History Literature / StayOutOfTheBasement

%%* BadassAdorable: Margaret.

* CloningBlues: This motivates Doctor Brewer's clone to turn against his creator.

It was adapted into [[Recap/GoosebumpsS1E12E13StayOutOfTheBasement episodes 12 and 13 of the first season]] of [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} the TV series]].

It was adapted into episodes 12 and 13 of the first season of [[Series/{{Goosebumps}} the TV series]].

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!!The episode provides examples of:

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: In the television version, instead of just ''one'' flower speaking to Margaret, a whole bunch of plants that can talk each claim that they are Dr. Brewer. They implore Margaret for help when the story ends.
* AdaptedOut: Diane and Mr. Henry make no appearances in this episode.
* AffectionateNickname: Mr. Brewer calls Margaret "Princess". When it comes to the SpotTheImpostor scene, the real one shouts "Princess!" to clue Margaret in on who's the fake.
* {{Bowdlerize}}: Naturally the clone being chopped up with an axe wouldn't fly on kid's TV, so he's blasted with herbicide instead.
* RaceLift: Dr. Martinez is presumably Hispanic in the book, but in the episode, the character’s name is changed to Dr. Marek and he is Armenian.
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: During the climax, Margaret starts to realize [[SpotTheImposter which Mr. Brewer is her real father]] when the real one calls her by her AffectionateNickname of "Princess", which the clone never did.
* TheEndOrIsIt: At the very end, Margaret hears a whole bunch of flowers each claiming to be her real father. But are any of them really her father or just flowers that developed sapience from being near her father's basement?
* TitleDrop: Dr. Brewer screams this to the kids when they venture into his basement lab.

* Adapted Out: Diane and Mr. Henry make no appearances in this episode.

* EmptyPilesOfClothes: Margaret and Casey are snooping through the basement and find clothing from a business suit, and they decide to confront their father about it, thinking that it came from Mr. Martinez who visited yesterday and was not seen leaving the house after checking the basement. The (fake) Dr. Brewer replies that they were just taken off because Mr. Martinez did not like the heat in there, and forgot about them when leaving. [[spoiler: He turned out to have actually lied about it, as the kids find '''more''' clothing that came from the same outfit down in there, and eventually find Mr. Martinez locked in the supply closet with the ''real'' Dr. Brewer]].

* DisappointedInYou: A truly strange example of this trope. After being warned not to go down into the basement by their father, Margaret and Casey do that anyway, but their father caught them as they were trying to escape from there. He looked a bit angry, but seemed rather calm as well as caring for their well-being, then he told them he was very disappointed in both of them. He then gave a tranquil yet stern discussion with them of how they let him down. The two kids at first thought that when they were caught, they were going to be yelled at by him. but were felt worse by the way he acted instead. However, [[OutOfCharacterAlert given that this behavior was so unike the father that they know of, they were also taken aback by how unnatural it was of him]]. Given that this was probably Dr. Brewer's plant clone, it seems fitting.
* DiscreetDiningDisposal: The plant Dr. Brewer gives his two kids an unknown geen food that neither of them want to eat, and he eventually ''demands'' that they eat it. But when he is [[ConvenientlyTimedDistraction distracted and goes off to see what is up]], the two kids decide to get rid of this green food burying them inside the contents of the garbage can in the room. They then act as though they ate it all when (fake) Dr. Brewer comes back in.
* DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas: An averted variant involving the weather and the time of the year. The Brewer family live in California, which means that even thouugh it is the middle of the winter, yet it feels as if it was the middle of summer. Margaret finds it weird.

* MadScientist: Dr. Brewer and his clone. Margaret's friend Diane finds his behavior creepy, and when told about some of his odd behavior of acting like a plant, she reportedly said that she should call the police because [[ThereShouldBeALaw she feels that there shoud be a law against being a mad scientist]].

* PleaseKeepYourHatOn: Dr. Brewer has strated wearing a baseball cap, which his children thinks makes him look dorky. And then Casey threw a frisbee at his father playfully, which knocked his cap off, revealing that ''all of his hair had fallen out, and instead had leaves sprouting from his head''. He tries to reassure them that this was actually a side effect of his experiments and is only temporary, his son and daughter are quite uncomfortable about it and prefer him wearing his hat on.

* AlienBlood: Dr. Brewer's plant clone bleeds green plant fluid, which leads to his downfall.

* BloodierAndGorier: The real Dr. Brewer chopping his clone in half with an ax is considerably more graphic than would be seen in the later books.

* BoundAndGagged: Margaret and Casey realize why they were told to never go into the basement: they find their father there tied up, and gagged to boot. While the clone claims that he had to tie up that Dr. Brewer by saying that ''he'' was the clone, the kids realize that's nonsense when the other figure bleeds red.

* LukeIAmYourFather: By a ''flower'', no less, in the final chapter.
* MadScientist: Dr. Brewer and his clone.

