Changes: Don't Scream!

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Book

Don't Scream! is the fifth book in the Goosebumps Hall of Horrors book series. It was published in 2012.

The cover art shows a boy with brown hair wearing a blue hoodie and a black backpack looking at TV screens of screaming mouths everywhere.

Blurb

Better Screen Your Calls!

Jack Harmon can't think of anything worse than getting picked on by the bullies at school, until he discovers an even bigger threat. When he finds a cell phone on the bus home, Jack hears a strange voice on the other end. Whoever it is wants Jack to do things—bad things. Jack keeps trying to make his new "friend" happy. But everyone thinks Jack has lost his mind. How can he overcome something that he can't see but is everywhere?

Plot

Jack Harmon is constantly getting bullied on the bus by Mick Owens and Darryl Olivial, and there's nothing he can do about it. After a rough encounter with the bullies, Jack is left alone, only to spots a phone on the seat next to him. He studies the phone for a while, finding that it's already loaded with apps. Jack raises the phone to his ear and hears a girl's voice. The girl greets him, telling Jack she's his new best friend. Jack tells her that she's got the wrong number. She replies by telling him that if it really is a wrong number, she wouldn't have known his name. She warns Jack not to make her angry.

Jack then thinks it's his best friend Eli Grossman, who happens to be an electronics geek. He asks if it is Eli speaking, but the voice tells him that she is growing impatient with him, and that she isn't Eli, but his new best friend. Jack decides to end the call. He presses END and switches the phone off. But the voice tells him he can't get rid of her easily.

Jack tosses the phone onto the seat next to him and leaves as soon as it's his stop. As the bus begins to pull away, a girl on the bus named Polly calls out for Jack and tosses him the phone, assuming it's his. The voice is still there. He decides that the only way to know who the phone belongs to is to check the gallery. But when the gallery opens up, it reveals photos of Jack.

Jack tells Rachel and her babysitter Mindy about the phone but they don't believe him. Mindy tries talking to the voice but no one responds. Jack calls Eli but the voice warns him not to tell anyone. Jack threatens the voice to find the phone's owner, so the phone lets out a powerful jolt of electricity that burns his hand. Eli soon arrives with a portable game player. Jack explains the situation to him.

Eli thinks someone planted two SIM cards in the phone, so he asks for tools to remove the second SIM. Jack warns him that the phone might electrocute him, so Eli asks for a hammer to destroy the phone. Jack gets a sledgehammer from the garage and smashes the phone. However, the voice returns, only this time from Eli's game player, telling Jack that best friends don't leave. The game player zaps Eli until his hands turn red. Eli drops the machine to the floor and watches it sizzle and bubble. Jack's dad walks in and calls the boys for dinner. He suggests that he takes Eli's game player back to Volt City and ask for a replacement.

At Volt City, Jack's dad takes the game player and goes into the manager's office. As Jack and Eli wait, all the television screens on the wall suddenly go blank. The screens finally start to work again, but now the screens are filled with bright red lips. Suddenly, deafening screams ring out from the speakers, calling out for Jack. The voice keeps yelling at Jack not to leave him, telling him she's his best friend. After a lot of yelling, the screens finally go back to normal.

Jack's father leaves the manager room with a new game player and hands it to Eli. He didn't hear anything. As Eli, Jack and his father leave the store, Jack's dad remembers that he meant to get Jack a phone. After they get a phone, Jack sits in the car, saving his home's number when he lifts the phone to his ear and hears the voice. It tells Jack he shouldn't worry because she's still here. When Jack gets home, he rushes to his room and starts asking the voice some questions. The voice tells Jack that her name is Emmy, and she's a digital mistake as a result of faulty artificial intelligence experiments. She can control electrical impulses to zap people. She needs Jack's help to find others like her.

