History Literature / TheNightmareRoom

** "The Howler": spoiler: A security guard finds the supernatural machine housing the trapped ghosts, but when he accidentally activates it, one of the ghosts possesses him, taking the Howler to find more victims to release his undead friends into the human world once more.]]

* CassandraTruth: Dylan in "Scareful What You Wish For".

* CompressedAdaptation: The entire Thrillogy was compressed into just one TV episode. It mostly loosely takes after ''Fear Games'' but as mentioned above, takes a few elements from the other two books as well.
CruelTwistEnding:

* EarnYourHappyEnding: While the main characters and their friends and family make it out okay (for the most part), the problems they had are shifted to someone else. ("Don't Forget Me", "The Howler", "Tangled Web", "School Spirit", "Locker 13", "My Name is Evil"

It mostly pools from from ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' with its title, and its storytelling style.

!!This series provides examples of:

* AdamWesting: [[spoiler: Creator/TippiHedren]] in the TV episode of ''Fear Games'', as well as [[spoiler: Stine]] in ''Tangled Web''
* AdaptationAmalgamation: The episode ''Fear Games'' is titled after the first book in a "Thrillogy" series but takes elements from the other books in the trilogy as well.
* AdaptationDistillation: Much like ''Goosebumps'', the episodes trim down the plots of the books to fit them into 22 minutes.
* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: The mysterious man in ''Don't Forget Me'' goes from [[spoiler: just being a curious guy warning Danielle about the house]] to [[spoiler: being one of the kids that was trapped and forgotten in the house.]]
* AdaptationalJerkass:
** Spencer from ''The Howler'' is a nice kid in the book, but in the episode he's a big prankster.
** Peter from ''Don't Forget Me!'''s annoying-ness comes from just having a more outgoing personality compared Danielle, but in the episode he's more of a prankster type,
** The bully in ''Locker 13'' actually softened up a bit over the course of the story in the book, but in the episode he stays a jerk and has a [[DemotedToExtra smaller role]] to boot.
** Marlin in ''Fear Games'' was a cheerful guy and encouraged the others, while in the episode he's a {{Jerkass}} to everyone.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy:
** Played with in ''Dear Diary, I'm Dead''. In the book, Tasha was an AlphaBitch who eventually became nicer near the end, but in the episode, she's friends with the group from the start and her teasing is generally more friendly, but becomes more of a jerk by the end.
** Maggie's friends in ''My Name is Evil'' had jerk tendencies, as noted below, but their TV equivalents are overall nicer.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Maggie in ''My Name is Evil'' doesn't give in to her new evil nature. Morgan in the TV episode however [[spoiler: does so although he only goes after those who deserve it]].
* AdaptedOut: This happens every so often but one notable example is the omission of Ian from ''The Howler''

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Peter in ''Don't Forget Me!''.
* TheBadGuyWins: Approximately 90% of the episodes have the villain win or get away.
* BadLuckCharm: The skull toy in ''Locker 13'' becomes this, but starts out as a good one.
* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: Joe]] in ''They Call Me Creature'', who became a [[PigMan half pig creature]] after a freak accident.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Danielle in ''Don't Forget Me!'' jokes that her birthday wish is to be an only child. She gets it when her brother starts to be forgotten and [[spoiler: becomes a victim of their house.]]
* BeingEvilSucks: [[spoiler: Jade]] in ''Shadow Girl'' hates being forced into villainy for this reason.
* BigBrotherBully: Nicky in ''The Howler''
* BittersweetEnding: ''They Call Me Creature'' ends with [[spoiler: Laura defeating Dr. Carpenter and getting close with her father again but Carpenter's poor son Joe is still a creature and is nowhere to be seen, and Laura wonders if anything will ever be normal again.]]
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: The episodes "School Spirit" and "Full Moon Halloween" feature the same cast of characters and in both of them, the character of Freddie Goal suffers some type of horrible fate.
** "School Spirit": He's the first person to be taken by the ghost.
** "Full Moon Halloween": [[spoiler: He is attacked by a werewolf at the end.]]
* BlatantLies: Josh, the protagonist of "Tangled Web" dishes these out frequently. He stops after learning a valuable lesson. Also, Ross in the book ''Liar Liar''

* BolivianArmyEnding: Subverted in "Tangled Web", where the protagonist somehow survived his, [[spoiler: with the whole episode actually being him as a teacher telling the story to a lying student. Though it's clear he didn't make it out without a few mental and physical scars, it's also implied he somehow gained the power to do to the student what happened to him all those years ago.]]
* BottleEpisode: ''Full Moon Halloween'' is almost entirely set in a house that a Halloween party is being held in. Additionally, the episode's main cast was recycled from ''School Spirit''.