* SpotTheImpostor: Both Dr. Brewer and his clone implore Margaret and Casey that each is the real one. They both have plant leaves instead of hair, and their intonations are impeccable. Margaret realizes she can't tell them apart, but asks Casey to get a knife. She cuts one of them; on seeing his blood is red, she gives him the axe. As she recalls, the plant had green plant fluids rather than human blood.

* AlasPoorVillain: Plant-Clone!Dr.Brewer isn't portrayed in a very sympathetic light, but watching him be [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman mercilessly destroyed]] by his creator just because he wanted a human life is still pretty harsh.

* AdultFear:
** Margaret and Casey's mother has left them alone with their father, who they cannot trust and who is actively trying to cause them harm by turning them into plants. The idea that a parent can be untrustworthy, and that for kids, there can be very little escape from such a parent, is extremely frightening.
** Likewise, the fact that her husband was trapped and tied up in their own house for days on end. He can hear his children with a dangerous person but can't warn them due to being gagged. It's terrifying and realistic scenario.

The Dr. Brewer, his clone, and Margaret Brewer all notably made a comeback in the video game, ''VideoGame/GoosebumpsNightOfScares''.

The Dr. Brewer, his clone, and Margaret Brewer all notably made a comeback in the video game, ''VideoGame/GoosebumpsNightOfScares'', although its their sole reappearance to the franchise to date.

* TheEndOrIsIt: At the very end, Margaret hears a whole bunch of flowers each claiming to be her real father. But are any of them really her father or just flowers that developed sapience from being near her father's basement?

* AffectionNickname: Mr. Brewer calls Margaret "Princess". When it comes to the SpotTheImpostor scene, the real one shouts "Princess!" to clue Margaret in on who's the fake.

* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: During the climax, Margaret starts to realize [[SpotTheImposter which Mr. Brewer is her real father]] when the real one calls her by her AffectionateNickname of "Princess", which the clone never did.

!!It provides examples of:

* TomatoInTheMirror: In the television version, a bunch of plants that can talk each claim that they are Dr. Brewer. They implore Margaret for help when the story ends.

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* LukeIAmYourFather: By a ''flower'', no less.

* TomatoInTheMirror: A bunch of plants that can talk each claim that they are Dr. Brewer. They implore Margaret for help when the story ends.

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* AdultFear: Margaret and Casey's mother has left them alone with their father, who they cannot trust and who is actively trying to cause them harm by turning them into plants. The idea that a parent can be untrustworthy, and that for kids, there can be very little escape from such a parent, is extremely frightening.

* AlienBlood: Dr. Brewer's plant clone, which leads to his downfall.
* BloodierAndGorier: The real Dr. Brewer chopping his clone in half with an axe is considerably more graphic than would be seen in the later books.

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Dr. Brewer originally tries to splice different plant species together into bigger crops, thus solving world hunger. Then he accidentally gets his DNA mixed into the equation, and decides to continue from there because [[spoiler:a plant clone ties him up and impersonate him]].

[[folder:Narrative tropes]]

* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Dr. Brewer originally tries to splice different plant species together into bigger crops, thus solving world hunger. Then he accidentally gets his DNA mixed into the equation, and decides to continue from there because [[spoiler:a plant clone ties him up and imerpsonate him]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Character tropes]]
!! Casey and Margaret Brewer

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brewsibs.png]]

-> '''Portrayed By:''' Beki Lantos and Blake [=McGrath=] ([[Series/{{Goosebumps}} TV]])

The protagonists. They are two siblings having to deal with their father becoming increasingly distant from them, and eventually learning there's something even more distressing going on.
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* ActionHeroine: Margaret proves to be the rather intrepid protagonist as she investigates the goings-on in the CreepyBasement even after Dr. Brewer's angry threats. Taken up a notch in the TV series, where she is the one to kill the plant-clone of her father, spraying it with weed killer.
* AdultFear: Margaret dealing with the slow realization that one of the people she loved and trusted most in the world is becoming a slowly unhinged antagonist.
* BadassNormal: Margaret when she uses her quick thinking to figure out who her real father is, especially in the TV episode where she's the one to finish him off.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Both avoid many of the more Flanderized traits of the later protagonists, with Margaret's general BadassNormal persona and despite her (understandably) melancholic disposition, she proves to be much more of a poor soul than a StrawLoser. Casey's AnnoyingYoungerSibling traits are also greatly toned down.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Margaret hated her Father's nicknames of "Fatso" (she's slender) and "Princess", but misses them greatly as they were a sign of now-absent closeness. Also provides the key to finding out which Dr. Brewer is her real father.
* FishOutOfWater: Have had trouble getting used to their new California home from their native Michigan, though their father's reclusive behavior hasn't helped.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: A milder example than most, with Margaret the responsible to Casey's foolish.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: At the very end, a backyard sunflower claims to be Margaret's real father. In the show, a ''lot'' of flowers claim this]].
* PromotionToParent: With their mom away for most of the book and Dr Brewer being confined to the basement, Margaret has become a surrogate parent of sorts to Casey.

