Horror at Camp JellyJam (Goosebumps)
Swimming, basketball, archery. King Jellyjam's sports camp has it all. Too bad Wendy isn't a total sports freak like her brother, Elliot. But how excited can you get over a game of softball. It's just a game, right? WRONG! Because Camp Jellyjam is no ordinary sports camp. And Wendy's about to find out why. Why the counselors seem a little too happy. A little too obsessed with winning. And why the ground is always rumbling late at night...
Horror at Camp JellyJam Original Cover (2003) vs Reprinted Cover (2009)
GOT U COVERED 📘
Author: R.L Stine
Published: 1995
Series: Goosebumps
Tagline: Tennis...canoeing...Monsters, anyone?
Description: A Camp Jellyjam Counsellor smiling with a wide, toothy grin.
“What was that girl doing out here? I wondered.
Did she hide behind that tree just to scare people?” - pg. 21
SYNOPSIS 📖
Wendy and Elliot are not only siblings, they’re extremely bored! After driving with their parents in the car, they prefer to spend their remaining time in the trailer being pulled behind them. But when the trailer detaches from the car, Wendy and Elliot roll downhill into the nearby woods. Luckily they are saved by a suspiciously happy man named Buddy. He takes them to Camp Jellyjam, a camp that has every sporting activity to cure their boredom. However, something isn’t right about this camp. The counsellors seem a bit off. The competitions are taken too seriously. How come children go missing without a trace? Wendy starts to suspect that there’s more to the campgrounds. But can she figure it out? Especially when Buddy is watching her every move.
“There’s something wrong with this camp, Elliot. I let go of him
You mean the rumbling noises. He asked. That’s just gas under the ground or something.
That’s not what I’m talking about. I replied. Kids are disappearing” - pg. 76
THOUGHTS 💭
It’s not hard to imagine why this is my favourite book in the entire series. It delivers an eerie yet fun tale laced with delicious summer camp ⛺ goodness and an ending that will not leave a sour taste in your mouth.
Wendy, from the get-go, is the readers’ only POV as to what is truly happening in the camp, and what I like about her is that she not only presents questions to keep the reader guessing as to what could be going on, but also she takes smart actions to help solve those very questions that she/we have. She proves throughout the book to be a resourceful character and while she does at times brush off some of the wacky behaviour she witnesses, I like that she is never completely unaware of the events that are happening around her, even if she can’t put her finger on it...yet.
Elliot was a character that didn’t speak to me as much. While I do understand the annoying little brother trope (especially having one myself, kidding) and that you need a character to conflict with Wendy’s belief that the camp is bad news, I did find it funny that from the jump he was on board with all the camp tournaments and seemingly forgot all about his parents and their whereabouts. He asked no questions whatsoever, nor even noticed any strange behaviour that alarmed him. He was essentially a supporting character and was used to raise the stakes once Wendy uncovered what was lurking in the white building behind the camp.
As for the counsellors, Buddy definitely played a big role and made an impression on me. His creepy yet awkward demeanor (as seen on the cover) just sets off all the red flags 🚩possible and his chipper nature and can-do attitude make him all the more wacky. He is definitely a standout in the book, hence why he’s the solo cover star.
Other minor characters (Dierdre, Alicia, Ivy, and Jan) in the book are given just enough to add to the exposition and are simply used as a plot device, they don’t require any personal investment or care from the reader. However, they do add an extra layer to Wendy’s experience at JellyJam.
With any Goosebumps book, most of the parental figures are often away on some convenient vacation or don’t feature that much in the story (if at all), but in this book, Wendy makes it a point to often reference the well-being and concern of her parents. What happened to them? Where are they? Why is Elliot so calm about them not showing up? I felt that grounded her character and the story in a reality that I could believe, which isn’t usually the case in an R.L. Stine book. You usually have to throw some logic out the window and just suspend your disbelief for the duration of the book.
The overall setting for this book is definitely classic Stine. Using summer camp, which he loves to use as a backdrop in the series, felt like the perfect fit for this tale. It helped the story feel isolated and condensed to add that extra sense of urgency. This book’s setting also has a very cinematic quality about it. It could definitely be turned into a TV episode 📺 or better yet…a movie. The way Stine is able to describe the camp, the activities, the facilities, the kids, and the counsellors, you feel like you are right there with them. Having never been to a summer camp myself, let alone a sports one, I felt I was able to paint a clear and vivid picture in my imagination of what was taking place…which also made the end sequence of the book particularly gross 🐌🤮.
As for pacing, this book is paced rather well. Never does it lag or drag on endlessly into nothing. Every event and chapter provides a new clue for Wendy to discover that Camp JellyJam isn’t as fun as it appears and that she and Elliot might be in serious danger, while still maintaining that element of mystery as to what is truly happening. We as the reader are taken on the journey alongside Wendy. What she experiences, we experience. We never have a leg up on her and as a reader, I love it when a book can keep me invested in a story and character.
R.L. Stine loves his fake outs. There are so many false endings to his chapters that I just had to chuckle every time I read one. It’s become a staple in the series and what we’ve come to expect in these types of books.
There’s a moment in the book where Wendy, Jan, and Ivy decide to sneak out and look for Deirdre. The sequence is written well and is thoroughly entertaining. It delivers enough creepiness as it takes place at night and captures the tense feeling of sneaking around where you shouldn’t be. We all had those moments when we were younger and constantly sneaking, and there’s nothing you focus on more than not making any noise while doing it, so I definitely put myself in that situation and once Alicia appeared it just heightened the tension of the sequence even more.
Horror at Camp Jellyjam is definitely a must-read for Goosebumps fans and non-fans alike. It’s a smooth, quick, and easy read that provides summer entertainment and honestly could do with a live-action adaptation. I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did when I was younger and it is probably one of the best books in the series.
I grade this book A+
