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Goosebumps #42

Egg Monsters from Mars

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Disgusted by his bratty kid sister's demand for an egg hunt as part of a birthday celebration, Dana Johnson is amazed when he finds a football-sized, purple-veined egg that hatches a terrifying surprise

115 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

R.L. Stine

1,520 books17.2k followers
Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

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5 stars
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223 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
Profile Image for Ethan.
277 reviews322 followers
July 1, 2022
I'll be honest, I was reading Egg Monsters From Mars with every intention of trading it in at a used book store or donating it to charity after finishing it, as it has a pretty low rating on Goodreads, compared to other Goosebumps books. But I unexpectedly loved it. It's basically a 50s/60s science fiction B movie, and is a lot better written than most Goosebumps books I've re-read so far. Unlike many entries in the series, where the cliffhangers are just ridiculous/silly, and there is no real sense of dread at all, the danger to the protagonist's life is very real in this one, and I found it to be a tense story that I was heavily invested in seeing the outcome of. Also, though some disliked it, I really loved the twist at the end.

This is the best of the original Goosebumps books that I've re-read so far, and is sure to please those looking for a Goosebumps book that is actually somewhat scary. And if you're a fan of science fiction, you'll enjoy it even more.

Recommended!

CAWPILE rating:

Characters: 8.0
Atmosphere / Setting: 8.5
Writing Style: 7.5
Plot: 8.2
Intrigue: 8.6
Logic / Relationships: 7.8
Enjoyment: 8.8

= 57.4 total
÷ 7 categories = 8.2 out of 10
= 4 stars
Profile Image for ✨Bean's Books✨.
648 reviews2,963 followers
October 22, 2018
#42 "They're no yolk!"
Brandy wants an Easter egg hunt for her 10th birthday. And Brandi always gets what Brandy wants. Dana it's not so thrilled about it. But when he finds a strange looking egg things really get weird. And it's when the egg hatches that the trouble begins!
Profile Image for Cameron Chaney.
Author 8 books2,070 followers
June 26, 2016
So... this is one of the few Goosebumps books I had never read as a kid, so I decided to pick it up on Easter Sunday. (Appropriate, amiright?). While the cover is classic Goosebumps, the story is definitely not. It just wasn't as good as the other books and didn't have enough monster action. It was more of a mad scientist story, which should have been awesome but wasn't. The whole book seemed to be just a build-up to that corny punch-line at the end. Definitely not Stine's best twist ending.

FINAL VERDICT: 'Eh'
Profile Image for Ken.
2,363 reviews1,357 followers
September 8, 2021
I feel that the Goosebumps books started to head towards a bit of a 1950’s ‘B Movie’ vibe around this point.

I do like the premise for this one though, as Dana finds a strange alien egg during a Easter Egg hunt for he’s sisters birthday.
It’s such a simple idea that will instantly hook any young reader.

It does slightly loose its way during the second half of the story, it certainly would have worked better as a short story.
It might just possibly have the most surreal twist ending in the whole entire series!
June 12, 2024
Όχι, όχι, όχι... απλά, όχι! Δεν καταλαβαίνω ποια ήταν η λογική του συγγραφέα πίσω από την δημιουργία του συγκεκριμένου βιβλίου, δεν φαντάζομαι σε ποια διαστροφή στήριξη την ιδέα του όλου εγχειρήματος, αλλά όχι... Δεν απέδωσε, δεν ήταν τρομακτικό, δεν ήταν καν αστείο...
Profile Image for Brittany Perry.
700 reviews7 followers
July 11, 2013
Must say I love when the unknown is actually not harmful. I mean so what the guy laid an egg at the end. I thought it quite humorous.
Profile Image for Timothy.
17 reviews18 followers
May 10, 2012
THIS BOOK WAS REALLY REALLY GREAT AND PRETTY SCARY TOO! I THOUGHT THE EGG MONSTERS WERE TOTALLY GROSSTASTIC BUT IT TURNS OUT THEY'RE NOT EVEN REALLY MONSTERS! WELL, THEY ARE KIND OF MONSTERS BUT THEY'RE ALSO KIND OF COOL, TOO, LIKE A FRANKENSTEIN WHO'S FRIENDLY. DR. GREY IS A TOTAL JERKWAD AND I DIDN'T LIKE HIM MUCH BUT HE WAS AN EVIL SCIENTIST SO I GUESS BEING AN EVIL SCIENTIST WOULDN'T MAKE YOU A NICE PERSON TO BE AROUND.

