Tagline: “He’s still walking. He’s still stalking.” (I love how matter of fact and flat this is.)
Synopsis: Let’s go over what we already know about Slappy the dummy: he’s pure evil, and to become sentient, you need to recite the words on the slip of paper that comes with him. Got that? Great. Let’s move forward. Amy is a decent ventriloquist, but her dummy Dennis is in a sorry state, so she’s thrilled when her father buys her a new dummy at a discounted rate. The dummy’s a familiar little hellion named Slappy who begins wreaking havoc all over again, painting Amy’s name all over the walls in her sister’s room, calling Amy’s mother fat, and injuring a small child. Amy’s sister Sara sees Slappy doing his thing but maintains that Amy is crazy until Amy confronts her. Her sister apologizes, Amy forgives her way too easily, and the two of them hatch a plan to catch Slappy in the act and get rid of him. Their plan involves younger brother Jed dressing up as Amy’s old dummy and attacking Slappy. The plan goes off without a hitch and there are no more worries concerning dummies. Then Jed reveals that he wasn’t dressed as Dennis, meaning Dennis is also alive! Will wonders never cease?
Creepiness factor: Because it’s the second time around, it’s too familiar an idea to be frightening, but the idea’s still good enough that it doesn’t really matter.
Signature Stine moment: Excellent sentence truncation here:
“The glassy blue eyes gazed up at me.
Lifelessly.
Blankly.
Neither of us moved.
And then, to my horror, the wooden lips parted. The red mouth slowly opened.
And Slappy let out a soft, evil, “‘Hee hee hee.'”
Accuracy of title: Sure. Sounds about right.
Moral of the story: Don’t read the words! Just don’t!
Overall rating: 8/10. I liked this, because it’s nearly as fun as the first and it involved some references to the Beatles.
Things That Go Bump 