| The Haunted Mask | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | R. L. Stine |
| Cover artist | Tim Jacobus |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Goosebumps |
| Genre(s) | Horror fiction, Children's literature |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
| Publication date | September 1993 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 121 (first edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-590-49446-5 |
| OCLC Number | 28659535 |
| LC Classification | MLC R CP01287 |
| Preceded by | The Ghost Next Door |
| Followed by | Be Careful What You Wish For... |
The Haunted Mask is the eleventh book in R. L. Stine's Goosebumps series. The book follows Carly Beth, a girl who buys a Halloween mask from a store. After putting on the mask, she starts acting differently and discovers that the mask has become her face; she is unable to physically pull the mask off. R. L. Stine says he got the idea for the book from his son who had on a mask that he had trouble getting off.
The Haunted Mask was featured on the USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller list, and cited by one reviewer as "ideal for reluctant readers and Halloween-themed sleepovers." In the mid-1990s, the book was adapted for television and released on VHS in March 1996. The Haunted Mask has two published sequels: The Haunted Mask II and The Scream of the Haunted Mask.
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The Haunted Mask was authored by R. L. Stine and originally illustrated by Tim Jacobus. The author says the idea for the book came from his son Matthew Stine, who had on a Halloween mask that he had trouble getting off.[1] Stine also says that he used a duck costume his parents got him for trick-or-treating in the book.[2]
The book was first published in September 1993 by Scholastic, and reissued on September 1, 2008.[3]
Carly Beth Caldwell is an 11-year-old girl who is a target for pranks and practical jokes, some of which are played by Chuck Greene and Steve Boswell, two of her friends at Walnut Avenue Middle School. Before Halloween, she is humiliated after the two boys trick her into eating a sandwich that contains a living worm. Disgusted, she flees home and discovers her mother has made a plaster of Paris model of Carly Beth's head.
On Halloween day, after frowning at the duck costume her mother gave to her, she goes to a party store and discovers a room filled with hideous masks. The store owner unwillingly sells her one of the masks and Carly Beth goes home. Later that day, after she takes the mold of her head that her mother made, she puts on the mask and goes in search of Chuck and Steve, determined to avenge herself against them. She starts acting differently: she chokes her best friend, Sabrina Mason, throws apples at a house and steals a bag of candy from a boy.
While at Sabrina's house, Carly Beth is shocked to find she is physically unable to remove the mask and that the mask has, in fact, become her face. She returns to the store and finds the owner waiting for her. The store owner tells her that the mask is a real face and it can only be removed by a "symbol of love", but if it attaches itself to her or another person again, it will be forever. Carly Beth screams in horror, and the other masks begin to pursue her. While running away from the masks, she realizes that the mold her mother made is a symbol of love. Carly Beth finds the mold and uses it to deter the masks and remove the mask from her face. She returns home to her mother, tossing the mask away. Noah, Carly Beth's kid brother, later bursts in and asks her, "How do I look in your mask?"
The Haunted Mask was featured on USA Today's Top 150 Best-Selling Books database for 43 weeks, attaining a peak position of 107.[4] In 2000, it had sold over 1.42 million copies and was listed as the 249th bestselling children's paperback book of all time by Publishers Weekly.[5]
Terreece Clarke from Common Sense Media commented that the book "is ideal for reluctant readers and Halloween-themed sleepovers" and "is one of the better books in the Goosebumps series".[3] Herbert N. Foerstel stated it was "perhaps the most famous Goosebumps book".[6]
In the 1990s, The Haunted Mask was adapted into a television special. The special first aired on October 27, 1995 on the Fox Network as the series premiere of the Goosebumps TV series.[7] It starred Kathryn Long as Carly Beth, Kathryn Short as Sabrina, and was directed by Timothy Bond.[8] The special was produced by Protocol Entertainment in association with Scholastic Productions.[9]
It was subsequently released on VHS in March 1996.[10] The video was very popular; it was listed 75th in Billboard's list of Top Video Sales in their 1996 Year-In-Video charts, higher than any other Goosebumps video.[11] Scott Blakey from the Chicago Tribune stated that, properly presented, it is "a cautionary tale that will thrill viewers 10 and older," but "it has the power to spook younger children."[12]
Two sequels of the book were published, The Haunted Mask II in October 1995 (the thirty-sixth book in the Goosebumps series)[13] and The Scream of the Haunted Mask on August 1, 2008 (the fourth book in the Goosebumps HorrorLand series).[14]
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