Video: Even though Jack Black’s R.L. Stine was made out to be the star of 2015’s Goosebumps film, the character is conspicuously missing in the first trailer for the sequel, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. Thankfully, the true icon from the franchise, Slappy the Dummy (voiced by Jack Black) is back and terrorising children once again.
Fans of Stine’s books will recall that Slappy, like all ventriloquist dummies and dolls possessed by malevolent beings, always comes back no matter what the hapless targets of his rage do to destroy him.
In the new trailer, a trio of unsuspecting children (Madison Iseman, Caleel Harris and Jeremy Ray Taylor) stumble upon a dilapidated house in their neighbourhood that contains a mysterious coffin and a copy of R.L. Stine’s Haunted Halloween that, when read from, releases Slappy from his confinement.
While Slappy isn’t anywhere near as bloodthirsty and murderous as other living dolls in the horror genre, his plan to release all of the monsters contained within Stine’s magical books is just as horrifying as before.
Maybe this batch of children will have the good sense to let some adults know what the hell is going on and get this whole dummy business sorted out, but knowing the Goosebumps series, this probably won’t be the case when Goosebumps 2 hits theatres on October 25.