We continue this month's Summer Camp Marathon with a mini review of one of our favorite Goosebumps books, The Curse of Camp Cold Lake.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is one of R.L. Stine's many books that I found myself reading over and over again as a child.
My brothers and I won the book in a book fair competition giveaway. While my brothers enjoyed scary books I was the one who was really a big fan of them. (I guess not much has changed). I read the book multiple times that summer and relished in its characters, its story, and its scary ghost.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is about a young girl named Sarah as she heads off to summer camp. Camp Cold Lake is a water sports camp and Sarah doesn't particularly like swimming. She doesn't like the out doors, doesn't like bugs, and doesn't like cold slimy water.
But her parents have forced her to go. Sarah gets off to a bad start by insulting her cabin mates. Things only get worse when her cabin mates start playing mean jokes on her. Sarah is the camp's laughing stock.
So Sarah decides she has to find a way out, to escape the horrible camp. Little does she know that she is being hunted, haunted, by a vengeful ghost of the camp. And this ghost wants Sarah to be her buddy.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is one of R.L. Stine's better Goosebumps books. While I'm a fan of all his books (he is the main reason I started writing) there are a few of his books that stand out.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake seems to have better writing overall. The characters are far more engaging than in some of his other books, and many of the issues Sarah deals with seem more relatable and realistic.
Additionally, the actual horror element of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake seems far more frightening and real. Something about that Ghost, Della, still creeps me out to this day. And the cover image is on par with the horror of the story.
The only downside is that the story feels like it slows down after the ghost is introduced. Sarah deals with some real and hard issues for a kid up until the ghost appears. And then each chapter feels like it ends on the same cliffhanger of the ghost showing up. But, the story still stands strong throughout the horror and pays off in the end. (Even if the ending doesn't make total sense).
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is one of R.L. Stine's many books that I found myself reading over and over again as a child.
My brothers and I won the book in a book fair competition giveaway. While my brothers enjoyed scary books I was the one who was really a big fan of them. (I guess not much has changed). I read the book multiple times that summer and relished in its characters, its story, and its scary ghost.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is about a young girl named Sarah as she heads off to summer camp. Camp Cold Lake is a water sports camp and Sarah doesn't particularly like swimming. She doesn't like the out doors, doesn't like bugs, and doesn't like cold slimy water.
But her parents have forced her to go. Sarah gets off to a bad start by insulting her cabin mates. Things only get worse when her cabin mates start playing mean jokes on her. Sarah is the camp's laughing stock.
So Sarah decides she has to find a way out, to escape the horrible camp. Little does she know that she is being hunted, haunted, by a vengeful ghost of the camp. And this ghost wants Sarah to be her buddy.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is one of R.L. Stine's better Goosebumps books. While I'm a fan of all his books (he is the main reason I started writing) there are a few of his books that stand out.
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake seems to have better writing overall. The characters are far more engaging than in some of his other books, and many of the issues Sarah deals with seem more relatable and realistic.
Additionally, the actual horror element of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake seems far more frightening and real. Something about that Ghost, Della, still creeps me out to this day. And the cover image is on par with the horror of the story.
The only downside is that the story feels like it slows down after the ghost is introduced. Sarah deals with some real and hard issues for a kid up until the ghost appears. And then each chapter feels like it ends on the same cliffhanger of the ghost showing up. But, the story still stands strong throughout the horror and pays off in the end. (Even if the ending doesn't make total sense).
Summing it Up
The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is one of the best Goosebumps books in the series. The main character is relatable and the story is slightly more mature and more engaging. The ghost is the story is very creepy and is written well. Despite the story feeling a little slow in the middle The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is a welcome addition in any child's collection or school's library.
Deaths: 0
Language: 0
Gore Factor: 1
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 4
Overall Rating: 5
Deaths: 0
Language: 0
Gore Factor: 1
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 4
Overall Rating: 5