!! Doctor Michael Brewer

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/docbrew.png]]

-> '''Portrayed By:''' Judah Katz ([[Series/{{Goosebumps}} TV]])

A botanist/father who spent hours in his basement trying to create new forms of plant life. These experiments caused him some... unsettling changes.
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* AffectionateNickname: He calls Margaret "princess" and "fatso" (the latter ironically due to how skinny she is). Him calling her princess is partially what hints Margaret as to who her real father is.
* AntiVillain: Brewer himself is a type V. Grotesque as his experiments are, he's simply a good man who got caught up in playing god and wound up neglecting his family.
* TheAtoner: By the end of the book, he gives up his horrible experiments and tries hard to make up to his family. [[spoiler:Or so it seems.]]
* BadPowersGoodPeople: He's a well-meaning father/botanist with a talent for growing ''human-plant abominations''. Better be careful introducing him to your first dates, Margaret and Casey...
* BodyHorror: His mutation into a plant creature. And let's not even talk about the things he grows in the basement...
* CreepyBasement: His lab. The book is called "Stay Out Of the Basement" for a reason.
* CloningBlues: His clone held him hostage in a basement for weeks and tried to take over his life.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: To his boss for firing him.
* EvilutionaryBiologist: The real Brewer even states that while he knew what he's doing is wrong, he just couldn't stop, because creating life is just too damn exciting.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He loves his kids, Margaret and Casey, hence why he created his clones to be with them.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Subverted. He's not really evil, just stubborn and willing to ignore certain morals.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Played with. He doesn't become a super-villain like most instances of this trope, but his reckless experiments turn him from a simple botanist to a MadScientist who endangers everyone around him.
* GeneticMemory: His clone went rogue because of this-since he was a near perfect copy of the original, he had all of that man's memories.
* GoodParents: Unlike his clone, he's very compassionate and close to his family and is extremely grateful to his kids for saving his life.
* HumanityEnsues: What made him think turning plants into humans was a ''good'' idea?
* ImpossibleGenius: An average middle-class man who, through some process that isn't elaborated on, was able to grow living, breathing human-plant organisms in his basement. How he could afford the equipment even necessary for such an experiment, or whether he has some kind of supernatural gift, is anyone's guess.
* LegoGenetics: Apparently, combining plant and human DNA only took him a few weeks.
* MadScientist: His freakish experiments with plant matter are what causes the book's conflict.
* {{Planimal}}: His entire time in the basement was spent creating these. Unlike most examples, these aren't cute or friendly in the slightest.
* TheWorkaholic: Spends hours in his basement trying to perfect his experiments and ends up sorely regretting it.

!! Doctor Brewer's Clone

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brewerclonetv.png]]

-> '''Portrayed By:''' Judah Katz ([[Series/{{Goosebumps}} TV]])

One of Dr. Brewer's plants that he accidentally brought to life.
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* AdaptationalBadass: The plant clone in the book is a clumsy and pitiful freak doing a very bad job fitting in with his human family. The one in the 2015 game is a full-blown plant monster with a giant nasty temper who can turn his appendages into crushing vines. Weed killer doesn't even destroy him like in the TV episode.
* AdaptationalUgliness: Official artwork, merchandise, and the video games tend to portray him as some horrible BotanicalAbomination, when in the story itself he was passably human outside of having green blood and leaves instead of hair.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Downplayed in the TV adaptation. While the clone still overpowered Dr Brewer and stole his identity in the book, there is never anything else especially ulterior about his motives. He just seems to want to continue the doctors research himself and live life as a human. The TV adaptation fleshes him out more, revealing that he wants to create plant clones of all of humanity to KillAndReplace them. [[AdaptationalJerkass He also is even more hostile and abrasive to Margaret and Casey then he was in the book.]]
* AffablyEvil: He's a pretty [[NiceGuy nice guy]] in human form [[SarcasmMode aside from the minor detail of knocking out and tying up Dr. Brewer and Mr. Martinez for days]]. He does try to be a good father to Margaret and Casey and even helps a neighbor install his sink.
* AntiVillain: He just wanted a chance to be human and even tries to be a good one.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: He's chopped in half with an axe by the original Dr. Brewer, in full view of the rest of the family.
* GeneticMemory: He went rogue because of this-since he was a near perfect copy of the original Dr. Brewer, he had all of that man's memories.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: He wanted to be human and experience a normal life outside of being a plant.
* KillAndReplace: He was presumably planning this, both for him and the rest of his family.
* NiceHat: An LA Dodgers cap, which covers the leaves on his scalp.
* ObliviouslyEvil: According to Dr. Brewer in the TV adaptation anyway, who claims it just wanted to dominate its environment like most plants naturally do.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: His cold and indifferent treatment of Dr. Brewers family while impersonating him quickly alarms Margaret and Casey, as their pop is usually very close with them.
* PlantPerson: One accidentally created when Dr. Brewer cut his hand and some of his blood mixed with a plant.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: He imprisoned his creator and stole his identity.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Plant Clone!Brewer may be one of the most creepy and intimidating villains in the series, but he really just wants to be human and gain a family. This even extends to his short appearance in the 2015 video game, where he only attacks you if he thinks you're threatening him, and starts whimpering pitifully once you spray him with weed killer.
[[/folder]]