by RL Stine
“You web-footed goofball!” Patty hollers.
Your mouth hangs open as you stare after the rowboat, trying to figure out what to do.
If you want to try to convince the man you’re not squid wrestlers, turn to PAGE 113.
If you give up and ask for a small-sized opponent, turn to PAGE 39.
“Hunhh!” you grunt. The breath whooshes out of you as you crumple to the ground. The circle under you glows brighter. The mist grows thicker.
You feel as if a steamroller is slowly chugging over you. Your bones creak. There’s no way you can push yourself up — your arms and legs weigh too much to move.
The disk beneath you begins to hum.
“This is your correct weight on Jupiter,” the voice declares.
Instead of easing up, the invisible force presses down even harder. It’s crushing you!
Quick! Close this book!
SQUASH!
Too late! You’re flat as a piece of paper. Flat as your little sister’s singing. Flatter than Aunt El’s pancakes!
In nothing flat!
THE END
“We won some games,” you remind Patty and Floyd, “but we haven’t escaped yet.” And time is running out, you add silently.
You notice a large flashing sign up ahead. It looks like a giant letter Q.
“Let’s try that one,” you suggest.
The three of you wander closer. This game is called Q Quest. You watch a man in a Civil War uniform play the game.
The player peers at a board. On it, different symbols form the letter Q. A woman sits beside the board, blindfolded by a hood.
“Pick a number between six and sixteen,” the woman instructs the soldier.
“Got it,” the soldier declares.
“Now, count that many spaces along the Q. Start at the tail and go clockwise. Then count back again counterclockwise, but keep going around the Q, not back down the tail. If I guess the symbol you land on, I win.”
You watch the soldier count fourteen symbols, then count back.
Go to PAGE 136.
“The sooner we start playing, the sooner we’re out of here,” you declare.
“Or the sooner we’re doomed,” Floyd moans.
You wish he hadn’t said that.
A nearby booth lets out a piercing squawk. “Let’s check out that one,” you decide quickly.
You, Floyd, and Patty scurry over to the booth. It has an enormous computer screen hanging across the back wall.
“What’s the game?” Patty asks.
“See for yourself,” the man behind the counter replies.
He almost looks normal. Except for the brownish smoke coming out of his ears.
The screen flashes. A sign appears.
LETTER-GO!
BEAT THE MAZE BY FINDING THE MESSAGE!
You’re pretty good at mazes and word puzzles. “I think I’ll try this one,” you tell Patty and Floyd.
Step right up and let ’er rip on PAGE 108.
All of a sudden, you’re not thirsty anymore. You toss the soda can into a trash barrel. “I guess we’d better try another game.”
You, Patty, and Floyd walk along the row of booths. “Let’s see what this one is,” you suggest, coming to a stop in front of a computer race-car game.
A tiny old woman rests her parasol against the counter and grabs one of the steering wheels. “These newfangled contraptions,” she complains as her car falls behind. “We didn’t even have horseless carriages in my day.”
She comes in last. Big letters appear on the computer screen: YOU LOSE!
Your mouth drops open as a little tornado of blue light starts spinning over her head.
The woman shrieks as the tornado grows larger. Soon it engulfs her completely.
When the light-storm fades, the old woman is gone!
Turn to PAGE 93.
“So, kid,” Big Buck calls to you. “Will you bet me?”
“You bet I will!” you announce. “1902 dollars are worth much more than today’s money.”
“Hah! You lose!” the little man cackles.
“My cousin has books —” you begin.
“I’ve got the proof right here,” Big Buck cuts you off, waving his two stacks of bills under your nose.
He counts the bills on the counter. “There are 1,902 dollars in this pile.” The man smiles at you.
You shiver. His smile isn’t very friendly. “And in that pile?” you say, gulping.
“1,997 smackers,” Big Buck replies, his smile growing wider. “1,997 dollars are worth more than 1,902 of them. Ninety-five bucks more, to be exact.”
“No fair!” you complain. “That was a trick question!”
“Not if you know the answer!” Big Buck replies. “But to prove what a nice guy I am, I’ll give you a prize, anyway.”
Claim your prize on PAGE 29.
“Let’s find that ride!” you exclaim. “Our ride to freedom!”
Peering down from the castle, you see tons of rides you haven’t tried.
Cousin Floyd counts them off. “There’s the Kaboomper Kars, the Log Zoom, the Slug Subway, the Body Buster, the Vomit Vortex —”
“Plus the merry-go-round and the kiddie rides,” Patty adds.
“Let’s move it!” you yell. You jump down from the wall and into the castle courtyard. You charge toward the gate.
The three of you race through it and dart down the trail to the rides.
So many rides, you think. So little time!
Thick shrubs line the path, making it hard to see. You zoom around a bend. There’s something up ahead of you … something red and green.
Could it be? Yes! Standing on the path is a group of elves. You recognize their red pointed hats, their green outfits, and their little pointed beards. But if they are the same elves you met the last time you were at the carnival, they aren’t the friendly kind.
Gulp. You can’t help noticing their large, sharp axes.
Act brave! Turn to PAGE 116.
