Welcome to Camp Nightmare
Page 9
“What — what’s going on here?” I stammered. I was totally stunned. I felt dizzy.
I didn’t get it. I really didn’t get it.
And then my mom and dad stepped out from the trees. Mom rushed up and gave me a hug. Dad patted the top of my head. “I knew you’d pass, Billy,” he said. I could see happy tears in his eyes.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I pushed Mom gently away. “Passed what?” I demanded. “What is this? What’s going on?”
Uncle Al put his arm around my shoulders and guided me away from the group of campers. Mom and Dad followed close behind.
“This isn’t really a summer camp,” Uncle Al explained, still grinning at me, his face bright pink. “It’s a government testing lab.”
“Huh?” I swallowed hard.
“You know your parents are scientists, Billy,” Uncle Al continued. “Well, they’re about to leave on a very important expedition. And this time they wanted to take you along with them.”
“How come you didn’t tell me?” I asked my parents.
“We couldn’t!” Mom exclaimed.
“According to government rules, Billy,” Uncle Al continued, “children aren’t allowed to go on official expeditions unless they pass certain tests. That’s what you’ve been doing here. You’ve been taking tests.”
“Tests to see what?” I demanded, still dazed.
“Well, we wanted to see if you could obey orders,” Uncle Al explained. “You passed when you refused to go to the Forbidden Bunk.” He held up two fingers. “Second, we had to test your bravery. You demonstrated that by rescuing Larry.” He held up a third finger. “Third, we had to see if you knew when not to follow orders. You passed that test by refusing to hunt for Dawn and Dori.”
“And everyone was in on it?” I asked. “All the campers? The counselors? Everyone? They were all actors?”
Uncle Al nodded. “They all work here at the testing lab.” His expression turned serious. “You see, Billy, your parents want to take you to a very dangerous place, perhaps the most dangerous place in the known universe. So we had to make sure you can handle it.”
The most dangerous place in the universe?
“Where?” I asked my parents. “Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a very strange planet called Earth,” Dad replied, glancing at Mom. “It’s very far from here. But it could be exciting. The inhabitants there are weird and unpredictable, and no one has ever studied them.”
Laughing, I stepped between my mom and dad and put my arms around them. “Earth?! It sounds pretty weird. But it could never be as dangerous or exciting as Camp Nightmoon!” I exclaimed.
“We’ll see,” Mom replied quietly. “We’ll see.”
BEHIND THE SCREAMS
WELCOME TO
CAMP NIGHTMARE
CONTENTS
About the Author
Q & A with R.L. Stine
Top Ten Reasons to
Be Happy Your Camp Is Haunted
Venomous Snake Stats
Activity! Create a Creepy Camp Schedule
Teaser
About the Author
R.L. Stine’s books are read all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written the teen series Fear Street, the funny series Rotten School, as well as the Mostly Ghostly series, The Nightmare Room series, and the two-book thriller Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and Minnie, his King Charles spaniel. You can learn more about him at www.RLStine.com.
Q & A with R.L. Stine
Readers are certainly surprised by the twist ending of Welcome to Camp Nightmare. How did you ever think of it?
R.L. Stine (RLS): I have a twisted mind. In fact, I have to go to a special doctor every month to have it UN-twisted. Not really—but I spend a lot of time trying to come up with crazy endings to surprise my readers. Did you know that I always think of the surprise ending first?
The kids and counselors at Camp Nightmoon were very good at keeping secrets. How good are you at keeping a secret?
RLS: I’ll never tell!
If you were sent to Camp Nightmoon, would you be able to pass Uncle Al’s three tests?
RLS: No way. I was a terrible camper. I hated the outdoors. I always wanted to be indoors, writing stories. I was so terrified of the swimming test at camp, I hid in the woods from the swimming counselor! To this day, I think about how scared I was when I had to jump into the pool. It helps me write scenes where kids are really scared.
Can you swim? Have you ever experienced rapids like the ones that almost killed Larry in Chapter 17?
RLS: We don’t get too many rapids here in New York City, so I think I’m safe! But you know what? It’s raining right now, so I’d better be careful. Some of the puddles are pretty deep!
If you HAD to choose one, which would you rather be bitten by—a bear or a snake?
RLS: Too late. I was already bitten—by a vampire!
What was the scariest book you read as a kid? And which Goosebumps do you think is really scary?
