Zeke is playing The Phantom in the school play.

#24 "He's out to stop the show... for good!"
Brooke and her best friend Zeke are the stars in their new school play. They will be playing Esmerelda and the Phantom. Little do they know there is a real Phantom hunting the auditorium and has been for the past 70 years. Everyone tells the story but it can't possibly be real can it? ( )

When is a Goosebumps book not a Goosebumps book?

Likely when it is rather obviously a soft re-telling of [b: Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867727s/480204.jpg|2259720].

This book definitely tickled me and was full of more than a few overt nods to the aforementioned book, movie, musical, and what have you. The plot is very simple. Haunted play in a high school. The Phantom character may or may not be real, may or may not be living under the school, or a ghost, or simply a cursed piece of writing. It's an engaging, fairly light-hearted story that I enjoyed as a kid and had a fun time rereading. It's not necessarily one of the classic Goosebump titles, but it's more than enough to amuse. ( )

## He's out to stop the show... for good!

Phantom of the Auditorium was one of the definitive Goosebumps experiences growing up. Our heroes -- Brooke, Zeke, and the new student, Brian -- are, at this point in the series, some of the most well-drawn, relatable, funny heroes in Stine's oeuvre. Instead of being a stand-in for an experience or molded from stereotypes, Stine did a fantastic job giving this gaggle of youngsters their own lingo, in-jokes, and real sense of wit. Brooke and Zeke could easily be the reader's friends.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

The mystery itself is pretty run-of-the-mill for Goosebumps. It's -- unsurprisingly -- a cute take on Gaston Leroux's the Phantom of the Opera (1910). Ms. Walker, the school drama teacher, is setting up a truncated, school-friendly version of Leroux's classic horror story as a play, and Brooke and Zeke are cast as the two leads. The play, of course, holds a curse over it, and hasn't been performed since the original leading actor disappeared during a 1920s school rehearsal. As rehearsals commence, the play is fraught with small accidents and sabotages seemingly to prevent the play from being performed.

Suspicion is cast on Zeke for being a self-centered jokester, and a mysterious man claiming to be the school's 'night janitor.' Author R.L. Stine casts a number of red herrings quite well, and the mystery continues until the very end with a humorous twist typical of the series. It was a bit more predictable than other Gooseboops stories, I felt. Even at nearly 30, I typically feel surprised by R.L. Stine's twist endings, where Phantom of the Auditorium's was screaming at the reader 20 pages in.

Regardless, this yarn is as fun as one can expect from Goosebumps' first series, and the joy of it really plays off of Stine's improved characterization rather than a meaty mystery. Brooke, Zeke, and Brian are three very clever, witty kids. Their witty conversations, and the school setting of this one, reminded me a lot of Joss Whedon's early work in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, strangely enough, which is a pretty big plus.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#23 Return of the Mummy | #25 Attack of the Mutant ( )

On of the better of the series. ( )