This seems unpleasant.
The Goosebumps book where two kids are turned into chickens.
Crystal and her brother Cole have heard of the rumors that a local woman named Vanessa is a witch. Kids love to play pranks on her, but gossip states that she usually gets her revenge. Despite this, Cole's friends play a prank on her anyway. Crystal and Cole are the ones caught by her, but she does nothing. Then a few days later, they literally bump into her at the grocery store. She points at them and says "Chicken Chicken". Soon the kids start to look and feel more like chickens. Is Vanessa really behind this, and if so, how can they appease her?
It is one of the nineteen original series books that was not adapted into the TV series. However, there was an event based on it in the game Goosebumps HorrorTown.
This book provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Crystal and Cole's parents are emotionally abusive and neglectful. They not only offer no help when their children are trying to tell them something is wrong, but even laugh at them when they start acting like chickens at a party.
- Adults Are Useless: Their parents are unattentive even as it's clear something is wrong. At one point Crystal tries to show mom her lips, which have become a beak, and yet she just thinks they are chapped.
- All Witches Have Cats: The witch Vanessa lives with a cat.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Cole is the stereotypical prankster who likes to scare Crystal into thinking Vanessa is after her or him.
- Animorphism: The entire plot is based around this, as Crystal and Cole gradually turn into chickens.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: Occurs when Crystal and Cole visit the local bakery.Cole: Is that Lucy-Ann's cake?
Crystal: Well, it says HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY-ANN on it. So what's your guess, genius? - Bowdlerise: The 2018 ebook removes a line where Crystal thinks a boy insults her friend because he likes her.
- Captain Oblivious: Crystal and Cole's parents are some of the absolute worst examples of this ever. They remain completely oblivious to the fact that their children are turning into chickens even though they are sprouting feathers and their mouths are turning into beaks. When Crystal tries to show her mother her new beak mouth, her mother thinks her lips are just chapped.
- Crying Wolf: Because Cole has played so many pranks on her, Crystal refuses to believe that Vanessa played a hand in his capricious clucking during a musical.
- Disproportionate Retribution: A Wicked Witch transforms kids into literal chickens because they knocked over her groceries in the street and then ran away without apologizing. (Their friend who stammered out an apology before running off was apparently forgiven.)
- Etiquette Nazi: The witch Vanessa turns Crystal and Cole into chickens for not apologizing after knocking her over. She only changes them back after they write her a thank you note for trying to teach them good manners (the apology note they wrote was not enough for Vanessa).
- Evil Wears Black: Vanessa, the evil witch, wears a black dress in all her appearances.
- Forced Transformation: Crystal and Cole gradually and painfully transform into chickens.
- Here We Go Again!: After patching things up with Vanessa, she offers them soda. Cole burps, and Vanessa whispers "Pig Pig".
- Ironic Echo: At the dinner table, when Crystal is complaining about her lousy basketball playing earlier that day, Cole says to her that no one is perfect. Then he started bragging about his perfect pitch in the school chorus, Crystal reminds him that no one's perfect. She thought that was lame herself, and no one laughed.
- Karma Houdini: Vanessa curses the kids to become chickens just for having bad manners, and not only isn't punished, but things are resolved by the kids writing a thank you note.
- Loving Bully: A boy in Crystal's school, Larry, is always insulting Lucy-Ann. Crystal speculates that this trope is the reason why he's always doing it to her.
- Misplaced Retribution: If Vanessa wanted to be angry at anyone, she should've been angry at Cole and Anthony since their fight is the reason the kids knocked her over. Crystal was trying to stop the boys from hurting each other and didn't see Vanessa until it was too late. That said, her punishment was still grossly uncalled for.
- Never My Fault: Vanessa's right to be angry at Crystal and Cole for the groceries incident is diminished by the fact she scared them off and she cursed them before they could even offer to help.
- Nightmare Sequence: After Crystal is scared by Cole one night, she dreams about an ugly black cat in an all-white room. The cat moved towards her and made an painful screeching sound that Crystal thought was like Nails on a Blackboard.
- Old Dog: One of the store owners in Crystal's town, Mr. Horace, owned an old hound that was very lazy and looked as if he owned the town. During the egg fight between Cole and Anthony, the dog just lay in the street and hardly paid attention to the event unfolding in front of him. Even when Anthony drops the egg on the ground and trips over the dog, the animal hardly notices and simply began licking egg yolk off the ground.
- The Prankster: Cole, who often tricks Crystal into thinking Vanessa broke into her house and Vanessa attacked him.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: The book ends with the kids being cursed again, but they have plenty of time to apologize, beg for forgiveness, and try to make things right with Vanessa again before they start transforming again.
- Space Whale Aesop: Mind your manners or you'll get turned into a chicken!
- Spoof Aesop: The aforementioned moral comes across as one, with how silly the whole idea is, and how Stine famously doesn't like putting serious morals in his work.
- Title Drop: The title comes from Vanessa's incantation when she drops her curse on Crystal and Cole; a finger pointed at her victims as she utters "Chicken chicken".
- Transformation Horror: One of the most graphic examples in the series, as the characters slowly and gruesomely transform into chickens.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Stine has said that he basically stole the setup from Thinner.
- You Are What You Hate: Crystal and Cody hate chickens. They get turned into... you guessed it.
