Goosebumps #36: The Haunted Mask II

Steve went as a hobo for the last five Halloweens straight and he wants a change. I don’t blame him, but then again, I don’t remember my last five costumes! He remembers that his friend Carly Beth had an awesome costume last year and wants to know where she bought it. He and his friend Chuck used to tease her a lot, but stopped after she scared the crap out of him.

Steve sneaks up on her and grabs her head, but it comes off in his hands. Just as he is about to scream in horror, she pops her head up from her sweater. Carly Beth tells him that her mom loves artistic stuff and started making plaster casts of her face, which she used to scare him. She won’t tell him where she got her old mask, but when he steals the cast, she confesses that it came from the party store.

Since Steve is a moron, he ignores her warnings. He and Chuck sneak over to the party store and when they see that it closed down, they find a way inside. They find a bunch of masks in a cardboard box in the basement, but Chuck hears a noise and runs away. A figure in a dark cape warns Steve and tells him that the masks are special and not for sale. Steve must be a teenager because that just makes him want it more. He manages to escape and runs home with the mask.

He notices that the mask feels warm, which makes him want to try it on. Instead, he hides it in his sock drawer and goes to school. When he comes back, the mask is missing! Of course he realizes that he just left it in a different place. As soon as he puts the mask on, his face feels warm and he just feels uncomfortable. He tries getting the mask off, but he cannot find where the mask ends and his face begins.

Most of us would run screaming to our parents, but Steve just lays down. His mom asks to come in, but he pretends that he is sick and she goes away. He wakes up and the mask is gone, but realizes that he is still asleep. When he finally does wake up, the mask is still firmly in place. Not only that, but now he has an old man voice.

His parents see him and think he picked a really cool costume. The mask makes him look like an old man with liver spots, spiders coming out of his hair, and one tooth. He heads off, hoping to track down Carly Beth. He stops by to pick on a group of first graders on his way. He and Chuck got in trouble for letting a squirrel loose in the school and his punishment was acting as a coach for the first grade soccer team.

These kids are horrible! They bring a concrete ball to the field and paint it like a soccer ball, then convince Steve to kick it. Somehow, he manages to not break his leg in the process. Steve sneaks up on the kids, but they think his is just an old guy that needs help. Instead of running away in fear, they offer to walk him home LOL.

Steve finally tracks down Carly Beth. She tells him that his mask is not a mask, but an actually face. The owner of the shop was a mad scientist that created masks from real humans. He made a few mistakes and created ugly faces that no one wanted. She explains that the plaster mask “cured” her because it was a symbol of love. Steve needs his own symbol of love to cure himself.

Carly Beth takes him home and he looks for a package of cookies. His mom went out of the way to get the cookies for him and he thinks it is his symbol, but the dog ate the cookies. Since the dog keeps jumping all over him, Carly thinks that might be a symbol. When that fails, they sneak back into the shop.

They don’t find anything except a box of masks. Carly finds a box of clothing and notices that an old suit looks like his mask. When she shows him, his mask lifts off and floats toward the suit. As soon as the mask sits on the top, the clothing takes human form and runs away. They realize that the suit represented the body of the mask. Laughing, they head home when a monster jumps out of the bushes. Suddenly, Chuck’s voice comes out. He explains that he grabbed a mask before running away from the store. He announces that he needs help getting the mask off and they both exchange a look.