Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories
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| Title | Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories |
| Number | 3 |
| Release date | March 16th, 2021 |
| Author | Jeff Kinney |
| Illustrator | Jeff Kinney |
| Preceded by | Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure (chronologically) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End (release order) |
| Succeeded by | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot (release order) Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid 4 (chronologically) |
Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories is the third book in the Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid spin-off series. It was released on March 16th, 2021.
Main characters
- Rowan
- Mayor (The Prankster)
- Rafe
- Rafe’s Mom
- Rafe’s Dad
- Ryan
- Ryan's Mom
- Ryan's Dad
- Preacher
- Gabe
- The Mirror Shop Huy
- Tiffany Rottenflesh
- Rusty
- Mayor (The Invasion)
- Mayor (The Prankster)
- Rowley Jefferson
- Greg Heffley
- Robert Jefferson
- Linda Jefferson
Stories
- The Changing
- The Prankster
- Ghost Friend
- The Biter
- The Human Head
- The Scanner
- The Cellar
- The Nap
- The Stain
- a mummy
- The Science Project
- The Medicine Cabinet
- The Invasion
- The Demon
Synopsis
Grab a flashlight, crawl under the covers, and dive into the twisted, unexpectedly hilarious world of Rowley Jefferson’s imagination. You’ll meet zombies, vampires, ghosts, and much more in these comically terrifying tales.
Rowley’s spooky stories might leave you laughing, but beware, you could end up sleeping with the lights on!
Plot
The Changing
Once there lived a boy called Rowan who had loving parents and loved playing with his toys. He brought his toys to school but was bullied because of that, so he stopped bringing them. His classmates bullied him because they always wanted to seem like they are older than they really are. One day Rowan felt a tickling sensation under his armpit so he asked his teacher to go to the restroom. When he got to the bathroom, he discovered hair was growing under his armpit. So he went back to class and pretended that nothing happened. After school, Rowan got home and wanted to pull the strange hair with tweezers, but now there was a hair under the second armpit too. Suddenly even more hair started growing and soon Rowan was covered in it. He then found a hair remover, deciding to use it. But he ended up fainting from the fumes. Rowan woke up in his bed, still covered in hair. But his parents were happy about it for some reason! They decided to have a talk with their son, and Rowan asked if he was becoming a man. But that made his parents laugh. His dad revealed Rowan is actually a werewolf. Then the parents told him that he comes from a big family of werewolves. And that's when Rowan understood that he actually sometimes saw proof that he is a werewolf. He started crying, but his parents (also werewolves) said that everything will be fine as long as no one finds out who he really is.
Rowan knew the bullies would bully him even more. Then Rowan asked his parents about werewolves eating people, but his parents said that they will discuss this in another Talk, feeling awkward. Then Rowan had an idea: the next day he brought toys to school and started playing, revealing that he was a werewolf - the bullies feared him and didn't bully him. So the rest of the family stopped hiding that they are werewolves too.
The Prankster
There once lived a boy called Jasper who loved pulling pranks. Sometimes he even played pranks on his family members, like gluing his mother's furniture to the ceiling. His most famous prank was putting the Mayor's underwear on a flagpole. People thought his pranks were hilarious until he made a prank on them. One morning, Jasper woke up and started deciding who to prank today. He decided to replace the baker's cream-filled doughnuts with toothpaste, and when he went to the bakery, he noticed that Marian and Miki, citizens of the village, ignored him. The librarian and his best friend ignored him too. When the baker, Joris, was distracted, he tried to reach the doughnuts but his hand went right through them! That's when he discovered he couldn't see himself in the mirror. Jasper realized that nobody could see him, and all the people ignored him even when he made a total fool of himself! He tried that again in the Mommy and Me club, but people were still ignoring him. That's when he realized that he could pull awesome pranks with being invisible. But then he saw people he knew dressed in black - they all were sad. Jasper's mother was one of those people. Jasper followed the people to a funeral, and he sat near them. The preacher told the people that a boy died while trying to pull a prank, and that boy turned out to be Jasper. When the people were remembering Jasper, they didn't say any nice things, only remembering his awful pranks. And it was hard for Jasper to watch when his mother cried near his coffin. The invisible Jasper decided to say goodbye too, even though it felt weird. But suddenly Jasper saw that there was nobody in the coffin - only a pumpkin looking like Jasper's head. That's when the people revealed that Jasper was not invisible - it was a big prank. The baker revealed that the doughnuts were just a hologram. And Jasper couldn't see himself in a mirror because all the mirrors in the mirror shop were replaced by TVs showing an empty pavement. The people from the Mommy and Me class revealed that they actually saw Jasper and that it was hard not to laugh. The whole village was trying to make the prank work. Then the preacher said that it was a double prank, because a meteor actually crashed in the village, so all people including Jasper were now ghosts. But Jasper was only happy because now he could fly, so he jumped from the top of the lighthouse to fly to Paris... but it was just a second prank, and Jasper fell, and that's when the people understood they went overboard.
