Line #11 Literature/TheHauntedMask


1	[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hauntedmask.png]]
2
3	The ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book about a haunted mask... [[NeverTrustAtitle kind of]].
4
5	Carly Beth is a scaredy cat and is tormented by the bullies Steve and Chuck as a result. One day she gets sick of it and decides to visit a creepy mask shop to find a scary Halloween mask. In a the back room, she finds the perfect fit, but the Shopkeeper refuses to sell it to her. However, she eventually convinces him and brings it home. After she puts on, she starts acting a lot more monstrous. Is the mask doing this to her, and will she be able to put it off?
6
7	It received two direct sequels. ''Literature/TheHauntedMaskII'' is part of the original series, and follows Steve when he finds a different haunted mask. ''The Scream of the Haunted Mask'', part of the ''Literature/GoosebumpsHorrorLand'' spinoff, continues Carly Beth's story, ignoring the events of ''The Haunted Mask II''.
8
9	It was adapted into [[Recap/Goosebumps1995S1E1E2TheHauntedMask the very first episode]] of [[Series/Goosebumps1995 the 1995 TV series]].
10
11	It was later reissued in the ''Classic Goosebumps'' line in 2008 as a companion to ''The Scream of the Haunted Mask''.
12
13	----
14	!!The book provides examples of:
15
16	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: At the ScienceFair, Steve pretended that a spider from his project escaped, and put a pinching hand on Carly Beth's back. This caused her to scream and knock over her model solar system that she and Sabrina had made. When talking to Carly Beth on Halloween morning, Sabrina admits that it was a dirty trick, but also that it was kind of funny. This prompts an outraged response from Carly Beth.
17	* AllThereInTheManual: One of the Collector's Caps books reveals the backstory of the Shopkeeper, although a different one was used for the TV episode.
18	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Carly Beth's younger brother Noah, who likes to play pranks on her.
19	* BecomingTheCostume: The basis for the story, as the mask basically becomes Carly Beth's skin and makes her act like a monster.
20	* BelligerentSexualTension: Definitely shades of this in Carly-Beth and Steve's relationship in ''The Haunted Mask'', made more explicit in the TV adaptation.
21	* BluntYes: In the lunchroom, Carly Beth tells Sabrina that she might go as a witch for Halloween, but Sabrina replies that she thought she was afraid of witches. When Carly Beth accused her of thinking that she's a scaredy-cat, Sabrina replies with this trope.
22	* ChekhovsGun: Carly Beth's mom makes a plaster of Paris head of Carly Beth, and says she made it because she loves her. Carly Beth later uses it as her symbol of love to defeat the mask.
23	* ClingyMacGuffin: The eponymous mask from ''The Haunted Mask''. It won't come off without external help.
24	* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler:Carly Beth finally gets the eponymous mask off... only for her brother to try it on for himself.]]
25	* DeusExScuseMe: It happens ''twice'', once with Carly Beth's mom when she is trying to sneak on, and again earlier on with the shopkeeper so she can find the back room.
26	* EvilFeelsGood: The mask makes Carly-Beth feel good about hurting people.
27	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on, Carly Beth tells Sabrina maybe she'll scare her someday, to which Sabrina says "No way!". Later on, Carly Beth indeed gets to scare Sabrina with the mask.
28	* FingerWag: A mother angrily does this to Carly Beth after she scares her son and a friend of his while wearing the mask.
29	* HalloweenEpisode: The first of naturally quite a few in the franchise.
30	* HereWeGoAgain: Carly Beth gets the mask off... [[spoiler: but her little brother Noah puts it on.]]
31	* IAteWHAT: At the lunch room in the beginning of the book, Carly Beth eats a sandwich and is shocked to find a bitten worm. Chuck assures her that it's rubber, but she pulls it out to find out that it's real, much to her horror. She ends up running out of the lunch room in disgust and humiliation.
32	* IGotARock: At one house while trick-or-treating, Carly Beth is disappointed and outraged that she and Sabrina got green apples. Because she was under the influence of the mask, she waits until she's out on the sidewalk to throw the apples at the house. They hit the house, causing the owner who gave them out to poke his out the front door. This prompts the two girls to run away until the house is no longer in sight.
33	* LatexPerfection: They might not be latex, but when they're on someone's face, the wearers are mistaken for real monsters.
34	* TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday: The party store where Carly Beth gets the mask.
35	* MenacingMask: Carly Beth purchased the titular mask that attaches to her face and changes her personality.
36	* MyGodYouAreSerious: When Carly Beth is at Sabrina's house and she tries to get the mask off, she tells her about this. Sabrina thinks it's another one of her pranks she's pulling tonight. But she stops joking when she hears how desperate Carly Beth sounds, and especially when she tries to take the mask off herself and sees the mask blending in with her real skin.
37	* NeverTrustATitle: The mask isn't actually haunted, as far as the reader knows.
38	* NightmareFace: The cover of ''The Haunted Mask'' depicts a horrific-looking mask looking directly at the reader.
39	* OurHomunculiAreDifferent: The Haunted Mask and its kind are disembodied homunculi. Basically, they're artificially grown living faces that desire human hosts, and are said to be created from human faults and sins, similar to [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the more renowned Homunculi.]]
40	* ThePowerOfLove: The Haunted Mask can only be vanquished by a symbol of love. While it does come back time and again, a symbol of love is enough to keep it at bay for a while.
41	* ThePrankster: Chuck and Steve from (who also take advantage of Carly Beth being easily scared despite [[WithFriendsLikeThese supposedly being her friends]])
42	* PuppyLove: Steve and Carly-Beth, though any romantic tension between the two is at best distantly implied in the book but [[AdaptationExpansion made into a major plot point in the TV series]].
43	* RapidFireShutUp: When Sabrina makes an InnocentlyInsensitive comment about the mask, saying that she must be sweating like a pig under there, Carly Beth gets angry while under the mask's influence. She responds with this trope, then starts to strangle Sabrina. Luckily, she realizes what she's doing, and releases Sabrina, claiming that she just did that as a joke.
44	* RazorApples: Lampshaded. Sabrina's mom instructs her every year to throw away any candies that are not in their original wrappers for fear of poisons and sharp objects.
45	* ReedRichardsIsUseless: The Shopkeeper could've revolutionized surgery and ended permanent disfigurement, if he improved on his "mask making" skills.
46	* RejectedApology: After the prank he pulled on her at the science fair, Steve called Carly Beth and apologized to her. But she tells Sabrina in a later phone call that she doesn't think an apology is good enough. So, she decides to scare him.
47	* TemptingFate: [[spoiler: After she gets home with her mask off, she runs into her mother, who asks her what happened. Carly Beth says she'll explain, but everything is fine now. But then Noah immediately comes into the kitchen wearing her mask]].
48	* WithFriendsLikeThese: Apparently Steve and Chuck are supposed to be friends to Sabrina and Carly Beth but given their cruel pranks directed at the latter, it's hard to believe that.
49	** Sabrina isn't immune to this trope either since she laughs at some of the pranks and upsets Carly Beth.
50

Context Literature / TheHauntedMask