Item - Night in Werewolf Woods

This is a decidedly strange book; the events in it really have nothing to do with one another and some of the locations are quite bizarre. Sadly, this strangeness doesn't prove to be a good thing and the incoherent text isn't backed up by interesting gameplay. All in all, this isn't a terribly enjoyable read.

More reviews by Demian

I have mixed feelings with this book. On one hand, I enjoyed it for its setting; I am always a fan when it comes to the "alone in the woods in the middle of the night" type of thing, but I cannot help but feel that this book could have been a little better. Now, as an adult, I read each of these books (as well as other gamebooks) as objectively as I can; I view them as if I were still a kid reading them for the very first time. I try not to look too much into them or over-analyze because at the end of the day, these books, and this series in particular, were made for kids.

This isn't necessarily a bad book. At times, it just seems to lose some focus and direction, resulting in the randomness that is ever-so-present in this series. Much of the randomness does indeed work for me, but it still has to somewhat fit into the context of the story. This book is a mixed bag in this department because I feel that some of the randomness works, and some of it does not work. As in various other Give Yourself Goosebumps books, this one also relies on silly luck in particular instances, something that I have never been a fan of. Aside from that, I still enjoyed this one even though I feel that it could have been better.

More reviews by Enigmatic Synergy

Following on the heels of The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek—the worst Give Yourself Goosebumps book to that point in the series—could Night in Werewolf Woods do better, given its classic premise? Every summer, you stay with your parents at a camp called WoodsWorld, but this year is different. Your parents invited their friends—Mr. and Mrs. Morris—along with their dorky son Todd to join you at WoodsWorld. You're unhappy you'll be bunking in a cabin with Todd. True to form, he is immediately beset by Jess, Buck, and Sharky Murphy, three redheaded brothers who bully younger kids. They swipe Todd's box of collectible pewter figures and leave. That evening at the community campfire, Sharky tells a spooky story about werewolves near WoodsWorld, and Jess pipes up with a comment that implies they buried Todd's box in the ground. You can't let the Murphys harass him all summer; you and Todd exit your cabin that night to hunt for the box. In the distance you spot two sets of lights: red ones by the beach, and white in the woods. Which should you investigate?

Tracking the red lights, you and Todd find yourself at a dark, slimy cave you've never seen. A voice within calls your name. Enter the cave and you lose your footing, sliding down a steep rock face. Thousands of bats swoop and screech, but trying to save Todd from them leads deeper into the cave system. The Tunnel of Waves ushers you to a wild finish, but in the Tunnel of Wolves you find Todd howling in an attempt to fool real werewolves you hear coming. Try leaping across the bottomless pit to safety, but if you and Todd fail to clear the edge, you're goners...unless a pterodactyl catches you on its back. It will dive you down into the underworld if you wish, but you're not safe just because you escaped the werewolves. Direct the pterodactyl to fly you back up where you fell in, and the werewolves have surrounded the terrified Murphy brothers. Can you handle the Murphys once and for all by helping them survive the snarling monsters, or are the brothers actually creatures themselves more powerful than you can defeat?

If you went toward the white lights instead of the red, you run into Lauren Woods, whose parents own WoodsWorld. The three of you find freshly dug dirt where the Murphys may have buried Todd's box, but as you dig, a werewolf attacks. The two boxes you've unearthed don't belong to Todd, but they're your only defense. Open the SUPER-STRENGTH BOX and you find simple O's cereal. Eating it gives superhero strength and you easily dispatch the werewolf, but an evil troll shows up and claims the box. His shrieking whistle can control your mind; do you have the strength to resist? If not, the troll commands you to retrieve Todd's box on his behalf. Search the woods for it and you are assaulted by trolls; are you clever enough to beat them at their own game? If you search the community center library instead, you escape the troll. You might discover Todd and Lauren downstairs, but how should you three sneak out? Choose the tunnel, and the troll may attack in a hall of mirrors. Go back up the stairs instead and you can lead a troll revolt against the evil troll, saving your lives. What if you opened the SMARTS BOX instead of SUPER-STRENGTH? The red Cherry-O's cereal stimulates your recall of every fact you've ever heard, but run from the werewolf and you’ll be swarmed by fire ants. Once they nibble the Cherry-O's, will the ants become your intelligent ally? If you leave them before that happens, the werewolf might eat some Cherry-O's...and Todd is the sort of dork who would enjoy conversing with an erudite monster. Surviving tonight is going to take a lot of luck.

What makes Night in Werewolf Woods a bad book, worse than any prior to it in Give Yourself Goosebumps? The writing is awkward, there are many cop-out endings that undermine the narrative, and internal consistency is some of the worst I've read in a gamebook, but none of these is the main failure. That would be the author's lack of faith in the classic premise to deliver a scintillating story. A good writer should have no trouble combining werewolf legends and summer camp into an atmospheric thrill chamber, but Night in Werewolf Woods diverges into all kinds of unrelated magical happenings, mostly silly nonsense. I feel cheated of a great werewolf gamebook. There's some fun to be had laughing at the ridiculousness, but I say the best part of this book is its pretty magenta kaleidoscopic cover. Better luck next time, fellow Goosebumps fans.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74