History YMMV / BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor

!!The book contains examples of:

* ValuesDissonance: Samantha jokes in an early scene to her friend about wanting to kill Judith, who's always bullying her, which is laughed off. That would probably be taken much more seriously these days.

!!The episode contains examples of:
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Clarissa's motives are every bit as nebulous in the episode as they were in the book, but the ending throws another wrench into her character. [[spoiler:Turning Judith into a statue]] was an even worse fate than whatever happened to Samantha, but why did Clarissa do it? [[spoiler:Did Judith's wish fall under the same rules that all of Sam's did and Judith just got ''really'' unlucky? Did Clarissa [[JackassGenie intentionally grant her wish under the worst interpretation possible]] out of disdain for the girl? Or was she giving Sam, who Clarissa by all appearances liked, the revenge she wanted?]]
* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler:Judith being turned into a statue, especially considering her status as a KarmaHoudini in the book.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Clarissa's motives are every bit as nebulous in the episode as they were in the book, but the ending throws another wrench into her character. [[spoiler:Turning Judith into a statue]] was an even worse fate than whatever happened to Samantha, but why did Clarissa do it? [[spoiler:Did Judith's wish fall under the same rules that all of Sam's did and Judith just got ''really'' unlucky? Did Clarissa [[JackassGenie intentionally grant her wish under the worst interpretation possible]] out of disdain for the girl? Or was she giving Sam, who Clarissa by all appearanced liked, the revenge she wanted?]]

* LesYay: The FoeRomanceSubtext variety in the book's both-sides obsessive Samantha/Judith rivalry. For more modern (or retroactive adult) readers it can often come across as the closest thing to [[RainbowLens explicit queer subtext]] in the whole series, with popular {{Fanon}} around Judith being an ArmoredClosetGay and Sam's story reading like classic {{Gayangst}} which can come across in her wishes (wanting to fill the societal role she's been pressured into but otherwise not suited for, her alienation from everybody, and mainly her desperate pining for positive attention from Judith). It's rather telling that Sam wishes for Judith to think she's the best instead of just being her friend...

* LesYay: The FoeRomanceSubtext variety in the book's both-sides obsessive Samantha/Judith rivalry. For more modern (or retroactive adult) readers it can often come across as the closest thing to [[RainbowLens explicit queer subtext]] in the whole series, with popular {{Fanon}} around Judith being an ArmoredClosetGay and Sam's story reading like classic {{Gayagnst}} which can come across in her wishes (wanting to fill the societal role she's been pressured into but otherwise not suited for, her alienation from everybody, and mainly her desperate pining for positive attention from Judith). It's rather telling that Sam wishes for Judith to think she's the best instead of just being her friend...

* LesYay: The FoeRomanceSubtext variety in the book's both-sides obsessive Samantha/Judith rivalry. For more modern (or retroactive adult) readers it can often come across as the closest thing to [[RainbowLens explicit queer subtext]] in the whole series, with popular {{Fanon}} around Judith being an ArmoredClosetGay and Sam's story reading like classic {{Gaygnst}} which can come across in her wishes (wanting to fill the societal role she's been pressured into but otherwise not suited for, her alienation from everybody, and mainly her desperate pining for positive attention from Judith). It's rather telling that Sam wishes for Judith to think she's the best instead of just being her friend...

* {{Fanon}}/RainbowLens: For modern readers (and those now adults reading retroactively) this book has been more often percieved as the one with the most explicitly queer subtext of any of the ''Goosebumps'' novels (as noted below in the percieved FoeYay of the both-sides obsessive rivalry between Samantha and Judith), with Judith coming across as more of an ArmoredClosetGay and Sam's story (with the social & family alienation, constant pining for Judith's personal approval and often being forced into roles she's not interested in or suited towards) reading more and more like classic {{Gayngst}}. That's despite the fact that the exact why & when of how their rivalry started is left completely ambiguous.
* LesYay: The FoeRomanceSubtext variety in the Samantha/Judith rivalry in ''Be Careful What You Wish For...''. It's rather telling that Sam wishes for Judith to think she's the best instead of just being her friend...

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: For some, the overall misanthropy of the story was a little too much, especially with the complete lack of any sympathetic figures in Sam's life and her extreme TraumaCongaLine that leads to the extremely EsotericHappyEnding mentioned above.

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Samantha gets [[ForcedTransformation turned into a bird at the end,]] and seems much happier as a bird than a human. It's still pretty sad when you consider how much her life must ''suck'' for this to be the case.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Clarissa's motives are every bit as nebulous in the episode as they were in the book, but the ending throws another wrench into her character. [[spoiler:Turning Judith into a statue]] was an even worse fate than whatever happened to Samantha, but why did Clarissa do it? [[spoiler:Did Judith's wish fall under the same rules that all of Sam's did and Judith just got ''really'' unlucky? Did Clarissa [[JackassGenie intentionally grant her wish under the worst interpretation possible]] out of disdain for the girl? Or was she giving Sam, who Clarissa by all appearanced liked, the revenge she wanted?]]
* AuthorsSavingThrow: The ending of the book where [[spoiler: Samantha gets turned into a bird while Judith gets a KarmaHoudini]] is fixed by the TV adaptation, at least, what with [[spoiler: Judith having her last wish getting screwed up and turning her into a statue]].

