Night of the Living Dummy is the seventh book in the original Goosebumps book series, and the first book in the Living Dummy saga. It was first published in 1993. It was later followed up by Night of the Living Dummy II and Night of the Living Dummy III.

The cover illustration depicts Slappy the Dummy evilly staring at the reader, his mouth agape.



Lindy names the ventriloquist's dummy she finds Slappy. Slappy is kind of ugly, but he's a lot of fun. Lindy's having a great time learning to make Slappy move and talk. But Kris is jealous of all the attention her sister is getting. It's no fair. Why does Lindy have all the luck? Kris decides to get a dummy of her own. She'll show Lindy. Then weird things begin to happen. Nasty things. Evil things. No way a dummy can be causing all the trouble. Or is there?


Lindy and Kris Powell are walking through their neighborhood. The two girls decide to inspect a house that is under construction. While searching through a garbage container near the house, Lindy finds a mysterious ventriloquist's dummy and decides to call him Slappy. Lindy uses her dummy to gain popularity, and Kris quickly becomes jealous. Since some of the neighborhood kids seem to love her ventriloquism, Lindy decides to start using Slappy for children's acts and birthday parties. Lindy and Kris's parents ask the two girls to share the dummy. However, when Kris tries to take Slappy from Lindy, Slappy hits Kris in the face.

The next morning, Mr. Powell reveals that he has bought a ventriloquist dummy for Kris from a pawn shop. She decides to call him Mr. Wood. Mrs. Berman, Kris's music teacher, asks her to perform a ventriloquist act for the school's spring concert. Lindy offers to help Kris improve her act, but Mr. Wood, currently being held by Lindy, begins hurling insults at Kris. Kris assumes that Lindy is the one speaking, but Lindy insist that she isn't controlling the dummy. That night, Lindy and Kris hear strange noises coming from inside their house. When they go to investigate, they find Mr. Wood strangling Slappy. When the sisters tell their mother what happened, Mrs. Powell doesn't believe them and tells the girls to go to bed. Kris continues to hear noises coming from the kitchen throughout the night. Kris ventures to the kitchen and sees Mr. Wood lying near the refrigerator with food around him. Before Kris and Lindy can clean everything up, Mrs. Powell goes downstairs and sees the disarray. Both girls try to convince their mother that Mr. Wood is responsible for the mess, but Mrs. Powell threatens to take Slappy and Mr. Wood away if the girls keep insisting that Mr. Wood is alive.

While the girls clean up the mess, Lindy reveals to Kris that she is the one who has been doing all these horrible things. She was tired of Kris being a copycat, so she decided to pull this big prank on Kris. She mocks Kris for buying it. Kris doesn't tell Mom about this, as they have been banned from talking about the dummies. A couple of days later, Kris finds a small card in Mr. Wood's pocket that reads, "KARRU MARRI ODONNA LOMA MOLONU KARRANO,". After reading the card out loud, Kris thinks she sees Mr. Wood blink.

That night, the Powell's elderly neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, come to visit them. Lindy and Kris's parents ask that their daughters perform a ventriloquist act for their neighbors. Kris decides to go first. Before she can perform her act, Mr. Wood begins to insult the elderly couple, making fun of their appearances and their breath. Because of this, Kris is punished. Despite this, Kris is still allowed to attend the school's spring concert the following day. At the concert, while Mrs. Berman is adjusting a microphone for Kris, Mr. Wood begins to insult the teacher for being overweight. Mrs. Berman demands an apology, but Mr. Wood responds by spewing a green substance on the teacher and the audience. Kris is suspended from school.

Kris asks her father to return her dummy to the pawn shop. Mr. Powell says he won't return the dummy until Monday. Kris locks Mr. Wood in a closet and goes to sleep. Kris is awakened by the sound of footsteps. When Kris decides to investigate, she discovers that Mr. Wood is alive. Mr. Wood tells her that she and Lindy are now his slaves, and that the magic words brought him to life. Kris tries to fight the dummy, but Mr. Wood hits her fiercely in the stomach. Kris crawls away from Mr. Wood and screams for help. Lindy hears her sister and goes downstairs to find out what has happened. While Kris tells her sister that the dummy is alive, Mr. Wood surprises the girls. Lindy manages to pin the dummy to the ground and keep him from fleeing. When the girls' parents arrive, Mr. Wood stops moving. Lindy and Kris try to explain what has happened, but their parents refuse to believe the girls. Mr. and Mrs. Powell begin to question Kris's mental well-being, suggesting that they should take her to a doctor. As soon as the parents leave, Mr. Wood comes back to life, insisting that Lindy and Kris are his slaves.