ACTUALLY, THERE'S A GUY NAMED GREY IN THAT 50 SHADES OF GREY BOOK OLD PEOPLE LIKE. I WONDER IF ITS THE SAME GUY. I HEAR THAT GUY IS A REAL JERK TOO. MY MOM DOESN'T LET ME SEE THAT BOOK SO THERE'S PROBABLY LIKE SWEARS IN IT OR SOMETHING OR MAYBE SOMEONE DIES. THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT GOOSEBUMPS IS THAT PEOPLE GET REALLY SCARED BUT THEY'RE OKAY IN THE END.

======SPOILERS=======

BUT AT THE END OF THIS BOOK DANA IS TOTALLY NOT OKAY AT ALL! HE POOPS AN EGG! THAT WAS SO CRAZY I DROPPED THE BOOK AND TOLD MY MOM HOW CRAZY IT WAS! HE POOPS AN EGG ON THE FRONT LAWN! I'LL BET HIS MOM WAS REALLY ANGRY WITH HIM BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT A DOG WOULD DO, BUT HE'S PROBABLY MORE LIKE A DUCK NOW.

I RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE WHO LIKES A SCARY STORY THAT IS ALSO PRETTY GROSS AND COOL.
Profile Image for Wesam Karam.
669 reviews126 followers
October 19, 2020
مضحكة مش مرعبة 😄 🤣 😂 😆 جامدة بس أنا حبيت الأسلوب فعلا
Profile Image for Daniel Stalter.
Author 6 books17 followers
June 15, 2023
Egg Monsters from Mars was a refreshingly weird Goosebumps book. It had a good balance of the ridiculous and the grotesque. The pacing was solid and Stine avoided his most familiar tropes. The weakest point was its characters. Dana was a fine protagonist, but the plot relied on a villain with extremely questionable logic. I could also point out a few questionable choices made by Dana’s parents. There was a good steady build-up to the climax, even with the villain logic severely lacking. I was left wanting to know more about what the egg monsters were and what their true intent was. That said, I was also happy that there wasn’t a final-chapter infodump to try and over-explain everything. Stine’s tendency to infodump can really kill the magic; Say Cheese and Die is probably the most egregious example of this. Even though it left me wanting more, it was nice to see Egg Monsters from Mars avoid falling into that trap. I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it so long as I write these reviews: the best Goosebumps books are the ones that aren’t afraid to get weird. Egg Monsters not only embraced the weird, but it also delivered what might be the most disturbing ending I’ve come across in this series. I can’t say more without major spoilers, but you can rest assured that I have some thoughts to share below the jump.

Score: 3.5

For my snark-filled, spoiler-laced, deep-dive review; check out my blog:
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Profile Image for Alex | | findingmontauk1.
1,493 reviews92 followers
August 12, 2020
THIS installment is full of mystery, science, mayhem, and fun! A crazy scientist and eggs from Mars make for a wild ride ... and I have to admit I would have been terrified of being our protagonist in this one at that age or any age! Yikes!

And furthermore, this kid gets locked in a room and forced to eat macaroni and cheese... and he hates it?! GIVE ME THE MAC!
Profile Image for Oliver.
526 reviews12 followers
October 9, 2023
Dana Johnson, a self-described serious and nerdy twelve year-old, discovers a large green egg with blue and purple veins during an egg hunt-turned-egg fight. He takes it home and a yellow, scrambled egg-looking blob hatches from it.

