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Item - The Evil Pen Pal

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(Hardback, first printing)
(Hardback, first printing)
(Hardback, first printing)
(Hardback, first printing)

Combined Summary

Series: Choose Your Own Nightmare (1995-1997) — no. 14
Translated Into: Un amigo peligroso (Spanish)
Adapted Into: The Evil Pen Pal (Interactive Video)
Author: Hill, Laban Carrick
Illustrator: Schmidt, William (Bill)
Dates: 1997 (Paperback)
1998 (Hardback, first printing)
ISBNs: 0553484567 / 9780553484564 (Paperback)
0836820711 / 9780836820713 (Hardback, first printing)
Length: 88 pages
LC Cataloging in Publication Summary: The reader makes choices that control the outcome of a visit from pen pal Billy, who is not the way he seemed in his letters.
Jordashebasics's Thoughts:

This is a ridiculous title.

One thing I've noticed about the Nightmare books is that they are very light on choices, and typically there is a long stretch before you reach the first choice. This book has the first choice on the second page!

First, the book has a serious problem with spending a lot of time getting to the point. There are several pages devoted to trying to find the phone number of a person. It involves searching through letters, then going to the library, finding phone books, not finding it in the first phone book, a bunch of phone books falling on you, finding the right phone book, copying down the number, bringing it home, getting stopped from calling by your parents, then spending the evening being especially good so that they'll let you make a long-distance call.

Even though it takes a long time to get going, once you start meeting with Billy, things get fun. Billy is wonderfully terrible. He's telekinetic, possibly pyrokinetic, although that isn't verified.

He actually kept reminding me of the kid in the Twilight Zone episode - "It's a Good Life."

This results in an assortment of dark endings, lots of broken bones, houses burning down, and at least one death caused by being squashed by a plane.

More reviews by Jordashebasics

Users Who Own This Item: Ardennes, Demian (hardback), Ffghtermedic, fraze, KenJenningsJeopardy74, kinderstef, knginatl (PB, HB), plowboy, Radical347, Ryuran333, strawberry_brite, waktool (Original, 1st printing ($3.50)), Yalius, zat
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Known Editions

Paperback
Hardback, first printing

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