History YMMV / TheHauntedMask

* NarmCharm: In the TV episode when Carly Beth is able to scare Chuck and Steve while wearing the Haunted Mask and they run off in terror, she starts ''literally howling'' with laughter - high pitched "Awooooooooo"s in between her maniacal giggling. It's more silly than disturbing, but it's also quite infectuous to watch Carly Beth having that much fun at her tormentors expenses.

!!The book contains examples of:

* TheWoobie: Poor Carly Beth. A girl who's very nervous and scares easily, leading to her being the local ButtMonkey. Even her attempts to get revenge just lead to her being terrorized by the mask.

!!The episode contains examples of:

* FirstInstallmentWins: This is the first episode of the ''Goosebumps'' television series and is often seen as one of its best episodes, due to having a compelling and creepy story, and surprisingly good acting from both the adults and kids, compared to how {{narm}}y later episodes can get.
* HilariousInHindsight: The TV episode features a Steve who dressing up as a pirate. So... that would make him [[Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory Steve the Pirate]], wouldn't it?

* HilariousInHindsight: The TV episode features a Steve who dressing up as a pirate. So... that would make him [[Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory Steve the Pirate]], wouldn't it?
** In the tv version, someone is told they need ThePowerOfLove to save them from a curse, so they go looking for a symbol of love from someone for them. It turns out, though, that it's performing an ActOfTrueLove for another that saves them. Sixteen years later, [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen 2013}} a certain Norwegian princess would learn the same lesson.]]

** The moment when Carly-Beth is freed from the mask. The shopkeeper tells her that a symbol of love may be what can save her from the mask. The symbol in question is the sculpture her mom made.

** In the tv version, someone is told they need ThePowerOfLove to save them from a curse, so they go looking for a symbol of love from someone for them. It turns out, though, that it's performing an ActOfTrueLove for another that saves them. Sixteen years later, [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}} a certain Norwegian princess would learn the same lesson.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: The TV episode features a Steve who dressing up as a pirate. So... that would make him [[Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory Steve the Pirate]], wouldn't it?
** In the tv version, someone is told they need ThePowerOfLove to save them from a curse, so they go looking for a symbol of love from someone for them. It turns out, though, that it's performing an ActOfTrueLove for another that saves them. Sixteen years later, [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}} a certain Norwegian princess would learn the same lesson.]]

* FirstInstallmentWins: This is the first episode of the ''Goosebumps'' television series and is often seen as one of its best episodes, due to having a compelling and creepy story, and surprisingly good acting from both the adults and kids, compared to how {{narm}}y later episodes can get.

* FirstInstallmentWins: This is the first episode of the ''Goosebumps'' television series and is often seen as one of its best episodes, due to having a compelling and creepy story and surprisingly good acting from both the adults and kids, compared to how {{{narm}}y later episodes can get.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: After Carly Beth says to her mom she saw her plaster-cast face smile at her, she exits and the face gives a smirk at the audience. It's a one-off gag, but still pretty odd, given it's established as having no supernatural features at that point (unless it's meant to foreshadow the cast talking to Carly Beth near the episode's climax).

%%!!The episode contains examples of:

* AccidentalInnuendo: Chuck and Steve "love making Carly Beth scream" because she's "the best screamer" in the school in ''The Haunted Mask''.

** Carly Beth is a [[ShrinkingViolet]] with messy brown hair (blonde in the TV adaptation), blue eyes and is so easily scareable, [[LovableCoward that it makes her come off as a very lovable character]].

* Moe:

** To some extent, [[NiceGirl Sabrina]] and ([[BaseBreakingCharacter debtably]]) [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Noah]] are also pretty cute as well.

* AngelAndDevilShipping: Judging from the amount of fanart they both get online, [[ShrinkingViolet Carly]] [[NiceGirl Beth]]/[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Steve]] seems to be really popular.

