Ghosts of Fear Street #35: Horror Hotel Part 2: Ghost in the Guest Room (R.L. Stine)

 

Joe and grandpa switched bodies at the end of the last book. As they attempt to do a spell to switch back, grandpa disappears. Joe hears strange noises in the wall and thinks he might be in there. When he touches it though, weird good appears on his hands. His mom then wanders in and reminds him to put on his costume for the night. She tells him that if things don't go well, they might lose the hotel.

When he finally gets ready, she asks him to go out and get some ice for the opening night party. Joe has no idea how to drive and almost causes a massive accident. He survives and does well at the party, only to wake in the middle of the night with the feeling that someone is trying to suffocate him. It's the goo again, which covers his face and slides down his throat. Joe tries to run away and runs into the wall. It becomes soft and lets him go through it.

There he finds a bunch of webs covering every square inch as well as grandpa. Joe gets to him and fights off the webs. They then run through the webs and dig under them to find a way to escape. The wall opens again and lets them fall through. Grandpa digs out a bunch of old books owned by the Fears and searches for one to help them change bodies again. When he finds one and reads it, Joe feels as if his skin is on fire.

He runs to the bathroom and hopes in the shower. When he gets out, he's covered in blisters. Once he pops them though, he sees his old body. Joe then drags grandpa into the shower and helps him pop his blisters to become his older self. Everything is fine until Joe plays basketball with Nick and notices that he's now shorter. When they check the growth chart, he lost several inches. Joe worries to his grandpa that the spell went wrong and that now he'll keep shrinking until he disappears.

Joe goes to Nick who takes him to the comic book store and Stan, the one person who might help. Stan uses the internet to research the key and learns about Mr. Withers. He used the key to perform spells and ended up in an asylum for 50 years before dying. It turns out that grandpa knows all about the guy and that his grandmother used to tell him to give Mr. Withers some water and ask him any questions.

Grandpa tells Joe where to go. He digs up the grave and hands the corpse a glass of water. Withers then comes to life and tries to choke him but just wants more water. He explains that he did four spells with the key and knows how to use it. While he'll tell Joe the secret, he'll only do it if he can see Shadyside first. To do so, he needs Joe to take his spot in his grave. Joe agrees and even shakes on it.

Joe is fine up until his flashlight goes out. He then does math problems in his head to calm down. Mr. Withers finally comes back but tries to bury Joe alive. Now that he's seen the modern world, he refuses to go back. He wants to eat microwave burritos and drink cherry slushies. Joe fights him and ends up breaking off his finger bones to make him stay in the coffin. Withers finally gives up and tells him that he enchanted the key so that only his apprentice could use it. If anyone else used the key, it would make their spells go wrong. They could call the apprentice in a séance, but the apprentice is Martin, the same ghost who possessed Joe.

He goes home to find Nick and grandpa waiting for them. They call the monster hunting club over and have another séance. Martin once again attacks him and calls him Colin. The club members show him stuff to try and make him realize how much time passed, but he chases Joe outside who leads him to the cemetery. Joe then shows him Colin's grave and makes him realize that his rival is dead. Martin kicks the headstone and feels much better. He then reverses the spell and says that he needs to leave because he hears his mom calling.

At the end, Joe stops by the mirror on his way to school. He notices that he's the right height and age but that his reflection wears old-fashioned clothing. His reflection then tells him that he's Colin and asks why he gave Martin back the key after all the work it took to steal it from him...

*I guess Stine didn't expect fans of Fear Street to read any of these books. While Simon Fear died in the fire, some of his old spellbooks somehow survived.

*The things they show Martin include a sneaker and a calculator.

*I still maintain that I would love to stay in Hotel Howie.

*Withers was Simon's assistant and learned all about magic at his hands. There's no explanation for why he was an okay guy when Simon was so evil.

*Does anyone else love that Withers is most excited about slushies and burritos out of everything in the modern world? He also loves the steel carriages that don't need horses.