* ButtMonkey: Dylan from "Scareful What You Wish For'' and Jeremy from "Four Eyes" are trying to stop supernatural evil forces and suffer a lot because of it. [[spoiler: They both end up in a FateWorseThanDeath.]]

* CassandraTruth: Dylan in "Scareful What You Wish For". Surprisingly not as common in the books as it is in ''Goosebumps'' but it happens a couple times, such as in ''Scare School''.
* ConsummateLiar: Josh from "Tangled Web" seriously cannot go a single scene without lying. He even tells his friends that he's best friends with ''pro-wrestler Sting Borden''.
* CreepyDoll: Buddy in "Scareful What You Wish For".

** "Scareful What You Wish For": [[spoiler: It's revealed that Dylan's doll was brought to life by the party magician when he was a kid and he made the doll to be Dylan's best friend forever and the doll turned Dylan into a doll so he can do just that.]]
** "The Howler": [[spoiler: After the kids stop the three spirits from possessing them and destroys the machine that can communicate with the spirits, the machine repairs itself. A security guard finds the machine and turns it on, which causes one of the spirits to possess the security guard. The possessed security guard takes the machine and plans to find two more victims for his friends to possess.]]
** "Full Moon Halloween": [[spoiler: It turns out Freddie's lie that he thought he made up about one of his classmates being a werewolf is true and he gets attacked by them.]] It's slightly worse in the book as [[spoiler: two kids are corned by the werewolf kids and unlike the people who threw the party, they did nothing to deserve it.]]
** "Four Eyes": Jeremy's new glasses reveals that he can see monsters which are really aliens living among the humans and they plan to take over the world by replacing the humans as aliens. [[spoiler: When they find out about him, they try to capture him. When his friend Cindy and her mom save him, they reveal that they were aliens the whole time and Cindy is actually the leader.]]
** "Dear Diary, I'm Dead": [[spoiler: After Tess took the diary from Alex, he takes it back and reads the last entry revealing that Tess is going to die. Alex tries to save her, but they both soon realize that the diary entry changes depending on who's reading it and the entry was actually meant for Alex who ends up dying. Then the episode ends at the beginning of the episode revealing that Alex has no future because he's trapped in a time warp where he is forced to relive every moment in the diary and he has no idea about it.]]
* CompressedAdaptation: The entire Thrillogy was compressed into just one TV episode. It mostly loosely takes after ''Fear Games'' but as mentioned above, takes a few elements from the other two books as well.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover for ''Camp Nowhere'' has a bunch of kid heads, some of which have glowing eyes. This has exactly nothing to do with the book.
** ''What Scares You the Most?'' has April in her home next to a boy as a witch watches over them. This boy is nowhere to seen, as she has no siblings or major male friends back at home.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Than Goosebumps, and if it continued for more than a season, it would've been ''way darker'' than The Haunting Hour. This goes double for the books.

* DemonicPossession: The plot of the TV episode of the "The Howler" involves ghosts possessing people and trying to kill the heroes standing in their way.

* DullSurprise: The stranger from "Don't Forget Me" speaks in a dry monotone even when coming face to face with the ghosts of numerous dead families.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: While the main characters and their friends and family make it out okay (for the most part), the problems they had are shifted to someone else. ("Don't Forget Me", "The Howler", "Tangled Web", "School Spirit", "Locker 13", "My Name is Evil"_
** Averted in some books, though few have a happy ending.

* {{Expy}}: The ghost living in "Locker 13" is obviously a ghost version of [[Franchise/StarWars the Emperor]].
* FaceHeelTurn: The protagonist in the TV version of "My Name is Evil" fully embraces his power to make others suffer.
** Averted in the book, though. The protagonist (actually a girl) rejects the offer of joining the bad guy (who actually likes her and was using her to get revenge on a prank her friends did that humiliated him in front of the school). She manages to trick him, revealing him as the responsible and then turns him into a squirrel, losing the power he gave her. It is one of the rare happy endings in the series.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: In "Scareful What You Wish For", Dylan is turned into a doll so he'll be best friends with Buddy forever.]]
* ForTheEvulz: The AlphaBitch in the episode of "My Name is Evil" ruins the protagonist's friendships for her own amusement. However, he gets even with her.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Four Eyes", Dr. Young tells Jeremy that his new glasses are going to make him see the world like he has never seen it before. His glasses reveal that he can see aliens. [[spoiler: Also, the fact that Jeremy never saw Cindy's face with his glasses on and her mom's face being obscured when Jeremy first meets her hinted of their true nature at the end.]]
** In ''Shadow Girl'', it's noted that Stan's family is rather poor, so it seems odd that it's mentioned he has gotten a new CD player and computer. [[spoiler: This is what makes Jade realize he is The Blue Weasel who has been robbing places, as there's no way he could afford those otherwise.]]

