Little Comic Shop of Horrors Read online

  BEWARE!!

  DO NOT READ THIS

  BOOK FROM

  BEGINNING TO END!

  Hey! You never noticed that comic store before. It’s kind of dusty — but man, does it have great comics!

  If you check out the books on the spinner rack, you’re spun into a comic-book universe. Which superhero do you want to be? Will the super-villains destroy you? Or worse — will you end up as an ink blot?

  If you follow the HORROR sign to the basement, look out! You’ll find horror down there, all right. But not horror comics …

  This scary adventure is all about you. You decide what will happen. And you decide how terrifying the scares will be!

  Start on PAGE 1. Then follow the instructions at the bottom of each page. You make the choices. If you choose well, you’ll make it home again. But if you make the wrong choice … BEWARE!

  SO TAKE A DEEP BREATH. CROSS YOUR FINGERS. AND TURN TO PAGE 1 TO GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS!

  Contents

  Beware!!

  Title Page

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  Teaser

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “I thought after-school clubs were supposed to be fun,” you grumble. You love comic books. And a comic club sounded cool. But it’s run by Horace Grumbacher, the dullest kid in school!

  How could someone make a subject like comics boring?

  Horace manages.

  He clicks his slide projector to a picture of a comic book cover. “Here’s the first issue starring Super-Doer,” he drones. “Today, it’s worth nearly two hundred thousand dollars.”

  Click! “And here’s the first appearance of Ballistic Bug. This comic goes for nearly twenty thousand.”

  As if any kid in this club can afford that, you think.

  The projector clicks again, and a horror comic appears on the screen. Excellent! You love horror!

  But Horace can even make horror dull. “This issue of The Cellar of Scary Stories went for sixteen hundred dollars,” he lectures.

  An ugly face sneers at you from the comic cover. Yuck! It looks like a rotten pumpkin. With warts.

  You turn away, and notice the classroom clock. How did it get so late? You run outside — in time to see a horrible sight.

  “Oh, no!” you groan.

  What’s wrong? Find out on PAGE 2.

  The school bus is already a block away. It left without you!

  “Thanks a lot, Horace,” you growl. Because of his boring lecture, now you have to walk home!

  If you follow the same route as the bus, you won’t get home for hours. You decide you’d better try a shortcut. Even though it means going through a part of town you’ve never seen before.

  You walk and walk along your shortcut. With every step you take, your book bag gets heavier.

  The area you’re cutting through looks a little weird. The buildings are all old and dingy. The stores huddle together as if they’re holding each other up.

  And the stuff in the windows is very weird. You pass a clothing store that seems to be selling Halloween costumes — even though Halloween is months away. And those dolls in that toy shop window. They look like … vampires!

  You’re relieved when you spot a store for vacuum cleaners. That’s normal, you think. And next to it …

  Hey! A comic shop!

  Want to visit? Go to PAGE 3.

  You step inside. The comic shop is dimly lit. You can barely make out the comics on spinning racks. Beyond, in deeper shadows, are tables with row after row of boxes. These are the back issues, where collectors look for treasures.

  The owner stands behind a cash register. He looks familiar, with his round face and warts. But you can’t place him.

  He grunts when he sees you. “Humph. Kids.”

  Well, who does he expect to come in and buy comics?

  As you walk past him, the store owner calls out, “Leave your bag up here!”

  You scowl. Why is he treating you like a thief? You think about leaving. But you’d like a rest from walking. And besides, you really want to check out the comics.

  Strolling around the racks, you notice the latest issue of Major Disaster. You bought it just a week ago. This guy has a sticker on it for half price!

  Walking a little faster, you start picking up comic books. Doesn’t the owner know what these things are worth?

  The deeper into the store you go, the darker it gets. A pair of bookcases block your way. But there’s a little space between them. You see light coming through the crack….

  Push through to PAGE 4.

  You squeeze between the bookcases into an open area. A dusty lightbulb dangles from the ceiling. In its dim glow, you make out another spinning rack full of comics.

  A sign taped to the top of the rack says:

  YOU THINK THIS IS A LIBRARY?

  LOOK, BUT DON’T TOUCH … OR YOU’LL BE SORRY.

  You peer at the comics on the rack. Whoa — that’s the issue of Ballistic Bug from Horace’s slide show! The
comic is marked for two bucks! And up there, on the top rack — is that the incredibly expensive copy of Super-Doer?

