Night In Werewolf Woods

  BEWARE!!

  DO NOT READ THIS

  BOOK FROM

  BEGINNING TO END!

  It’s vacation time! Your family is going to WoodsWorld cabins. All the kids say terrifying creatures roam the woods there at night — werewolves, trolls, and hideous monsters. But you’re not scared. Until your mom makes nerdy Todd Morris come along. And until Todd insists that the two of you must brave the dark woods on the night of the full moon to find his stolen treasure. Can you survive until sunrise — alive?

  The scary adventure is all about you. You decide what will happen. And you decide how terrifying the scares will be.

  Start on PAGE 1. Then follow the instructions at the bottom of each page. You make the choices.

  If you make the right choices, you will escape the werewolves of WoodsWorld. If you make the wrong choice … BEWARE!

  So take a long, deep breath, cross your fingers, and turn to PAGE 1 to GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS!

  Contents

  Beware!!

  Title Page

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  Teaser

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “Nerd Alert! Nerd Alert!”

  We interrupt your perfect summer vacation at Deep Woods Lake to bring you this special Nerd News: Your parents have invited their best friends, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, and their supernerd son, Todd, to share the cabin with your family this year! You can’t believe it. Your worst nerdmare has just come true.

  “This can’t be happening to me!” you say aloud as your family’s minivan pulls up to WoodsWorld. You’ve already spotted the Morrises’ car. It’s parked beneath a string of colored lanterns hanging over the entrance to WoodsWorld. WoodsWorld is the cabin community that your family has vacationed at every summer since you were a baby.

  Then you spot Todd. He’s gawky, stringy-haired, and wears thick black-rimmed glasses.

  “Hey! Hey! What do you say?” Todd calls to you. His big hand whirly-birds out of the car window in a nerdy wave.

  “Be nice,” your mom cautions.

  “Yes, maybe Todd is different now,” says your dad.

  “Oh, he’s different, all right,” you moan. “From everyone else on this whole planet!”

  Go to PAGE 2.

  Your minivan and the Morrises’ car both roll up the gravel drive next to Evergreen Cabin. You gaze around. Nothing has changed since last summer. The woods behind your cabin are still dark and deep. The sparkling blue lake in front of the cabin is as smooth as glass. A narrow, sandy beach stretches into an easy curve around the shoreline of the lake.

  The sun has almost set, leaving behind a fiery pink-orange glow in the sky. There’s enough daylight left for you to notice a note taped to the screen door of your cabin.

  “Cool!” you cry. You jump out of the car. “That must be a note from my friends,” you tell your parents. You sprint across the lawn and up the porch steps. You pull the note off the cabin door.

  To read what the note says, turn to PAGE 3.

  You unfold the note. You read it out loud. “Kids-only campfire tonight — eight P.M. at the beach.”

  “Wonderful!” your mom cries, as she hurries up behind you. “It’s only seven o’clock now. You can help unload the car and then go. This will be a perfect opportunity for the other WoodsWorld kids to meet Todd.”

  “And a perfect opportunity for them to think I’m a nerd, too, because I’m with him,” you mutter. But no one hears you. Your parents and Mr. and Mrs. Morris have gone inside the cabin.

  You watch Todd unload his stuff from the car. As he pulls out a red tin box, three very large, red-haired boys bike up your driveway. They’re the Murphy brothers — Jess, Buck, and Sharky.

  “Welcome to WoodsWorld, Nerdo,” the oldest brother, Sharky, taunts Todd. Sharky is fifteen. He looks as if he has been lifting weights since he was two years old. Last summer a kid told you that Sharky got his nickname because “getting into a fight with Sharky is like trying to survive a shark attack.”

  “I see you brought us a present,” Sharky says to Todd. He grabs the tin box and tosses it to his youngest brother, Jess.

  “Hey!” Todd shouts. “That’s my pewter figure collection! Bring that box back!” Tears form in his eyes as the Murphy brothers pedal away, taking the box with them.

  Go to PAGE 12.

  It’s a cave!

  “In all the summers I’ve been coming to WoodsWorld,” you say to Todd, “I never knew there was a cave here. Let’s check it out.”

  Then you hear a voice from somewhere deep in the cave. A voice calling your name.

  You think the voice sounds like Sharky Murphy, but you can’t be sure. “Hello?” you answer. You start to move forward into the deep black cave.

  Todd tugs you back. “Don’t go in,” he warns.

  Again the voice from inside calls your name.

  You feel pulled by the voice and pulled by Todd at the same time. What’s it going to be? Go in or stay out?

  To answer the call of the cave, turn to PAGE 81.

  If you’d feel safer listening to Todd and staying out of the cave, go
to PAGE 37.

