Demian's Gamebook Web Page

Item - Beware the Snake's Venom

Please log in to manage your collection or post a review.


Series: Choose Your Own Nightmare (1995-1997) — no. 2
Translated Into: El veneno de la serpiente (Spanish)
Author: McMurtry, Ken
Illustrator: Schmidt, William (Bill)
Date: June, 1995
ISBN: 0553482300 / 9780553482300
Length: 88 pages
Number of Endings: 10
User Summary: A visit to an archaeological site leads you to supernatural danger and the promise of hidden treasure.
Demian's Thoughts:

While this book is considerably better than the previous one in the series, it is still has some problems, the most notable being that you have to get through seventeen pages (almost a quarter of the book if you don't count the illustrated pages) before making the first choice.

More reviews by Demian

Jordashebasics's Thoughts:

By any standards, this book is really poorly done.

The best thing is that the writing is passable. They define a character for your cousin, and they hammer that home.

But there's an incredible lack of consistency, something that is seriously annoying. Characters have good or bad intentions. Even the location of the general store changes depending on your choice!

There's very little "horror" in this book. The majority of the book is hanging around the desert, looking at a rock, and eventually deciding to go look for treasure at a cave. The extent of horror in the book is limited to levels lower than most of the CYOA books. The Horror of High Ridge is way, way stronger than this one.

The thing that bothers me the most, and it seems trivial, is the title. There's mention of a snake in a legend early in the book. One path results in encountering a snake. A better title was needed. Something having to do with Native American ghosts or something.

Unless you're a completist, it's not worth your time.

More reviews by Jordashebasics

Users Who Own This Item: Arkadia, bookwormjeff, exaquint, fraze, Himynameistony, jdreller, JoshW, katzcollection, KenJenningsJeopardy74, killagarilla, kinderstef, knginatl (PB, HB), Lullyph, nelsondesign, ntar, Pseudo_Intellectual, Radical347, redpiper05, Ryuran333, ThaRid (2 copies), waktool (Original, 1st printing ($3.50))
Users Who Want This Item: Ffghtermedic, kleme, Mr ?, NEMO, Nomad, The Mystery Squad fan, Waluigi Freak 99
Users with Extra Copies: redpiper05
rtaylor352

Please log in to manage your collection or post a review.