Books › Revenge of the Living Dummy
Revenge of the Living Dummy
144 pages
A fast-paced, funhouse ride of a book where everyday annoyances twist into uncanny, puppet-fueled nightmares.
What it feels like
Reading this is like stepping into a classic carnival funhouse: you know it is designed to scare you, but you cannot help but enjoy the ride. The experience is defined by its relentless, popcorn-thriller momentum, pulling you through a gauntlet of creepy dolls, sinister pranks, and eerie amusement park attractions. The prose is punchy and accessible, engineered specifically to deliver those signature chapter-ending cliffhangers that make it impossible to put down. It balances the mundane frustrations of dealing with an annoying cousin against the surreal, uncanny dread of a wooden puppet that might just be alive. Perfect for middle-grade thrill-seekers or nostalgic adults, it delivers a perfectly calibrated dose of campy, spooky fun that thrills without leaving lasting scars.
- Mood
- creepy
- funhouse-eerie
- tense
- uncanny
- Tone
- playful
- suspenseful
- campy
- dramatic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the uncanny valley · cousin rivalry · sinister amusement · childhood anxieties
- The writing
- Punchy and accessible, built on short sentences and relentless chapter-ending cliffhangers designed to keep the pages turning.
- The arc
- Moves from the relatable annoyance of dealing with an obnoxious relative to the breathless, wide-eyed panic of a funhouse nightmare.
- Who it's for
- Young readers seeking a safe but thrilling scare, and anyone who loves the campy, nostalgic dread of a haunted amusement park.
Content notes
- creepy dolls
- jump scares
- mild bullying
- claustrophobia
About the book
Stare into the Wooden Face of Fear!
Britney Crosby thinks her cousin Ethan is pretty weird--and she happens to be right. Ethan won't stop tormenting Britney with an old ventriloquist's dummy. And the puppet has plans for Britney, too!
Enter a Land of a Thousand Horrors!
Next, someone will be offered a vacation at a popular "scream park." An entire week for free? You'd have to be a real dummy to refuse that! But some guests aren't allowed to escape HorrorLand after just six days and seven frights...
Description from Open Library.
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