* GenderFlip: ''My Name is Evil'' changes the female protagonist from the book into a male, while the male antagonist is now female. The friend characters in ''Don't Forget Me!'' and ''Locker 13'' are also changed to being male.

* HeelFaceTurn: The protagonist in "Tangled Web" stops lying and becomes a better person after the nightmares he experienced in the episode.

** "Don't Forget Me": In the episode,[[spoiler: The Forget Me House rebuilds its power and targets a new, unsuspecting family moving into it in order to restart its reign of terror all over again.]] In the book. [[spoiler: Addie calls Danielle and Peter by different names, implying her memories of them have been replaced.]]
** "The Howler": In the episode,[[spoiler: A security guard finds the supernatural machine housing the trapped ghosts, but when he accidentally activates it, one of the ghosts possesses him, taking the Howler to find more victims to release his undead friends into the human world once more.]] In the book, [[spoiler: Spencer gives the device to his brother and tells him to have fun.]]
** "Tangled Web": [[spoiler: Adult Josh Ryan passes on the liar curse onto a new troublemaking student to learn the same harsh lessons he did about never fibbing.]]

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: The majority of the shows' episodes, have the hero fight an useless battle against evil, and end up dead.]]
* HopeSpot: In "Four Eyes," just when Dylan escapes from pursuing alien invaders, [[spoiler: he's picked up by his best friend, who turns out to be the alien leader.]]

* InformedDeformity: The prologue of ''They Call Me Creature'' has [[spoiler: Joe]] going on about he's such an ugly creature, but eventually it is revealed iract turns out that [[spoiler: he just has two pig ears. Hardly a creature.]]
* InNameOnly: The only thing the episode of ''The Howler'' retains from the book is the basic concept of a machine that lets you talk to ghosts.
* KarmaHoudini: This is a horror show. TheBadGuyWins almost all the time.
* KarmicTwistEnding: "Tangled Web" implies this with [[spoiler: the protagonist, having grown up to become a teacher, possibly gaining the same ability to make people's lies come true, and is going to inflict it on one of his own bad students.]]
* KickTheDog: The AlphaBitch in "My Name is Evil," coldly rejects the protagonist's attempts to date her, and ruins his life ForTheEvulz.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: The protagonist in the TV episode of "My Name is Evil" frames the AlphaBitch, who's been breaking apart his friendships ForTheEvulz, as the true monster. Unfortunately, he pulls a FaceHeelTurn in the ending.
* KillerRabbit: The Ploggs the kids get in "Full Moon Halloween" are pretty adorable for ferocious demon spawn that will grow into giant, rabid beasts.

* MadeOfEvil: The protagonist in ''My Name is Evil''

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Doing all he can to prevent aliens from conquering his hometown, Dylan is rewarded [[spoiler: with an impending death, when captured by the alien leader, who was really his best friend.]]

* PayEvilUntoEvil: The protagonist in "My Name is Evil," decides to use his powers to punish {{jerkass}}es only.

* RaceLift: Ramos in ''Camp Nowhere'' is Native-American in the book but in the episode, he is white. Also, the Adrian-American Marlin in ''Fear Games'' is white in the episode, while Kristen, who is implied to be white, is now black.
* RealAfterAll:
** Buddy from "Scareful What You Wish For" is naturally exposed as a real living doll and not a hallucination inside Dylan's mind.
** The witch from "Fear Games" was not a fictional legend like the other characters thought it was.
** In "Full Moon Halloween", [[spoiler: there really was a werewolf terrorizing the city.]]
* ScarsAreForever: [[spoiler:The end of "Tangeled Web" reveals that the substitute teacher telling the story of Reese has a burn mark on his palm, revealing that ''he'' was Reese the whole time. The ending narrations state that he still has both the physical and mental scars from this experience.]]

* TeamMemberInTheAdaptation: Sort of. Tessa does join the protagonists' band but only later on, while in the episode, she's in the band from the beginning.

* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: In the ''darkest'' example yet, Buddy turns Dylan into a doll, so they'll be best friends forever.]]

* UngratefulBastard: Everyone in "Four Eyes" treats Jeremy like dirt, despite the fact that he's ''trying to save them'' from alien invaders.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: In "Tangled Web", Wrestling/{{Sting}}, playing himself [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer (and yes, that really is Sting)]], shows up and tries to kick Josh's ass for pranking him. While chasing Josh, a mummy shows up also trying to attack Josh. Sting doesn't even bat an eye at the mummy's presence and even stands side by side with it in chasing Josh.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The magician at Dylan' birthday party, [[spoiler: casts a spell on his doll Buddy, so they'll be best friends forever. The doll becomes obsessed with Dylan, and eventually turns Dylan into a doll.]]
* VillainProtagonist: The protagonist in the episode "My Name is Evil" is trying ''not'' to become this, but ends up accepting this fate anyway.

