- Slappy the Dummy
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Slappy Goosebumps character 
Slappy on the cover of Revenge of the Living Dummy.First appearance Night of the Living Dummy Last appearance Slappy New Year Created by R. L. Stine Information Nickname(s) The Dummy That is no Dummy, Mr. Bad Boy, Old Crazy Eyes Gender Male Family Mr.Wood (a.k.a Wally,His Twin Brother who Has Red Hair, but was killed) Slappy the Dummy is a fictional character in the Goosebumps children's series by R. L. Stine. He is one of the series' most popular villains, and the lead antagonist in the Night of the Living Dummy saga.
Contents
Character
Slappy is a ventriloquist's dummy that comes to life when the words "Karru marri odonna loma molonu karrano",which means " You and I are one now", found on a sheet of paper in his pocket, are read aloud. After coming to life, Slappy spends most of his time searching for a slave to serve him (usually the child who brought him to life). Slappy is shown to be a rude, sadistic control freak who likes to pull mean pranks and frames the main protagonist(s) in each book for them. Other defining characteristics are his raspy voice and near-superhuman strength. Stine has said, "I love writing Slappy because he is so rude."[1]
As revealed in "Bride of the Living Dummy", Slappy was carved out of coffin wood by an ancient sorcerer. "Slappy's Nightmare" reveals that he has a twin brother Wally, carved from the same coffin; however, this revelation is only a dream. When "Night of the Living Dummy" was re-released in a special Horrorland edition, bonus material included with the book revealed that Slappy did indeed have a brother: Mr. Wood, the primary antagonist of the book, and that the coffin wood they were made from was cursed. Mr. Wood's destruction made Slappy twice as evil, and a thousand times ruder.[2]
Notable Appearances In Novels
Title Year Released Information Night of the Living Dummy 1993 In the first Night Of The Living Dummy book, Slappy appears as an ordinary ventriloquist dummy, and stays that way until the end of the book, when he realises that Mr. Wood, the main antagonist to that point, had been destroyed. Night of the Living Dummy II 1995 Slappy becomes the main antagonist in Night Of The Living Dummy II, when Amy Krammer, the main character, wants a new ventriloquist dummy for her families weekly 'talent show.' Her dad finds Slappy at a local pawn shoppe, and gives it to her as a gift. She takes out a slip of paper that has the magical words on it, reads it aloud, and Slappy slowly comes to life, causing mischief and havoc for Amy and her family. In the end, he is destroyed by Dennis Amy's old dummy. Night of the Living Dummy III 1996 Trina and Dan's dad finds the broken Slappy, fixes him and calls him 'Smiley,' adding him to a collection of ventriloquist dummies in the attic. Although Rocky, another doll, is frequently caught doing horrible things, Zane, the cousin of Trina and Dan, is the true culprit followed by Slappy. Slappy ends up being beat to 'death' by a mob of other dummies, and Zane ends up with Slappy, who is revealed at the end of the book to still be alive. Bride of the Living Dummy 1998 Jillian takes her little sisters Katie and Amanda, accompanied by their doll Mary-Ellen, to a puppet show of Jimmy O'James, with Slappy the Dummy as his partner. Slappy then finds a bride for himself, and will stop at nothing to get her... Slappy's Nightmare 1999 Slappy starts out being the disobedient puppet of Jimmy O'James. Fed up with Slappy, Jimmy replaces Slappy with Wally, who tells Jimmy how to control Slappy's evil: cursing him to doing three good deeds in one week. Although it is, in the end, revealed to be a nightmare, the book ends with his nightmare slowly coming true. Revenge of the Living Dummy 2008 Britney Crosbey and her friend, Molly Molloy, have to put up with Britney's obnoxious cousin, Ethan, and his new friend, Slappy. Slappy, though, seems to be the one causing the trouble this time, and Britney decides to put Slappy to sleep, after realising she only had to say the magic words again—simple as that. But then when she finds out that Ethan was behind Slappy's pranks via electronics, Slappy rewakes and Slappy has a plan to use a special 'Mind-Stealer' doll to make Britney into his own personal perfect slave. At the end, Britney decides to use the 'Mind-Stealer' doll against Slappy, whose mind gets stolen at the end of the book. The Streets of Panic Park 2009 Slappy appears in this book to team up with Luke and Lizzy to escape The Menace in Horrorland and Panic Park to outsmart The Menace and escape from both parks. Slappy New Year 2010 Slappy New Year was a book in a planned to be released series called, Goosebumps Gold. The series was never released due to the expired contract that R. L. Stine had with Scholastic at the time. However R. L. Stine did release the book, but changed the plotline.[citation needed] It was originally going to be the sequel to Slappy's Nightmare, but over the years since R. L. Stine changed the book's plot he dropped the idea of it being a sequel. It was released on November 1, 2010.[3][4][5] Appearances beyond the books
Slappy has also been made into an actual ventriloquist doll available from major retailers.[6] He was first manufactured by Goldberger Doll corporation after a nine year old boy from Long Island sent them a letter suggesting the idea in 1998. There is also a mask[7] and a full costume available for sale. Night of the Living Dummy 3 and Bride of the Living Dummy have also been adapted for VHS and DVD,the second on DVD includes "Bride of the Living Dummy".[8]
Reception
In 2007, The Onion ran a story alleging that Slappy was gay.[9] This story was picked up by The New York Times and School Library Journal.[10][11]
References
- ^ "R. L. Stine: A chat with the best-selling children's author," CNN (October 28, 1999).
- ^ Night of the Living Dummy, 2008 rerelease, bonus material: "Fright Gallery: Slappy the Dummy".
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/0545161991/
- ^ http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0545161991
- ^ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Slappy-New-Year/R-L-Stine/e/9780545161992/
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Slappy-Goosebumps-Tales-Ventriloquist-Instruction/dp/B0001WUZN4/
- ^ http://www.halloweencostumeshop.com/asp/iteminfo.asp?I=DG18916&R=&H=
- ^ David Lambert, "Goosebumps DVD news," TVShowsOnDVD.com(6/17/2007).
- ^ "R.L. Stine Reveals Slappy From Night Of The Living Dummy Was Gay," The Onion (November 7, 2007).
- ^ "Start of a Trend?," The New York Times (November 8, 2007).
- ^ Elizabeth Bird, "Cookie Craziness and Why Slappy Could Never be Gay," School Library Journal (November 9, 2007).
External links
- Slappy the Dummy - Official Site
- "Slappy the Dummy," The Goosebumps Wiki
Goosebumps Book series - Original series
- Series 2000
- Give Yourself Goosebumps
- HorrorLand
- Goosebumps Presents
Individual books Other - TV series
- Video games
- Attack of the Mutant
- Escape from HorrorLand
- Goosebumps HorrorLand
- Slappy the Dummy
Categories:- Goosebumps
- Fictional immortals
- Fictional dolls and dummies
- Fictional characters with superhuman strength
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