Garfield and the Teacher Creature is a Children's Horror Novel by Jim Davis and Jim Kraft.
One day, Garfield discovers Jon's locked the TV in the closet because he feels Garfield's been watching it way too much. Deciding this to be the last straw, Garfield decides to leave the house and go elsewhere, taking Odie with him. Eventually, the two come to an abandoned neighbourhood with an old, run-down school building where they decide to spend the night.
Of course, there's also a local tale about the school, and how it had this one eccentric science teacher who liked experimenting with chemicals. One day after class, when he was working with his chemicals, they erupted in his face, which people say turned him into a monster known as "the teacher creature" who still skulks the hallways of the old building to this day.
Garfield isn't really a believer in it, though. He thinks it's just a story, and absolutely nothing else. All he finds in the building is a 10-year-old runaway named Max, and his super smart hamster, Sherman.
Oh, and also the teacher creature... wait, what?
The book was published on November 10th, 1999.
Garfield and the Teacher Creature contains examples of:
- Abandoned Area: The neighbourhood Garfield and Odie find themselves in after running away from home has clearly been left to rot. All the signs on all the buildings are faded, and the grass is overgrown.
- The Runaway: Garfield and Odie, followed by Max and Sherman.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The Teacher Creature is actually the owner of an old costume shop that fell on hard times with the rest of the neighbourhood when the school closed down.
- Shout-Out: When playing in the gym, Max decides to toss Odie the ball so he can hit it into the net with his nose. He says that he saw a dog do it in a movie.