At school the next day, Emmy senses another being like her in a laptop that is in the computer lab. She insists that Jack obeys her, and embarrasses him in class. Later, Emmy forces Jack to agree on stealing the laptop. The next day after school, Jack waits until all the students leave and he enters the computer lab and starts disconnecting the laptop when a teacher enters the room. Mr. Feingold asks Jack about what he's doing. Jack lies, telling him that he was working on a school project and was actually returning the laptop. Mr. Feingold thanks him and leaves.

The next day at school, Emmy tells Jack that she senses another signal coming from Mick's camera. Jack tells her there's no way to steal it, so she burns his bag. During lunchtime, Jack spots Mick's camera beside him. He acts clumsy and drops his lunch to sneakily snatch the camera. Mick doesn't notice and helps himself to some of Jack's food.

On the bus home, Mick and Darryl bully Jack again, asking him if he deliberately set his bag on fire. They inspect his bag for matches when Mick finds his camera. Jack lies about the camera, telling Mick that he always wanted a camera like it. He tells Mick he can have the camera as a gift. Emmy tells Jack that he'd better succeed next time. At home, Emmy tells Jack she's got a signal coming from a clock radio at the Howell's house. Jack agrees to steal it and sneaks into the house. He finds the radio and starts to sneak out when Mrs. Howell spots him.

Later at home, Jack's parents ask him about what happened. He lies, telling his parents that it was a dare. When his mom asks him about who dared him to steal, he tells her that it was Mick. Jack's mom lifts the phone to her ear to call Mick's mom, but she hears a ring. Coincidentally, it's Mick's mom complaining that Jack stole Mick's camera. Jack apologizes to his parents, Mick and Mrs. Howell.

The next morning, Rachel walks into Jack's room and gets zapped by Emmy. She tosses the phone and runs to the hallway. This enrages Jack, so he grabs the phone and stomps on it. He grabs the sledgehammer and destroys every electronic device in his room. He turns around, gazing at Mindy and Rachel in the doorway, horrified. This results in Jack being taken to the doctor.

Jack doesn't want Dr. Martell to think he was crazy, so he makes up a story about kids teasing him and bullying him, and he just couldn't take it anymore. Jack is on his way to the school bus the next day when he hears Emmy in his watch. Since Mick is moving away, Jack decides to give his watch to him as a going-away present, just to get rid of Emmy. Mick agrees. He takes the watch and spares him. After dinner, Jack hears his new replacement phone ring. It's Mick. He says he needs Jack's help since Emmy trapped him. He warns Jack that he can really hurt him.

International releases

Gallery

Artwork

Conceptual

Trivia

Emmy constantly says the phrase "Hi, Jack," which is likely a play on the word "hijack".

Goosebumps Hall of Horrors series

#01 Claws!	#04 Why I Quit Zombie School
#02 Night of the Giant Everything	#05 Don't Scream!
#03 The Five Masks of Dr. Screem	#06 The Birthday Party of No Return!

