Line #24 Literature/NightOfTheLivingDummy


1	[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightofthelivingdummyi.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:345:The origin of a monster.]]
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4	-> ''Living Dummy'' saga: '''I''' \| [[Literature/{{Night of the Living Dummy II}} II]] \| [[Literature/{{Night of the Living Dummy III}} III]] \| Literature/{{Bride\| of the Living Dummy}}
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6	The ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book that introduces Slappy.
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8	Kris and Lindy are sisters who compete at everything. When they come across a discarded dummy, Lindy takes to ventriloquism, and immediately starts garnering praise. Well, Kris will just have to prove she's just as good with a dummy their dad picks up from a pawn shop. Unfortunately for Kris, after she reads some strange words on a scrap of paper that came with her dummy, he comes to life. And he's ''evil'', violent, and aggressive, and tries to force the sisters into becoming his slaves. Before it's too late, Kris must find a way to save herself and her family from the evil Mr. Wood.
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10	[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness That's right, Mr. Wood]]. This book may have introduced Slappy, the most popular and frequently-recurring ''Goosebumps'' villain, but the main antagonist is Mr. Wood. Fans of the series will be surprised that Slappy doesn't really do anything, and indeed is apparently inanimate for the rest of the book; he wouldn't become the recurring villain fans know and love until the direct sequel, ''Literature/NightOfTheLivingDummyII''.
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12	It is one of the nineteen original series books that was not adapted into [[Series/Goosebumps1995 the 1995 TV series]]. It would later be adapted into an installment of the ''Goosebumps Graphix'' series, included in the ''Slappy's Tales of Horror'' collection.
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14	It was later reissued in the ''Classic Goosebumps'' line in 2008 as a companion to ''Revenge of the Living Dummy''.
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16	----
17	!!The book provides examples of:
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19	* AccidentalIncantation: In this book (and its sequels), the characters find a piece of paper near a dummy with the words "Karru marri odonna loma molunu karrano". They read them aloud in confusion, prompting the dummies (Mr. Wood and Slappy in the first one, and just Slappy in the sequels) to come to life.
20	* AllThereInTheManual: The reprint includes some supplementary information on how exactly Mr. Wood and Slappy are related.
21	* BreakoutVillain: Slappy was a minor character in this book (he may be on the cover, but Mr. Wood is the villain), but in the sequels was brought back as the primary villain. Slappy was even the main character of a book of his own.
22	* BreakTheCutie: Mr. Wood attempts to torment Kris and Lindy into being his slaves. [[spoiler: And Slappy may have succeeded]].
23	* DemonicDummy: Two of them! Mr. Wood is the main villain, but the final scene reveals Slappy is alive and evil too.
24	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: As several people, along with the blogger himself, pointed out on the [[http://www.bloggerbeware.com snarky Goosebumps blog]], the ''Night of the Living Dummy'' series may be creepy as a child, but as an adult, a completely different layer of creepy reveals itself. The living dummy in question is obsessed with making preteen girls (and it's always girls, never boys in these books) into his slaves. When they refuse, he punches and slaps them -- a rare act of physical violence for this series -- and knocks one girl unconscious.
25	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Slappy is the most well-known ''Goosebumps'' character and the mascot of the series, which makes it rather surprising that he's a minor supporting character in his first appearance.
26	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Kris tries to have a go of Slappy, he scolds and slaps her. Lindy claims she didn't do that, but nobody believes her. Then when Kris gets Mr. Wood, he starts doing something similar on his own, and nobody believes Kris, before he starts attacking the girls later in the book. [[spoiler:The ending reveals that Slappy is also alive and evil just like Mr. Wood is.]]
27	* ImYourWorstNightmare: A variation. When Kris first sees Mr. Wood being alive, she [[ThisCannotBe tries to tell herself it's only a dream]], only for the dummy to say "I'm not a dream... I'm a nightmare!"
28	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the climax, [[spoiler: the driver of the steamroller is horrified when he thinks he ran over a child, and ''very'' relieved when he confirms, after Kris and Lindy tell him, that it was just a wooden dummy]].
29	* NightmareFace: The all-too-[[DissonantSerenity innocent]] wide-eyed {{Slasher Smile}}s on the cover.
30	* ShoutOut: The title is a reference to ''Film/{{Night of the Living Dead\| 1968}}''.
31	* SpotlightStealingSquad: Slappy isn't the antagonist of this book but he is the one pictured on the cover, the antagonist of the rest of the ''Dummy'' books, and even to an extent the series' mascot.
32	* TookALevelInKindness: Lindy seems to take one about midway through the book, possibly out of remorse for [[spoiler: the downright sadistic "joke" she plays on Kris]]. There's one scene where Kris sees Mr. Wood move and Lindy [[PetTheDog tries to comfort her by saying it was just a nightmare.]] Unfortunately, they quickly realize it ''wasn't'' a nightmare, and he really is alive.
33	* {{Ventriloquism}}: It's called ''Night of the Living Dummy'', what do you expect?
34	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Mr. Wood utterly ruins Kris' performance and the entire school concert by talking on his own to insult Kris' teacher, before puking a disgusting green substance all over the place and right at the audience.
35	* WhamLine: Just as the girls think they're free of evil dummies, [[spoiler:Slappy suddenly speaks up: "Hey, slaves, is the other guy gone? I thought he'd ''never'' leave!"]]
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37	!!The (non-existent) episode provides examples of:
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39	* UnInstallment: While both ''Night of the Living Dummy II'' and ''III'' (and ''Bride'') made their way into the [=TV=] series, the original ''Night of the Living Dummy'' was never adapted from the novel.
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41	!!The graphic novel provides examples of:
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Context Literature / NightOfTheLivingDummy