One Day at HorrorLand

One Day at Horrorland

Author	R. L. Stine
Cover artist	Tim Jacobus
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Goosebumps
Genre	Horror fiction, Children's literature
Published	February 1994 Scholastic
Media type	Print
Pages	123
ISBN	0-590-47738-2
Preceded by	You Can't Scare Me!
Followed by	Why I'm Afraid of Bees

One Day at HorrorLand is the sixteenth book in Goosebumps, the series of children's horror fiction novels created and authored by R. L. Stine. It was adapted into a two-part episode for the television series, which was later released on VHS and DVD. A comic adaptation of the book was included in the graphic novel compilation Terror Trips, part of the Goosebumps Graphix series. There were two video games based on the book. The HorrorLand theme park was expanded upon in the book series Goosebumps HorrorLand.

Plot

The Morris family and their friend become lost, accidentally finding the HorrorLand theme park. Shortly after parking, their car explodes, but the ticket-taker reassures them that it will be taken care of. The children, Lizzy Morris, Luke Morris, and their friend Clay, explore the theme park and get on the rides. After a ride in which Lizzy is locked in a casket traveling down a river, the three of them attempt to convince the parents that they all should leave. The parents reveal that they experienced similar problems, so they all decide to confront the Horrors.

After the Morris family and Clay discover that the gates have been locked to prevent their escape, the monsters surround them. In anger, Lizzy tries to remove a mask from one of the monsters, which she discovers is actually the Horror's face. The Horrors explain that they are monsters, but that the visitors' experiences were part of a television show. As an apology, the monsters say that they will lead them towards a new car, but they are led to carnivorous animals.

After surviving the animals' attack, the monsters attempt to murder the family. Lizzy then remembers signs within the park that said "No pinching". The visitors proceed to pinch all of the monsters, resulting in them deflating like balloons. The Morris family and Clay escape HorrorLand in a different car, but in a twist ending, find out that a Horror held onto the back of the vehicle until they reached their home. The monster offers them free passes for their next visit.

Publications

The book was a USA Today bestseller in March 1994.^[1] It was released again in 2011, under the Classic Goosebumps rename.^[2]

Kevin Pires from FlavorWire listed the book as one of his ten favorite Goosebumps books,^[3] and Nathan Reese from Complex.com rated One Day at HorrorLand his ninth favorite book from the series. Reese also thought the ending was more dark and humorous than most other books.^[4]

Return to HorrorLand, a sequel to the book and the thirteenth book of the series Goosebumps Series 2000, was released in 1999. Lizzy, Luke, and Clay revisit HorrorLand, so that they can attempt to close the theme park.^[5][6]

Adaptations

A video game titled Goosebumps: Escape from HorrorLand was released in 1996, by DreamWorks, for Microsoft Windows. Players have to encounter film monsters such as Dracula. In a 2008 video game titled Goosebumps HorrorLand, released for the Wii, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2, the players attempt to escape from the theme park.^[7] The book was also adapted into a board game titled Goosebumps One Day at HorrorLand Game, which was released by Milton Bradley Company.^[8]

Terror Trips, the second volume of the graphic novel trilogy Goosebumps Graphix, includes an adaptation that was illustrated by Jill Thompson. R. J. Carter, of The Trades, wrote that some panels of the comic were influenced by manga.^[9][10] Despite Jennifer Feigelman, of Kliatt, writing that the adaptation has "frenetic lines and mismatched panel sizing", she said that the graphic novel, in which the adaptation is contained, is "destined to be a hit with the "tween" crowd".^[11]

Goosebumps HorrorLand is a book series that takes place in HorrorLand.^[12]

Episodes

The book was adapted into a two-part episode for the Goosebumps television series. Airing as episodes 8 and 9 of the third season, the first episode aired on October 25, 1997 and the second episode aired on November 1, 1997.^[13][14] The character Clay was not included in the episodes.^[15][16] A reviewer on DVD Talk wrote, "This two-part episode is largely enjoyable, with some pretty scary moments, though it has a disturbing subtext and an ending that may leave younger children especially feeling squeamish".^[17]

Cast

• Heather Brown as Lizzy Morris
• Michael Caloz as Luke Morris
• Jonathan Whittaker as Mr. Morris
• Kirsten Bishop as Mrs. Morris^[15]
• Neil Crone as the Host, Blek, and Makeup Artist

Home media

The VHS release of the television episodes was reported as the fourteenth best-selling children's video in the November 14, 1998 issue of Billboard.^[18] The VHS, along with two other Goosebumps releases, were advertised on millions of products by General Mills, with coupons and a sweepstakes for a Goosebumps stage production.^[19]

The DVD was released in 2008, with no special features. Jeffrey Kauffman, writing for DVD Talk, said that the DVD release is "a completely average television presentation all around" with "typical" sound.^[17]

See also

• Goosebumps (original series)
• Goosebumps (video game series)

References