Chicken Chicken (novella)

infobox Book | | name = Chicken Chicken
orig title =
translator =


author = R. L. Stine
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Goosebumps
classification = fiction
genre = Horror fiction, Children's literature
publisher = Scholastic
release_date = March 1, 1997
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages =
isbn =
preceded_by = How I Learned To Fly
followed_by = Don't Go To Sleep!

Chicken, Chicken is Goosebumps book #53 by R. L. Stine.

tory

Crystal and her brother Cole live in Goshen Falls. Their parents own chickens which the kids both hate. Goshen Falls is a pretty average place, except for Vanessa. Some people think she is a witch because she always wears black and was said to have cast a spell on a boy named Tommy Prince, making his head swell like a balloon.

One day Cole and his idiotic friends Anthony, Franny Oliver, and Jerry Henry decide to play a mean prank on Vanessa. Franny and Jerry pour water into her mailbox. Luckily, they manage to get away in enough time. The next day Crystal is meant to be buying her friend Lucy-Ann a birthday present but she meets her brother, who is playing the egg game with Anthony. The egg game is where two people stand opposite each other and try to throw an egg to each one's self, gradually getting further away each time. When Anthony gets splattered with egg, Cole and him get into a little argument.

Crystal tries to break it up but as she tries to pull them apart she falls backwards and hits someone, Vanessa. Her shopping bags and groceries spill all over the street. Anthony apologizes and then runs away. Crystal and Cole, however, get up and walk away. Crystal hears Vanessa mutter the words "Chicken, chicken". Crystal and Cole then run away without a word.

Over the next few days some weird things begin to happen. At chorus practice during Cole's solo he makes some weird noises that sound like clucking. At Lucy-Ann's birthday party Crystal's lips turn hard and beak-like as she eats Lucy-Ann's birthday cake. Then all of a sudden the two begin to grow feathers! They're turning into chickens, and then they realize there is only one person that could have done this - Vanessa.

They need to get Vanessa to turn them back into humans. When no car is outside Vanessa's house they decide to go in and find a book. Then they try to do the spell backwards, but instead turn into little chicks. Thankfully Vanessa returns and tells them why she did it: Vanessa is a stickler for good manners. She collects etiquette books and punishes those who don't show her good manners with her magic powers. Crystal then realizes that because Anthony apologized as he ran off after bumping into Vanessa, Anthony was not affected by Vanessa's spell. She types out a thank-you note to Vanessa, who gleefully accepts and turns them human. Vanessa gives Crystal and Cole soda. When Cole belches very loud and they both laugh long and loudly, Vanessa mutters, "Pig, pig".

Notes

*The story is based upon the Stephen King book "Thinner", which has a similar idea of a gypsy curse.
*Crystal and Cole's last names aren't mentioned at any time throughout the story.
*The original run cover was printed backwards.