Graphic Novel Review: The Haunted Mask (Goosebumps Graphic Novel) by R.L. Stine, adapted by Maddi Gonzalez

Posted on November 5, 2024 at 6:35 am by Gene Ambaum

The Haunted Mask (Goosebumps Graphic Novel) by R.L. Stine, adapted by Maddi Gonzalez. Scholastic Graphix, 2024. 9781338879391. 160pp.

Carly Beth gets picked on at school, and she’s easy to scare. And she’s kind of tired of it. For Halloween she wants to be something scary and gross and freak everyone out. Her mom got her a duck costume (which Gonzalez makes looks pretty frightening), but Carly Beth doesn’t want to be a duck. So at the last minute she heads to a party shop to find a horrifying mask to wear. She doesn’t want the ones in the front room but then wanders into the back of the store where she finds a hideous mask. The store owner doesn’t want to sell it to her. He warns her against taking it. But she does. And after she puts it on, the mask not only seems like it’s a real face, it starts to change her behavior.

This is as horrifying as the original Twilight Zone episode it reminded me of, “The Masks”, which sticks in my mind to this day.