Goosebumps 16 – One Day at HorrorLand

R. L. Stine's One Day at HorrorLand is a Goosebumps story for 8 year olds about a family day out at the creepiest theme park you could imagine.

What happens

The Morris family are meant to be going to Zoo Gardens. But Dad left the map on the kitchen table, and they've been driving round the desert for hours.

Lizzy tells the story. She's the calm one in the family (or so everyone keeps telling her). Squashed in the back with her are her little brother Luke, who can't sit still for a second, and his nervous friend Clay.

Then a giant monster leans over the car. It's only a billboard, but it points the way to HorrorLand, one mile away. Luke begs. Lizzy begs. Mum and Dad give in.

The park is purple and green and almost empty. The staff wear green monster suits and call themselves the Horrors. One sign tells you not to feed the werewolves, if you can help it. And the very first thing that happens is the family car blowing up in the car park!

With Mum and Dad off hunting for a phone, the three children are left to explore on their own. Then Clay goes down a slide and doesn't come out at the bottom.

What makes it so much fun is the not knowing. Is it all special effects? Or is something really wrong here? Lizzy keeps changing her mind, and your reader will too. The chapters keep ending on a cliffhanger, and the next one usually starts with a big sigh of relief (until the next ride).

Luke is great value as well. He screams his head off on every ride and then tells everyone it was awesome.

It's worth knowing that the scares here are quite physical. A car explodes (nobody's inside it), a room of glass walls closes in on the children, and one of the Horrors strolls past swinging a very real-looking head by its hair. If your reader is nervous about loud bangs or tight spaces, it might be a lot. If they love a ghost train, they'll be in their element.

What to read next

If they want another place where the grown-ups in charge won't explain a thing, try Welcome to Camp Nightmare. Billy's bus driver leaves everyone in the middle of nowhere, and the camp director just laughs it off when a boy finds snakes in his bed.