How I Got My Shrunken Head (8 page)

The pot hissed as water boiled over the side. I stared in horror at the billows of steam rising up over the pot.

Was he really going to shrink our heads?

Was I going to end up shriveled and leathery, with a head the size of a doorknob?

I forced my legs to stop wobbling and stared at Aunt Benna. Stared at her. Stared hard. Watching her eyes. Waiting for the three blinks.

Hurry!
I pleaded silently.
Hurry — before he tosses us into the boiling water!

Kareen watched in silence. What was she thinking? I wondered. I couldn’t see her expression. Her face was hidden under the brim of the straw hat.

“Benna, one last chance,” Dr. Hawlings said softly. “Because I like you. And I like your nephew. Don’t let me harm your nephew, Benna. Do it for him, okay? Tell me the secret — for Mark’s sake.”

“It isn’t worth it, Benna,” Carolyn chimed in. “It will be so easy for you to give the Jungle Magic to us.”

“I — I can’t,” Aunt Benna stammered.

“Then we have no choice,” Dr. Hawlings said, almost sadly. “The boy goes in first.”

He took a step toward me.

Aunt Benna blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.

Finally!

With a trembling hand, I tugged the head from my pocket.

I raised it in front of me. I opened my mouth to shout the secret word.

But Dr. Hawlings swiped the head from my hand.

He grabbed it away — and tossed it onto the big pile of heads.

Then he dove for me, reaching out to grab me with both hands.

I ducked out from under him.

And threw myself onto the disgusting pile of heads.

I began frantically sorting through them with both hands. Picking one up, tossing it aside. Grabbing the next one. The next one. The next one.

They felt sticky and warm. Hard as baseballs. The hair brushed my hands. The dark eyes stared up at me blankly. They were so ugly, my stomach tightened. My breath came in wheezing gasps.

Behind me, I could hear my aunt struggling with Dr. Hawlings. Wrestling with him. Trying to keep him away from me.

I heard Carolyn’s shouts. Kareen’s cries of alarm.

I had to find
my
shrunken head.

I had to find it before Dr. Hawlings broke free of my aunt and grabbed me.

I picked one up. Tossed it down. Picked up another. Tossed it down.

How could I find mine?

Which one was it?

Which one? Which one?

I grabbed a head. Saw ants crawling over its cheeks.

Picked up another.

It stared at me with glassy black eyes.

Picked up another.

It had a long white scratch on its ear.

I started to toss it back onto the pile.

But stopped.

A white scratch on its ear?

Yes! Mine had a scratch! My sister, Jessica — she scratched it back home!

Yes! This head was mine!

“Thank you, Jessica!” I cried at the top of my lungs.

With an angry cry, Dr. Hawlings dove at me. He wrapped his arms around me and started to drag me off the pile of heads.

“Kah-lee-ah!” I shouted, holding on tightly to the shrunken head.
My
shrunken head.

“Kah-lee-ah!”

Will it save Aunt Benna and me?
I wondered.

Will the Jungle Magic work this time?

Dr. Hawlings still had his arms around my shoulders. He was still trying to pull me toward the boiling pot.

“Kah-lee-ah!” I screamed.

His hands slid away.

They seemed to shrink. His arms seemed to shrink into his body.

“Huh?” I uttered a startled cry when I realized that
he
was shrinking. Dr. Hawlings’s entire body was shrinking, growing smaller and smaller!

I raised my eyes to Kareen and Carolyn. They were shrinking, too. Shrinking down to the ground.

Kareen disappeared under the straw hat. Then she came running out from under the brim. A tiny Kareen, about the size of a mouse.

All three of them — Kareen, Carolyn, and Dr. Hawlings — scampered over the grass. Mouse-sized. Squeaking angrily in tiny mouse voices.

I stood beside the pile of heads and watched them scurry over the ground. Squeaking and squealing. I watched them until they disappeared into the jungle.

Then I turned back to Aunt Benna. “It worked!” I cried. “The Jungle Magic — it saved us!”

She rushed forward and wrapped me in a hug. “You did it, Mark. You did it! The jungle is safe now! The whole world is safe!”