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 |next = ''[[The Birthday Party of No Return!]]''
 }}
-'''''Don't Scream!''''' is the fifth book in the ''[[Goosebumps Hall of Horrors]]'' book series. It was published in [[2012]].
+'''''Don't Scream!''''' is the fifth book in the ''[[Goosebumps Hall of Horrors]]'' book series. It was published in [[2012]].
 The cover art shows [[Jack Harmon|a boy with brown hair]] wearing a blue hoodie and a black backpack looking at TV screens of screaming mouths everywhere.
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 [[Jack Harmon]] can't think of anything worse than getting picked on by the bullies at school, until he discovers an even bigger threat. When he finds a cell phone on the bus home, Jack hears a strange voice on the other end. Whoever it is wants Jack to do things—bad things. Jack keeps trying to make his new "[[Emmy|friend]]" happy. But everyone thinks Jack has lost his mind. How can he overcome something that he can't see but is everywhere?
 ==Plot==
-The story starts with Jack screaming because a bully, Mick Owen's, has him in an armlock. Jack is constantly getting bullied on the bus by Mick and Darryl, and there's nothing he can do about it. He complained to the bus driver, Charlene, a few times before, and all she can say is ''"I'm a bus driver - not a referee." ''A little while after that, Mick grabs Jack's Red Sox cap and passes it to Mick on the other side of the bus. When it's finally Mick and Daryll's turn to get off the bus, he spits in the cap and jams it onto Jack's head. Jack slumps into the nearest seat, examining his body for wounds when he finds a silvery phone on the seat next to him.<br />
+Jack Harmon is constantly getting bullied on the bus by Mick Owens and Darryl Olivial, and there's nothing he can do about it. After a rough encounter with the bullies, Jack is left alone, only to spots a phone on the seat next to him. He studies the phone for a while, finding that it's already loaded with apps. Jack raises the phone to his ear and hears a girl's voice. The girl greets him, telling Jack she's his new best friend. Jack tells her that she's got the wrong number. She replies by telling him that if it really is a wrong number, she wouldn't have known his name. She warns Jack not to make her angry.
-<br />
-He studies the phone for a while, only to find that it's loaded with apps, games, news and magazines. Jack raises the phone to his ear, not really expecting anything, and hears a girl's voice. “Hi, Jack,” she said. She half talked, half whispered. “Don’t scream. I’ve been waiting for you. I’m your new friend.” Startles, he looks back at the screen, only to see that it had gone black. Solid black.
+Jack then thinks it's his best friend Eli Grossman, who happens to be an electronics geek. He asks if it is Eli speaking, but the voice tells him that she is growing impatient with him, and that she isn't Eli, but his ''new ''best friend. Jack decides to end the call. He presses END and switches the phone off. But the voice tells him he can't get rid of her easily.
-<br />
-<br />
+Jack tosses the phone onto the seat next to him and leaves as soon as it's his stop. As the bus begins to pull away, a girl on the bus named Polly calls out for Jack and tosses him the phone, assuming it's his. The voice is still there. He decides that the only way to know who the phone belongs to is to check the gallery. But when the gallery opens up, it reveals photos of Jack.
-He asks the girl who she is, and all she answers with is "I'm your new friend." He struggled to think who the girl was, concluding that she was Mindy. Mindy is his little sister Rachel's babysitter. Jack assumes this is one of Mindy's jokes, but the girl speaking through the phone confesses that she doesn't even know who Mindy is. That being said, Jack tells her that she's got the wrong number. She replies by telling him that if it really is a wrong number, she wouldn't have known his name. He still thinks this is a joke Mindy is pulling off, but again she says she isn't Mindy, and warns him not to make her angry.
-<br />
+Jack tells Rachel and her babysitter Mindy about the phone but they don't believe him. Mindy tries talking to the voice but no one responds. Jack calls Eli but the voice warns him not to tell anyone. Jack threatens the voice to find the phone's owner, so the phone lets out a powerful jolt of electricity that burns his hand. Eli soon arrives with a portable game player. Jack explains the situation to him.
-<br />
