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| + | {{Tabber/Story|previous=I'm Telling!|next=Change for the Strange}} |
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| − | "'''The Haunted House Game'''" |
+ | "'''The Haunted House Game'''" is the fifth short story in the book ''[[Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps]]''. |
==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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| − | + | During a bad thunderstorm, Jonathan is babysitting his younger siblings, Annie and Noah, but he's accompanied by his best friend, Nadine. Bored, he rummages through a closet and pulls out a board game entitled "Haunted House". Nadine doesn't want to play because she's played it before, but Jonathan says it's different every time. |
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| + | Jonathan unfolds the board and proceeds to explain the rules: each person rolls the dice, and the objective is to make it through the haunted house and find the hidden ghost. Jonathan rolls first and lands on a space reading, "YOU HEAR CREAKING FOOTSTEPS ON THE STAIRS". Almost immediately, creaking sounds can be heard. The next event reads: "WIND RATTLES THE WINDOWS", and that too seems to come to life. Nadine tries to convince them it's simply coincidental, but the children begin to fear there could be a ghost in the house. |
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| − | They begin to play the board game, but soon learn that each command they land on comes true. Such as "Wind rattles the window", "You hear eerie moan", "lightning crashes", and so on and so on. |
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| + | Jonathan rolls and lands on a space marked, "SCARED TO DEATH!" Suddenly, a ghostly hand begins to tap at the window. The children scream loudly, and Jonathan flees the house. While outside, he discovers a newspaper dated from 1942, and it details the mysterious death of four children. He goes back inside and pulls the board game out of the closet, revealing that Jonathan and the other children are ghosts stuck in a permanent loop. As Nadine protests, Jonathan suggests restarting the game, reminding her that it's different every time. |
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| − | Eventually, Jonathan lands on the "SCARED TO DEATH" spot and the lights go out, the kids see ghostly hands, and everyone starts screaming. Jonathan goes to run out the door and comes across a newspaper from 1942 and reads the front page story: "4 KIDS DIE IN MYSTERIOUS DEATH. Police were completely baffled when they found four kids dead, seated at a table where they apparently had been playing a board game. "It looked to me as if they were scared to death!" declared one police officer." He suddenly remembers that they died years ago and keep forgetting about it. Jonathan then goes back into the room with no memory of what he saw, suggests they play Haunted House, and they have the same conversation they did in the very beginning. |
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| − | ==Television |
+ | ==Television adaptation== |
| + | "The Haunted House Game" was adapted into an episode of the [[Goosebumps (television series)|''Goosebumps'' TV series]]. It is the tenth episode of [[Goosebumps (television series)#Season 3|season three]], and the fifty-fourth episode overall. |
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| − | The television episode is almost entirely different from the original short story. Nadine and Jonathan are going to a pep rally when they encounter a little girl crying in front of an old house that is clearly abandoned. She tells them she is crying because her cat ran inside the old house and won't come out. Nadine and Jonathan kindly agree to go inside the old house to find the little girl's cat for her. Inside, the two find the haunted house game and decide to play it, only to get magically sucked into it. Forced to play the game if they wish to escape alive (at least according to the written instructions they are given), Nadine and Jonathan meet Noah and Annie, two other children who tell them they have been sucked into the game as well. |
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| + | <gallery position="left" hideaddbutton="true" spacing="small" widths="200" bordercolor="transparent" orientation="none" columns="4" captionalign="center" bordersize="none" navigation="true"> |
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| − | After surviving many terrifying encounters with various ghosts and deadly traps, they find their way to the exit, only to have Noah and Annie turn out to be evil ghosts who inform Nadine and Jonathan they are going be turned into new pieces for their haunted house game, which they have been playing with their visitors all along. When the two ghosts start arguing on which of them actually won, and whether the game was played fairly, Nadine and Jonathan manage to trick them by using their own rules against them, and thus escape from the house. The episode ends with two more children meeting the little girl crying about her cat inside the house and agreeing to go in to find it. As they enter the house, the little girl looks after them, grins, and snickers. |