  “Done!” the troll’s voice booms in your head. Instantly you feel your arms begin to bulge with super-strength. For the second time tonight, you are turning into a super muscle-bound kid. The transformation is complete. Your whole body is muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles.

  The padlock breaks off with hardly a turn of your hand. Rrrrrrrrip! You tear down the heavy library door.

  Uh-oh! The noise brings your parents running to see what’s going on. Get out of here fast, so the troll doesn’t get them, too!

  If you duck into the library, go to PAGE 131.

  If you head for the woods, race to PAGE 73.

  You can’t help feeling sorry for Todd. You decide to take him to the campfire. “Maybe if those Murphy brothers see you crying, they’ll feel sorry for you, too,” you tell Todd.

  “They are the meanest boys I’ve ever met,” Todd wails. He takes a package of tissues out of his shorts pocket and blows his nose. Loud!

  “Really, Todd!” you say. “You’ll scare them with that honking more than they could ever scare you!”

  “I just want my pewter collection back. It’s my most precious possession.” As soon as Todd says this, the faucets open again. He can’t stop crying. “I can’t go to the campfire,” he sobs. “My sinuses are all clogged now. You’ll have to face them alone, I guess.”

  “Alone?” you repeat, cheering up immediately. “Without you, Todd?”

  “I’m sorry,” Todd weeps. “I just don’t feel like going to a party tonight.”

  “If you insist!” you say happily.

  Go to PAGE 9.

  You keep your eyes closed. Your body relaxes. You start to feel so light, so calm, so …

  You open your eyes wide. What happened?

  The bump against the cave wall must have really knocked you and Todd out. Whatever happened after that is a mystery to you both. You don’t know how long you were lying in that pool of slime in that cave.

  You gaze around. You’re out of the cave now and sitting propped up against a big tree. The light of the full moon is shining directly on you and Todd.

  Todd sits with his back to you. You look down and shriek!

  There are hairy, clawed hands where your hands should be!

  Then Todd turns his face toward you and smiles a fanged smile. You open your mouth to scream, but the only sound coming out is a sound you’ve heard before….

  HOW-OW-OW-OWL!

  You remember Sharky’s words: This is a perfect night for the werewolves of WoodsWorld to come out.

  Sharky was right. No one is safe here. Not now. Not ever. The werewolves now have two new members of the pack — you and Todd. Break out the shaving cream. Things are looking pretty hairy now!

  THE END

  “Okay, Todd,” you announce. You fold up the note and slip it into the pocket of your jeans. “This means war!”

  “Yeah!” Todd agrees with a sudden burst of courage. He grips your arm and asks, “What werewolves? Where?”

  “That’s exactly what we’re going to find out,” you reply. You quickly fill Todd in on Sharky’s story about the werewolves. You slip your sneakers back on as Todd pulls jeans over his Looney Tunes pajamas. Then, holding a flashlight in one hand and a nervous Todd in the other, you sneak out the front door.

  Slowly, you and Todd creep down the porch steps. You step onto the grass and stop.

  You hear rustling in the bushes near the cabin.

  “Who’s there?” you demand in a loud whisper.

  The only answer is another haunting howl from somewhere deep in the woods. Clouds cover the full moon now, making it difficult to see the path.

  You spot two sets of blinking lights in the distance. Two red lights blink in the direction of the path leading to the beach. Two white lights blink in the opposite direction, down a path that leads deep into the woods.

  “Which way?” Todd asks, clinging to your arm.

  To investigate the red lights, turn to PAGE 75.

  Check out the white lights, go to PAGE 30.

  You leave Todd to cry alone at the cabin. “You stay here and unpack your stuff,” you say to Todd. “I’ll go to the campfire and get the box back for you.”

  You hurry out the cabin door. You head for the usual campfire spot at the south end of the beach. A giant fire is already blazing when you arrive. You see your friend, Lauren Woods. Her parents own WoodsWorld. She and the regular crowd of WoodsWorld kids are sitting around the fire listening to Sharky Murphy tell a creepy story.

  “… remember the legend of the werewolves,” Sharky is saying mysteriously. “At first you may think you are talking to a friend. Then, when the full moon comes out from behind a cloud, you’ll see hair begin to grow on your friend’s face. Fangs take the place of teeth. A voice that once was human turns to a beastly howl.” Sharky pauses and lowers his voice to a whisper. “Look!” he says. “The full moon is out tonight. This is a perfect night for the werewolves of WoodsWorld to appear. No one is safe here. Not now. Not ever.”

  Go to PAGE 28.

  As you sink deeper into the quicksand, you see Todd being transformed by the moonlight.

  Hair grows on his face and hands. His teeth lengthen into wolflike fangs. With flashing red eyes, Todd turns toward you. He opens his mouth and lets out a bloodcurdling, hungry HOW-OW-OW-OWL!

