It's time for a HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR!! Let's Give Ourselves Goosebumps!

Odradek

Jabberwock said:

really?  i thought we got sidetracked behind the grey door and never went to pg. 95

but tropical, then

Nope, that's why there was a skull and a cactus, which are desert things.

Tachyon

oh yeah

never mind then ^_^;

Justice4243

Each section is pretty spares and goes into more ways to potentially die, it seems.

Tropics.

MetaFour

But the antidote tastes delicious! Like cherries. You swallow every drop.

Way to hog it all. What happens if Kerry gets infected with the plant virus, huh? Apparently backstabbing tastes like cherries. Who knew?

Granted, Kerry's enough smarter than us that she's less likely to get infected, but it's still a possibility. Stupid accidents happen.

Justice4243

Kerry might actually enjoy becoming a planet.

Odradek

"Kerry, let's check out the tropical exhibit," you suggest as you study the directory. "I want to see what kind of exotic stuff they have."

"Me too," Kerry replies. "I wonder if they have the famous tatlocus flower."

You stare at your friend. "The what?" then before she can answer, you shake your head. "Forget it."

You follow the arrows down a long, dark tunnel.

"I guess Mr. Creeper want to save on his electric bill," you murmur. "I can hardly see." you don't want to admit to Kerry that the shadowy building makes you a little nervous. 

You come to an old wooden door. "This must be it," you comment. You push it open. 

And step into another world...

TURN TO PAGE 113

Odradek

Lush green plants and trees reach up to the ceiling, which is painted a deep blue. Colorful flowers line a tidy pathway. You wander into the rich green foliage. All around you, birds chirp and call.

"This place is so cool!" you cry. It's hard to imagine that right on the other side of that door is a dark, spooky hallway.

"Awesome," Kerry agrees.

You lean toward one of the brightly colored flowers for a closer look. You whip out the small notebook from your back pocket, and start to take notes:

Tropical area- a flower as tall as me. Petals on the outside are dark green. Inside there is a ball.

You peer at the ball of color in the center of the flower. How should you describe it? It's red and orange, and has the texture of feathers.

The ball looks like a little bird, you write

You poke the ball with the tip of your pencil. 

Suddenly-BAM! The ball flies in your face!

GO TO PAGE 18

Odradek

Claws, feathers, beak...

It is a bird! And it's attacking you!

It tears at your shirt with its claws and pecks you with its beak. Its little, sharp, beak

You shield your face with your arms. "Help!" you cry.

Kerry dashes over. "Shoo," she orders. She bats at the little bird. "Shoo!"

WHOOSH! Thousands of fluttering wings stir up the air. The room fills with colors as parrots and parakeets and toucans dart through the foliage. Straight toward you.

"Oh, no!" Kerry gasps. "Look at all the birds!"

"They're everywhere!" you yell over their screeching.

They scream at you. They fly by your head, staring into your eyes. Some hover, shrieking, right in front of your face.

That's weird. You duck out of the way of a toucan. They all seem to be screeching the same thing. 

Could it be.. a word?

"I think they're trying to say something!" you shout.

"Are you crazy?" Kerry yells back. "Let's get out of here!"

What are you going to do?

To stay with the birds, TURN TO PAGE 24

TO move on to another area, TURN TO PAGE 62

Tachyon

we only just got here

let's stay with the birds

Justice4243

stay with the birds! 

You kids aren't nerds, are you?!

MetaFour

The bird, bird, bird,

bird is the word.

Odradek

"Come on!" Kerry shouts. "We've got to go!"

"No!" you declare. "I know the birds have something to say. I just have to figure out a way to understand it."

You think and think. But you can't concentrate because the birds are so loud. They're driving you nuts!

"QUIET!" you shout in exasperation.

It works! The birds stop their squawking. It's totally silent in the tropical exhibit.

"Wow!" you exclaim. You're so surprised that the birds obeyed you, you're not sure what to say. "So, uh, were you guys trying to tell us something?"