There were more hugs when Aunt Benna flew me home. Hugs from Mom — and even Jessica.

They met us at the airport. Then Mom drove us home for a big welcome-home dinner. I had so many stories to tell, I started telling them in the car. And I didn’t stop talking until way past dinner.

It was nearly bedtime when Aunt Benna led me into the den. She closed the door behind us. Then she sat me down on the couch.

She sat down beside me. “Look into my eyes,” she said softly. “Look deeply, Mark. Very deeply.”

I raised my eyes to hers. “What are you going to do?” I asked.

I didn’t hear her reply.

As I stared into her eyes, the room grew fuzzy. The colors all seemed to shift and blur. I thought I saw the posters on the den wall flipping over and over. I thought I saw the chairs and coffee table sliding across the floor.

After a while, the room came back into focus. Aunt Benna smiled at me. “There,” she said, squeezing my hand. “You’re back to normal, Mark.”

“Huh?” I squinted at her. “What do you mean?”

“No more Jungle Magic,” she explained. “I took it back. You’re a normal boy again.”

“You mean, if I shout ‘Kah-lee-ah’ nothing will happen?” I asked.

“That’s right.” She smiled at me, still holding my hand. “I took back the magic. The shrunken head has no powers. And you have no powers. You never have to worry about it again.”

She stood up, yawning. “It’s getting late. Bedtime, don’t you think?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I guess.” I was still thinking about how I didn’t have Jungle Magic anymore. “Aunt Benna?”

“Yes?”

“Can I keep the shrunken head?”

“Of course,” she replied, tugging me to my feet. “Keep the shrunken head. As a souvenir. That way, you will always remember your jungle adventure.”

“I don’t think I could forget it too easily,” I replied. Then I said good night and made my way to bed.

The next morning, I woke up early and pulled on my clothes as fast as I could. I couldn’t wait to get to school and show off the shrunken head to Eric and Joel and all the other kids.

I gulped down my cornflakes and chugged my orange juice. I strapped on my backpack. Called
good-bye to Mom. Grabbed the shrunken head and headed out the door.

Holding the head carefully in my hand, I started to jog along the sidewalk. It was a bright, sunny day. The air smelled warm and sweet.

My school is only three blocks from my house. But as I jogged along, it seemed like miles.

I couldn’t wait to get there and show off to everyone.

I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about all my jungle adventures.

I could see the school in the next block. And I could see a bunch of kids hanging out by the front door.

As I ran across the street, I suddenly felt the head move in my hand.

It twitched.

“Huh?” I let out a gasp and stared down at it.

The eyes blinked, then stared up at me. The lips closed, then opened again. “Hey, kid,” the head growled. “Let
me
tell the part about the tiger!”

HOW I GOT MY
SHRUNKEN HEAD

CONTENTS

About the Author

Q & A with R.L. Stine

Recipe for Shrunken Heads

Quicksand Survival Guide

Jungle Creatures of the Night

Say the Magic Words

A Terrifying Peek at
GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND #10
HELP! WE HAVE STRANGE POWERS!

Bonus material written and compiled
by Matthew D. Payne

R.L. Stine’s books are read all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written the teen series Fear Street, the funny series Rotten School, as well as the Mostly Ghostly series, The Nightmare Room series, and the two-book thriller
Dangerous Girls.
R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and Minnie, his King Charles spaniel. You can learn more about him at www.RLStine.com.

How long could you survive in the jungle, alone and without supplies?

R.L. Stine (RLS):
Not long. I don’t like leaving my crypt—I mean, apartment.

Do you own a shrunken head?

RLS:
I do have a shrunken head … my own! You don’t think you could dream up all these weird ideas with a normal head, do you?

Your readers are
dying
to know: What happened to Kareen, Carolyn, and Dr. Hawlings after they were shrunk and ran off into the jungle?

RLS:
I’m dying to know, too. Let me know if any of you ever run into them!

Your books have given millions of kids goose bumps, but what about you? Have you ever found yourself frightened by your own writing?

RLS:
No, my writing never frightens me. But occasionally I laugh at my own jokes. Sometimes I crack myself up!

What else are you frightened of? Large spiders? Dark basements? Flying?