RLS: The scariest book I read as a kid was a Ray Bradbury novel called Something Wicked This Way Comes. It’s about two boys in the Midwest who sneak out of their houses late at night and go to a mysterious—and very evil—carnival. A terrifying book! It creeped me out—and it also had a big influence on me and my writing.
I think Goosebumps HorrorLand #12: The Streets of Panic Park might be one of the scariest books I ever wrote. The villain at Panic Park—he’s called The Menace—is a really scary dude. He’s so out of control, you don’t know how far he’ll go to terrify everyone!
Goosebumps HorrorLand #15: Heads, You Lose! has a running theme of “making your own luck.” Do you believe in luck, and how does it affect the adventures of your characters?
RLS: Do I believe in luck? I don’t know. Let’s flip a coin! Seriously, horrible things happen to all the kids in Goosebumps books. I think it’s very bad luck to turn into a monster or be haunted by a howling ghost or be chased down the street by a living dummy! In my books, you’ve got to be lucky to survive!
To find out R.L. Stine’s advice when it comes
to dealing with ghosts, pick up the special
collector’s edition of GHOST BEACH.
Top Ten Reasons to Be Happy Your Camp Is Haunted
The lake of fire is really hard to swim in, and a few of your friends have been carried off by that pesky pack of vampire bats. But there are plenty of benefits to spending the summer at a haunted camp. Here are just a few….
10 The talking Brussels sprouts make food fights much more interesting.
9 The tents all float a few inches off the ground, giving campers a much more comfortable sleep.
8 Since the camp counselors only come out at night, you’re free to do whatever you want during the day.
7 Pick up the right baseball bat, and you’re guaranteed to hit a home run every time you step up to the plate. (This really makes up for the fact that if you pick up the wrong bat, you’ll lose all of your fingers.)
6 All the ghosts packed into your cabin make it nice and cool even during the hottest summer nights.
5 The werewolves’ howls keep all the bears away.
4 You can brush up on your history by talking with some of the really old ghosts floating around.
3 The haunted bands that play in the abandoned theater are AMAZING!
2 The giant spiders eat all the mosquitoes, gnats, and other annoying things like stupid bunk mates.
1 The meat at the cafeteria is never tough—it’s always fresh and young.
Venomous Snake Stats
Not all snakes are VENOMOUS. In fact, most are not. Only 1 in 4 of the earth’s snakes use venom for hunting or self-defense.
There is no easy way to tell a venomous snake from a nonvenomous one. A bite from any snake can cause damage and infection. It’s best to treat an
y snake bite as if it were poisonous. Seek medical attention immediately, just like Mike did in Chapter 5. Hopefully, you’ll have a better time finding a nurse.
Of all the venomous snakes, there are a few that really stand out. The BLACK MAMBA is one of the most dangerous snakes and also one of the fastest. It can slither more than 12 miles per hour—faster than most kids, unless they are riding a bike! This combination of venom and speed (along with a really bad attitude) makes the black mamba one of the world’s deadliest snakes.
The Rinkhals, or spitting cobra, can spit venom more than 8 feet. It will aim for the face of its prey. If the venom gets in the eyes, it can cause great pain or even BLINDNESS. The Rinkhals has been known to play dead, lying on the ground with its mouth open. This can trick an approaching animal long enough for the Rinkhals to strike.
The award for deadliest venom goes to the inland taipan of Australia, which has the most potent venom of any snake in the world. In fact, Australia boasts 5 of the top 10 most venomous snakes in the world.
Despite being a land of venomous snakes, Australia has a very small number of snake bite deaths—under 10 per year. The United States has a similarly low amount as well. India and Sri Lanka have the largest number of occurrences of snake bite deaths every year.
We end with true snake royalty—the king cobra. Why are we mentioning HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS? Because the king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world. It can measure up to 22 feet. Its venom is less potent than other snakes, but because of its size and ability to inject large doses of venom, it is one of the world’s deadliest snakes.
DICTIONARY TIME!
Snakes are “venomous,” not “poisonous.” Poison is breathed, eaten, or absorbed through the skin. Venom is injected. Now go impress your science teacher with that bit of knowledge!
CREATE A CREEPY CAMP SCHEDULE!
If you were a ghoulish camp counselor, what ghastly activities would you put together for your campers? Check out below our example of a really creepy day at camp and then make your own schedule. Have a friend make one, too. Whose schedule is scarier?
Tips for creating a schedule to scream for are found after our example.
