Justin Tate's Reviews > Slime Doesn't Pay!

Part Snickers commercial and part Stephen King's Carrie for kids, this is sadly one of Stine's most phoned-in, obnoxious novels ever. Of course I'm sure it's more entertaining for ten-year-olds, who haven't been reading Stine for 25+ years and don't know his oft-reused plot devices by heart.

Still, us 90s kids will appreciate the novel's backstory--particularly Jimmy S. of Glencoe, Illinois, who won an official "Name a Goosebumps Book" contest in 1994. Over 1,600 titles were submitted and "Slime Doesn't Pay" was the winner. (The runner-up was “You, Me, and Monster Makes Three" if you're curious). According to the contest, the winning title would be transformed into a Goosebumps book. Apparently the contest gave no deadline for Stine, however, since it took him nearly 30 years to write it. And it's not even an official "Goosebumps" book at that.

There's a good chance the book never would have happened, but hardcore Goosebumps fans managed to track down Jimmy S (now co-founder of a brewing company) and even interviewed him in 2022. Renewed attention to the prize-winning title found its way back to Stine who pumped out the manuscript in record time.

Because Slime Doesn't Pay is such a love letter to fans, I decided to go with a very generous four stars. Otherwise it would have been two--maybe three, because of the cute illustrations.