  Then you notice something else. A doorway. Beyond the rack. Metal stairs lead downward — to the basement, you guess. An arrow-shaped sign points down the stairway. It reads: HORROR.

  There’s also a tattered sign on the open door. You try to make out the faded letters. It seems to say NO ADMITTANCE. TRESPASSERS WILL BE GLOMPFed.

  GLOMPFed? What’s that?

  You don’t really care. All you care about is making a tough decision: Should you take a closer look at the rack, or should you go down to the horror section?

  If you check out the rack, turn to PAGE 12.

  If you go downstairs, turn to PAGE 51.

  A way out?

  “Count me in!” you shout. Your heart starts to thump in your chest. There might be a way out of this maze of horrors!

  Then you start to wonder. Why is Russell treating it like a deep, dark secret?

  Russell sees the look on your face and explains.

  “We’re not taking the whole group — only a few. I don’t want to raise people’s hopes. Besides, it will be safer this way.”

  “Safer?” you gulp. Taking a small group through a maze full of killer creatures doesn’t sound safe to you. You’d be happier in a large group — say, an army.

  Why does Russell think only a handful of people would be better?

  When you ask, Russell replies, “I don’t want to draw attention to us — either from the guy upstairs, or from the maze creatures. They’d be sure to spot a big crowd passing through their hunting grounds.” Russell shakes his head. “And that would be bad, because where we’re going is the most dangerous part of the maze!”

  Find more good news on PAGE 29.

  Shuddering, you follow Bob. The angry hissing of the snake-creature fades. But you find yourself glancing back every few steps. Anything that sounds like a scrape freezes your blood. You don’t want to see that thing ever again!

  All too soon, Bob halts.

  “Wait here,” he says, pointing to a doorway. “I’ll get Russell.”

  “Who’s Russell?” you ask. “And why do I have to wait?”

  “Russell is our leader,” Bob replies. “He decides whether or not you can join us. Until then, you’re not allowed in our camp.”

  He looks you over again. “Don’t worry, though. I think you’re just what we need.”

  Bob goes off, leaving you by the doorway.

  This is great, you think. You’re lost in a maze where giant snake-monsters rule. And now you have to wait! Alone!

  Or do you?

  If you follow Bob, turn to PAGE 131.

  If you obey him and wait, turn to PAGE 20.

  You dash out to the street, shouting for help. A block away, you find two police officers. They give you funny looks as you tell them what happened. But they follow you to the store.

  “Here’s the place,” you exclaim, leading them to the Comics Dungeon. Hey, that’s weird! The place is locked up.

  Through the window, you see only an empty, dusty shop. It looks as if it’s been vacant for months!

  A neighboring store owner has the key. A search shows the place is bare. No Milo. No comics. No cellar!

  “I was there! I was!” you insist.

  The police don’t believe you. But when you step outside, you spot Jack and Cammie, looking dazed. One officer stares. “I know those kids! They disappeared a couple of weeks ago.”

  In the next few days, dozens of lost kids turn up all over town. None of them seem to remember where they’ve been.

  No one believes your story. You start to doubt it yourself. Until you find the comic you stuffed in your pocket. It’s the first issue of Super-Doer. The one from Horace’s slide show.

  Okay, so people don’t believe your story. But they have to believe the mansion you bought after you sold your rare comic book for tons of money….

  THE END

  You reach into your pocket and grab your keys. They’re the sharpest things you have on you.

  Then, lowering your head, you charge! You hold your arm straight out, with the longest key jutting out of your fist. “Die, monster!” you yell.

  Quivering purple flesh quakes in front of you. You ram into it at full speed.

  But King Jellyjam’s body doesn’t pop like a balloon. It just gives way, then bounces back. You’re sent flying — until you’re caught in a giant hand.

  “Die? Is that what you said?” Milo’s voice asks.

  The hand brings you high over the hideous purple face. Rubbery lips open to reveal big, stained yellow teeth. Two pink tongues waggle at you as the hand lets go.

  Fire. Maybe I should have tried fire, you think as you drop into the huge, hungry mouth.

  THE END

  All of you hurry on fearfully. The snuffly noise fades away. After several more twists and turns, you find a long, straight hallway. At the end are three openings.