Kerry laughs. "Duhhh! Birds don't talk!"

You feel the blood rushing to your face. It is kind of a dumb idea...

Then a little yellow canary lands on Kerry's shoulder. And puts its beak up against her ear.

TURN TO PAGE 117

Odradek

You watch breathlessly. Is the bird about to speak?

"Ow! It bit me!" Kerry yells. She brushes the bird off her shoulder.

You snicker. "I guess that canary got his message across."

"Ha-ha," Kerry grumbles. "What gave you the idea the birds were trying to tell you something?"

"They were making eye contact," you explain. "And they all seemed to be screeching the same thing."

Kerry raises an eyebrow. "So what do you think they were saying?"

You shake your head. "I don't know," you admit.

You gaze around the exhibit. Dozens of birds perch on branches, on vines, on the ground. They all stare back at you. As if they were waiting for you to figure out their message. 

"What were you guy saying?" you ask.

Mistake.

The birds all start shrieking again.

TURN TO PAGE 68

Odradek

You were right! The birds are trying to communicate!

You strain to understand their shrieks. It sounds as if they're all screaming "Pon! Pon!"

You address the birds again. "Are you trying to say "pon"?"

The birds nod.

Amazing! You are actually communicating with birds.

Well, sort of.

You turn to Kerry. Her mouths hangs open in shock. "What do you think Pon means?" you ask.

She shakers her head. "Pon...pon..." she mutters. Then she brightens. "Pond?"

"Something about a pond?" you ask the birds. "You want to warn us about a pond?"

But before you can get a response from the astonishing birds, Chris dashes into the exhibit area.

"Hey! Look at all the birds! Polly wanna cracker?" he shouts.

All the birds take flight and start screaming again.

"Let's go," you tell Kerry in disgust. "We'll never get any answers now."

Choose another habitat ON PAGE 100

Odradek

THE E. VILLE CREEPER BOTANICAL GARDENS

Please explore all our exciting areas:

TROPICAL(TURN TO PAGE 5)

ARCTIC(TURN TO PAGE 41)

NATIVE( TURN TO PAGE 23)

DESERT(TURN TO PAGE 32)

Enjoy your visit and please

DO NOT TOUCH THE EXHIBITS

When you have visited all the areas, TURN TO PAGE 50

MetaFour

So if we'd gone Tropical first like I'd suggested, we'd have known to stay out of that stupid pond cave. Wait, no, scratch that. We would have known that death lay that way, but we'd have jumped in anyway.

Or maybe the birds are all just fans of Ponyo.

Tachyon

so... arctic is all that's left, right?

Princess Alice

I believe so.

MetaFour

Desert!

Tachyon

^_^;

MetaFour

Tropical!

Justice4243

Looks like arctic, and then we leave the area to face our destiny. 

MetaFour

Is this thing still going? I'm dying to see what's waiting to kill us in Arctic.

Odradek

Yeah, I've just been really busy. New update in as long as it takes me to type it.

Odradek

You study the directory. "I didn't even know plants grew in the Arctic," you comment. "Let's go there."

Kerry grins. "Sounds cool to me."

"Kerry." You grimace at her bad joke. Then you follow the arrows to a passageway at teh far end of the main hall.

It becomes very chilly. You notice that the stone walls of the hallway are covered in frost.

"Check out the door!" Kerry exclaims. It's a silver metal door with glass panels, like a restaurant refrigerator.

You pull open the door. It comes undone with a loud sucking sound. You step inside. Icicles hang from the ceiling in long sharp daggers. In the middle of the room is a large pond of ice.

"It's so cold!" you murmur. Your breath forms a cloud. 

SLAM! The door crashes shut behind you.

CLICK! It sounds as if someone just locked you in!

"What's going on?" Kerry cries with alarm.

You rush to the door. It is locked... and you're trapped!