“Close enough, Earthling,” says a computer voice.
You step off the silver disk. “You — you mean I win?” you sputter.
“Yes,” the voice answers grumpily. “Now go.”
You laugh. If a computer could make faces, this one would definitely be scowling, you think.
You leave the weighing room, feeling relieved. Patty and Floyd rush over to you.
“How did it go?” Patty asks.
“I won,” you tell them. “Now let’s get out of here.”
You peek between the fins of the fake rocket ship.
More good news! The crowd is gone!
“We lost them!” Patty exclaims.
The three of you set off down the midway.
Hmmm, you think, I’ve won all the games I’ve played so far. How many more do I have to win to get us out of here?
If you’ve won enough games to challenge Big Al, turn to PAGE 137.
If not, keep playing by turning to PAGE 53.
“Forget the rides!” you tell Patty. “Let’s get lost in the crowd on the midway and sneak out now!”
Patty and Floyd nod in agreement.
Darting through the crowd, you hear the WHOOSH of the rides, and BINKS and BLOOPS from the midway games. But why don’t you hear happy yells from the kids? Or laughter from the parents?
You peer at the people around you. They all wear strange clothes, as if they were from another time.
They are from different times! you realize. You stare as a girl in a Pilgrim outfit strolls by with a man in clanking armor. You shudder as you notice their deathly pale faces. Their dark eyes are blank. They look … dead.
Oh, no! You recognize these people from your last visit to the carnival. They’re the ghostly inhabitants of the Carnival of Horrors!
A big man in a bright checkered jacket suddenly blocks your way. His coal-black eyes glitter over a large, drooping mustache.
You gasp in horror. It’s Big Al, the manager of the carnival.
You
r enemy!
“Welcome back!” he cackles.
Turn to PAGE 85.
You set off down the midway, searching for Big Al. It should be easy to spot a huge guy in a tacky checkered jacket.
But now that you want to find him, there’s no trace of the carnival manager.
What can you do?
You turn to the robot. It’s been clanking along after you and your friends on its mechanical feet.
“Do you know where we can find Big Al?” you ask.
The robot makes a piercing, staticky noise. “MY-MEMORY-BANKS-DO-NOT-HAVE-THAT-DATA,” it replies.
“So who else can we ask?” you wonder out loud.
You spot a boy around your age lurking in the shadows of the tents. He’s wearing knickers, suspenders, and a tweed cap.
Judging by the boy’s old-fashioned clothes, you know he’s one of the people trapped by Big Al. Maybe he knows where the carnival manager is.
So what are you waiting for? Ask the kid on PAGE 132.
“Where did —” Patty cries in surprise.
“How, h-how —” Cousin Floyd sputters.
“Easy,” you reply. “This is the Carnival of Horrors. Where anything can happen. And usually does!”
You cautiously approach the new booth. Instead of flashing lights, there are just a couple of dim, dirty bulbs in each corner. Behind the counter stands a fat, bald man selling hot dogs.
“Hey,” you call. “What happened to the booth that was just here?”
“This is the booth that was just here,” the man declares. His eyes dart around as if he’s afraid something may sneak up on him.
“What about Letter-Go?” Floyd asks.
The hot-dog man stares at him. “Let who go?”
“That’s the name of the game that was just here,” you insist. “The message maze. And I won! Don’t I get a prize?”
Turn to PAGE 28.
You and your friends dash straight down the midway. But the crowd keeps chasing you.
“They’re catching up,” Floyd gasps.
Desperately, you glance around for someplace where you can lose the creatures. You notice some kind of golfing game on one side of the midway. Above it hangs a large sign: THE SAND TRAP.
On the other side of the midway stands a huge, cheesy-looking fake rocket. There’s a door cut into the bottom of it. It’s the entrance to a booth with the sign GUESS YOUR WEIGHT ON JUPITER.
You can break into the golf game and cut across the sand, or you can dart through the spaceship into the Jupiter game. Maybe you could hide in there.
Which will it be?
If you cut through The Sand Trap, turn to PAGE 21.
If you try the booth with the rocket, turn to PAGE 49.
“Don’t give up! We’ve got to get free!” you yell to Patty and Floyd. The three of you struggle even harder.
You pull, pinch, and bite the tentacle that holds you. It loses its grip! You squirm loose and swim toward the stands.
The squid lashes a tentacle at you. You splash out of its reach. It releases Patty and Floyd as it strains to reach you.
“Hurry!” you cry. “To the stands!
Patty and Floyd swim after you. You reach shallow water near the seats. The squid seems to have given up.
“Find an exit!” you tell Patty and Floyd. But the audience is clapping so loudly, your friends can barely hear you.
You’ve never heard such thunderous applause. You kind of like it. You take a bow.
The applause grows even louder. You gaze into the crowd. And gasp.
The audience — it’s not human! The seats are filled with rows of grinning octopuses! No wonder the applause is so loud. Each octopus is clapping with all eight of its tentacles.
You’re so shocked, you fall back into the water.
Instantly the waiting squid grabs you. As it drags you underwater, you think, Oh well, that’s show business!