Ghost Friend
There once were two best friends named Rusty and Gabe. Sometimes, Rusty found Gabe annoying but when Gabe died later that year, Rusty wished he could have him back. However, Gabe's ghost arrived and they started off very happy but Rusty later found Gabe's ghost abilities annoying, he got mad at Gabe and told him that he's screwing up his life, but then Gabe insisted to go back to the ghost-land, which made Rusty sad, so he said sorry and Gabe accepted the apology. Rusty couldn't do his homework, got bad grades, and never got a girlfriend. Rusty grew up and Gabe stayed with him, though Rusty sometimes thinks that he made the wrong choice.
The Biter
Lilli was a girl. When she was a baby, she liked putting things in her mouth and occasionally, putting her parents' things in her mouth as well. Her doctor said she was teething with her parents. Lilli's teeth started to come in and they were really sharp. As Lilli got older, she had playdates but the other kids always ended up crying because of you know what. She was bought books about not biting but she never stopped. Plus books were one of the favorite things Lilli liked to chew on. Lilli was now old enough for kindergarten but her parents didn't warn the teacher that Lilli liked to bite people and she bit the teacher so she got sent home early. Lilli's parents saw the doctor and she said Lilli was a vampire. Lilli's mother then remembered how Lilli had become a vampire and she started considering Transylvania: School for Biters. A few weeks later, the doctor said that Lilli actually wasn't a vampire and they kept it a secret between themselves.
The Human Head
The story starts by talking about the Headless Horseman, but the topic quickly changes to a kid called Anders who was born without a body. On the first day of middle school, Anders makes friends with the Headless Horseman (Real name Gunther) before he became evil. The story fast-forwards to Valentine's Dance, where Anders and Gunther disguise as one person to dance with a girl called Prudence. The dance was successful until an accident blew the duo's disguise. They start to fight over Prudence, with Prudence dating both for different reasons. One day, Anders suggests Gunther propose but Gunther was rejected, making him evil. Prudence marries Anders and lived a fulfilling life.
The Scanner
There is an announcement for a high-tech security scanner to be released at airports, which can scan multiple people at once. Everyone is excited and scientists are forced to rush the project. When it is released, everyone who walks through it (though some people do not) becomes a skeleton. At first, the skeletons are happy because they don't have to do certain things that they would before. However, many shops start to shut down, everyone looks the same on Halloween, parents collect the wrong kid from daycare and more trouble. The skeletons become angry but the scientists don't know how to reverse it. The skeletons break into the airport, storming it and collecting the scanner, which they destroy, turning them all back.
The Cellar
There is a boy named Rafe that loved his parents and helped with cleaning the chicken coop, and he didn’t complain. Rafe would wake up really early to read books and read until the sun went down. On some special nights, his parents would give him a candle so that he could read longer, and sometimes he would stay up extra late if he liked the book. But candles in bed were not a good idea back then. He liked to read stories about children, this was because of his lack of friends. Rafe always wanted to take trips somewhere to meet other people, but his parents said the trip was dangerous, and they showed him why, so he made his own friends out of mud and straw, but one day Rafe Heard strange noises from the cellar. He told his parents, but they told him he was dreaming. Rafe wondered why his dad was in the cellar from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm but didn’t want to ask. Years passed and Rafe turned 18. His parents said it was time, to tell the truth about where they came from. They said they lived in a world with “cars” and “airplanes” and “medicine”, but they told Rafe about the dark side. The “screens” were taking people under their spell. They took Rafe away from technology because they didn’t want him to turn out like other people, but they gave Rafe a phone, but that was also a bad idea.