It was adapted for television series in 2001 as part of the Kids' WB line-up. Sadly,the show only lasted for [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13 episodes]].

It was adapted for television series in 2001 as part of the Kids' WB line-up. Sadly, because of the 9/11 attacks and the shift to have Saturday morning cartoons wiped from network TV in favor of either news or educational kids' TV, the show only lasted for [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13 episodes]].

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* ClashingCousins: Selena and Jade in ''Shadow Girl''

* RaceLift: Ramos in ''Camp Nowhere'' is Native-American in the book but in the episode, he is white. Also, the Adrian-American Marlin in ''Fear Games'' is white in the episode, wihle Kristen, who is implied to be white, is now black.

** Maggie's three friends are a bit better than most examples but Jackie in particular has the tendency to be mean to Maggie and plays a few cruel pranks, such one on Glen. [[spoiler: It turns out he's evil and he was doing all the cruel things to the friends as revenge.]]

* AdaptationDistillation: Much like ''Goosebumps'', the episodes trim down the plots of the books to fit them into 22 minutes but the biggest example is Fear Games which turns an entire trilogy into just one episode.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Peter in ''Don't Forget Me!''

* AdaptationalJerkass: Spencer from ''The Howler'' is a nice kid in the book, but in the episode he's a big prankster.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Played with in ''Dear Diary, I'm Dead''. In the book, Tasha was an AlphaBitch who eventually became nicer near the end, but in the episode, she's friends with the group from the start and her teasing is generally more friendly, but becomes more of a jerk by the end.

* InformedDeformity: The prologue of ''They Call Me Creature'' has [[spoiler: Joe]] going on about he's such an ugly creature, but eventually it is revealed it turns out that [[spoiler: he just has two pig ears. Hardly a creature.]]

* RaceLift: Ramos in ''Camp Nowhere'' is Native-American in the book but in the episode, he is white.

* AdamWesting: [[spoiler: Creator/TippiHedren]] in the TV episode of ''Fear Games''

** In "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Locker 13]]," take a wild guess on what the number of the locker is, that the main character has to use.

** Maggie's three friends are a bit better than most examples but Jackie in particular has the tendency to be mean to Maggie and plays a few cruel pranks, such one on Glen. [[spoiler: It turns out he's evil and he was doing all the curel things to the friends as revenge.]]

* WithFriendsLikeThese: ''The Howler'' has Scott, who frequently mocks Spencer for his ghost obsession and wasn't even that much kinder before the events of the book.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Tessa from ''Dear Diary, I'm Dead'' was an AlphaBitch in the book but in the episode, she's friends with the group from the start and her teasing is generally more friendly.

* BottleEpisode: ''Full Moon Halloween'' is almost entirely set in a house that a Halloween party is being held in.

* GenderFlip: ''My Name is Evil'' changes the female protagonist from the book into a male.

* AdaptationDistillation: Much like ''Goosebumps'', the episodes trim down the plots of the books to fit them into 22 minutes but the biggest example is Fear Games which turns an entire trilogy into just one episode.

* DeathOfAChild: ''The Howler'' and ''No Survivors'' have the deaths of [[spoiler: Ian and Deobrah]] respectively.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: While the main characters and their friends and family make it out okay (for the most part), the problems they had are shifted to someone else. ("Don't Forget Me", "The Howler", "Tangled Web", "Fear Games", "School Spirit", "Locker 13", "My Name is Evil", and "Camp Nowhere").

* EveryoneLaughsEnding: ''Visitors'' ends this way

* ForTheEvulz: The AlphaBitch in "My Name is Evil" ruins the protagonist's friendships for her own amusement. However, he gets even with her.

* VillainProtagonist: The protagonist in "My Name is Evil" is trying ''not'' to become this, but ends up accepting this fate anyway.

* RaceLift: Ramos in ''Camp Nowhere'' is Native-American but in the episode, he is white.

** Peter from ''Don't Forget Me!'''s annoying-ness comes from a just a more outgoing personality compared Danillie, but in the episode he's more of a prankster type to her.

* RaceLife: Ramos in ''Camp Nowhere'' is Native-American but in the episode, he is white.

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Only had 13 episodes.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: Joe]] in ''They Call Me Creature'', who became a half pig creature after a freak accident.

* NeverTrustATitle: Based on the title of ''What Scares You The Most?'', the 2nd book in the "Thrillogy", you'd think the protagonists would be forced to face their worst faces. That doesn't actually happen and is not what the book is about.