by Nelson
Reader Beware; You’re in for a Scare!
Join us as DoubtFire ventures into the terrifying world of zombies, werewolves, egg monsters, and annoying siblings that is GOOSEBUMPS.
Phantom of the Auditorium
It was never R.L. Stine’s intention for these books to be read with an adult perspective. As a result, when you do silly things like me and decide to pick these things up at my age, lots of things jump out – horribly irresponsible parents, neighbors threatening kids with firearms, evil scientists dropping dead right in front of twelve-year-olds… The author wasn’t worried about this stuff because your average 12-year-old is way more interested in wicked ventriloquist dummies and walking scarecrows than poor adult supervision. Still, though, Phantom of the Auditorium features one of the most unsettling twists of the entire series. As a kid, it was just a distraction from the mystery of The Phantom. As an adult, it’s an incredibly disturbing development.
Phantom of the Auditorium is more-or-less a whodunit. The bulk of the story centers on Brooke and her best friend Zeke exploring the strange goings on during Middle Creek Middle School’s production of a supposedly cursed play, “The Phantom.” This is the first time the play has been done since the 1920s when the boy playing the lead role vanished minutes before curtain – never ever to be seen again. Ever. In response to the disappearance, all of the original props, sets, and scripts were destroyed because, even in the 20s, parents had to point fingers when tragedy strikes the children. The drama teacher, Mrs. Walker, manages to find a single copy of the script that was “hidden away” somewhere in the building. So “The Phantom” is getting a revival, and Brooke and Zeke are playing the lead roles!
Things start going awry from the get-go. Someone in The Phantom’s costume swings over the cast on a rope while cackling, and sets are mysteriously sabotaged. In between the antics, new kid Brian joins the class and immediately takes a huge interest in being a part of the play. That’s all just coincidental and has nothing to do with the weird stuff that keeps going down. Besides, Brooke thinks he’s “kind of cute.”
There’s a platform elevator built into the stage that’s extremely rickety and dangerous. Mrs. Walker plans to renovate it, but, of course, Brooke and Zeke can’t stay off the thing. They discover a labyrinth of tunnels under the stage that it sure seems like someone in the school administration should have noticed. Of course, this is the same place that’s kept a seventy-year-old trapdoor elevator that students didn’t even know about fully operational. The night janitor, Emile, tries to get the kids to stop snooping around, but, the next day, the duo finds out that the school doesn’t even have a night janitor!
Brooke starts to wonder if Zeke or her mean understudy Tina are responsible for all the hijinks as part of an elaborate prank. Zeke winds up getting fired by Mrs. Walker when she finds “STAY AWAY FROM MY HOME SWEET HOME” scrawled across the backdrop in red paint – with a trail leading to his locker! Zeke swears he’s innocent, so he, Brooke, and Cute Brian hit the school that night to investigate. They discover Emile under the stage eating a bowl of cereal. It turns that he’s a self-declared “homeless guy” that’s been living in the school for months and months eating bowls of cereal and scrawling threatening messages on production scenery to keep the meddling kids away from his home sweet home. Absolutely terrifying.
Emile gets arrested but no one seems to think that living undetected in a middle school for months is all that problematic. Zeke gets his part back, and the play goes on as scheduled. But, just when you think Stine’s going to wrap the story up with the arrest of a vagrant, Zeke gets knocked out before he can take the stage on opening night, and a new Phantom appears to play his role. Brooke eventually realizes that it’s not her friend and tries to unmask the unknown understudy, but he winds up falling through the trapdoor while struggling to hide his face. No one in the audience pays any mind to this because they think it’s a part of the show – which winds up being a huge hit. Things end when Brooke and Zeke discover an old yearbook has been left in Brooke’s locker. They open it and discover the terrifying truth: Brian was the boy who disappeared during 1920s production!
Potentially dangerous adults living under the stage, hidden trapdoors leading into the depths, and a play that’s a blatant rip-off of The Phantom of the Opera – the most horrifying thing about the book is that Middle Creek Middle School wasn’t shut down.
“And what happened seventy-two years ago?” I asked him. “What happened to you the first time the play was supposed to be performed? Why did you disappear that night?”
The Phantom’s expression changed. I saw confusion in his silvery eyes. “I—I don’t understand,” he stammered, staring hard at me, his white hair falling over his forehead.
“Seventy-two years ago,” I insisted.
A bitter smile formed on his lips. “Hey, I’m not that old!” he replied. “I’m only fifty-seven.”
“Then… you’re not the Phantom?” Zeke asked uncertainly.
Emile shook his head. He let out a weary sigh. “I don’t understand this Phantom talk, young man. I’m just a poor homeless guy trying to protect my little space.”
Doubtfire 