Goosebumps Triple Header Book One is the first entry in the short lived Triple Header series within Goosebumps. Unlike the Tales to Give You Goosebumps books, there are only 3 stories. Each are roughly 50 pages each, and are structured more like standard Goosebumps books.
The stories are thus:
- Ghost Granny: A rude elderly woman, who isn't even a grandmother haunts a family.
- Spin the Wheel of Horror: A family is invited onto a rather dangerous game show.
- Teenage Sponge Boys From Outer Space: Two kids are tasked with fixing a space ship for two odd aliens.
Ghost Granny includes examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: The parents are actually present for the horror for once, but don't do anything to help that much. Even beforehand, they refuse to kick out Granny Deaver despite how awful she is.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: The family's reaction to Deaver's death is to celebrate.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Granny Deaver mentions she met "so many nice people" at the graveyard when she first came back as the ghost. They show up at Kelly's house right after Granny Deaver gets destroyed, and are willing to wait for her to come back.
- Evil Old Folks: Granny Deaver was foul and obnoxious even before she died, and after she died she got worse.
- Here We Go Again!: The family gets rid of Granny but her friends from the graveyard come to stay.
- Honor Before Reason: Kelly's parents refuse to kick Granny Deaver out because she's got nowhere else to go, despite that she's got no respect for anyone or their boundaries. The Wheeler parents would rather allow their kids to keep being abused by Granny Deaver for the sake of moral superiority.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Out of her entire family, Kelly's the only one who understands they have no reason or obligation to keep putting up with Granny Deaver but her parents continually ignore her concerns.
- Police Are Useless: A cop comes over at one point, but Granny Deaver scares him off.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Granny Deaver. She's not even the main character's actual grandmother. She was a friend of her great aunt's who came to visit one day and then just moved in for three years. She's totally disgusting and lazy, complains about everything, and intrudes in everyone's space. The only reason the parents don't kick her out is because she apparently has nowhere else to go and they pity her. When she actually dies, the family has a hard time concealing their joy now that they're finally free of her. And then she comes back as a ghost.
- Taking Advantage of Generosity: Granny Deaver knows Kelly's parents won't throw her out because they feel sorry for her, which she exploits as much as she can before she dies.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: The whole premise. Granny Deaver is a selfish old woman who sponges off a family she's not even related to. Then she dies, but her ghost returns and causes even more trouble for the family.
Spin the Wheel of Horror includes examples of:
- The Game Never Stopped: After making it through the "Hotel for Ghouls," the Banks Family find out they're not actually on Wheel Of Horror after all but have been lured into a monster banquet to be eaten as the main course. Just as they're about to be roasted alive, they find out this was also part of the game show as the final stretch.
- Tomato Surprise: It turns out the Banks family are all monsters, and they eat the host of the game show.
Teenage Sponge Boys from Outer Space includes examples of:
- Body Horror: The Sponge Boys have the ability to forcibly transform someone's body into a sponge.
- Chekhov's Hobby Becky watches the weather channel so much that she can predict when it will rain which comes in handy when she distracts the sponge boys long enough for the rain to come and make their heads swell up, immobilizing them..
- Here We Go Again!: The kids get rid of the aliens but when he gets home, Mac hears the ship crash.
- Mythology Gag: The idea of having a part of your body forcibly turned into a sponge was first mentioned in Chicken Chicken, when the kids recall a boy who had his head turned into a giant sponge by Vanessa. This story gives an idea of what the process must've been like for the hapless victim if Vanessa really did curse him.
