The episode begins with the Merton family moving into their new place, not far from their old house. Our protagonist, Kat [Played by a baby Katharine Isabelle, who you may recognise from the ‘Ginger Snaps’ series or ‘Freddy Vs Jason’] doesn’t feel right about moving, and her doubts are proven correct when the family’s dog, Killer, starts whining at something under the kitchen sink. Kat puts Killer outside and investigates the cupboard, noticing a pair of glowing red eyes that she assumes is a kitten [And exactly what breed do you reckon that is, Kat?]. She quickly realises it’s not a kitten at all, but a sponge-like creature that pulsates in her hand.
Hearing her screams of terror, the family runs in, but the creature has disguised itself as a normal old sponge and is placed in the garbage. Kat’s younger brother Daniel brings Killer inside, who I guess can sense the evil of the sponge, and ends up knocking over a box of Mum’s fancy china plates.
Later as Kat washes her face for bed, the sponge creature sneaks into the bathroom and positions itself on the towel rack [How’d it climb up there?!] just in time for Kat to reach for her towel. She grabs the sponge thing instead and accidentally smashes a glass, causing Daniel to cut his foot when he runs in to see what happened. Once again, no-one believes her about the sponge and that night in bed, the creature sneaks into Kat’s room and confronts Killer while everyone sleeps.
The next morning, Kat’s younger brother, Daniel, justifies eating cold pizza for breakfast because
“cold pizza’s got all the basic food groups on it” [Cold pizza is disgusting and you will never change my mind] and Kat discovers that Killer is missing [:(]. She rides around on her bike searching for him, but soon realises her breaks aren’t working and the poor girl is eventually yeeted off [And it is hilarious hahahaha]:
Back at home, she tells Daniel and his friend Carlo about the bad luck they’ve had ever since she found the sponge, and when she notices it inside her helmet, the Daniel finally sees it moving and believes it. Carlo thinks it should be studied, but quickly changes his tune when the sponge bares its teeth, and the kids bury it in the backyard.
The next day, Kat and Daniel see that the grass and plants in the yard are dying, so they dig up the sponge, which has been growing bigger with each new instance of bad luck. Kat takes it to school to show the science teacher, Mrs. Vanderhoff, but the creature has hidden its eyes and mouth again, so Mrs. Vanderhoff thinks it’s just a normal sponge. Kat insists that she dissect it or something, and the teacher agrees to work on it overnight. Satisfied, Kat warns her to put it back in its cage when it’s done before leaving. Later while Mrs. Vanderhoff is distracted, we see the sponge’s eyes glow again as beakers and test tubes shatter around the room [And we never see her again…].
Elsewhere, Kat, Daniel and Carlo are looking through a book called ‘Encyclopedia of the Weird’ where they learn the creature is a Grool [Which is something else entirely on Urban Dictionary], believed to be a living bad luck charm. “You mean it causes bad luck?” asks Daniel stupidly [Honestly Daniel, what else would it fucking mean?]. Carlo explains that it feeds on the bad luck it causes, which helps it to grow.
Unfortunately the book doesn’t say how to kill the Grool, but Carlo is looking on the bright side — at least it’s not a Lanx, a “vampire potato that sucks the life force right out of you”. Debating what to do about the Grool, Carlo reads from the book that the owner dies if they give the Grool away. Kat realises she must be the owner, and she’s given it to Mrs. Vanderhoff to study [!!!!].
The kids head back to the school but there’s no sign of Mrs. Vanderhoff or the Grool in the science room. They hide when the janitor walks in to clean, and it’s revealed he’s wiping down the benches with none other than our Grool friend! Then the lights go out and as he tries to fix the electricity, the janitor hits his head and falls to the ground.
The kids make sure he’s breathing before Kat goes to investigate a sound coming from inside a cabinet. On the top shelf is a jar of acid [As if lol] and despite dipshit Kat decides to step on a wobbly chair to search the top shelf for the Grool [Did she forget it causes bad luck?]. The creature pops up, startling Kat. She falls to the ground, managing to avoid the cabinet and acid as they fall behind her.
With the acid producing toxic fumes and the fallen cabinet and growing Grool blocking their escape, the kids move back to the janitor’s body so they can try get him through a window or something [That’s not gonna happen]. They accidentally knock the janitor’s walkman, which starts playing music louder, and they notice the Grool begin to shrink.
Using their brains, they work out that the Grool hates happiness [Tag yourself I’m the Grool], since happy equals good and the Grool thrives on bad. The batteries quickly run out on the walkman, though, and the Grool stars to grow again [Oh no!]. Thinking on her feet, Kat starts complimenting the Grool, proving to be a real smooth talker — “And that skin! So damp, yellow and absorbent” [Put that on my gravestone xx]. The Grool starts shrinking and the others join in, killing it with kindness.
But then the chemical fumes reach the Grool and it begins to grow again [What a fkn roller coaster!]. The janitor wakes up and quickly takes charge, barely questioning what’s going on and busting out a fire extinguisher to spray the Grool, which shrinks down one last time [Even though the foamy substance clearly doesn’t touch it…].
We cut to what I assume is the next day where it’s revealed Kat’s keeping the Grool in a box surrounded by flowers and other happy things as well as playing music [A remix of the Goosebumps theme, to be exact!] to keep it subdued.
Killer finally returns, but he hasn’t come empty-handed — he’s got a potato. Except it’s not a potato, it’s a Lanx, and the episode ends on a dramatic freeze frame of Kat screaming.
Final thoughts
I remember this being one of my favourite books and the TV adaption didn’t disappoint! It was more fun than scary, but it was still a good mix of the two, and you can’t go wrong with Katharine Isabelle. As usual, condensing a book into a 22-minute episode leaves the pacing feeling a bit rushed, but I can look past it here because I enjoyed it so much.
48 Urban Dictionary definitions of ‘Grool’ out of 60!