** SCHEDULE FOR CAMP BLOODSTONE**
7:45 A.M. Screaming Banshees Wake Up All Campers
8:00 Breakfast—Frosted Flakes of Skin with Bat Milk
9:00 Cabin Inspection (Monsters under beds and skeletons in closets are fed.)
9:30 - 10:45 Dirt Nap
10:45 –12:00 Tennis with Shrunken Heads
12:00 - 1:00 P.M. Lunch—Freshly ground yak burgers—hair and horn included!
1:00 - 2:15 Personal Time (Write a letter or make a call to your parents … if they haven’t cut the phone lines yet….)
2:15 - 4:00 Swimming with Alligators 4:00 - 5:30 Zombie Archery
5:30 Dinner—SPECIAL TONIGHT: We’re putting on a murder mystery, and one of our campers will have the starring role!
7:30 - 9:30 A preview of tonight’s horrors: haunted tales around the campfire.
10:00 LIGHTS-OUT! No, really. We mean it….
TIPS!
CHOW TIME: Make sure to think of gruesome things to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Feel free to throw in a snack or two, as well. Think of what a monster would eat—vampires and blood or zombies and brains. Or think of the most disgusting thing you’d never want to eat. Like a slug. But make it part of a normal meal. Like a slug sandwich. Or spaghetti with slug sauce.
ACTIVITIES: Think of all the activities you would normally do at a camp and then add a silly, scary twist. For instance, we took tennis and added the element of shrunken heads. You can also add dangerous activities that would never be found at a camp like Swimming with Alligators or Hang Gliding with Vultures.
PUT YOURSELF IN A CAMPER’S SHOES: What else happens during a day at camp? Sing-alongs, cabin inspections, talent contests, campouts, mail call …
REMEMBER: Be scary AND funny!
GOOSEBUMPS HorrorLand™
ALL-NEW! ALL-TERRIFYING!
Also Available from Scholastic Audio Books
#1 REVENGE OF THE LIVING DUMMY
#2 CREEP FROM THE DEEP
#3 MONSTER BLOOD FOR BREAKFAST!
#4 THE SCREAM OF THE HAUNTED MASK
#5 DR. MANIAC VS. ROBBY SCHWARTZ
#6 WHO’S YOUR MUMMY?
#7 MY FRIENDS CALL ME MONSTER
#8 SAY CHEESE - AND DIE SCREAMING!
#9 WELCOME TO CAMP SLITHER
#10 HELP! WE HAVE STRANGE POWERS!
#11 ESCAPE FROM HORRORLAND
#12 THE STREETS OF PANIC PARK
GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND BOXED SET #1–4
WELCOME TO HORRORLAND: A SURVIVAL GUIDE
#13 WHEN THE GHOST DOG HOWLS
#14 LITTLE SHOP OF HAMSTERS
#15 HEADS, YOU LOSE!
RIDE FOR YOUR LIFE!
GOOSEBUMPS
HorrorLandTM
THE VIDEO GAME
AVAILABLE NOW FROM SCHOLASTIC INTERACTIVE
GOOSEBUMPS
NOW WITH BONUS FEATURES!
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY
DEEP TROUBLE
MONSTER BLOOD
THE HAUNTED MASK
ONE DAY AT HORRORLAND
THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
SAY CHEESE AND DIE!
THE HORROR AT CAMP JELLYJAM
HOW I GOT MY SHRUNKEN HEAD
THE WEREWOLF OF FEVER SWAMP
A NIGHT IN TERROR TOWER
WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE
WELCOME TO CAMP NIGHTMARE
GET MORE GOOSEBUMPS ON DVD!
FROM FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
ATTACK OF THE JACK-O’-LANTERNS
THE HEADLESS GHOST
MONSTER BLOOD
A NIGHT IN TERROR TOWER
ONE DAY AT HORRORLAND
RETURN OF THE MUMMY
THE SCARECROW WALKS AT MIDNIGHT
GET GOOSEBUMPS PHOTOSHOCK FOR YOUR
iPhone™ OR iPod touch®!
Copyright
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Goosebumps book series created by Parachute Press, Inc.
Copyright © 1993 by Scholastic Inc.
Cover design by Steve Scott
Cover art by Brandon Dorman
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, GOOSEBUMPS, GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, April 2010
“Behind the Screams” bonus material by Matthew D. Payne
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
eISBN 978-0-545-29649-6