Based on Bad Hare Day, book #41 of the original Goosebumps series.
Tim loves stage magic, and idolizes stage magician Amaz-O. But when he attends the magician's show, he learns that magic can be very real, and very dangerous.
The episode provides examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: The stage magician Amaz-O was a jerkass in the book. In the TV version, he's much nicer, and the real villain is his rival.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the book version, Amaz-O was turned into a rabbit by an evil sorcerer named Frank. The TV version changes his rival's name to El Sydney.
- Adapted Out: In the book, Amaz-O had a man-sized puppet made to look like his human self that performed for him while he was the rabbit used in the act. In the episode, the puppet doesn't exist; Amaz-O performed as himself, and the rabbit used in the act is his transformed rival El Sydney.
- Ascended Extra: The evil magician Frank, who's only mentioned in the book version, actually appears in the TV episode and is renamed as El Sydney.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: When Tim is looking for a magic wand to bring El Sydney back as a human, he asks him what it looks like. He gets a snarky response from him.
- Dramatic Drop: When El Sydney actually speaks to him in rabbit form, Tim's first reaction is to drop him on the floor, much to his annoyance.
- Give Me a Sign: When he sees his sister apparently transformed into a rabbit, Tim tells "her" to show him a sign. "She" responds by actually talking back in a masculine voice.
- Lame Pun Reaction:
- When El Sydney shows a couple rabbits — actually a transformed Tim and Amaz-O — if their heads would be chopped off by guillotine, he asks the audience if they want to see him "split hares." The audience just exchange exasperated looks.
- Averted with Amaz-O's show. When he sees the rabbit that he's using is fidgeting, he asks him if he's having a bad hare day, the audience responds by laughing.
- Variations on a Theme Song: During the credits for the episode, the usual Goosebumps theme tune is played in a more campy carnival tune instead of a spooky tune.
