Full Moon Fever (novella)

"Full Moon Fever" was the twenty-second book written by R. L. Stine for the "" series. It was originally released in October 1999.

Plot

The plot involves two kids, Robbie Caffeinerson and Alesha, his sister, who hear a story from their grandfather John about the illness of the title, in which looking at a full moon on Halloween causes people to turn into monsters.

On Halloween, the two go trick-or-treating with their friend Maggie, but Maggie separates from them when they decide to visit Mrs. Eakins, a local woman believed to be a witch, for candy. After getting several "Best Bars" from her, Robbie remembers Grandpa John's story, and he persuades Alesha to look at the full moon as a joke. However, after doing this, the two "do" transform into monstrous half-man, half-animal monsters. They awake the next morning, horrified by their appearance and no longer able to speak; when their Mom sees them and panics, they are overcome by ferocious, uncontrollable anger and flee. As they do so, both Robbie and Alesha find themselves overtaken by powerful hunger pangs, and they end up fighting over a squirrel.

After eating two squirrels, Robbie and Alesha learn how to speak again. Alesha decides they should enlist the help of her friend Maggie, getting her brother Clay to drive them to Grandpa John's house to find out a cure. They become hungry again and eat insects. Then they attempt to hide in a backyard, but Robbie hits his head and finds himself again overcome by anger. The house's owner discovers them and engages the two in a fight. Alesha is knocked unconscious with a rake, but Robbie is able to bite the man and drive him away. Robbie and Alesha flee to the sewer, where they hide from arriving police. Both find themselves so hungry that they end up eating dead insects out of the water.

Later, Robbie and Alesha emerge from the sewer and find Maggie. Maggie is horrified by her friends' appearance but agrees to help them; however, Robbie is overcome by hunger again and eats Maggie's goldfish - after which Maggie angrily chases them from her house. Robbie and Alesha are forced to walk to Grandpa John's house overnight, stopping to eat a dead rabbit along the way.

Finally, Robbie and Alesha arrive at Grandpa John's house. When Grandpa John is unable to help them, the two destroy his house, and Robbie realizes that they are on the verge of eating him. They calm down after eating all of his meat, and after awhile convince him to take them to Canada to find the woman who told him the story, hoping she knows a cure for the illness.

Robbie, Alesha and Grandpa John fly to Canada. They find the woman, who claims that Full Moon Fever is just a story and is unable to help them. They are directed to a crazy Dr. Thorne, who disguises himself as an imaginary son. He claims not to know any cure, kidnaps Robbie and Alesha and puts them on display in a sideshow. Robbie and Alesha manage to escape, but do not change back into humans at the next full moon, and return home.

Robbie becomes hungry and nearly eats his dog Scruffy, but ends up eating his left-over Halloween candy instead. While eating it, Robbie finds one of the "Best bars", and discovers that it's actually a "Beast Bar" - meaning that Mrs. Eakins, as revenge for Robbie and Alesha's accidentally breaking her window, placed a spell on them. They cross the street to get revenge on Mrs. Eakins and trash her house, but leave after finding "Cure bars", which they hope will cure them of their illness. However, they are actually "Curse Bars", and Mrs. Eakins curses them to shrink smaller and smaller.

Many elements of the story are similar to Stine's earlier short story Pumpkin Juice, also about ingesting a substance that causes transformation into hungry animals, and the confusion of the words "best" and "beast" being a key plot point.

Tagline

"Hairy Halloween!"