Twelve-year-old Britney has a cousin called Ethan who is going to stay with Britney's family for a few weeks. Britney isn't looking forward to Ethan's visit at all, she never liked him, he is very naughty and weird. When Ethan arrives he has a strange looking ventriloquist dummy with him. Ethan is very good at making the dummy talk, Britney can never even see Ethan's lips moving. It seems that Ethan's dummy (named Mr. Badboy, a.k.a. Slappy) is alive, evil, and really doesn't like Britney at all.

This was a really entertaining and easy to read kids book. It was funny at times but it also had some chilling moments. The characters were interesting. At the end of the book there was also a short story ("Enter Horrorland") with Britney receiving an invitation to bring her family and friend Molly to the scary Horrorland Theme Park. (And what a crazy and creepy park it was! )

This was a fast and fun read for children that adults can also enjoy! ( )

Read as research for writing scary stories for my nephew. I'm not impressed - then again, I'm not the target audience. ( )

A bit predictable and kept hinting at what would have been a much more intriguing book (the curio cabinet). Disappointed, but whatever. ( )

Entertaining and a great mental break between novels. ( )

As one would expect with a Goosebumps book, this is a fun MG thriller with an abrupt ending, but I was confused about the whole HorrorLand part, and why Ethan was not in it. ( )