-He then assumes that the person speaking through the phone is his best friend Eli Grossman, who happens to be an electronics geek. He is always messing around with phones and game players. He can make them do anything. Plus, Eli has a device that disguises his voice. He holds it up to the phone and talks through it, and it changes his voice totally. Makes it really high or really low. Or really rough and scratchy like he’s talking with a mouthful of pebbles. He asks the phone if it is Eli speaking, but the voice tells him that she is growing impatient with him, and that she isn't Eli, but his ''new ''best friend.
+Eli thinks someone planted two SIM cards in the phone, so he asks for tools to remove the second SIM. Jack warns him that the phone might electrocute him, so Eli asks for a hammer to destroy the phone. Jack gets a sledgehammer from the garage and smashes the phone. However, the voice returns, only this time from Eli's game player, telling Jack that best friends don't leave. The game player zaps Eli until his hands turn red. Eli drops the machine to the floor and watches it sizzle and bubble. Jack's dad walks in and calls the boys for dinner. He suggests that he takes Eli's game player back to Volt City and ask for a replacement.
-Jack, now fed up with the voice, decides to end the call. He searches for the END button as the voice starts threatening him, be ends the call and switches the phone off. Silence. But the voice returns, telling him he can't get rid of her easily.
-<br />
+At Volt City, Jack's dad takes the game player and goes into the manager's office. As Jack and Eli wait, all the television screens on the wall suddenly go blank. The screens finally start to work again, but now the screens are filled with bright red lips. Suddenly, deafening screams ring out from the speakers, calling out for Jack. The voice keeps yelling at Jack not to leave him, telling him she's his best friend. After a lot of yelling, the screens finally go back to normal.
-<br />
-Jack tosses the phone onto the seat next to him and leaves as soon as it's his stop. But just as the bus begins to pull away, a girl on the bus named Polly calls out for Jack and tosses him the phone, assuming it's his. He looks down at the phone, the screen solid black, and the voice is still there. She kept telling him that they'll become good friends as Jack entered the house. He decided that the only way to know who the phone belongs to is to check the gallery, surely the girl will have pictures of herself, or at least clues to solve the mystery. But when the gallery opened up, it revealled photos of Jack, his sister and his house. <br />
+Jack's father leaves the manager room with a new game player and hands it to Eli. He didn't hear anything. As Eli, Jack and his father leave the store, Jack's dad remembers that he meant to get Jack a phone. After they get a phone, Jack sits in the car, saving his home's number when he lifts the phone to his ear and hears the voice. It tells Jack he shouldn't worry because she's still here. When Jack gets home, he rushes to his room and starts asking the voice some questions. The voice tells Jack that her name is Emmy, and she's a digital mistake as a result of faulty artificial intelligence experiments. She can control electrical impulses to zap people. She needs Jack's help to find others like her.
-<br />Jack steps into the kitchen to find Mindy preparing mac and cheese for Rachel. He tells them all about the phone and they don't believe him. Mindy tries calling out to the voice through the speaker, but no one responds. Jack then remembers to call Eli. The voice returns, warning Jack not to tell anyone. Jack threatens the voice to find the phone's owner, so the phone lets out a powerful jolt of electricity that burns his hand. Rachel then walks into Jack's room, stabbing the screen with her finger. Jack pleads with the voice not to zap his sister, but Rachel just thinks he's crazy. Eli soon arrived with a portable game player. Jack explains to him everything about the phone and how the voice won't leave, even after he powered the phone off.
-<br />
+At school the next day, Emmy senses another being like her in a laptop that is in the computer lab. She insists that Jack obeys her, and embarrasses him in class. Later, Emmy forces Jack to agree on stealing the laptop. The next day after school, Jack waits until all the students leave and he enters the computer lab and starts disconnecting the laptop when a teacher enters the room. Mr. Feingold asks Jack about what he's doing. Jack lies, telling him that he was working on a school project and was actually returning the laptop. Mr. Feingold thanks him and leaves.
-<br />
