The Give Yourself Goosebumps book with an evil magician.
You are hanging out with your friend at mall, but had to drag your little sister Joanie along. Joanie runs inside a magic shop and Sid winds up handcuffing his hands together inside the store. The shopkeeper, who calls himself "The Magician" informs them that there is no key for the handcuffs and mysteriously disappears. You furiously drag Joanie out of the shop when you discover that Joanie was holding an old book of spells. Sid suggests that you use one of the spells to get the handcuffs off.
If you use the spellbook, you have to directly deal with the magician. If you don't use it, you try to use regular tools to get them off but some bullies steal the spellbook.
Under the Magician's Spell provides examples of:
- Animorphism: There is an ending where you are turned into a dog.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Jodie is the usual Annoying Younger Sibling to the reader that is often seen in this series, but there are moments where they are shown to care about each other.
- Clothes Make the Maniac: If you wear his cape after he's defeated, you become the new Magician and make a Face–Heel Turn.
- Evil Old Folks: Granny Kapusta she'll either turn into a werewolf, or drug you, Joanie, and Sid, with plans to cut off your knees and eat them for dinner.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Happens if you encounter Granny Kapusta. She will either turn into a werewolf and eat you, or she gives you a glass of milk which magically immobilizes you and you discover she's going to cook and eat you. And even if you make the choice not to go into Granny Kapusta's house before you meet her, this still gives you a bad ending because of an earlier choice — you and your friend argue for so long that your little sister disappears completely.
- Fear-Induced Idiocy: You can be faced with choosing two different paths in strange dimension; one to safety, one to doom. You tell your friend Sid, and little sister Joanie to wait while you explore a path, and if it turns out to be the Doom Path, you'll scream before you die, and then they can take the other one. However, if you do choose the wrong path (which is by chance, by the way) your Heroic Sacrifice fails miserably, as you become so scared you forget to scream, and suddenly remember a second before you die, and realize you have caused your friend and sister's deaths.
- I'm a Humanitarian: One ending has a witch immobilize you and apparently take your knees to be used in her cooking. If you avoid this fate by taking the opposite of the choice that leads to it, then she ends up turning into a werewolf and devouring you.
- Knife-Throwing Act: You can be dragged into this and the performer will assure your worried relatives that one of the knives is fake and harmless. "Whoops! Wrong knife!"
- Morton's Fork:
- You can get involved in a card game, which if you lose, you have to polish rhinestones on the winner's suit, and if you win, you find out you're playing "Five Hundred Card Draw" meaning you have to win 499 more times before you proceed. Ironically this is the first time the "Card Draw" (which you have to do in real life) was used in Goosebumps — in a choice that affects nothing!
- You can get trapped in a room, but have the nagging feeling that your little sister hinted towards an exit unknowingly. If you can't figure it out, you stay in the room, meaning the Magician will return and kill all of you. If you do figure it out, you escape through a hidden trap door, but get talked into a knife throwing act, which ends badly for you.
- As before, you are trapped in a room, but a giant appears and asks you to follow him. If you refuse to do so, he will cry so hard that the entire room floods, and you all drown, but if you follow... well, it isn't actually clear what happens, but the book seems to imply you will be turned into a dummy.
- Stuck with an old lady who promises to take care of you, she offers you a glass of milk. If you accept, you become immobilized, and she plans to use your knees in her cooking. If you decline, she turns into a werewolf and attacks you.
- Muggle in Mage Custody: In one of the bad endings, you, Sid and Joanie all become slaves of a Jackass Genie in his castle.
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Nintendo Hard: Though not on the same level as some of the special editions, this book has only two good endings while some other books have at least three. The gimmicky nature of this book makes it even harder than usual to make the right decisions, as the readers often have to rely on their imagination instead of logic in their decision makings. - Puppet Permutation: You meet a giant, if you decide to go with the giant he turns you, Sid and Joanie into living ventriloquists dummies because he needed cuter puppets.
- Recursive Canon: This series usually mentions Goosebumps proper but this goes as far as to have you bring out a copy of Bad Hare Day at one point.
- Remembered Too Late:
- You can be faced with choosing two different paths in strange dimension; one to safety, one to doom. You tell your friend Sid, and little sister Joanie to wait while you explore a path, and if it turns out to be the Doom Path, you'll scream before you die, and then they can take the other one. However, if you do choose the wrong path (which is by chance, by the way) your Heroic Sacrifice fails miserably, as you become so scared you forget to scream, and suddenly remember a second before you die, and realize you have caused your friend and sister's deaths.
- Additionally, if you do choose the right path, you end up being scared by a scorpion and screaming, then realizing that once again, you have caused your friend and sister's deaths. (However, one of the endings in this path can send you back home with your friend and sister, and even makes the bullies declare all of you their three favorite people).
- What's a Henway?: Mr. Knowledge asks this very question, and the story will progress differently depending on whether you know the answer or not. If you don't, you'll groan when you hear the answer, and pass Mr. Knowledge off as a bad joker, but if you do, you'll join in, as you love jokes like this.