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Samantha gets [[BalefulPolymorph turned into a bird at the end,]] and seems much happier as a bird than a human. It's still pretty sad when you consider how much her life must ''suck'' for this to be the case.]]

* ValuesDissonance: Samantha jokes in an early scene about wanting to kill Judith, who's always bullying her, which is laughed off. That would be taken much more seriously these days.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Clarissa just a malevolent trickster trying to ruin a kid's life, merely phenomenally incompetent, or maybe subtly trying to teach Samantha a lesson about vengeance through giving her exactly what she wants? Given how Sam's wishes all revolve around one-upping Judith in some way, perhaps Clarissa's goal is to show Samantha [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty that revenge won't satisfy her or make her life any better.]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Samantha could be read as this time. Her mind is a little out there, she has poor social skills and is a bit of a [[TheKlutz klutz]].

* Adorkable: Samantha could be read as this time. Her mind is a little out there, she has poor social skills and is a bit of a [[TheKlutz klutz]].
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Clarissa just a malevolent trickster trying to ruin a kid's life, merely phenomenally incompetent, or maybe subtly trying to teach Samantha a lesson about vengeance through giving her exactly what she wants? Given how Sam's wishes all revolve around one-upping Judith in some way, perhaps Clarissa's goal is to show Samantha [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty that revenge won't satisfy her or make her life any better.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The much criticized ending of the book where [[spoiler: Samantha gets turned into a bird while Judith gets a KarmaHoudini]] is fixed by the TV adaptation, at least, what with [[spoiler: Judith having her last wish getting screwed up and turning her into a statue]].

%%!!The episode contains examples of:

* HarsherInHindsight: Samantha jokes in an early scene about wanting to kill Judith, who's always bullying her, which is laughed off. That would be taken much more seriously these days.

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: At the end of ''Be Careful What You Wish For'', Samantha's reaction to being turned into a bird? Sam suddenly realizes that she's hungry, and [[MyInstinctsAreShowing blissfully devours an earthworm]]! "Very tasty."
* HarsherInHindsight: Samantha jokes in an early scene about wanting to kill Judith, who's always bullying her, which is laughed off. That would be taken much more seriously these days.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** When Samantha undoes her second wish (which erased everyone else from existance), she goes through an [[Film/ItsAWonderfulLife It's a Wonderful Life]]-like sequence where she runs around happily greeting every single person she sees, even if she can't stand them most of the time. It's one of the only moments in the book where we actually see her happy for any length of time.
** In the basketball game after her first wish, Samantha actually has a good time even though she hasn't gotten any better at playing. She actually ''makes a basket,'' and she doesn't even care that she's going to lose by a lot, because she's actually having fun. She gets so into it that she starts acting as a cheerleader, rallying her teammates.
** Her bond with her pet dog is also very sweet. Samantha clearly loves him to bits, and he's pretty much the ''only'' good thing in her life.

* NightmareFuel:
** The sequence where Samantha accidentally erases everyone else from existence is quite chilling. That chapter does a pretty good job of conveying what it would actually feel like to be the only person in the world. She's scared out of her mind from the total isolation, and starts to panic about how she can't take care of herself and has no idea what she's supposed to do now, and nearly breaks down crying before she manages to find Clarissa and undo the wish.
** When Samantha wishes that Judith was her friend, both the book and the episode portray her as a creepy stalker-type, who at one point ''breaks into Samantha's home in the middle of the night''.
* TearJerker: Just seeing how Samantha's wishes horribly backfire is bad enough, but it's somehow sadder when you realize Clarissa isn't just ruining her life for kicks. As messed up as she is, Clarissa still gave Samantha several chances to undo her mistakes and genuinely seemed to think of Samantha as her friend. When Samantha [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chews her out for her terrible wish granting,]] she turns meek and solemn, as if [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she's just now realizing how much ''worse'' she made her new friend's life.]]
-->'''Clarissa''': You are unhappy.
-->'''Samantha''': Your wishes have ''ruined my life!''
-->'''Clarissa''': I don't want you to be unhappy. [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe I was trying to repay your kindness.]]
-->'''Samantha''': I wish ''i'd never met you!''

!!The episode contains examples of:

* NightmareFuel: In the episode, rather than wishing for everyone to disappear like in the book, Samantha instead wishes they would "buzz off". Clarissa makes this true, all right... by turning everyone into flies. Especially disturbing for anyone with muscaphobia. Also, Judith's wish that she'd be admired by all who see her causes her to turn to stone. Leaving Judith in a possible AndIMustScream situation. And the single crow that lands on top of her head.

* LesYay: A TON of the FoeYay variety in the Samantha/Judith rivalry in ''Be Careful What You Wish For...''. It's rather telling that Sam wishes for Judith to think she's the best instead of just being her friend...

Subjective tropes found in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' novel ''Be Careful What You Wish For''

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Some fans perceive Samantha as this, since she keeps making dumb wishes despite knowing how dangerous and unpredictable Clarissa's magic can be, and thus most of the stuff that happens to her after meeting Clarissa is self-inflicted (Judith stalking her, her turning into a bird).