The premise and beginning of the story are both promising (apart from how dumb this family apparently is— his mom used raw eggs for an egg hunt? Dana is a 7th grader who doesn’t know what a turtle egg looks like? I’m not saying he has to know right away that it’s a monster from space, but… guessing that it’s a turtle egg? And everyone in this family is a scientist?).

I guess it should feel refreshing that the “monsters” are not villains —they are, in fact, quite benign— but the “evil scientist kidnapper” wasn’t all that interesting (not to mention not what anyone who was drawn in by the title and/or cover wanted). Besides, needing to quarantine after coming in close contact with an alien species seems like a legitimate course of action.

Did he really think that touching an egg creature would give me a weird disease or change me in some way?
That was just stupid.


Umm… no, it’s not.

But yes, the kidnapping and attempted experimenting on/murdering of a child is more damning. It just didn’t seem like Dr. Gray had any real motivation for those things.

Ultimately, nothing of consequence really happens, but the twist at the end is alright ; more amusing than anything.
Profile Image for J.D..
554 reviews20 followers
October 3, 2022
Being one I don't remember reading as a kid, this one fell a bit flat for me. It didn't have the typical monster / scary moments I used to love about most Goosebumps books. Definitely more of a tame and slower paced story.

I did really like the idea of the story but thought it could have been much better with some evil egg creature action.
Profile Image for kate.
655 reviews26 followers
September 10, 2022
This is one of those weird ones where instead of finding it creepy, I thought that it was more interesting. I actually thought the egg monsters were kind of cute and I honestly thought it was kind of sweet of them to cover the kid and keep him warm in the freezing cold room. Overall, not that scary but I did like the aliens from Mars idea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Carmen.
2,070 reviews2,313 followers
April 29, 2015
I glared angrily at Dr. Gray. "You have to let me go," I insisted in a trembling whisper.

His expression softened. "Please don't stare at me like that," he said. "I'm not a bad guy. I don't want to frighten you. And I don't want to keep you in this lab against your will. But what choice do I have? I'm a scientist, Dana. I have to do my job."


Yeah, I'm sure your job as a scientist involves kidnapping children, you sick fuck.

This Goosebumps book was intense! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, OMG. I think a big reason for this was because (despite its title) this book was not as silly as Goosebumps usually are and instead focused on a real-life danger - mainly, creeps who kidnap children and then keep them prisoners in their torture bunkers. OMG So scary.

And, as Nenia Campbell pointed out, this guy's last name is Gray - which I'm sure we can all agree adds another layer of "ick" to this whole thing!

It all starts when 12-year-old Dana Johnson attends his bratty younger sister's 10th birthday party. She wanted an egg hunt. Dana finds the biggest, freakiest egg he's ever seen - it's pale green and covered with throbbing blue and purple veins! It's also very hot to the touch and seemingly indestructible. He takes it home and keeps it in his dresser drawer. He loves science - and especially biology!

When the egg creature hatches one morning, Dana is surprised at what comes out. It looks like a blob of runny scrambled eggs, with two little black eyes. He scoops up the creature and puts it in a shoe box. He decides to take it to the local science lab (because every town has one!) and that's where he meets the evil Dr. Gray...
...

Tl;dr - This is a more gripping and realistic entry of Goosebumps than I am used to - and I loved it! Excellent. Even if the final ending is a bit strange - this is Stine we're talking about!
Profile Image for Tracey.
2,105 reviews73 followers
October 29, 2014
This book was one of the more realistic ones I've read from this series. I could totally see some weird scientist keeping a child captive for alien experiments. The last line had me scratching my head though. How did he lay the egg? It says he "crouched down"...so that means it must have come out of his...OH HELL NO! lol
Profile Image for Alina.
113 reviews2 followers
September 14, 2020
um these Martian eggs definitely made love to the kid btw
Profile Image for Ryan Hixson.
572 reviews14 followers
August 27, 2023
Egg Monsters from Mars by R. L. Stine is book 42 in the original Goosebumps series order. This book is not good and stinks like rotten eggs. The Egg Monsters are a little interesting but barely anything happens with them. There's an attempt to communicate that was the most interesting but it is dropped very shortly. The book's little scares are about the fear of the unknown and being trapped and examined. There is one great opening scene during an egg hunt in which kids realize the eggs aren't boiled and have a messy egg fight. The one thing I will give the story is it is a focused storyline about eggs. The novel at the end leans into the weird but could have from the start. The final twist is okay it was pretty obvious but went with the story. It was nice to see a brother and sister relationship where they are not enemies all the time. This is not the worst Goosebumps book but one of them. Egg Monsters from Mars by R. L. Stine was published on April 1, 1996, by Scholastic.

