Deep Trouble (Goosebumps)
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| File:Goosebumps Deep Trouble.jpg | |
| Author | R. L. Stine |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Tim Jacobus |
| Language | English |
| Series | Goosebumps |
| Genre | Horror fiction, Children's literature |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date | Monday, May 1, 1994 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 117 |
| ISBN | 0-590-47741-2 |
| OCLC | 30104471 |
| LC Class | PZ7.S86037 Dd 1994 |
| Preceded by | Monster Blood II |
| Followed by | The Scarecrow Walks At Midnight |
Deep Trouble is the nineteenth book in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series.
Plot summary
Siblings Billy and Sheena Deep are spending their summer vacation on the Caribbean island of Ilandra with their uncle named Dr. Deep, he goes simply by Dr. D's assistant, a muscular graduate student named Alexander DuBrow, serves up lunch to the kids: chicken salad sandwiches. Only his cooking's terrible so Dr. D offers to grill some fish for dinner. Billy overhears a private conversation between Dr. D and representatives for the Marina Zoo. The zoo crew wants Dr. D to find and trap a mermaid that has been reported in the area. The zoo offers Dr. D the princely sum of one million dollars.
Billy is too excited to sleep so he goes out early to search for the mermaid. Billy's night swimming is suddenly interrupted by the sound of fear as a hammerhead shark wrecks Billy's mermaid hunt. Dr. D nets up both Billy and the mermaid and drags them onto the deck of the ship. Billy tries to argue that the mermaid saved his life. However, Billy's uncle throws the mermaid into a large glass tank on the deck until the zoo crew arrives. Billy is enjoying dreams of Sea People when his slumber is interrupted by the sound of crashes and a Splash. Above deck he discovers the mermaid is in the process of being kidnapped! The men brutally toss Billy into the tank. Billy starts yelling for Alexander, as Dr. D is knocked out on the floor and Sheena is offering no help against the four burly men. Finally Alexander does show up, only to side with the thugs.
The thugs toss Sheena and Dr. D into the tank, lock it, and then throw it into the water. The top of the tank is meshed, so the three characters inside the tank fight to break the locks before the tank submerges completely underwater. As they struggle, the "kidnappers" and Alexander speed off, mermaid in tow. Just when things look their worst, a myriad of mermaids appear and hoist the tank above the water level. Dr. D and the kids break open the latches and escape to the dinghy. As the other mermaids rescue her, the thugs attempt to set fire to Dr. D's dinghy. The mermaid is set free. Billy sneaks out by the coral again in hopes of catching the mermaid to say goodbye.
in the twist Ending-When Billy is searching for the mermaid, he is attacked by a sea monster which he encountered in the beginning of the novel.
Deep Trouble The Collector's Edition
After Scholastic made Creep from the Deep, they made a remake of the Deep Trouble novel. It has special features in the back. It also has a raised cover. It was released on March 2008. According to the back cover of the book, Deep Trouble has sold over two million copies worldwide.
Sequels
Deep Trouble was followed by the novel Deep Trouble II and the novel Creep from the Deep.
TV Adaptation
Both Deep Trouble and Deep Trouble II were turned into a one-hour episode of the Goosebumps TV series (which ended up being the final episode). Though the TV version is called "Deep Trouble", it contains a loose adaptation of "Deep Trouble II" (about the giant fish being bred in a laboratory by a mad scientist, instead of Billy finding a mermaid and saving her from being experimented on by scientists). The ending on the TV version was also different from both the books: After Dr. Deep's partner gets captured by the sea monsters, he appears in a carnival sideshow as a freak (though some of the people who see him think it's a scam).