* Angel/DevilShipping: Judging from the amount of fanart they both get online, [[ShrinkingViolet Carly]] [[NiceGirl Beth]]/[[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Steve]] seems to be really popular.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Getting revenge will only make you just as bad as the bullies.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Despite that this was an example of how she was losing herself, Carly Beth gets the chance to terrorize Steve and Chuck for all the times they made fun of her and pulled cruel pranks on her in ''The Haunted Mask''. Gesturing to the sculpture of her head her mom made, Carly Beth tells the boys to apologize.
-->'''Carly Beth''': Apologize to her. Tell Carly Beth you're sorry.
-->'''Steve''': Apologize? F-for what?
-->'''Carly Beth''': ''For WHAT?! For every time you scared her! For every time you made people laugh at her!''
-->'''Chuck''': We were just goofing around!
-->'''Steve''': W-we only did it 'cause we liked her.
-->'''Carly Beth''': ''That's no excuse. And that's not how you show someone you like her.''
-->'''Chuck''': Give us a break!
-->'''Steve''': Yeah. Really.
-->'''Carly Beth''': Apologize to her. '''''APOLOGIZE!''''' Or I promise you'll wish you never met her!
-->'''Steve and Chuck''': W-we're sorry, Carly Beth. We're sorry.
** It's telling that when Carly Beth is saying how Steve and Chuck humiliated her, you can hear her actual voice and not just that hoarse screeching of the Mask, making it clear this is indeed the real Carly Beth speaking.
** Carly Beth having the emotional strength to fight off the masks and save herself through finding her self worth. The poor kid comes off as very mentally fragile, so seeing her triumphant is really awesome. Her actress should get some recognition for such a great performance, too.
* NightmareFuel: In ''The Haunted Mask'', Carly Beth just wants a scary mask to teach her bullies a lesson that scaring people isn't cool. The mask she chooses unfortunately is no ordinary mask and the mask becomes her face. Carly panics as she realizes she ''can't take it off'' and her friend advises her there is no line, no separation between mask and skin. That face becomes ''her flesh''!
** Made scarier by the fact that this is ''[[WriteWhatYouKnow based on]] one of author R.L. Stine's own experiences'', specifically the time when his son was young and put on a rubber Frankenstein mask, then ''couldn't get it off''.

* TearJerker: Carly Beth is one of the biggest StrawLoser characters in the earlier books due to how she is constantly teased for being easily frightened. When {{Jerkass}} Steve plays a trick on her by getting her to eat sandwich with worms in it, ''everyone'' in the lunchroom laughs at her, including her supposed best friend Sabrina. In the TV show adaption, when Carly Beth returns home and finds that her mother made her a duck costume for Halloween, her brother uses it to scare her again. When she's alone, she just starts sobbing and rips the costume to shreds from how tired she is of being mocked. Thankfully, after her horrific ordeal with the Haunted Mask, she becomes much more braver and manages to handle Steve and his friends on her own.
** If you think about it, the backstory of the masks. They weren't just demonic or evil, they were sentient creatures that were locked away because of their deformities and grew more and more twisted from the isolation. In the TV adaptation, we even hear them begging Carly Beth to be their friend as they chase her...

!!The episode contains examples of:

* NightmareFuel:
** The TV version really hammers home the horror of the book. When Carly first sees the mask, we briefly see its eyes and when the store owner slams the door in anger, all the other masks turn in surprise.
** The sculpture of Carly Beth's head is a little unsettling at first, even Carly Beth admits that. When the mask finally seems to be fully gripping her mind, it comes to life and starts begging for help.
** The scene where Carly and Sabrina realize the mask is attached to her face. There's no awkward monster suits, no laughable SpecialEffectsFailure, just a girl realizing something is very wrong with her body and no idea why.
*** When they can't find the bottom to the mask, [[AdultFear Carly Beth suggests cutting it off.]]
** Near the end, when all the other masks come after Carly Beth, the moaning and calling after her is genuinely chilling...
* TearJerker: The Shopkeeper gets more of a backstory explaining why he created the Unloved Faces. He created them to cover up an implied facial deformity of some sort, but was so wracked with self-hatred that it seeped into his creations and made them ugly. Over the years, he kept trying and failing to create a beautiful face to hide his real one. It's obvious from his angry, depressed demeanor that his failures still haunt him to this day. His character is an excellent demonstration of just how crippling self-loathing can be -- it's telling that he recognizes in Carly Beth his own inability to love himself.

* TearJerker: Carly Bethis one of the biggest StrawLoser characters in the earlier books due to how she is constantly teased for being easily frightened. When {{Jerkass}} Steve plays a trick on her by getting her to eat sandwich with worms in it, ''everyone'' in the lunchroom laughs at her, including her supposed best friend Sabrina. In the TV show adaption, when Carly Beth returns home and finds that her mother made her a duck costume for Halloween, her brother uses it to scare her again. When she's alone, she just starts sobbing and rips the costume to shreds from how tired she is of being mocked. Thankfully, after her horrific ordeal with the Haunted Mask, she becomes much more braver and manages to handle Steve and his friends on her own.

** Near the end, when all the other masks come after Carly Beth, the moaning and calling after her is genuinely chilling...

* UnintentionallySympathetic: The titular ''Haunted Mask'' itself is supposed to be a monstrous, violent parasite that corrupts innocent hosts and needs to be sealed away. However, the thing is also a sentient being created without a body, who was viewed as a disgusting failure by it's creator and sealed away in his basement. Considering this, the mask's "evil" tendencies come off more as lashing out at a world that rejected it, and the Shopkeeper as an abusive creator. What's more, the sequel suggests that these masks would be happier if one could create a makeshift body for them, and ''Scream Of The Haunted Mask'' has the original mask helping Carly-Beth against a sadistic ghost and going back into storage quite gracefully.

HilariousInHindsight: The TV episode features a Steve who dressing up as a pirate. So... that would make him [[Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory Steve the Pirate]], wouldn't it?