A Night in Terror Tower
 Book cover | |
| Author | R. L. Stine |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Tim Jacobus |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Goosebumps |
| Genre | Horror fiction, Children's literature |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date | January 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 129 pp (first edition, paperback). |
| ISBN | 0-590-48351-X |
| Preceded by | My Hairiest Adventure |
| Followed by | The Cuckoo Clock of Doom |
A Night in Terror Tower is the twenty-seventh book in Goosebumps, the series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by R. L. Stine. It was adapted into a two-part episode, an audiobook, and a board game.
Plot
Sue and her younger brother Eddie are American tourists in London and after Eddie wants to visit Terror Tower, they join a tour of the castle. As the tour progresses, Sue notices that a man wearing black is following them as they move throughout the castle. The man in black, who also wears a cape, chases them and the children manage to escape. After going back to their hotel room, they find out that the suite is empty and that their parents are not in the hotel. They have trouble remembering their last name as well. After they leave the hotel's restaurant, the man in black blocks their path, and sends them to Medieval times with magical stones.
They believe that they were not actually sent back in time, but they later discover that they were. After a peasant turns them in to the man in black, who is the land's high executioner, Sue and Eddie are taken back to the castle to be locked in a cell. A sorcerer named Morgred informs the children that they are Susannah and Edward, niece and nephew of the King, who imprisoned them until their execution after the death of their parents. After Morgred lets them escape, Eddie uses a magic stone in order to send them back to the present.
Now in the present, they are part of the tour again. A bearded man, Morgred, joins the children and tells them to call him Mr. Morgan.
Adaptations
The book was adapted into a two-part episode for the television series. Jeffrey Kauffman, of DVD Talk, wrote, "If you're new to the Goosebumps world, this is a great place to start, with two exceptional episodes which perfectly balance thrills with an at times black humor".[1]
An audiobook was released by Walt Disney Records, which was nominated for an Audie Award for "Best Audio Children's Production".[2] In a review of the audiobook, Billboard said that it is an "imaginative, intriguing tale of two American tourists who visit Terror Tower".[3]
It was adapted into a board game titled Goosebumps: A Night in Terror Tower Game, released by the Milton Bradley Company.[4]
Artist Tim Jacobus has claimed in his autobiography It Came From New Jersey! My Life As An Artist that the cover was one of the hardest pieces of art he had ever had to draw and the longest to finish.
Sales
A 2001 article from Publishers Weekly said that the book was 294 on the list of bestselling children's books of all time, with 1,316,723 copies sold since its original publication.[5] It became a USA Today bestseller on December 15, 1994 and was on the list for 26 weeks.[6]
Home media
The VHS release included a bookmark.[7] The episodes were released on DVD in 2008, with no special features. The DVD also includes the two-part episode Stay Out of the Basement.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 Kauffman, Jeffrey (September 13, 2008). "Goosebumps: A Night in Terror Tower". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Disney Trak". Billboard. March 2, 1996. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant/Goosebumps: A Night in Terror Tower". Billboard. September 14, 1996. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Goosebumps: A Night in Terror Tower Game (1996)". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ↑ Roback, Diane; Hochman, Debbie (December 17, 2001). "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Goosebumps: A Night in Terror Tower". USA Today. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ↑ McCormick, Moira (March 2, 1996). "Video Bow of 'Goosebumps' Anything But Scary". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2013.