Amy's ventriloquist dummy, Dennis, keeps losing his head--for real. So Amy begs her family for a new dummy. That's when her dad finds Slappy in a local pawnshop.

#31 "He's still walking. He's still stalking."
Amy is not happy with her ventriloquist dummy. He is old and keeps losing his head. So her father decides to buy her a new ventriloquist dummy from a local pawn shop. The dummy turns out to be none other than Slappy!!!! Horrible things start happening as Amy realizes that there is more to this ventriloquist dummy than meets the eye. ( )

Were there really that many middle-schoolers in the 90s who wanted to be ventriloquists? I don't remember any. Yes, a dummy come to life is creepy, but the premise is too odd and the story too similar to the first one to have made a sequel (and more). ( )

Goosebumps. This is the series that kept me reading through my childhood. More than any other series, Goosebumps kept me interested in reading, and R.L. Stein is a wonderful children's writer. I applaud his efforts, and can't express enough my gratitude for the series. ( )

[b: Night of the Living Dummy|125564|Night of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps, #7)|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328867793s/125564.jpg|3138654] introduces what is arguably [a: R.L. Stine|13730|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1194380070p2/13730.jpg]'s best known monster. Essentially Child's Play for kids, it's nonetheless surprising how purely malevolent and creepy a ventriloquist dummy coming to life can be. The effectiveness of this book largely stems from its emphasis on cruelty rather than violence or gore for its scares. The terror isn't so much in the dummy coming to life as it is int eh way that it occasionally exerts its control over the kids who are using it... and the times that it seems to, but isn't, and kids are merely being kids. ( )