood is Back", and decide to buy two cans of it. They make it to the studio, but soon discover that the two of them will be competing against their rivals, Ashli Lorraine and Nathan Diggs, two rich kids with a reputation for cheating. The tryouts begin, and they must make a meal out of the random ingredients they are given. The judges begin to try the other contestant's food, and end up liking them all. But when they eat Sascha and Nicole's food, their throats begin to burn. The two assume Ashli and Nathan sabotaged their meal, but they aren't able to prove it, so they are kicked off the show.

Later at home, Toby finds the Monster Blood and gets some of it stuck to himself. He tries to get it off himself, but to no avail. Sascha and Nicole help Toby and manage to get it off, but when they put it back in the can, it starts to grow. The duo stashes the can in Sascha's backpack with plans to return it to the store. The next day, while in the process of looking for the store, they run into Heston Hill, a man who works on Kids Big Chef Food Fights. He explains that one of their teams got sick and they need the girls to replace them. They accept the offer, and head to the studio. They all make their dishes, but once again, Ashli and Nathan sabotage Sascha and Nicole's meal by turning off the oven, making the meal cold. This causes Sascha to enact a revenge plan, by putting some Monster Blood into Ashli and Nathan's dish.

However, the Monster Blood does nothing, and the girls leave the gunk at the studio. Later that night, Nicole expresses concern over this, thinking it could grow overnight. They decide to sneak into the studio to retrieve it, but discover that it is gone. The next day, they arrive at the studio and find out that the judges have grown overnight, and can't even fit in their chairs. They go to the closet to get bigger chairs and are suddenly attacked by a wave of Monster Blood, which starts swallowing people up.

Sascha and Nicole begin to run away, but the Monster Blood starts to catch up with them. Before the two of them are able to be eaten, Toby and his friends show up, suddenly the size of giants. They manage to rescue the people from the goo and tear it apart. Toby explains that he found the second can of Monster Blood and he and his friends ate some. They stomp on the blood and it starts to shrink, along with the boys. Heston announces that the cameras caught this and that they can reuse the footage for a horror show.

Suddenly, Sascha finds herself back on the ground, with her head throbbing and an ambulance ready to get her. Nicole explains that she has been out cold ever since nearly being hit by the SUV, meaning everything was all a dream.

Trivia

 * Similar to Monster Blood for Breakfast!, this story has no connection with the original four books in the Monster Blood saga.
 * So far, this is the only book in the Monster Blood saga where the main protagonist is female.
 * Sascha's school is called "Adam Driver Middle School", a likely reference to the actor of the same name.
 * This is the second school in a Slappyworld book to be named after either a Star Wars character or actor as the school in Revenge of the Invisible Boy is named "Han Solo Middle School".
 * The book references Apple Watches, iPhone, iPad, Coke, PlayStation, William Shakespeare, and Uno.
 * Nicole Hillard's surname was Miller in the original synopsis and book preview.
 * The name Miller would be reused for another character in the book.
 * Nathan Diggs was simply named Diggs in the original synopsis.
 * Sascha's father is mentioned by name in the book: Frank Nelson.