History Literature / ILiveInYourBasement

It is one of the nineteen original series books that was not adapted into [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} the TV series]]. However, Keith later appeared in the ''Download and Die!'' story in the [[ComicBook/{{Goosebumps}} comic series]].

* BeingWatched: Marco is getting into bed after a fun day, when suddenly had the strange feeling that he was being watched. Sure enough, he turned away from his bed, and saw Keith leaning in the bedroom doorway, staring at him.

* BrainTheft: At one point Marco goes to the doctor and the doctor says he needs to remove Marco's brain and look at it under a microscope. Marco is scared out of his mind, but his mother [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight reacts as if the doctor said he needed to take Marco's temperature.]]
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Marco constantly has to hear his mother warn him of doing anything she considers wrong. And when he decides to go to a softball game, which he knows that his mother would not approve of him joining, he gets himself whacked in the head with a softball bat and knocked out.

* DreamDeception: [[spoiler: Keith attempts at this at the very end when Marco catches him puking his guts out. The book ends before we find out if it works though.]]

* HiccupHijinks: While waiting for the doctor with his mother, a little girl is also in the room waiting with her father. She hiccups every few seconds with her whole body shaking each time. According to her, she's been hiccuping for ''ten days'', and her father tries to give her advice such as holding her breath, which she says doesn't work.

* MyBelovedSmother: Marco's mother is incredibly overprotective of him, even going as far as to prevent Marco from sharpening his pencils because she believes he'll poke his eye, much to Marco's annoyance.

* HospitalHottie: When Marco sees his doctor for the second time, he notes that he didn't look at all like the Dr. Bailey he saw in his first dream. This Dr. Bailey was blond-haired and blue-eyed, young and tanned. He looked like a TV doctor played by an actor than a doctor in real life. This is averted in Marco's third dream with Dr. Bailey, in which he is a hairy, seven-foot tall man.

* MyBelovedSmother: Marco's mother is incredibly overprotective of him, even going as far to prevent Marco from sharpening his pencils because she believes he'll poke his eye, much to Marco's annoyance.

* TerrifiedOfGerms: Among Marco's mother's worries, her biggest one is of germs, which are consisted in the most reminders that she relays to her son.

* AdultFear: This book definitely plays on people's fears of madness and obsession. And if that's not enough, the first chapter actually starts off with a 12-year-old boy getting hit on the head with a softball bat. The pain he experiences is told in full detail, and he is ''put in a coma after the painful blow on the head!'' Just imagine the pain after the full detail, especially in the perspective of a ''preteen boy!''
** Only made worse on how Marco's mother might had reacted to this if she found out, and it may take her time to realize it was because she was too overbearing on him. Yes, the world is a dangerous place and every parent wants their child to be safe, but seeing this achieving the opposite result can be a total blow.

* CreepyBasement: It's home to a family of monsters.
* CranialTheft: At one point Marco goes to the doctor and the doctor says he needs to remove Marco's brain and look at it under a microscope. Marco is scared out of his mind, but his mother [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight reacts as if the doctor said he needed to take Marco's temperature.]]

* TerrifiedOfGerms: Among Marco's mother's worries, her biggest one is of germs, and are among the most reminders that she relays to her son.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: After Marco witnesses a bunch of scary stuff, his mother takes him to the doctor. Said doctor says [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext he needs to remove Marco's brain and examine it,]] and his mother reacts as if the doctor had just said Marco needed a blood test.

* AdultFear: This book definitely plays on people's fears of madness and obsession. And if that's not enough, the first chapter actually starts off with a 12-year-old boy getting hit on the head with a baseball bat. The pain he experiences is told in full detail, and he is ''put in a coma after the painful blow on the head!'' Just imagine the pain after the full detail, especially in the perspective of a ''preteen boy!''

* IdenticalTwinMistake: Two of Marco's classmates are the Franklin twins, whom are constantly arguing with each other. Marco cannot tell which one is which. He and Jeremy even discuss this while playing pool, wondering if they fight each other for this reason, to prove that they're different from each other.

* SinisterScrapingSound: While playing pool with Jeremy, Marco hears a scratching sound and he thinks it's Keith. [[BaitAndSwitch It actually turns out to be a squirrel that was trapped in a cabinet]].
* SurrealHorror: So bizarre that it's taken UpToEleven when children start pulling themselves ''inside out!''

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: The book is one dream sequence after another from the main character getting hit with a baseball bat.

* IWarnedYou: Marco dearly hopes that his mother doesn't say "I told you so" after he disobeys her orders on playing sports and gets hit by a baseball bat. Too bad for him, she launches right into it when he wakes up after his injury.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The ending still manages to be bleak and sad even if it doesn't doom the characters. Keith has been dreaming the events of the whole story, reflecting his desire to be friends with Marco, and realizes they can never be friends because of the pain it'd bring. When Marco finds Keith in the basement, Keith tells him to go back to sleep, and the book ends without revealing what Marco does next.]]

* AskAStupidQuestion: While in his room working on homework, Marco is shocked to feel an arm wrap around his neck and pretend to choke him. It turned out to be Gwynnie, who came over. She asks him if she scared him, to which Marco sarcastically replies, "No. I'm used to sneaking in and strangling me from behind."

* IdenticalTwinMistake: Two of Marco's classmates are the Franklin twins, whom are constantly arguing with each other. Marco cannot tell which one is which.

* OverlyLongTongue: At the doctor's appointment that Marco goes to, his doctor asks him to open his mouth and stick out his tongue. He does, and is shocked to see that his tongue rolls out to a foot long.

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: The book is one dream sequence after another from the main character getting hit with a baseball bat.

[[caption-width-right:350:... and you're going to take good care of him!]]

** Only made worse on how Marco's mother might had reacted to this if she found out, and it may take her time to realize it was because she was too overbearing on her. Yes, the world is a dangerous place and every parent wants their child to be safe, but seeing this achieving the opposite result can be a total blow.

** Only made worse on how Marco's mother might react to this, and it may take her time to realize it was because she was too overbearing on her. Yes, the world is a dangerous place and every parent wants their child to be safe, but seeing this achieving the opposite result can be a total blow.

It is one of the nineteen original series books that was not adapted into [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} the TV series]].