The Horror at Camp Jellyjam is perhaps the weirdest of the Goosebumps books I've come across. I hadn't read this one as a kid, so I was super curious what was in store with a name like "Camp Jellyjam." I had no idea why the title was that when the kids are at a camp full of every sport you can imagine, but you find out in the end why it's... Jellyjam.

This book is WEIRD. Like, the writer (ghostwriter or RL Stine? If gossip is to be believed...) must have been on something weird or had some crazy dreams. Kids have to work really hard at this camp to be the best at every sport they go into. When they win, they get a special Camp Jellyjam coin. Once you get six, you get to walk in the Winner's Circle. But... you then disappear the next morning, never to be seen again. Sounds... horrifying.

Wendy and Elliot are our leads. Two siblings who decided to jump in the camper their parents were towing behind their vehicle as they headed out on vacation. Unfortunately for them, the camper becomes detached and then lands at Camp Jellyjam. They decide to join the camp fun, only to be swept into the drama and horror that is... middle school camp.

The premise is super cool but also just so weird. I did enjoy the read though! It's a fun and goofy horror book that I would have ate up back when I was in elementary school. I highly recommend this book if you want a fun yet horror filled middle grade read. Lots of ooky spokes in this book!

Three out of five stars. ( )

#33 "Tennis... Ping-pong... Monsters, anyone?"
"Only the best" the sign reads under King Jellyjam. Wendy's brother Elliot is very competitive and a total sports nut. She however, is not so into sports. So when they go to Camp Jellyjam, the sports camp, Wendy feels it's kind of a downer. But she's about to find out that things are not all that they seen at this camp. ( )

To preface, I'm generally not a big fan of camp books. They can be fun, but I never really had the requisite experience to relate to them fully, and ultimately they all tend to read the same to me. The same sort of plot points, characters, experiences... they all sort of blend together. Which is to say, ultimately [b: The Horror at Camp Jellyjam|125591|The Horror at Camp Jellyjam (Goosebumps, #33)|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328867788s/125591.jpg|120956] didn't really jive with me. In fact, it read almost identically to [b: Welcome to Camp Nightmare|125538|Welcome to Camp Nightmare (Goosebumps, #9)|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390767495s/125538.jpg|2687577] to me, with only a few minor changes.

There's the same mysterious camp with odd counselors, the same people going missing with no explanation or acknowledgement. Both camps are harboring a dark secret that only one other person warns the main character of, but no one believes anything is wrong. The secret is revealed, near the end, to everyone's shock and dismay... and ultimately the ending is both funny and a bit disappointing. But that's typical [a: R.L. Stine|13730|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1194380070p2/13730.jpg]. You find it endearing after a while.

Camp Jellyjam could have been its own book, but in my opinion it really never quite got there. It was a fun read, as all these books are, but it just didn't really do anything to me. If we were writing a Goosebumps book of ONLY THE BEST this one wouldn't be included by my reckoning. ( )

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Goosebumps. The Horror at Camp Jellyjam was my favorite. One summer my friends and I made our own King Jellyjam’s Sports Camp. We would spend all day playing sports and trying our hardest to win. Only The Best. We even made King coins.

I was super excited to re-read this one again as an adult. I probably shouldn’t have done it. It was a fun read but it just wasn’t the same as when I was a kid. I think that is why I’m only giving it three stars. There was nothing wrong with it, it just didn’t have the same, I don’t know, magic I guess. Something was missing. Oh well, I still enjoyed it. ( )

## Tennis....Ping-Pong....Monsters, anyone?

The Horror at Camp Jellyjam is one of the rare Goosebumps yarns to ditch the Midwestern suburbias for the wilderness of the west. & it's a good one.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

Siblings Wendy and Elliot ride deep into the forest on a runaway trailer, leaving their parents behind. Luckily, they land themselves in the eponymous Camp Jellyjam -- a competitive summer camp with every sport and fun event a kid could get behind. Swimming, tennis, ping-pong, basketball -- it's exactly the fun summer vacation Wendy and Elliot weren't getting suck in their camper with their boring 'rents.

It's another really solid mid-series Goosebumps adventure, full of creepy scenarios and one of the better settings. The protagonists are a bit lacking compared to previous stories: Wendy's a boring goody-toe-shoes, and Elliot defined only by his competitive streak.

As you'd expect, things aren't what the heroes expect. Days pass and their parents are nowhere to be seen; the counselors running the camp are aggressively cheerful and creepy; the camp itself promotes an unhealthy competitive spirit that categorizes its kids into good and bad. What the heck is going on? And why are there sporadic earthquakes rocking the camp? 'Only the best' are to find out, as they cross the 'Winner's Walk' ceremony...and disappear forever.

Elliot gets absorbed in the competitive vibes, and it's up to Wendy to sidestep the neverending sports and figure out where kids are disappearing to, and where their parents are.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#32 The Barking Ghost | #34 Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes ( )