Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween Movie Review

Twas the night before Halloween – and it was all going fine,
Until two kids found a manuscript written by R. L. Stine.

And now Slappy the Dummy is on the prowl in that town,
He is making an Apocalypse Nightmare come down.

With Witches and Ghosts and Goblins and Gnomes –
Slappy is bringing terror to folks in their homes.

But then Sam, and Sonny, and his sister Sarah,
Find a way to end Slappy’s Evil Reign of Terror.

Then even R. L. Stine shows up to help with that fight –
“Trick or Treat” is for all, and to all a “Fright Night”!

“Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween” is the new sequel to “Goosebumps”. If you are middle-school aged child, this probably means a great deal more to you than it does to older folks. The series of R. L. Stine books called ‘Goosebumps’ is the coin of the middle-school realm. And when a new movie comes out with that name, there will be kids a-plenty that will go to see it. And in this case, that will be a good thing. Because this is very light-hearted ‘scary’ movie, in the mold of an average Stine book.

Two young boys in the town of Wardenclyff are waiting for the fun of Halloween night.  Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his friend Sam (Caleel Harris) have started a small business where they will clean out junk. They are called to an abandoned house to remove all the debris. But hidden away in this house is a secret room. The boys don’t know that R. L. Stine once lived at the house as a boy. Stine left an unfinished manuscript, and the boys take it with them. But from nowhere, a ventriloquist dummy called Slappy (voiced by Jack Black) comes alive after Sonny reads a magic spell. Slappy wants a new family, so he comes home with them.

Sonny’s sister Sarah (Madison Iseman) finds out that Slappy is alive. They all try to get rid of the dummy, but he will always return. Slappy decides to kidnap Sonny and Sarah’s mom, named Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey). He will turn her into a dummy, just like Slappy. Then he will have a new Mom. But Slappy needs some allies and other scary monsters to help him out. He visits the local store and turns all the Halloween merchandise into real Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and Yeti monsters. Slappy even turns the store manager Walter (Chris Parnell) into an Igor type creature.

Sonny and Sam, with the help of Sarah, locate the Stine manuscript and find out it has the power to shut down Slappy. But they need help to get into Slappy’s new hiding place. The kids call on their neighbor Mr. Chu (Ken Jeong), who is all in for every Holiday. He has the best Halloween display in town, so he helps them get ready to go ‘undercover’ in some spooky outfits. Sarah even tries to call a number of someone who might know R.L. Stine. Maybe he can help bring the evil Slappy back in line and make him stop his evil efforts to turn their mom into a wooden dummy. Slappy and his crew are hiding out at the out Tesla power station, and he is ready to bring all the Tricks, and none of the Treats.

This movie is designed for the kids that grew up reading Stine’s spooky books. There is not too much depth to the story or the overall production. But it comes across as a very decent effort to give the audience of pretty good time. It is fun to watch the bedlam, but it is within PG limitations. There are no gory or gruesome scenes, because it’s all just for a good, scary fun. The best part of the side characters played by quality people such as Chris Parnell and Ken Jeong. Just keep your eyes peeled for a return of Jack Black, as R.L. Stine.