“You know how dangerous that monster blood is… What are we going to do? How are we going to get Cuddles back to hamster size?” (97).
The first sequel in the Goosebumps canon (in fact, the first of four “Monster Blood” books), Monster Blood II is a welcome step up from its rather bland predecessor (click here to read my review of the first Monster Blood). This is a fun, unserious story in which Evan Ross returns, along with his dog Trigger, only now he is living in Atlanta where he suffers from nightmares about the monster blood incident last summer. He cannot stop thinking about it. At the same time, he faces near-constant bullying from the kids at school, especially the bigger kids like Conan Barber (who is called “Conan the Barbarian”) and his hulking minion known as “Biggie.”
From the basketball court to the playground, Conan pounds Evan into oblivion and gets him into trouble with science teacher Mr. Murphy (once again, bullying and gaslighting serve as key plot drivers in this Goosebumps book). As punishment, Evan is forced to stay after class and clean the hamster cage for “Cuddles the Hamster” in Mr. Murphy’s classroom. To make things worse, no one at school believes Evan’s story about the mysterious gunk known as “monster blood” from the first book. And unfortunately, last summer the monster blood quickly disappeared from Evan’s aunt’s house, leaving no trace, so Evan has been left with no proof of his wild story.
While cleaning Cuddles’s hamster cage, a mishap occurs and Cuddles escapes, landing Evan in even more trouble. Then suddenly out of the blue his friend Andy (not “Andrea”) pops out of the bushes. She was Evan’s friend and compatriot throughout the whole monster blood ordeal in the previous book. Why has she arrived seemingly out of nowhere? Apparently, her parents have traveled overseas and now she has been sent to Atlanta to live with relatives who just so happen to live right down the street from Evan’s family.
In a rather sinister twist, Andy has brought along a surprise for Evan –a blue can of monster blood! Evan is horrified and anxious about this so together, Evan and Andy try to figure out what to do with the monster blood. At first, they decide to bury it in the ground so it can’t harm anyone. But then they decide to get back at the science teacher Mr. Murphy by feeding the monster blood to Cuddles the hamster. However, when they try to dig up the monster blood can they buried, they realize it has been stolen by the fearsome bully Conan. So they sneak into Conan’s house one night and only narrowly escape with the missing blue canister before Conan can spot them.
Unbeknownst to Evan, Andy has fed a small amount of the monster blood to Cuddles already, and before long, the little hamster grows to the size of a rabbit and then up to ten feet tall. As he grows, Cuddles terrorizes the school, running amok and alarming students and teachers. Then the remaining monster blood oozes and bubbles forth straight out of Evan’s locker.
Evan then consumes enough monster blood to make him grow, as well, hoping to be commensurate with Cuddles so he can stop the madness. But Evan doesn’t grow fast enough and Cuddles Suddenly attacks Evan instead –cue the silly twist in which Cuddles suddenly shrinks with the sound of a pop and Evan wonders what has happened. Andy reads the bottle of monster blood and notices an expiration date: “The expiration date on the can –it’s today! The Monster Blood stops working today! The magic has worn out!” This is a pretty convenient, flimsy twist ending.
Nevertheless, Evan is vindicated and he is rewarded for saving the school (this is a rare Goosebumps book in which the adults come to believe Evan). Later, Mr. Murphy shows up at Evan’s house and rewards him by handing over Cuddles in his cage as a gift. And Andy opens a gift sent from her parents: they found a can of monster blood they found in Europe since they know Evan and Andy were so enthralled with it last summer. But when Evan and Andy return to Evan’s bedroom, they find Cuddles’s cage empty and the poor little hamster once again eating a strange substance… “Cuddles — what are you eating?”
I’m not exactly sure why Monster Blood was deemed worthy of a Goosebumps sequel, but the bubbling green “miracle substance” in this book makes for a much better story than its predecessor. Monster Blood II is a predictable, fun story for kids (though it is not necessarily one of the horror-themed Goosebumps books). In Monster Blood II, bullying goes really off the charts as Evan is constantly falling into traps laid by “Conan the Barbarian” and somehow always falling prey to his plans. Not to mention the contrivance of having Andy show up out of nowhere. Still, this is a fun little Goosebumps story all the same.
Stine, R.L. Monster Blood II. Scholastic, Inc., New York, NY, 1994.