Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask
Tuesday, 2 December 2014 posted at 23:16
In the events of R.L. Stine's book and in the television series' adaptation of the book, the Mask was "purchased" by a young girl by the name of Carly Beth Caldwell, whose intention were to use the mask in a revenge scheme against two bullies from her school known as Chuck and Steve, who like to exploit her cowardliness. Sensing her intentions, this suited the mask just fine. Allowing itself to be stolen, the Mask was taken to Carly Beth's home where she tried it on, it was then that the mask began to work its black magic.
Its plan was to slowly take over her body rather than forcefully, as its nature would normally have done. Her will power had been weakened by her dark plan and her conscience blinded by years of torment. Wearing the mask, Carly Beth terrified her younger brother until he was pleading with her to remove the mask, which she did. This angered the mask, as it had not expected her to remove it. It didn't matter, she would put the mask back on. She soon did, and the grotesque mask would have to work faster this time.
After scaring her young brother, which the mask thoroughly enjoyed doing, its host went into the living room of her house to pick up something, a Plaster of Paris head that her mother had made of her. The mask suddenly felt weak. Nothing of any such power had ever kept it from taking over a body it desired. Except, of course, the knife the old man had used. She placed the fake head on a stick to make it appear as though she stole her own head. The mask had to give her credit for her intelligent plan. Wearing the mask, it would look as though a maniac had killed her and stolen her head. The mask basked in the humorous irony for a few moments. Clever or not, though, the head had to go.
After a close call with Caldwell's mother, Carly Beth headed out the door. She used the mask to scare two children she believed were Chuck and Steve. They weren't. Even so, their fear fueled the Mask's power. However, once she and her friend Sabrina Mason met up and went out trick-or-treating, she seemed fine once again until Sabrina's constant chatter about how disgusting the mask was managed to anger Carly Beth and the Haunted Mask, nearly choking her best friend. Realizing her mistake, Carly Beth made up the excuse that she was trying to "stay in character."
At one house, she managed to successfully frighten a little girl who is scared of Carly Beth's "funny mask" (according to the girl's mother). Eventually, Carly Beth met up with Chuck and Steve in a cemetery, and managed to successfully scare them to the point of crying and running away. Laughing all the way home, Carly Beth accidentally dropped the Plaster of Paris head of herself.
With her revenge complete, Carly Beth goes home with Sabrina to take the mask off. The mask had attached to her skin and became her face. The mask was now in full power. Panic-stricken, Carly Beth rushed over to the novelty shop to get help from the shopkeeper. There, she learned the truth about the Haunted Mask, and the shopkeeper told her there could be hope; the mask could possibly be removed with a symbol of love. However, Carly Beth's outbursts awake the other masks, which begin to chase her. Only then she realized she DID have a symbol of love: the Plaster of Paris head Carly Beth's mother made for her! Among presenting it to the other Unloved heads, they left, and the Haunted Mask became a mask again, and she tugged it off. Overjoyed, Carly Beth knew that it was now best to be herself, and has since attempted to hide away the mask by burying it.
Summary by: Nureen Faqihah
Labels: Nureen Faqihah