-Eli suggests that someone has planted to SIM cards in the phone, so he asks for some tools to try to remove the second SIM. Jack warns him that the phone might electrocute him, so Eli asks for a large hammer to smash the phone. Jack returns from his garage with a sledgehammer and smashes the phone to bits. However, the voice returns, only this time from Eli's game player, telling Jack that best friends don't leave. The game player zaps Eli until his hands turn red. Eli tosses the game player to the floor and watches it sizzle and bubble. It had melted. Jack's dad walks into the room and calls the boy for dinner, he suggests that he should take Eli's game player back to Volt City and ask the manager for a replacement. Jack tries to tell his parents about the voice, but they don't believe him.
+The next day at school, Emmy tells Jack that she senses another signal coming from Mick's camera. Jack tells her there's no way to steal it, so she burns his bag. During lunchtime, Jack spots Mick's camera beside him. He acts clumsy and drops his lunch to sneakily snatch the camera. Mick doesn't notice and helps himself to some of Jack's food.
-<br />
-<br />
+On the bus home, Mick and Darryl bully Jack again, asking him if he deliberately set his bag on fire. They inspect his bag for matches when Mick finds his camera. Jack lies about the camera, telling Mick that he always wanted a camera like it. He tells Mick he can have the camera as a gift. Emmy tells Jack that he'd better succeed next time. At home, Emmy tells Jack she's got a signal coming from a clock radio at the Howell's house. Jack agrees to steal it and sneaks into the house. He finds the radio and starts to sneak out when Mrs. Howell spots him.
-As Jack's father and the kids argue about going to Volt City, Eli tells Jack he's worried the voice could blow up the car. After Jack and Eli's tense car ride, they finally reach Volt City. Jack's dad takes the gane player and goes into the manager's office. As Jack and Elis are taking a look around the store, all the TV screens on the wall suddenly go blank. Everyone is confused. The screens finally start to work again, but the picture didn't go back to
-normal. Instead, the screens were filled with lips. Like a close-up of a pair of lips. Bright red lips. Some people laughed, thinking it was a joke. Suddenly, deafening screams rang out from the speakers, calling out for Jack. Everyone was panicking, looking for someone named Jack to get rid of the sound. The voice kept yelling at Jack not to leave him, telling him she's his best friend. After a lot of yelling, the screens finally go back to normal and the voice goes quiet.
+Later at home, Jack's parents ask him about what happened. He lies, telling his parents that it was a dare. When his mom asks him about who dared him to steal, he tells her that it was Mick. Jack's mom lifts the phone to her ear to call Mick's mom, but she hears a ring. Coincidentally, it's Mick's mom complaining that Jack stole Mick's camera. Jack apologizes to his parents, Mick and Mrs. Howell.
-<br />
-<br />
+The next morning, Rachel walks into Jack's room and gets zapped by Emmy. She tosses the phone and runs to the hallway. This enrages Jack, so he grabs the phone and stomps on it. He grabs the sledgehammer and destroys every electronic device in his room. He turns around, gazing at Mindy and Rachel in the doorway, horrified. This results in Jack being taken to the doctor.
-Jack's father leaves the manager room with a new game player and hands it to Eli. It seems that Jack's dad didn't hear anything. As Eli, Jack and his father leave the store, Jack's dad remembers that he meant to get Jack a phone. After they get a phone, Jack sits in the car, saving his home's number when he lifts the phone to his ear and hears the voice coming from it. The voice tells Jack he shouldn't worry because she's still here. When Jack gets home, he rushes to his room and starts asking the voice some questions. The voice tells Jack that her name is Emmy, and she's a digital mistake created by some faulty expirements related to artificial intelligence. She can also control electrical impulses, which explains how she zapped Jack and Eli. She explains that she needs Jack's help to find others like her, and she won't leave until she finds someone.
-<br />
+Jack doesn't want Dr. Martell to think he was crazy, so he makes up a story about kids teasing him and bullying him, and he just couldn't take it anymore. Jack is on his way to the school bus the next day when he hears Emmy in his watch. Since Mick is moving away, Jack decides to give his watch to him as a going-away present, just to get rid of Emmy. Mick agrees. He takes the watch and spares him. After dinner, Jack hears his new replacement phone ring. It's Mick. He says he needs Jack's help since Emmy trapped him. He warns Jack that he can really hurt him.