Plot Summary: Dana is a 12-year-old wannabe scientist who appeases his little sister Brandy by joining an egg hunt for her party a week before Easter. Chaos happens when the kids at the party realize the eggs are not hard-boiled and have an egg fight. Dana looks for more ammunition and finds a strange large green colored warm egg by the creek. Dana saves the egg and brings it into the house where it hatches. The egg monster looks like a runny egg but has eyes. Dana saves the egg monster from being put down the garbage disposal but that means he had to touch the warm goo of the creature. He finds a local scientist and takes the creature to his lab. Dana is shocked when the scientist knows the creature and where they are from... Mars. The scientist shows the lab off as Dana tells of his discovery and how he had to save the creature. The scientist then locks Dana away in the name of science to find out what happens to the human body once an egg monster touches him. Now it is up to Dana and the Egg monsters to escape.

What I Liked: The egg fight was great and lasted pretty long, I liked the parents freaking out who were the ones that didn't have time to boil the eggs. I wanted to see more of Dana try to communicate with the egg monsters. I liked the scientist-controlled room with all its devices to avoid outside detection. I liked the book cover, I did think the egg monster was wearing sunglasses but it just has sunken eyes.

What I Disliked: The egg monsters hardly do anything, one time in the writing Dana says, I forgot you were there, referring to the egg monsters. The story did not lean into the weird until the very end and there were plenty of opportunities. I feel like some of the ideas were leftover ideas from the Goosebumps story It Came from Beneath the Sink, a story which I liked, but there were a good many similarities between the egg monsters and a sponge monster. The story was focused but went in some boring directions.

Recommendation: Egg Monsters from Mars may have a cool title and artwork but the story is a dud. I would not recommend this book to your kids and would skip it in the Goosebumps series.

Rating: I rated Egg Monsters from Mars 2 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: Here's my full ranking of the 42 Goosebumps books that I have read in order to my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let's Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Girl who Cried Monster, 21)Deep Trouble, 22) The Ghost Next Door, 23)Night of the Living Dummy 2, 24) My Hairiest Adventure, 25) Be Careful What You Wish For... , 26) Return of the Mummy, 27) Why I'm Afraid of Bees, 28)The Haunted Mask II, 29)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 30) Attack of the Mutant, 31) Go Eat Worms!, 32) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 33)The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 34) Bad Hare Day, 35) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 36) Monster Blood, 37)Night of the Living Dummy III, 38) The Barking Ghost, 39) Egg Monsters from Mars, 40) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 41) You Can't Scare Me!, and 42) Monster Blood III.
Profile Image for Paula Brandon.
1,153 reviews32 followers
April 1, 2024
During his younger sister's birthday egg hunt, Dana finds a strange green, veiny egg in his backyard. He takes it back to his room, where out hatches a strange scrambled egg blob with eyes. He takes it to a nearby science lab to find out what sort of creature it might be, and gets caught in a nightmare.

This was a fairly enjoyable, fast-paced story. Once Dana reaches the science lab, it turns into a held-prisoner-by-a-mad-scientist story, and it was done well, with some genuine suspense over how Dana might get himself out of this situation. Unfortunately, the ending really lets it down, leaving several unanswered questions, and the usual final twist is very silly and makes little sense.
Profile Image for disquieting.reader.
658 reviews8 followers
August 24, 2023
I just couldn’t get into this. The main character was annoying and almost made me dnf it. It felt like it was written in one sitting with no outline.