Panic rises in your chest. You pound on the door.

"We're going to freeze!" you exclaim.

Hurry TO PAGE 6

Odradek

"We're locked in!" Kerry shouts. She pounds on the door with her fist. "What is going on?"

"I don't know," you murmur anxiously. "Who would lock us in here? And why?" You try to peer through the glass panels on the door. You use your breath to melt a spot in the frost so that you can see.

Outside the door, you discover that jerk Chris Nelson. He's doubled over, laughing.

"Chris did this!" you tell Kerry furiously. "I hate that kid! Hey!" You beat on the door. "Let us out!"

Chris doesn't even glance up. He's rolling on the floor.

"Come on! It's freezing in here!" Kerry moans.

Frost is forming on your clothes. Your teeth start to chatter. You don't have much time before you freeze!

"We've got to break down the door!" Kerry says through blue lips. "I saw a metal crowbar over there. Let's use it!"

Maybe we could just turn off the air conditioning." you murmur. You glance up at the huge cooling system hanging from the ceiling. There must be a switch somewhere."

You're losing feeling in your feet. Decide what to do!

To break down the door, TURN TO PAGE 112

To turn off the air conditioning, TURN TO PAGE 79

Justice4243

BREAK DOWN THE DOOR! YOU'RE NOT A NERD, ARE YOU?!

MetaFour

Mindless destruction! Break the door!

Anyway, I'm starting to hope there's a Best Ending where Chris dies (while we win the stupid contest, presumably).

You study the directory. "I didn't even know plants grew in the Arctic," you comment. "Let's go there."

There's moss. SO MUCH MOSS

Although I can't help but notice that there's no mention of any plants—moss or otherwise—in this room. Maybe we'll get to those after we stave off hypothermia. Or maybe Max Creeper got tired of pretending this has anything to do with plants and just made this room a blatant death trap.

MetaFour

And aren't we supposed to find that stupid "bouncy grass" here? Or did we miss the proper story branch in another section?

Odradek

"Your idea is better than mine," you tell Kerry. "Let's break down the door. Where was that crowbar?"

"Over there." Kerry points across the ice pond in the middle of the room. "I'll get it."

Kerry darts out onto the frozen surface.

That ice doesn't look too strong, you think.

But before you manage to get the words out to warn her...

CRACK! The ice splits.

Your best friend drops into the freezing water. It's horrifying!

"Help!" she screams.

You race onto the edge of the ice and lie down flat. You creeper towards her slowly. 

"Don't crack. Don't crack," you mutter.

"Help!" she cries again.

You try to control the knot of fear in your stomach. You chant to yourself over and over, please don't let me hear a crack, please don't let me hear a...

CRACK!

The ice is shattering!

TURN TO PAGE 82. Fast!

Odradek

You watch as teh crack in the ice beneath you branches out in a million directions. You're horrified- but there's nothing you can do.

SPLASH! You drop into icy water.

Aaaaaah! It's so cold! You force your eyes open and peer underwater.

You spot Kerry pushing her way into a vent in the side of the pond. You swim over to her. You both wriggle along inside the vent until you come to a spot where you can breathe.

"It's f-f-f-freezing in here!" Kerry's teeth chatter as she tries to speak.

You nod, your whole body trembling with cold. You spot a grate overhead. "M-m-maybe we can c-climb out through there," you suggest.

"I'll do anything," Kerry moans.

With shivering fingers, you and Kerry manage to pry off the grate. You scramble up and out into a dark hallway.

"Wh-wh-where are we?" Kerry wonders.

You wonder the same thing. But you know you have to keep moving, You've got to warm up.

TURN TO PAGE 31

Odradek

You and Kerry wander along the dim passageway. The tunnel twists and turns so many times, you have no idea where you are. You leave squishy, wet footprints in the muddy dirt floor.

"I wonder if anyone has ever been down here," you comment. You haven't noticed any other footprints.

