For the better part of three decades, Goosebumps author R.L. Stine has been scaring children (and some adults) with his neverending series of creepy creatures and characters. Even though the original run of books only lasted a few years, the franchise has carried on with numerous spin-off series, the iconic TV show, a few video games, and of course, two blockbuster films starring Jack Black. While diehard Goosebumps fans could easily argue for hours on end about Stine’s most scary character, many would probably agree that Slappy the Dummy takes the cake.
As a sort of less violent take on Chucky from Child’s Play, Slappy is a ventriloquist dummy who comes to life, terrorizing whatever hapless teenager brought him home while also scapegoating them for all the trouble he causes – seriously, don’t underestimate Slappy’s gaslighting abilities. After appearing in both of the Goosebumps movies, the doll from hell has been propelled into the limelight; heck, Pixar even based one of their characters in Toy Story 4 off of him. It seems that R.L. Stine knows just how popular Slappy is, too, seeing as how he’s now bringing him back for an all-new book.
A couple of years ago, Stine launched the Goosebumps SlappyWorld series of novels, which are narrated by none other than Slappy himself. Now, as ComicBook.com reports, everyone’s least favorite ventriloquist doll is coming back in a book of his own called Diary of a Dummy, which is set to release on March 3rd. It’s not entirely clear what this new installment will be about, but if we were to hedge our bets, we imagine it’ll involve two twin preteens who find themselves in a whole lot of trouble after they stumble across Slappy and bring him home.
Chances are, you’ve probably outgrown the book series, but we’re curious, do you think you’ll check this one out for old times’ sake, or will you use this opportunity to introduce your younger family members to Goosebumps? Let us know in the comments below!