The girls try to decapitate the dummy, but they are unable to harm him. Next, the girls trap Mr. Wood in a suitcase and bury him in the backyard. Since they are exhausted, Lindy and Kris go to sleep. When the girls wake up the next morning, they discover that Mr. Wood has freed himself and is waiting for them. Lindy and Kris seek help, but their parents have gone out. To show how serious he is, Mr. Wood begins to choke Barky, the family dog. In an attempt to separate the two, the girls drag Mr. Wood and Barky outside. When Mr. Wood releases Barky, the girls chase the dummy into the path of a nearby steamroller being used for construction at the house next door. Mr. Wood dodges the first steamroller and tells them that both will be his slaves forever. He doesn't notice the second steamroller, however, and it crushes Mr. Wood. A mysterious green mist rises from the smashed dummy's body.

Lindy, Kris, and Barky return home. When the girls get to their room, they find Slappy waiting for them. Slappy asks if the other dummy is gone.

Reprints and rereleases


International releases




TV series

Despite the popularity of the book, it was never adapted into an episode for the Goosebumps TV series. However, several subsequent books about Slappy were, which were: Night of the Living Dummy II, Night of the Living Dummy III and Bride of the Living Dummy.

Goosebumps Graphix

Night of the Living Dummy was adapted into a Goosebumps Graphix story by Dave Roman in 2015 as the fourth story in Slappy's Tales of Horror. There were some changes, including:

  • When Mr. Wood is killed, his spirit goes inside Slappy and possesses him.
  • Lindy and Kris' mother isn't reading a Stephen King novel; she is doing computer work.
  • Lindy has brown hair and Kris has green hair.
  • The girls' father is not in the story.
  • Lindy, Kris, and Barky chase Mr. Wood before he chases the girls.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Miller don't appear.
  • Kris is notified about the party by looking at her cell phone instead of a watch.
  • Mr. Wood's outfit is different from what was described in the book. Instead of a red flannel shirt, he wears a grey sweater.


Audiobook Release date Length Narrated by Published by
April 2015 2 hours, 51 minutes Carol Schneider Scholastic Inc.



  • The artwork for both the original and Classic Goosebumps covers feature Slappy, not Mr. Wood, the main villain of the story. Despite being the main antagonist of the later Living Dummy books, Slappy is not the main villain of this book. In fact, he only speaks at the end of the book.
    • This is similar to Friday the 13th, where the first installment has a different villain, with the primary series villain making an appearance near the books end. Similarly, further installments feature the more famous icon that would be more associated with the source.
    • As for Mr. Wood, he would make another book appearance 24 years later with his origin being revealed in the prologue of I Am Slappy's Evil Twin.
  • According to R.L. Stine's autobiography, he got the idea for the first three Night of the Living Dummy books from reading The Adventures of Pinocchio, when he was young.
  • According to the Goosebumps Official Collector's Caps Book, another inspiration for the Night of the Living Dummy books came from when Stine was a child and would use his ventriloquist dummy to scare his brother.
  • Another inspiration for the Night of the Living Dummy books more than likely comes from the 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "The Dummyin which a ventriloquist believes that his dummy is not only alive, but evil.
  • The title of the book is a spoof of the classic 1968 horror film, Night of the Living Dead.
  • Slappy's eyes are green on both the original and 2008 cover art, despite being described as blue in-book. 
  • Certain prints of this book feature an error with the book description on the back cover. Normally, the description should read "Kris decides to get a dummy of her own. She'll show Lindy", which was the original description on the earliest editions. Certain editions, including the 1995 reprints (which feature a small ® after the Goosebumps logo) accidentally printed  "Kris decides to get a dummy of her own. She'll show Kris". This error would be corrected in some of the reprints that followed.
  • According to the back cover of the Classic Goosebumps reprint, Night of the Living Dummy has sold over 2 million copies.
  • The scene where Mr. Wood vomits a green pea soup-like substance is a likely reference to the 1973 film The Exorcist.
  • The book references Coca-Cola and Stephen King.
  • Mr. Wood's description of a head of red hair with a red flannel shirt and blue jeans is slightly reminiscent of classic television character Howdy Doody.

References in other Goosebumps media


"Not The Living Dummy's Night" Trophy

  • In the first Goosebumps film, the title of the book is mentioned, and a homage to the original cover is seen in the end credits.
  • In Goosebumps: The Game, Slappy appears as the main antagonist. Mr. Wood also appears at the very end of the game. The book's manuscript also makes an appearance. 
    • The game also features an in-game trophy titled "Not the Living Dummy's Night" which is earned by completing the game.  
  • Since Night of the Living Dummy, Slappy has made more appearances in Goosebumps books and media than any other character. He has also replaced Curly as the mascot of the entire franchise.
  • Slappy appears on both the original and 2015 covers for It Came From Ohio!
  • Slappy also appeared in the 1998 Goosebumps Live on Stage show.