Wait a second.

You've done this before, in a different hallway, in a different lifetime.

You realize that the writer dictating your existence has ran out of ideas, and this is this bullshit branching path that only leads to death or being stuck with plant people all over again.

"CURSE YOU R. L. STINE!" you yell as a hatchet manifests above your vulnerable head and crashes down to rid you of your horrible gnosis.

Looks like the writer of your story really was

a hack

THE END

MetaFour

I wanted to leave a comment to the effect of "Another underwater cave?" until it became clear it was actually the same story branch, and then you beat me to making fun of that.

Princess Alice

I guess they just expect kids to forget they've already turned to page 31 and gone through all the deaths there?

I know us '90s kids didn't have great attention spans but come on

MetaFour

Wasn't there an option at the beginning of the cave to go up some stairs rather than following the voices and dying? Did the stairs lead to yet more death, or just a boring exit from the caves?

Odradek

Night Moon Mare said:

Wasn't there an option at the beginning of the cave to go up some stairs rather than following the voices and dying? Did the stairs lead to yet more death, or just a boring exit from the caves?

That was the giant plant that ate us.

Tachyon

to be fair if we were actually playing to win instead of being completionists we might not have gotten to the cave until now

Justice4243

I suppose we turn off the AC, now.

Odradek

Sorry for the lack of updates guys, I've just been really busy.

I think I'll just get to the good ending and stop this because I wanna get back to the New 52 Liveblog. Unless you guys really want a completionist run.

MetaFour

I'm still interested in a completionist run, no matter how long it takes. Considering we just need to finish Arctic and then go to the final section, there can't be too much more. Is there?

Justice4243

I am simply enjoying the ride, whatever that may be.

Tachyon

same

Odradek

"Let's turn off the air conditioning!" you shout. "Otherwise we're going to freeze!"

The cooling system is up on the ceiling. You need something to stand on. You notice a small moss-covered boulder lying off to the side of the ice pond.

"Help me move that rock," you instruct Kerry.

You roll the rock along the ice until it's under the cooler.

You climb up, and see a small control box next to a giant icicle. There are two buttons: One is marked with a W, the other has no mark at all.

"I don't know which button to press!" you moan.

"Well just pick one," Kerry snaps. "We have no time to lose. Hurry!"

What could W stand for? you wonder. Water? Waiter? Whisper? Whistle? Wink? What?

If you can wink one eye or whistle, press the W button on page 56.

If you can't wink or whistle, press the unmarked button on PAGE 119

Justice4243

56, page 119 is clearly instructions to cull the weak children from the herd.

Also:

MetaFour

Maybe the W stands for WARM. Push it.

Fossilmaiden

I always loved Stine's habit of doing stuff like "If you are right handed/can do the Macarena/have hair etc., then die." Anyhow. Press the red W button.

Tachyon

W

Section42L

Odradek

"I'll press the W button" you decide. You extend your finger. It's blue with cold. You press the button hard.

A hum fills the air immediately. You feel a blast of hot air from the machine. It feels wonderful against your skin.

"It's working! The W must be for warm!" you say

What a relief!

"It feels excellent!" Kerry stands under the vent, rubbing her hands as if the machine were a giant fireplace.

"Yeah" you agree. You climb off the boulder and bask in the heat form the vent. Your toes feel all prickly.

"The heat feels great! Too bad we don't have any marshmallows!"

You scrape some moss off the rock. "Look!" I even got my plant to study for the report," you say.

"Me too." Kerry holds up a small plant.

A big drop of water splashes onto your arm. Then another...then another. You glance up. You gasp.

The giant icicles hanging off the air conditioner are starting to melt.

And they're going to drop! Right on you! Your blood freezes in your heart.

"RUN!" you scream

Race to PAGE 120

Justice4243

To bad there's no "Sit there and face the consequences of your actions like a genderless stand in for the reader" option.

Also, glad to have this back.