⚠️ Content Warnings:
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Gaslighting
Profile Image for Angie.
1,354 reviews18 followers
June 1, 2024
That’s the one Goosebumps book I remember very clearly from when I was a kid. I don’t know why it stuck with me like this. I guess I empathized with the little egg creatures. Also, that final sentence was quite unexpected.
Profile Image for Savani.
336 reviews35 followers
April 5, 2024
Oh my goodness, what did I just read? This must be one of my least favorite books in the series. It just didn’t make sense.
8 reviews1 follower
April 20, 2024
Lots of low grunts, throbbing veins, and sticky thick yellow goop references 🤣
Profile Image for Abigail.
103 reviews29 followers
November 28, 2021
Now, I have read the book Egg Monsters from Mars more than once, and I must say, I cannot find any more good and awesome things to say about it. For one thing, the 12-year-old protagonist, Dana Johnson, sure is pretty neat too (despite the fact that his first name Dana is actually a girl’s name). Also, his little sister Brandy (who reminds me of real-life singer Brandy Norwood) sounds kind of neat to me as well.

And as a matter of fact, if I was asked which parts of the book I like, I know I’d choose these parts:

My sister, Brandy, asked for an egg hunt for her tenth birthday party. And Brandy always gets what she wants.
She flashes her smile, the one that makes the dimples pop up in her cheeks. And she puts on her little baby face. Opens her green eyes wide and tugs at her curly red hair. “Please? Please? Can I have an egg hunt at my party?”
No way Mom and Dad can ever say no to her.
If Brandy asked for a red, white, and blue ostrich for her birthday, Dad would be out in the garage right now, painting an ostrich.
Brandy is good at getting her way. Real good. I’m her older brother, Dana Johnson. And I admit it. Even I have trouble saying no to Brandy.
(p. 1)

I wanted to show the egg to Mom and Dad. But they were busy breaking up the egg fight.
Dad’s face was bright red. He was shouting at Brandy and pointing to the yellow stains up and down the side of the garage.
Mom was trying to calm down two girls who were crying. They had egg yolk stuck to their hair and all over their clothes. They even had it stuck to their eyebrows.
I guess that’s why they were crying.
Behind them Stubby was having a feast. He was running around in circles, lapping up egg after egg from the grass, his bushy tail wagging like crazy.
What a party!
(p. 15-16)

Brandy’s guests were all leaving as I stepped outside. They were covered in sticky eggs. They didn’t look too happy.
Brandy didn’t look too happy, either. Dad was busy shouting at her, angrily waving his arms, pointing to the gloppy egg stains all over the lawn.
“Why did you let this happen?” he screamed at her. “Why didn’t you stop it?”
“I tried!” Brandy wailed. “I tried to stop it!”
“We’ll have to have the garage painted,” Mom murmured, shaking her head. “How will we ever mow the lawn?”
“This was the worst party I ever had!” Brandy cried. She bent down and pulled chunks of eggshell from her sneaker laces. Then she glared up at Mom. “It’s all your fault!”
“Huh?” Mom gasped. “My fault?”
“You didn’t hard-boil the eggs,” Brandy accused. “So it’s all your fault.”
Mom started to protest—but bit her lip instead.
Brandy stood up and tossed the bits of eggshell to the ground. She flashed Mom her best dimpled smile. “Next year for my birthday, can we have a Make Your Own Ice-Cream Sundae party?”
(p. 17)

When Dana finds an egg that has veins, throbs and doesn’t break open when he lands on it by accident, he initially thinks the egg must be made of steel because it doesn’t crack open.

If you want to find out what happens next, I suggest you read the book.

Anyway, I give this book two thumbs up. And I also give it a five-star rating (although ten stars would be better). 😎🏆
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