User Reviews

The episode its really, really, nice, instead, it's even more terrifying than the novel; actually, the novel is nice too, but it's kind of childish than this episode, and that's why the book and the episode are so different.

First of all, the novel seems to be more comolex and large than the 21 min episodes, so the producers had to cut it a lot of important material for the episode context, but God, they cut some very important elements like the principal reason why Matt (the protagonist) change the reality, sleeping; after been upset because his brothers treat him like trash (on the show these don't suppose to be a problem) and because having to sleep on a really small room, he decide to sleep in the guest room (in the episode: the attic), he fell in an "reality vortex" where he can't supposedly scape and where eveytime he sleeps, he will change the reality, that specially quality ans the reason of all the story seems that for the writers, it doesn't matter at all.

Then, the other realitys Matt lived, rarely, NO ONE WAS ON THE NOVEL, all of them, the subplots, was specially made for this episode and don't make me wrong, in the episode that scenes was very nice and like I said before, too much scarier than the ones include on the novel, but God, it's funny that non if them was on the novel. Plus, avoiding the plot-essential of the needing to sleep to change the reality, makes the episode dynamic. While in the novel, the reality's sub-plots where kind of childish like living one day as and young-adult living the "high school problems", being on and circus family or becoming a squirrel, in the episode was things like going on and weird kind of hockey game that thanks to the production, good light effects and the actors of the Reality Police (Main antagonists of the show) it seems to be very scary how a 12-years boy tries to doesn't get death by those psico players. And other things that, again, thanks to the production and adult-actors, seems to be very scary too for a kid as been a surgeon on a mortal brain tumor surgery or even get married with and awful and fatty lady, and yeah, with the extra problem that being chasing by the terrifying Reality Police.

Like I said in the past paragraph, the principal reason why I think the episode is scarrier than the novel is totally thanks to 2 reasons: the final AND THE PRODUCTION, because, like in all the Goosebumps episodes, Saban (the producer of the show (and the Power Rangers producer too (that could be the reason why the monster could look similar Ha!) make the perfect ambient kind of subrealistic that make you feel that the protagonists are always in danger or that something bad it's going to happen. The lights make all the realities scenes have the perfect darkness to make us note that Matt was on serious troubles and the actors; for God the adult-actors act very rude, especially the policemen, that everyone in the position of Matt wold make pis in their pants, especially the black police with his psicopath eyes.

The other reason, the final was another big plus, the final, it was a very good final and more scarrier than the novel's one. Let me explain you, on the novel, Matt after deducing that if sleeping in the guest room was the initial cause of the problem, so sleeping back on his room he will make all the thing back to the normal, and indeed, he make it, getting happy to see his family again (because yea, the kid suffer more on the novel because while in the show all suppose to happen in probably hours of a simple snap, in the book all the problems happened between four or five days, because, remember, in the book, Matt needs to sleep to change reality) and after hugging his mother, she remember him that his birthday is coming, so the final "scare" is that, in his absence, her mother change al his stuff from his original room to the guest room that cause all his problems, thing that let him crying; for the show the final was kind of less elaborate but the twist was better, Matt after being chased by the police (something that in the book never happen), they put him on the "Reality Court" where the judge found him guilty of breaking the "Reality laws" making him scream to high for the punishment, to much high that make him wake up making us and him though that all was a dream, but obviously scared he run down to huge his mother, but instead that tell him about his birthday or his present, she scolds him for disobeying and order him to go back to the attic and bring back all the stuff he left upstairs, so the Kid, totally scare, go again to the attic repeating for himself that all was a dream was scared again for the Reality police appearing again this time closing the attic door and making all the stuff of the attic becoming crazy and with a big storm with thunders making all the scene a very scarring scene with some final evil laughs from the antagonist and a big scream feom the kid.

Probably reading this you don't understand very well why this supposed to be scarrier than the other one, well, that's because, like I was saying below, practically all the scarriest element becomes from the production and the actors who make a very well job making all scenes ambient very very dark and terrifying, so go away and watch the episode after reading the book to see what I'm talking about.

To conclude this review, I must say that the book seems to be more like and adventure story kind of Goonies eith the kid leading with not to muuuch scarry or dificukt situations but that actually are very entertaining, easily you cant make an A-rate family movie with that book, but the Goosebumps TV show production makes his job making it darker and scarier until that cost that the episode and the book don't have practically nothing in common.

Oh yes, and other point that the tv show avoid was the female protagonist-antagonist character, Lacie that in the beginning looks to be a pretty good lady-partner to Matt but finally revealing that she is part of the Reality Police.