RLS:
Just about
anything
can be scary. And often things that are very ordinary are the scariest things of all. Like dolls. Children play with dolls. They’re sweet, right? But many books and movies have made dolls seem really creepy. Frankly, I don’t trust dolls. Do you?

If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?

RLS:
I’d be Steel-Finger, because I have typed all of my books with just
one
finger. You should see it! It’s all bent and funny looking from typing three hundred books!

Things are getting crazy in HorrorLand! In Goosebumps HorrorLand #10:
Help! We Have Strange Powers!
we go even deeper into this mysterious theme park. What sort of special powers do the kids have, and why do they need help?

RLS:
They need all the help they can get—especially when they come up against two new supervillains who are definitely
not
kid friendly.

To find out what R.L. Stine thinks about ventriloquist’s dummies, pick up the special collector’s edition of Goosebumps:
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY

Creating real shrunken heads is tough work! You have to remove the skull ever so carefully, boil the skin just perfectly, and spend hours and hours rolling hot stones and sand around in the ever-shrinking head. Who has time for that?

Want an easier way to create a shrunken head? Then follow the recipe below.

WARNING:
Please ask an adult for help! This recipe involves carving tools.

Ingredients & Tools:

½ cup lemon juice
½ tablespoon salt
small bowl
spoon
one large apple
vegetable peeler
butter knife
toothpick
small plate

STEP 1
Mix ½ cup lemon juice with ½ tablespoon salt in the small bowl. Set aside.

STEP 2
Peel the apple with the vegetable peeler. Using the spoon, coat the apple with some of the lemon juice and salt mixture: It will keep your apple from browning while you work on it.

STEP 3
Using the butter knife, carve a face into the apple: eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Don’t worry about details—think big: deep eyes, big nose, and a big grimace. As the apple shrinks, so will your carving. You can use the toothpick for any small details you would like to add. If you’re feeling extra creative, place cloves into the eye sockets, add pieces of pasta or rice for teeth, and anything else you can think of!

STEP 4
Coat your apple with the lemon juice and salt mixture one more time: This will keep your shrunken head from rotting. Who wants a rotten head? Nobody!

STEP 5
Put your apple on a small plate or drying rack in a warm and dry spot in your house. It will slowly shrink and shrink and shrink, until a week or two later …

You have your own shrunken head!

Feel free to decorate your head with yarn for hair, or use markers to add eyebrows and other features. Can you think of any other ways to decorate your shrunken head?

Be creative and have fun!

Have you ever had that sinking feeling? You know the one—you’re walking along in the jungle and suddenly you find that you can’t go on … because the ground has started swallowing you!

Well, fear not!

Although books, movies, and television make quicksand look like a death trap, it’s actually quite easy to survive a quicksand attack. All it takes is time and patience.

RULE #1
Don’t step into quicksand in the first place! Quicksand can be found just about anywhere that’s moist: near lake shores, by rivers and streams, at the beach, in marshes, and in mudflats during low tide. When you’re out in these areas, carry a walking stick, so if you have any doubts about the firmness of the ground in front of you, you can poke it!

RULE #2
If you find yourself stuck in quicksand, don’t thrash around. You’ll just sink faster if you do. So keep a cool head. Slow and steady wins the race.

RULE #3
Most patches of quicksand are quite shallow. If you’ve gotten the bottom half of your body stuck, make circular motions with your legs to create space in the quicksand and free yourself.

RULE #4
If the sand is deep, lay back, relax, and enjoy your day at the quicksand beach. No, really. It’s impossible to pull yourself out while standing straight—lay back as if you were floating on the surface of water and you might be able to slowly move your way to a dry piece of land. And remember to relax and do everything
slowly
—otherwise you’ll find yourself too tired to go on.

RULE #5
Once you’ve laid back on the surface of the quicksand, spread your arms and legs to help you float, just like you would in water.

RULE #6
Breathe deeply. Just like in water, if you fill up your lungs with air, you’ll float better. So take long, deep breaths.

Eventually, you’ll find your way to a dry patch and you can slowly wiggle your way out!

Now, please, do yourself a favor and just remember RULE #1!