  “Watch out for traps,” Jack whispers. “I’ll take the left. Cammie gets the middle. You take the right.”

  Sneaking down the hall, you peer through your doorway. Hey! This must be the storeroom for the comic shop upstairs. It’s packed with hundreds of boxes of comic books!

  Then Cammie calls excitedly, “In here — quick!”

  You and Jack join her in a room that’s very different from the rest of the maze. It has wallpaper and a rug. A reading lamp stands beside a big armchair. There’s a bed in the corner.

  And there’s a full-length mirror in an old-fashioned frame against one wall. Cammie steps up to it — and the mirror begins to glow! She sticks out her hand.

  It sinks right in!

  “A magic mirror!” you cry. “Maybe it’s the way out!”

  Cammie stands frozen in front of the mirror. Should you let her try to step through? Or will you push in first?

  If you let Cammie go, turn to PAGE 118.

  If you push ahead, try PAGE 78.

  No time to worry about where you’re going. You leap into a tornado of light. It whirls around you, faster and faster. Your body stretches like taffy….

  Then, with a SNAP! you’re back to normal.

  You’re in sunshine, in the middle of a street. A horn blares behind you as a school bus screeches to a halt.

  Wait a minute. It’s not just any school bus. It’s your school bus. The one you missed at the start of this strange adventure!

  “I would’ve stopped,” the annoyed bus driver tells you. “You didn’t have to get yourself almost run over.”

  You climb aboard, clutching your schoolbooks. Where did they come from? You don’t know. And what happened to Dr. Doof? Certainly, there’s no sign of him here.

  A breeze blows a piece of paper through the bus window. It’s a page from a comic. It has only one large panel.

  A chill runs down your spine when you see the picture. It shows a horrified Dr. Doof, frozen in the act of jumping through a hole in space….

  THE END

  You form a plan. You just hope you’re right!

  A slimy, purple hand grabs you. “Answer me!” Milo’s voice gurgles out of King Jellyjam’s body. “Am I scary enough?”

  Tears run down your face from his stench. You raise a hand to your ear. “Eh?” you ask. “What’s that, you say?”

  The creature’s watery yellow eyes bulge out in fury. “Am I scary enough for you?” the awful voice roars.

  The smell is growing even worse. You choke and cough. But you manage to gasp, “You’ll have to speak up.”

  Milo sucks in a huge breath to yell at you. Snails rattle to the floor as his body swells. His hand squeezes you painfully.

  Then it loosens. The yellow eyes cross. King Jellyjam’s body topples with a splat!

  You got it right! In the book, King Jellyjam was suffocated by his own stink! You made it happen!

  It seems that the end of Milo means the end of his magic maze, too. The walls shimmer and melt, revealing a cave. N
ot far away, a set of stairs leads upward — toward light.

  You start climbing. You just want to go home. Get some rest. Recover from your incredible adventure.

  And take a bath! You stink!

  THE END

  You’ve got to see if that two-dollar comic is really the famous first issue of Super-Doer. But when you grab the spinner rack, it starts to turn — by itself! Still worse, the metal rack seems to have glued itself to your hand. You can’t let go!

  Your jaw drops as the moving rack yanks you off your feet. You’re dragged around in a circle. And the rack keeps speeding up.

  Soon, to your horror, you can’t touch the floor anymore. It’s like some sort of weird carnival ride. The rack is whizzing around, and you’re flying through the air!

  “Hey! Hey, mister!” you yell to the store owner. But the words are torn from your lips by a screaming wind. You feel as if you’re caught in a tornado.

  You clench your teeth to keep from groaning. Your body is stretched out, like you’re a warm piece of taffy. You shift your grip. One hand touches a comic on the rack.

  The comic starts to glow. Now, suddenly, there’s a new pull.

  You’re being sucked into the glowing comic!

  Fly to PAGE 103.

  Dr. Doof wags an armored finger at you. “You should have figured it out yourself. Whenever my blast-bolts hit your Insecto-Electric Hornet’s Sting, there’s a brief tesseract reaction.”

  “A what?” you ask.

  “A hole in space,” Doof explains. “If we fire at each other at close range, and I heterodyne my blast-bolts —”

  “In English, please,” you say as politely as you can.

  “And little words, no doubt,” Dr. Doof huffs. “All right. We’ll make a hole in space — and step through.”