The Haunted Mask (Goosebumps #11)

The Haunted Mask is a frighteningly chilling novel which deals with a young girl’s quest for revenge and the surprising turn it takes for her.                                   

The Haunted Mask by R. L. Stine is the eleventh book in his Goosebumps series. It details the story of a young girl called Carly Beth Caldwell who decides to use a scary mask to get back at her bullies Steve and Chuck at school. The usually timid and naive Cathy is constantly the subject of Steve and Chuck’s pranks for long, and she finally decides to take her revenge on Halloween.

Her mother’s Halloween costume for her turns out to be a disappointment, and so she takes matters into her own hands. She goes to the local store and gets herself a mask, knowing little about the plans that the mask has in store for her. Carly becomes increasingly aggressive and goes on a rampage, scaring other little children and her own friends too, all the time adding to the mask’s power. But what happens when her motive of scaring Steve and Chuck has been achieved and she wants to take off the mask? The novel manages to successfully capture the horror of the children with its fast paced plot, leading ultimately to the protagonist’s own predicament.