MONSTER BLOOD

A dangerous substance livens up a family visit in this latest comics adaptation of one of Stine’s Goosebumps books.

Evan’s less than thrilled to be spending the next few weeks with his formidable great-aunt Kathryn; she greets him with a bloody knife in hand (she was slicing beef, she tersely explains), and she ominously intones that they’ll have to do something about Evan’s dog, Trigger, when he clashes with her cat, Sarabeth. Evan quickly befriends a girl named Andy after she rescues him from the bullying Beymer twins. Enter a can of the titular substance, sold at an antiques store. The green slime seems harmless, but when it grows and begins coming to life, who will stop its rampage? And what secrets are Kathryn and Sarabeth hiding? The tale’s first half is deliberately paced; apart from some foreshadowing, the scares don’t really start until the monster blood begins threatening lives midway through the book. Gonzalez’s cartoon artwork balances pleasant scenes of Evan and Andy hanging out in their suburban neighborhood with forays into a dark, creepy basement and dramatic confrontations with supernatural beings. Exaggerated character reactions keep the energy level high. Though the story contains some spooky moments—like Evan’s body-horror nightmares in which he and Trigger transform into huge monsters—the scares are never overwhelming. Most characters present white; Andy is Black.

Low-key chills, ideal for horror noobs and Goosebumps stalwarts alike.