We begin with an introduction from the big man himself, R.L. Stine, warning “Viewers beware, you’re in for a scare!” before the story really begins.
It’s almost Halloween, the spookiest night of the year, and Carly Beth Caldwell and her best friend, Sabrina, are heading towards a pumpkin patch to snag one for the upcoming holiday when they stumble upon a new novelty store that’s just popped up in town [What, they never saw it being constructed or anything?] They admire the ooky spooky masks through the shop window, unaware of the creepy old man with a slightly disfigured face watching from inside [Pedo alert!].
At the pumpkin patch, the two girls are attacked by two jack-o’-lantern-headed creatures!!! But no need to fear – it’s just Chuck and Steve, two boys who take pleasure in terrifying Carly Beth. Carly Beth storms off, fed up with the boys’ constant pranks and is all ”why me?!?” to Sabrina. Sabrina tries to comfort her best friend, but can’t help but point out that Carly Beth’s just an easy target because she’s terrified of everything [We also learn about some other pranks the boys have pulled on CB, which would’ve been nice to seen, rather than just be told about. I guess it would have affected the pacing of the episode though]. Carly Beth hopes that one day the boys will know what it feels like.
At home, Mrs. Caldwell shows Carly Beth the fake head she made out of plaster in her art class that looks just like our protagonist [Except it really doesn’t and I’d probably be offended…]. Carly Beth doesn’t understand why her mother would make a replica of her [Poor thing has absolutely no self-esteem:(], and her mum’s all like “Because I love you, silly poo xx”. As Carly Beth studies the head, she thinks she sees it smile at her, but Mrs. Caldwell thinks Halloween is just getting to her.
[Twinnies!] As if a replica fake head wasn’t enough, good old Mum has also made a cute little duck costume for Carly Beth to wear trick or treating. What a lucky gal! Still angry about Chuck and Steve’s antics, Carly Beth wants to be scary for Halloween, not cute, and as she heads to her room, we see the fake head smile briefly [Spooky!].
In her room, Carly Beth is frightened by her younger brother, Noah, prancing around and quacking in the duck costume [Not sure why she’s so scared of this, lol]. “Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha” says Noah, pleased with himself [Looks like I’ve got a new phrase to use too!].
The next day at school, Chuck and Steve come to apologise to scaredy cat Carly Beth at lunchtime. It’s all just a ruse, though, with Chuck doing all the talking while Steve slips some slippery little worms into Carly Beth’s sandwich.
Side note: WTF is this girl eating and why is she looking at it in amazement when she’s clearly taken a bite already?
Apparently the whole school is in on the prank, because they all seem to be watching as she takes a bite. Delicious. Humiliated by everyone’s laughter, our protagonist runs home for a cry [Poor Carly Beth. You really feel bad for her, the girl has no confidence and is being tormented constantly]. She takes out her frustrations on the duck costume before busting open her cash stash and heading to the new novelty shop with her $30.
At the store, Carly Beth is delighted to see all the ooky spooky costumes for purchase. The creepy old man senses her presence and demands to know what she’s doing here [Which is super weird because it’s a shop? She clearly wants to buy something?? Why else would she be there???] and tells her the store is closed [So why was the door unlocked?]. Carly Beth explains she just wants a mask for Halloween, and he allows her to browse the walls while he answers the phone.
Unsatisfied with the lame masks on display, Carly Beth stumbles into a back room where there’s a makeshift science lab and six unsettlingly realistic masks sitting on individual stands [At least two of which are clearly inspired by the Butterball and Chatterer Cenobites from the ‘Hellraiser’ series, which is a fun little reference. Arguably a bit too scary for this show’s audience though]. She’s drawn to a green lizardy-looking one but as she goes to touch it, she’s stopped by the store owner and doesn’t see the mask open its eyes. Spooky!
Pedo Pat locks the door and the six masks all turn to look at Carly Beth, which again goes unnoticed by her. She apologises, but he just tells her she’s not supposed to be here [Her specifically, or anyone? Either way, why the fuck did you open a shop?]. He goes on to explain that these six masks are not for sale because they’re too frightening. That’s exactly the vibe Carly Beth wants for Halloween, and our girl is determined to have that green one.
The owner offers her gorilla mask for free, but she doesn’t think that’ll scare Chuck and Steve. He realises she wants revenge and asks her name as he places his hand on her shoulder [Stranger danger!]. Carly Beth is terrified, stuttering her name before he tells her she has a nice face [!!!!! Can’t believe I never noticed as a kid how rapey this part is]. She changes the subject to the mask again and offers him the $30, but he unlocks the door and orders her to leave.
Carly Beth isn’t about to give up her chance to get even with her tormentors, so she snatches the mask and escapes, throwing the money behind her [So not technically stealing, you know?]. She briefly has a change of heart outside the shop, but Pedo Pat locks the front door and puts up a closed sign, so she just heads home, excited to make Chuck and Steve wish they’d never met her [*Evil cackle*].
At home later, she terrifies Noah while wearing it and speaking in a strange voice, and the poor boy almost shits his pants [Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha!]. When Carly Beth tries to take the mask off, she finds it stuck to her skin but eventually manages to remove it. Noah asks how she changed her voice like that, because “that was the scariest part”, but Carly Beth doesn’t even know how she did it [It’s a weird conversation to have because it’s really not that hard to put on a voice, but I guess it’s just there to show the audience that Carly Beth isn’t completely in control when wearing the mask, even though she doesn’t realise it herself].
Downstairs, Carly Beth puts the mask back on and we see it tighten over her face as if fusing to her skin. She doesn’t seem to notice though [Don’t know how she missed this one, she was looking in the mirror lol] and grabs a wooden stick from the closet [?What is this stick? It’s like a broom handle but without the broom. What’s the point?] before placing the plaster head on top of it and heading to Sabrina’s, terrorising some trick or treaters on the way.
Sabrina and her weird cat costume are unnerved by Carly Beth’s mask and the plaster head because they both look so real [Are you looking at the same plaster head I am, Sabrina?], and Carly Beth explains the head is “the old me” [And thus, the plaster head becomes representative of the easily-spooked, self-conscious Carly Beth as she’s a completely different person when wearing the haunted mask].
The girls set off on their trick or treating adventure, but Sabrina is super intrigued by the mask and asks 44985685 questions about it until she eventually cops a feel. It feels like real skin, which is gross and “too weird for words”, and wants Carly Beth to take it off. Instead, Carly Beth just screams at her to shut up and starts shaking her violently… and that’s the end of part 1!
No point giving my final thoughts until the conclusion of the story, but so far so good! Part 2 will be up Wednesday, so join me then to see what tricks and treats the mask has in store for Carly Beth and her peers.
