Changes: The Haunted House Game

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Story

"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!

Tales to Give You Goosebumps series
Tales to Give You Goosebumps	The House of No Return • Teacher's Pet • Strained Peas • Strangers in the Woods • Good Friends • How I Won My Bat • Mr. Teddy • Click • Broken Dolls • A Vampire in the Neighborhood
More Tales to Give You Goosebumps	The Werewolf's First Night • P.S. Don't Write Back • Something Fishy • You Gotta Believe Me! • Suckers! • Dr. Horror's House of Video • The Cat's Tale • Shell Shocker • Poison Ivy • The Spirit of the Harvest Moon
Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps	The Chalk Closet • Home Sweet Home • Don't Wake Mummy • I'm Telling! • The Haunted House Game • Change for the Strange • The Perfect School • For The Birds • Aliens in the Garden • The Thumbprint of Doom
Still More Tales to Give You Goosebumps	Pumpkin Juice • Attack of the Tattoo • The Wish • An Old Story • The Scarecrow • Awesome Ants • Please Don't Feed The Bears • The Goblin's Glare • Bats About Bats • The Space Suit Snatcher
More & More Tales to Give You Goosebumps	The Haunted Guitar • Tune in Tomorrow • Live Bait • Something Strange About Marci • The Ghost Sitter • Fun With Spelling • Matt's Lunch Box • Stuck in 1957 • Mirror Mirror on the Wall • What's Cooking?
More & More & More Tales to Give You Goosebumps	Don't Sit on the Gronk • Nutcracker Nightmare • The Ice Vampire • A Holly Jolly Holiday • Why I Hate Jack Frost • Marshmallow Surprise • Monster on the Ice • The Double-Dip Horror • Santa's Helpers • Attack of the Christmas Present

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Tabber/Story|previous=I'm Telling!|next=Change for the Strange}}
-h"'''The Haunted House Game'''" is the fifth short story in the book ''[[Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps]]''.
+"'''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, alongside his best friend, Nadine. Bored, he rummages through the closet and pulls out a board game entitled "Haunted House". He suggests they play, and the others groan. Nadine tells Jonathan they've already played countless times before, but Jonathan tells her the game is different every time. After several attempts, he convinces them to play.
+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, the object to make it through the haunted house and find the hidden ghost. He then warns them to never roll a "SCARED TO DEATH!" spot. Jonathan rolls first and lands on a space reading: "YOU HEAR CREAKING FOOTSTEPS ON THE STAIRS". Almost immediately, creaking sounds can be heard. This unnerves Jonathan, but he brushes it off as wind from the window. 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. The board's events only become eerier as the game progresses. The lights go out and Noah and Annie are too frightened to continue. However, Jonathan is able to convince them to continue.
+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 then rolls the aforementioned scared to death spot, and a ghostly hand begins to tap at the window. The children begin to loudly scream until Jonathan flees from the house.
-While outside, he discovers a newspaper dated from 1942 that details the mysterious death of four children. Jonathan realizes this is how they all died, and says they've been haunting the house ever since. He goes back inside and pulls the board game out of the closet, revealing all of the children are stuck in a permanent loop. As Nadine protests, Jonathan once again reminds them that the game is different every time.
+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==
@@ Line 16: / Line 17: @@
 == Trivia ==
+*This story references [[Wikipedia:Parcheesi|Parcheesi]].
-* This short story is very similar to the 1981 fantasy children's picture book, ''[[wikipedia:Jumanji|Jumanji]]'' and the 1995 film of the same name.
+**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]].
+**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.
+*The concept of a board game coming to life would later be used in ''[[Be Afraid — Be Very Afraid!]]''
 {{TTGYGoosebumps}}