  “Todd!” you shout. “Turn your face away from the moonlight! Don’t look at the full moon! It’s a werewolf moon! Don’t let it get you!”

  You try one more time to pull your feet free. This time the quicksand’s grip loosens! In one swift move you leap from the hole and throw yourself at Todd. The force of your body moves him out of the moon’s light.

  You hold Todd down. The beam of moonlight slowly disappears as a cloud passes over the full moon. As the light goes away, so do Todd’s werewolf features.

  “That’s it!” you exclaim. “Now I understand what we have to do.”

  Turn to PAGE 78.

  A hideous laugh erupts from the man’s fanged mouth. His eyes flash a brighter red, spotlighting a face covered with coarse werewolf hair. Clawed, hairy hands reach for your neck as the man growls, “Yes! I am one of them! And soon you will be one of them, too!”

  He opens his fanged mouth to bite you. Suddenly you spot two buttons by the elevator door. One reads STOP! and the other reads GO! You stretch out your index finger and press one.

  If you press STOP! turn to PAGE 21.

  If you press GO! turn to PAGE 29.

  You try to pretend that you don’t see Todd crying. But this kid is not a quiet sniffler. He’s a loud sobber!

  “Boo hoo! Boo hoo!” Todd cries. Tears spurt out of his eyes like a water main break in the middle of Main Street.

  “All right, all right!” you finally say. “I’ll go to the campfire and get your precious pewter collection back.”

  “I’m coming, too,” Todd says. He wipes his nose on his sleeve. Gross!

  You glance over at the porch. The parents are so busy talking, they don’t notice that Todd’s tears are flooding the place. You notice though. Now you have to decide if you’re going to bring Todd to the campfire or leave him to cry at the cabin.

  If you decide to ditch Todd and go to the campfire alone, turn to PAGE 9.

  If you decide to drag Todd with you to the campfire, go to PAGE 6.

  A promise is a promise. You promised Todd you would get his box back tonight. You decide you have to go into the woods. Alone.

  It’s no big deal, you think to yourself. I’ve been coming to WoodsWorld forever. I’ve never seen werewolves here before.

  You follow the Murphys up a gravel path to the woods. You hope they will lead you to the box. The only problem is the Murphys are nowhere in sight. They have sprinted up the path in the darkness. You peer ahead, but see nothing.

  The full moon is behind a cloud. Total darkness surrounds you like a thick blanket. The woods are silent tonight. Even the raccoons and other night creatures seem to have gone to bed al
ready. Nothing is out here. “Nothing except me,” you say softly to yourself.

  HOW-OW-OW-OW-OWL!

  You whirl around. What made that horrible noise?

  You glance to your right. And then to your left. Nothing.

  You continue along the path. The gravel crunches under your sneakers. And then you see it! A light flickering up ahead!

  Go to PAGE 106.

  “Aaaaachooo!” Todd sneezes. The werewolf’s fur makes Todd’s allergies act up instantly.

  “Gesundheit!”

  Todd looks at you. Then at Lauren. “What did you say?” he asks.

  “I said, ‘Gesundheit,’ ” a deep, growling voice answers.

  Todd whirls around. “Huh?”

  “Gesundheit,” the werewolf repeats. “I was speaking in German. Instead of saying bless you, I said Gesundheit.”

  You and Lauren inch back behind a huge tree. “What happened to the werewolf?” she whispers. “Now he’s talking like we talk!”

  “The SMARTS BOX,” you whisper back. “Those O’s must do a lot more than just fill a person’s head with facts. Anyone who eats it gets good manners! The werewolf is talking just like a polite human being would!”

  Go to PAGE 49.

  HOW-OW-OW-OW-OWL! You hear the werewolves howl in the not-too-distant distance.

  “Ohhhh!” Todd moans, as the pterodactyl flies up and out of the pit. The flying reptile tips sideways. It drops you and Todd on the ground right by the werewolves.

  You land right in front of the werewolves’ feet. The wolves are pacing and circling. Some are on all four legs. Some are standing upright on two hind legs. Their growls and howls bounce off the walls of the cave and hit your ears like a pair of cymbals clashing.

  Whew! What an odor these wolves give off! You have never smelled anything so bad in your life!

  A hand on your shoulder causes you to spin around. You are face to face with … and you really can’t believe this …!

  Go to PAGE 20.

  You’re sure it is a smart idea to capture the werewolf. You remember all the old ape movies on TV. King Kong was captured! Mighty Joe Young was captured! And now you will carry on the tradition when you capture this werewolf! Scientists will be grateful to you. You’ll be famous. And besides, how else can you prove you really saw one?