Goosebumps 18 – Monster Blood II

R. L. Stine's Monster Blood II is a Goosebumps story for 8 year olds about a boy who can't get anyone at his new school to believe him.

What happens

Evan Ross has just moved to Atlanta. Last summer he and his friend Andy found a can of Monster Blood in a creepy old toy shop, and it grew and grew. He's told everyone at school. Nobody believes a word.

So now he's the new kid who makes things up. His science teacher, Mr Murphy, keeps him behind to clean out Cuddles the class hamster (Evan is NOT a fan of Cuddles). And Conan Barber, the biggest boy in the class, has picked Evan as his favourite target.

Then Andy turns up. Her parents have been sent overseas, so she's living with her aunt and uncle three blocks away. And she's brought him something. It's the old blue can, and it's meant to be empty...

You're right inside Evan's head the whole way through, which is a very funny place to be. He daydreams about doing something outrageous (like flinging the hamster out of the window) and then just says "Okay, Mr Murphy" instead. Who hasn't had that daydream?

Andy is brilliant too. She's fearless, loud and dressed in the brightest colours she can find. She also has some VERY bad ideas about what to do with that can.

There's quite a lot of bullying in this one. Conan trips Evan up, squeezes his hand until he yells and stuffs him into a basketball hoop at tryouts. And somehow it's always Evan the teacher catches. For a child going through something similar, that could feel close to home. For others, it'll make them cheer Evan on all the more.

What to read next

It's the eighteenth Goosebumps book, and Evan talks about his first run-in with the green stuff. If your reader hasn't met Evan and Andy yet, it's worth starting with the very first Monster Blood book. That's the one where his parents leave him with a great-aunt he hasn't seen since he was two, while they go house-hunting in Atlanta.