Craig Morgenstern is the main protagonist of the ninth Goosebumps Series 2000 book, Are You Terrified Yet?.
History[]
After enduring years of teasing for being easy to scare, Craig was ready to begin anew when his family moved into the town of Middle Valley. His desire to be seen as brave were finally realized when in a heroic act, Craig stops a car crash, saving a baby that was trapped inside.
Craig's actions earned him the label of a hero, as well as the attention of Amy Suskind and her friends, Travis and Brad. While Amy took an interest in him, Travis and Brad believed Craig's newfound popularity is simply a result of good luck, and that Craig isn't as he seems. Defending him, Amy challenged the two to come up with something that will scare Craig.
Their first was relatively simple. Craig has to stick his hand in a jar of spiders for five minutes. Despite being afraid, Craig manages to win the challenge when his hand, swollen from spider bites, gets stuck in the jar. Their next challenge was much tougher and leads Craig to an active funeral parlor. The two challenged him to sneak into the building and lie down in one of the coffins inside. He did so but discovers Travis waiting for him, dressed like a corpse. Disappointed, Travis exited the building, but not before one final challenge is issued for Craig.
He must lie down in a coffin again, this time with a real corpse. When the night came, Craig does as instructed. As he lies down, however, other corpses begin to rise from their coffins, staggering towards them. They plead Craig to save them, before running off into the night. Ultimately, this was revealed to all be a revenge prank pulled by Craig, for everything they put him through.
Afterwards, Craig declared himself a superhero. However, as he walks home he wishes it wasn't so dark, revealing he still retains a bit of his old self.
General information[]
Personality[]
Craig is good-natured but easily scared by a variety of things, including insects, basements, and the dark. This made him an easy target for bullies at his old school. Oftentimes, they would try to scare him. Others, they taunted him with the nickname C-C-C-Craig, in reference to his frightened stammering. When he arrives in Middle Valley, Craig hopes to leave that version of himself in the past. While Craig may be easy-to-scare, we do see glimpses of his bravery, even if they often are the result of good luck. Craig uses his newfound popularity at school to his advantage. He brags about his actions, which is eventually what leads to him going through these challenges.
Physical appearance[]
Craig describes himself as short and skinny, with brown hair that refuses to stay down.