A Nightmare on Clown Street (2015) ⭐⭐⭐ by R. L. Stine
I finished A Nightmare on Clown Street on June 15th, 2025, but have been too busy to write my mini review.
This Goosebumps book is a more modern one, published in 2015. It was part of the Goosebumps Most Wanted series of Goosebumps books, and the seventh in that series.
Ray, or ‘Ray-Gun’ to everyone who knows him, is invited to spend the summer at his favorite Uncle’s Circus. Uncle Theo works at Koko Klown Academy, and his alter-ego is Murder the Clown. He is required to stay in character at all times.
When he gets to the circus, Ray is told that if he is to stay here, he must play as one of the clowns. His name will be Mr. Belly-Bounce, and he is to wear pillows and bounce into people as humorously as possible. All is awesome and fun, until it’s not. Ray realizes that all of the clowns are scared of their boss, Mr. HahaFace. Anyone who goes to the Dunk-A-Clown tank seems really scared, and Ray notices that the clowns that go there are never seen again. What is happening to these clowns? And what is Clown Street? Ray’s going to find out!
I was excited to see Koko Klown referenced, as this has to be a nod to Koko the Clown from the Max Fleischer cartoons, most famously with Betty Boop.
I enjoyed this book and the names Stine made up for all the clowns. It was a fun read, although it is super corny. I mean, what would you expect from a Goosebumps book about clowns? Still a fun read, and I would recommend this to people who like the concept of murderous clowns.
