Scream of the Evil Genie Read online

  Taking Peter to the mall could be a lot of fun. Shopping is probably awesome when you’re a millionaire!

  Then again, maybe you should pick up Stephanie and come back to the mansion to play video games. You saw that media center back there. It was out of control.

  Stephanie’s really good at video games. And she would totally be impressed.

  “Where would you like to go?” the driver asks again.

  If you go to the mall with Peter, turn to PAGE 94.

  If you go pick up Stephanie instead, turn to PAGE 61.

  BEWARE!!

  DO NOT READ THIS

  BOOK FROM

  BEGINNING TO END!

  Yes! Mom and Dad are out of town, and your sweet old grandma is coming to take care of you. You are ready for freedom. But are you ready for … Grandma?

  The terror starts at the train station, with two old ladies who both look exactly like your grandma.

  If you go after the Grandma who is still on the train, you might end up battling aliens with eyes the size of Ping-Pong balls. Or jumping from a hovering helicopter! If you go home with the other Grandma, we have one piece of advice for you:

  Stay out of the rose garden!

  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 survive this adventure. 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!

  “Nothing is going to happen to me,” you shout down to your mother.

  She gazes up at you from the bottom of the stairs. Her packed suitcases sit waiting by the front door. You recognize that worried look on her face.

  “Do you remember everything I told you?” she asks. Her forehead wrinkles in concern. “Or should I write it down?”

  “Mom! I’m not a baby.” You plop onto the top step of the staircase and repeat your instructions for the fifth time. “I take a cab to the railroad station. I wait on the platform on the incoming side of the station. Grandma’s train arrives at one P.M. I’ll know her by the yellow stretch pants and purple shirt she’ll be wearing. Then, if she hasn’t been arrested by the fashion police for wearing such a wacko outfit —”

  “Don’t make fun of your grandmother,” your mother cuts in. “She’s unusual, but I’m sure you two will get along fine.”

  “Your mother’s right,” your dad adds, coming through the front door. “Your grandma is full of surprises.”

  Yeah sure, you think. How is some little old lady going to surprise me?

  Go on to PAGE 2.

  Your dad picks up the remaining suitcases and heads back out to the car. Your mother doesn’t move. You flash her your most trustworthy smile.

  She sighs. “I guess you’ll be all right,” she says uncertainly.

  “Of course I will!” you assure her. “What could happen?”

  You follow your mom out to the car and wave as your parents drive away. The moment their car turns the corner you leap into the air. “Freedom!” you cry.

  No parents for a whole week! Just a seventy-five-year-old grandma. She’ll probably spend the whole time snoozing on the sun porch. You’ll practically be on your own!

  The cab arrives, and you hop in. You instruct the driver to take you to the train station.

  But as he nears the station you have a pang of doubt. You haven’t seen your grandmother since you were a little kid. You wonder if you’ll recognize her.

  Worry until PAGE 3.

  You may not recognize Grandma’s face, you tell yourself, but you’ll definitely spot her purple-and-yellow outfit. Besides, she’ll know you from the photos your parents sent her.

  You pay the driver and hop out.

  Hey! That’s weird, you think. Why was your name announced over the loudspeaker? You rush to the information booth inside the station, wondering what could be wrong.

  “You just paged me,” you tell the young man in the booth.

  “You’ve got a call.” He hands you a phone.

  “Hello?” There’s a lot of static on the line. You can barely hear, but it’s definitely your mom’s voice.

  “We’re — psst — on the plane … pfffft — home immediately!”

  “What? I can’t hear you!” you shout into the phone. “Do you want me to go home? What about Grandma?”

  “Pssssfffft — danger … grandmother …”

  That’s all you hear. Then the line goes dead.

  Turn to PAGE 108.

  R.L. Stine’s books are read all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written the teen series Fear Street and the funny series Rotten School, as well as the Mostly Ghostly series, The Nightmare Room series, and the two-book thriller Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and Minnie, his King Charles spaniel. You can learn more about him at www.RLStine.com.

  Goosebumps book series created by Parachute Press, Inc.

  Copyright © 1997 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, GOOSEBUMPS, GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, January 1997

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-84174-0