Scholastic, $3.99, ISBN 0-590-84773-2
Horror, 1997

Genies in the world of Goosebumps are never good news, mostly because the kids in that setting are always too dumb to wish for really nice things, like world peace or socialism that actually works. No, instead they just ruin things for everyone. Hence, it is not a good thing when your character opens a can of soda one day and woosh, out comes a genie named Jenna who offers you the usual three wishes. You can wish for the usual fame, fortune, or an upgrade to your physical appearance… or maybe something else… but at any rate, the wishes always come with a catch, The Monkey’s Paw-style, so you better hang on and enjoy the ride.

Because you’re a dumb kid, your wishes in Scream of the Evil Genie are on the unimaginative side as well as prone to creative interpretations by nasty genies, and you have no control over what comes out of your mouth. Also, some of the “twists” here are quite predictable.

Fortunately, the whole thing is unexpectedly hilarious and fun. The campaign is structured and paced very well, and even the random elements feel like well-integrated parts of the arc instead of figurative pianos dropped onto your character’s head. The bad endings are actually far more fun than the good ones, as the latter are on the predictable goody-goody side, so this one has some entertaining replay value as you find all the adorable ways for your character to meet a bad end. Also, most of the bad ends are actually creative and interesting, instead of mere lazy “Oops, dead!” ones.

The downside is that you may encounter your irritating family members – especially that brother, oh my god – and you can’t wish painful deaths on all of them, but then again, everything has to be PG-rated here.

Scream of the Genie comes out at a good spot in this gamebook series, so it’s one of those you can take a chance on if you wish to explore a more interactive form of Goosebumps.