Rotten School #14: Night of the Creepy Things

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

The Mummy's Revenge

Well, dudes, as our scary story starts, big Joe Sweety was sound asleep in his desk chair. Sweety falls asleep every night the minute he starts to do his homework.

And there he was, snoring a little, his mouth open, eyes shut, dirty brown hair falling over his face. And there we were—my buddies Feenman, Crench, and me—sneaking silently into his dorm room to turn him into a mummy.

Yes, a mummy.

Don't worry. I'll explain.

As you may know, you never call Joe Sweety Sweety.

That's because Joe is the biggest, toughest, meanest dude at Rotten School. He's so tough, he can slap you with his tongue—and it really hurts.

If he steps on your foot, it isn't a foot anymore. It's a pancake with bones.

Joe is so tough, his mother calls him sir!

The best time to hang out with Sweety is when he's asleep. That's why my buddies and I waited until we saw his head droop. Then we crawled in through his window.

I had a plan that couldn't fail. I always have plans that can't fail.

You've probably heard of me. Bernie Bridges. I may be the brainiest, coolest, most awesome kid at Rotten School—but I never brag.

Tonight we were starting to make the best horror video ever made by fourth graders. That's why we needed to turn the Big Sweety into a mummy.

So we climbed into his room, and I handed a roll of bandages to Crench. "Let's get started," I whispered.

I turned and saw Feenman blowing his nose on the drapes. "Why are you doing that?" I asked.

"Cuz I have a cold," Feenman replied.

Feenman is an awesome dude. But I've seen him blow his nose on the drapes even when he didn't have a cold!

He wiped his nose on the back of his hand.

"Wrap Sweety up," I told Crench. "Make it look good."

I was the writer, the producer, and the director of this video. I knew it would be great even before we started. Sweety was gonna be the scariest mummy in movie history!

Why were we making this scary video?

Why were kids all over campus out terrifying one another every night?

Don't worry. I'll explain later.

Crench carefully lifted one of Sweety's big arms and started to wrap it. Sweety let out a snort, but his eyes didn't open. Crench began to wrap white bandages around the big dude's chest.

"Lookin' good," I whispered.

Sweety snored away as Crench wrapped his other arm and started tying the bandages around his head. Sweety looked more like an ancient mummy every second.

Scary. Totally scary.

But then I heard Feenman make a noise behind me. It sounded like Ah?Ah-Ah.

I turned—and Feenman made a much louder noise. . . .

Ah-Ah-Ahhhh-Chooooooooooooey!

Feenman's sneeze rattled the windows, knocked over a lamp, and sprayed the front of my T-shirt with about a gallon of snot.

And it woke up Joe Sweety.

The Big Sweety let out a growl, tore at his bandages, jumped to his feet—and grabbed me by the throat. "Revenge of the Mummy!" he screamed.

Gasping for air, I turned to Feenman. "Are you getting this?" I choked out. "This is perfect! Are you getting this on video?"

Sweety started to rattle me like a saltshaker. I saw Feenman's mouth drop open.

"Uh-oh," he muttered. "Sorry, Bernie. I forgot the camcorder."

Excerpted from Rotten School #14: Night of the Creepy Thingsby R.L. Stine Copyright © 2007 by R.L. Stine. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.