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| + | Goosebumpswiki-tvepisode-button2.png|[[:The Haunted House Game/TV_episode|Click here for a full article about the television adaptation.]]|link=The Haunted House Game/TV_episode |
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| − | |||
| − | <gallery caption="Television Episode"> |
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| − | File:Hauntedhousegame 1.jpg |
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| − | File:Hauntedhousegame 2.jpg |
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| − | File:Hauntedhousegame 3.jpg |
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| − | File:Hauntedhousegame 4.jpg |
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| − | File:Hauntedhousegame 5.jpg |
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| − | File:Hauntedhousegame 6.jpg |
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</gallery> |
</gallery> |
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| − | == |
+ | == Trivia == |
| + | *This story references [[Wikipedia:Parcheesi|Parcheesi]]. |
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| − | *The children play the game as living game pieces, instead of ON a board game. |
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| + | **Additionally, this short story contains elements similar to the 1981 fantasy children's picture book ''[[Wikipedia:Jumanji (picture book)|Jumanji]]'' and the [[Wikipedia:Jumanji|1995 film of the same name]]. |
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| − | *[[Laura Vandervoort]], who played Nadine in this episode, went on to play [[Sheena Deep|Sheena]] in next season's episode, ''[[Deep Trouble]]''. Years later, she played Kara-El (Supergirl) on the TV series Smallville. |
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| + | **The character Nadine may have been named after [[R.L. Stine]]'s dog from the 1990s, Nadine, who was mentioned in the "About the Author" section of many ''[[Goosebumps (franchise)|Goosebumps]]'' books. |
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| − | *Benjamin Plener (Jonathan) played Roger in Season 1's ''[[Welcome to Camp Nightmare]]''. |
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| + | *The concept of a board game coming to life would later be used in ''[[Be Afraid — Be Very Afraid!]]'' |
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| − | *Kiel Campbell (Noah) played Eddie in Season 2's ''[[You Can't Scare Me!]]''. |
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| − | *This television episode is on the Scary House DVD along with, ''[[The House of No Return]]''. |
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{{TTGYGoosebumps}} |
{{TTGYGoosebumps}} |
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| − | [[Category:Ghosts]] |
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[[Category:Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps]] |
[[Category:Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps]] |
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[[Category:Twins]] |
[[Category:Twins]] |
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Revision as of 22:32, 9 August 2019
"The Haunted House Game" is the fifth short story in the book Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps.
Plot
During a bad thunderstorm, Jonathan is babysitting his younger siblings, Annie and Noah, but he's accompanied by his best friend, Nadine. Bored, he rummages through a closet and pulls out a board game entitled "Haunted House". Nadine doesn't want to play because she's played it before, but Jonathan says it's different every time.
Jonathan unfolds the board and proceeds to explain the rules: each person rolls the dice, and the objective is to make it through the haunted house and find the hidden ghost. Jonathan rolls first and lands on a space reading, "YOU HEAR CREAKING FOOTSTEPS ON THE STAIRS". Almost immediately, creaking sounds can be heard. The next event reads: "WIND RATTLES THE WINDOWS", and that too seems to come to life. Nadine tries to convince them it's simply coincidental, but the children begin to fear there could be a ghost in the house.
Jonathan rolls and lands on a space marked, "SCARED TO DEATH!" Suddenly, a ghostly hand begins to tap at the window. The children scream loudly, and Jonathan flees the house. While outside, he discovers a newspaper dated from 1942, and it details the mysterious death of four children. He goes back inside and pulls the board game out of the closet, revealing that Jonathan and the other children are ghosts stuck in a permanent loop. As Nadine protests, Jonathan suggests restarting the game, reminding her that it's different every time.
Television adaptation
"The Haunted House Game" was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the tenth episode of season three, and the fifty-fourth episode overall.
Trivia
- This story references Parcheesi.
- Additionally, this short story contains elements similar to the 1981 fantasy children's picture book Jumanji and the 1995 film of the same name.
- The character Nadine may have been named after R.L. Stine's dog from the 1990s, Nadine, who was mentioned in the "About the Author" section of many Goosebumps books.
- The concept of a board game coming to life would later be used in Be Afraid — Be Very Afraid!