Ben Howard is a recurring character in Goosebumps. He is portrayed by Leonard Roberts. A younger version of the character was portrayed by William Chris Sumpter.
History[]
As a teen, Ben, Nora Parker, Victoria Chen-Lopez, Sarah Stokes, and Eliza Etten befriended Harold Biddle, who had just moved to Port Lawrence with his parents. Sarah in particular was very close with him. However their relationships were strained when Harold found Slappy the Dummy in his basement and began taking him to school. This reached a head when, during a performance, Slappy insulted them using things that they'd shared with Sarah in confidence. Harold said it they were really secrets, Sarah shouldn't have told him. Nora, who had told the others that she'd seen the dummy moving on its own, said the dummy was clearly evil and influencing Harold. They decided to try to save him by taking the dummy. They broke into his house and Ben found Slappy and put him in the case. Then Sarah said they needed to save Harold. They tried to get him to accept their help, but he fell down his basement stairs, starting a fire and forcing the other teens to flee. Once they were outside, they decided that since Harold was already dead, there was no reason for them to say anything and they agreed never to speak about that night again. When Slappy popped out of the case, Ben broke him into pieces. Then they decided to bury it in Eliza's father's mine.[1]
Ben was restoring the Biddle House so Nathan Bratt, the new owner, could live in it. When Bratt came in, he started Ben. Ben talked to him about the house and Harold Biddle dying there. He offered to panel over the door to the basement, saying it was best for Bratt never to go in there, but Bratt wanted to see what was down there before deciding, so Ben left it. When Bratt cut his hand trying to pry the basement door open, Ben drove him to get stitches.
Ben later went home and fought with his wife, Laura, about money. She believed they should put more money away for their son, Isaiah, to go to college, while Ben was sure he'd get a football scholarship. During that week's football game, they watched in horror as Isaiah's arm was broken during a tackle. At the hospital, Ben told Isaiah that his doctor believed he'd made a full recovery with physical therapy, but it would take 6-8 months. When Ben saw Nora Parker at the hospital, he went to talk to her. She told him she'd seen Harold Biddle at the game and believed he was back to get revenge on the children of those who harmed him.[2]
When Ben saw Nora trying to talk to Isaiah, he stopped her. The two of them met with Victoria Chen-Lopez and Eliza Etten, where Nora shared her theory and the other three denied it and implied she could lose custody of Lucas for talking about it.[3] The adults ran into the house when they heard Isabella screaming and found her covered in slime. James appeared and said it was a practical joke gone wrong, despite Isabella saying James had splattered all over.[4]
Ben checked on the progress of Isaiah's arm and, when Isaiah expressed pain at a movement, Ben said it shouldn't have hurt and asked Isaiah if he was resting his arm. Isaiah insisted that he was. Ben reminded him that his future was riding on his arm healing, which upset Isaiah.[5]
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