THE END
Patty strains against her belt. She can just reach the panel. It’s a struggle to get it open, but she succeeds. “There’s some machinery,” she reports. “And a switch. It says ‘Forward’ and ‘Back.’”
“Set it to ‘Back’ and see what happens,” you say. “That’s got to be the way for us to make up some time.”
The mechanical dinosaur lurches in midstep. Then it begins walking backward!
“Put it to ‘Forward’ again!” you cry.
“I can’t!” Patty shouts. “It’s stuck!”
You unbuckle your safety belt and peer into the open panel. Wiping away a smear of grease, you find another control. It’s marked ESCAPE HATCH.
You press it. A door in the back of the Tyrannosaurus rex’s head pops open.
“You!” You stare down the dinosaur’s back. It’s like a long ski-slope, ending at a pointed tail.
A tail sticking over the carnival’s fence!
“Here’s a way out!” you yell, pointing.
“Yeah,” Floyd gulps. “If we don’t fall and break our necks!”
Slide down the tail on PAGE 97.
Stick with the ride on PAGE 79.
Big Al’s cruel laughter booms out of loudspeakers on both sides of the track. “Give up, kids,” he thunders. “You don’t have a chance! The rides close at midnight. If you haven’t found the one that sets you free, you’ll become our guests — forever.”
“Rats!” Floyd grumbles. “Why couldn’t we pick a ride where the time goes backward?”
“Well, we didn’t,” you snap. “But we don’t have time to worry about that now. We need to get off this train — fast!”
You peer over the sides of the choo-choo. The train is now chugging along a bridge high above a lake of inky-black water.
Should you jump out here? It might save you some precious time.
Or should you wait until the train reaches dry land?
Make up your mind — time’s a-wasting!
If you jump now, turn to PAGE 67.
If you wait, turn to PAGE 131.
“Yiiiiiiieeeee!” you scream. Spray gets in your eyes, but you can feel the wind in your face as your log-boat whizzes downward. It hits the water at the bottom like a cannonball, sending up jets of water all around. After its splashdown, the log bobs on the surface like a cork.
“Cool!” Patty cries.
The log is pulled along by the current, heading for a large shed that looks like a sawmill. That must be where you get off the ride.
Or maybe not, you think. The log is speeding up. It wouldn’t do that if you were about to park.
You fly into the make-believe sawmill. It’s pitch-dark. You can’t see anything. But you hear a whirring sound.
Turn to PAGE 98.
“Jump! Now!” you scream. You have less than an hour before midnight. And with the Right Away Railroad speeding up time, who knows what the clock will say once you get across the river!
Patty and Floyd leap from their seats. You follow them over the side.
SPLASH! You hit the black lake. Cold water goes up your nose. You burst to the surface sputtering for air. Which way to shore?
A bright searchlight stabs out of the darkness.
“What are you doing in the water?” a man demands from behind the light. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous?”
You tread water as you watch a small boat approach. You’re relieved that help has come so quickly. You, Patty, and Floyd clamber aboard.
“Wow, thanks for saving us,” you say, sighing with relief.
You begin to feel nervous again when you discover the man rowing the boat has webbed hands and feet.
Gulp! Go to PAGE 16.
“What do I need these for?” You try to sound confident, but your voice cracks as you ask the question.
The woman smiles, revealing her fangs again. This time you step back to avoid her stinky breath. “All you have to do is hold the daggers out at arm’s length and touch one point to the other,” she explains.
Phew! That seems pretty simple.
&n
bsp; “Of course,” the young woman goes on, “you have to do it with one eye closed.” Her hand goes to the scrap of green silk she wears. “You can borrow my patch if you like.”
“N-no, thanks,” you stammer. No way do you want to see what’s under there! “I can just close one eye.”
Okay, now take the test. Use long, sharp pencils instead of daggers. Hold a pencil in each hand, with the point aiming straight up. Stretch out your arms as far as they’ll go on either side of you. Close one eye. Then, bending your elbows, try to touch one pencil point to the other.
It’s harder than it sounds, so we’ll give you three tries.
If you managed to make the points touch, turn to PAGE 90.
If you missed all three times, turn to PAGE 130.
“It’s got me!” you yell, trying to peel the rubbery flesh away. The tentacle feels squishy — but the powerful muscles underneath are like iron. They drag you down into the water.
“It’s got me too!” Patty wails.
“Help!” Floyd cries, thrashing wildly in the water.
From above, you hear wild cheers and whistling. You must be putting on quite a show!
Panic floods through you. How can you survive this wrestling match? The squid is so strong!
Should you try to break free from the squid’s grip and swim toward the spectators? There must be a way out of the water near the seats.
Or should you try the squid’s game? It’s pulling you down under the water. Suppose you pull it up into the air?
Make up your mind! That tentacle is making it hard to breathe!
If you try to break free, swim over to PAGE 63.
If you try to lift the squid out of the water, turn to PAGE 81.
You take a deep breath. Maybe the carnival people aren’t the most trustworthy folks in the world. But they might help you escape the Carnival of Horrors. It’s worth a shot!