Goosebumps #38: The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena

Jordan and Nicole live with their dad in Pasadena, California while their mom lives in Pennsylvania. Their dad just got back from a trip taking photographs of brown bears in the Grand Tetons. When he goes to develop the film, he finds picture after picture of teddy bears. Jordan cracks up laughing and reveals it was all just a prank.

He and Nicole decide to take a bike ride to beat the heat but run into some bullies first. Twins Kyle and Kara stab him with a popcicle before attacking both with water guns. Nicole winds up stealing one and chases Kara around until she falls head first into a compost heap. Their dad then announces that he has a new assignment going to Alaska to search for the abominable snowman and that he's taking the kids with him.

Before they even land, Jordan thinks he sees the creature but it's actually just a sign. The three of them and their guide hike deep into the wilderness. Jordan slips and falls in a crevasse but recovers pretty fast when they pull him out. They get to their little cabin, and the next day, wake and find enormous footprints outside. Arthur, their guide, freaks out and starts screaming about the creature and how they need to leave, but Jordan just laughs and tells them he did it early that morning.

Arthur spends most of the day completely on edge, and when the dogs freak out on a trip, he makes everyone turn around and head back to the cabin. After hearing strange noises, he grabs the sled dogs and takes off, leaving them stranded with no food. Jordan and Nicole try to follow him but wind up getting lost in the snow. While trying to find their way back, they slip and fall down another crevasse.

This time, they finally encounter the legendary abominable snowman. He grabs Nicole, and while she thinks he wants to eat her, he really just grabs her bag and eats some trail mix. The abominable snowman then carries them outside and drops them right outside the cabin.

When they meet up with their dad, they tell him what happened and drag him back to the crevasse. Their dad finds the snowman frozen stiff inside a block of ice. Not only does he decide to take some photographs, but to take the snowman back to Pasadena too. Using the one dog they have left and his kids, he drags the giant block of ice outside.

They get back and almost instantly tell their friend Lauren what happened. After showing her the snowman, they surprise her with some snowballs they sneaked back. One hits the tree and immediately begins covering the area with snow and ice. Lauren grabs another and throws it at Nicole, and Nicole almost instantly becomes a frozen ice block.

Though they try to defrost her, nothing works. Jordan grabs some trail mix, takes it to the snowman, and teases it until it wakes up. The snowman then eats the snack, picks up Nicole, and hugs her until she defrosts. It then takes off, which they assume is it trying to find a cold spot. They gather up the snow and ice, stuff it in bags, and bury it in a vacant lot. Their dad is surprisingly cool with everything because he stills has his pictures, but all his pictures actually come out blank. They can't worry too much though because those annoying twins find the snowballs and decide to throw one at Jordan...

*Their dad says that they couldn't stay with their mom because she's still getting settled so he had to hire a sitter for them. Really? If he's gone for weeks at a time, how did he get sole custody of the kids?

*Their sitter makes them eat liver, brussel sprouts, fish head soup, and soy milk every night for dinner.

*They want to go to Alaska because they've never seen snow before. As someone who grew up in the Midwest, it's always a little weird to me when I hear of people who have never seen snow.