-<br />
-At school the next day, she tells Jack that she senses another being like her in a laptop that is in the computer lab. She insists that Jack obeys her, and embarrasses him im class. On the bus that day, Mick and Darryl bully Jack again. Mick tells Jack that he's moving away, and would like to have Jack's watch as a going-away present. Jack disagrees, telling him that his watch was a gift from his grandfather. When Mick is dropped off, Emmy calls out for Jack from his phone, insisting that he steals the laptop. Jack finally agrees to do it the next day after school.
-<br />
-<br />
-The next day after school, Jack waits until all the students evacuate the building, but is afraid he might get caught since teachers stay late. He enters the computer lab and starts disconnecting the laptop when a teacher enters the room. Mr. Feingold asks Jack about what he's doing. Jack lies, telling him that he was working on a school project and was actually returning the laptop. Mr. Feingold thanks him and tells him not to worry about hooking up. Emmy tells him that he has to succeed next time. The next day at school, Emmy tells Jack that she senses another signal coming from Mick's camera. Jack tells her there's no way to steal it, so she burns his bag. Jack takes off his bag and tosses it against the wall until the flames are smothered. He inspects his bag and notices that it's been scorched at the bottom. During lunchtime, Jack spots Mick's camera brside him. He acts clumsy and drops his lunch and sneakily snatches the camera. Mick doesn't notice and helps himself to some of Jack's food. Jack doesn't mind, as long as he isn't caught.
-<br />
-<br />
-On the bus home, Mick and Darryl bully Jack again, asking him if he deliberately set his bag on fire. They start teasing him about having matches in his bag. They start inspecting his bag when Mick finds his camera. Jack lies about the camera, telling Mick that he always wanted a camera like it. He tells Mick he can have the camera as a gift. Jack hears Emmy saying that he'd better succeed next time. At hime, Jack is sitting in his room when Emmy tells him she's got a signal coming from a clock radio at the Howell's house. Jack finally agrees to steal it and sneaks into the house. He find the clock radio and starts to sneak out thr house when he is caught by Mrs. Howell.
-<br />
-<br />
-Later at home, Jack's parents ask him about what happened. He lies about it, telling his parents that it was a dare. When his mom asks him about who dared him to steal, he tells her that it was Mick. Jack's mom lifts the phone to her ear to call Mick's mom, but she hears a ring. Coincidentally, it's Mick's mom complaining that Jack stole Mick's camera. Jack had to apologize a lot to his parents, Mick and the Howells.
-<br />
-<br />
-The next morning, Rachel walks into Jack's room and gets zapped by Emmy up until the point where she can't breathe. She tosses the phone and runs to the hallway. This engages Jack, so he grabs the phone and stomps on it. He grabbs the sledgehammer and destroys every single electronic device in his room. He turns around, gazing at Mindy and Rachel in the doorway, horrified. This results in Jack being taken to the doctor.
-<br />
-<br />
-Jack doesn't want Dr. Martell to think he was crazy, so he makes up a story about kids teasing him and bullying him, and he just can't take it anymore. The doctor gives him permission to go to school. Jack is on his way to the school bus the next day when he hears Emmy. He notices that Emmy's voice is coming out of his watch. Mick reminds him it's his last day since he'll be moving, and would like a special gift. He tells Jack his special gift is to de-pants him infront of everyone on the bus. Jack thought fast and decided to give his watch to Mick as a going-away present, just to get rid of Emmy. Mick agrees. He takes the watch and spares him. When Jack reaches home, he's proud of himself for thinking of something clever. He tells Rachel his "smashing things" days were over.
-<br />
-<br />
-After dinner, Jack hears his new replacement phone ring. He answers. It's a boy's voice. “Hey, Jack. It’s me. Mick.” Jack's surprised at the moment. Mick speaks up again: “You’ve got to help me, Jack. She trapped me in here. Get me out of this phone, Jack. You’ve got to help me. I can hurt you. I can really hurt you.”
 ==International releases==
@@ Line 94: / Line 75: @@
 [[Category:Villainesses]]
 [[Category:Books Released in 2012]]
-[[Category:Pages needing a full synopsis]]
 [[Category:Covers by Brandon Dorman]]
 [[Category:Technology]]
 [[Category:Bullies (topic)]]
+[[Category:Teachers]]