The Nap
There is a woman named Fannie, but her family calls her Great Aunt Fannie, she didn’t have any kids but had nephews and nieces and they had kids of their own, so no one had time to visit because they were too wrapped up in their own things. Fannie had the same routine every day. She would watch her soap operas, then when she was tired she would take a nap, then she would wake up and make a sandwich and then watch more soap operas. One day she saw a gadget on the TV that if you press the button when you fall, people will come to help you. Like 911. Everybody in the town was excited because it was a Big Game. Tickets sold out, so people watched it on TV, but Fannie’s family wanted to watch it. Because of this, they needed to get a big TV. The only person with one was Fannie, so they went over to her place. Her family walked in while she was taking a nap and they thought she was dead, so they did the funeral quick so they could watch the game, but Fannie had that gadget she bought off of TV, so she used it and the people got her out of the grave. She went home where everybody was watching the game. They didn’t care if she was alive or not. They were too focused on the game. After that, she hung out with her family more, but one time they brought her with them to an amusement park, but she was dead, and they didn't figure it out until halfway through the vacation.
The Stain
One Saturday afternoon, Robbie's parents asked him if he wanted to go to the mall. Robbie was very excited and thought about all the fun he'd have once he got. But Robbie's parents were here to shop, not to have fun and they visited a bunch of stores that only grownups like. Robbie's parents knew he wasn't having any fun so they gave him five dollars to buy ice cream for himself and his dad. On the way there, Robbie saw his favorite ride which was a rocket ship that went back and forth but Robbie reminded himself that he was too old for kiddie rides. Robbie made it to the ice cream shop and ordered Rocky Road and strawberries. On his way back, he saw the rocket ship ride and was tempted to use his change for it so Robbie closed his eyes but he tripped and Rocky Road ice cream went on the floor. He tried to put it back together but it was hopeless. Then Robbie had an idea. He pretended that the strawberry ice cream cone was his and the Rocky Road was his. Robbie felt terrible when his parents believed him. When Robbie got home, he noticed a small pink spot on his white t-shirt. He went to the bathroom to scrub it clean. He soaked it in the sink but that made it worse. Robbie ran to the laundry room and yeeted his shirt into the washing machine. That night Robbie had horrible dreams and most of them involved strawberries. Robbie got out of bed and went to the laundry room and he got a terrible surprise. His dad put his work shirts with Robbie's stained t-shirt and now they were all pink. Robbie decided to run away but his mom caught him before he went too far. He then confessed and they told him that everyone makes mistakes and the important thing is to learn from them. Robbie's parents took him back to the mall and Robbie brought three ice creams all Rocky Road. Robbie forgot his dad was allergic to almonds and his father's lips swelled up like balloons. Robbie noticed a small chocolate stain on his shirt and the whole thing started up again.
A mummy
A mummy named Mekh died a long time ago and was mummified by Egyptian priests and a few archeologists found his sarcophagus and also took his things with him. When Mekh woke up and found out that he is not in the afterlife, he was disappointed and also more disappointed that the people who were in charge of the museum put Mekh's body and his sarcophagus next to the family restroom which is not a nice spot to what he thinks. He was angry so he used his mummy powers to create a big mess in the museum. He wasn't satisfied after he destroyed the whole museum and decided that he wanted to destroy the whole city and he was all over the news for wrecking the city. He STILL wasn't satisfied and started to destroy other places like Paris but he then had mo things to destroy so he destroys things that are not important like a pinata that nobody even cares about. Mekh then steeled down and thought that the TV was a good invention. When he watched the news, he found out that a new mummy was found and his name was called Khaba. He was much better preserved than Mekh and unlike Mekh, Khaba was more curious and did not go randomly destroy things like Mekh does. He appeared in morning talk shows and then became popular that he even got his own merchandise but those were made without permission. He hired a lawyer and she shut down all of the stores were shut down and his lawyer took it a step further and trademarked The MUMMY™. Everywhere Mekh went, he saw the face of Khaba in cereals there was even a film in work. Mekh thought he could try to so he called himself THE ORIGINAL MUMMY, though he got a message from Khabas's lawyer threatening to sue him. So Mekh got himself his own lawyer and it was this huge trial on TV. Everyone watched but unfortunately, he wasn't slick as khaba, so khaba won. So he was only allowed to call himself a mummy (lower case) so he tried to get some quick cash but he didn't make any! He tried working at a place called Fright Nights In October but nobody was scared he didn't give up though then he called himself The Dead Pharaoh there was somebody with that name so again he was in court. Things were great for a few years for Khaba but he got stale and soon had a comedy show with a few stinkers somebody found a toe in his cereal. Even though the whole thing was faked nobody bought his cereal and soon his money had dried up. In fact, his wife left him, and took all of his cash so he moved to Mekhs apartment! And they both did agree that the television was a pretty good invention.
The Science Project
There was this Kid named Victor who was not happy. This was long before video games and TV were created so he entertained himself with books but his parents were doctors so the only ones in the house were science medicine and stuff. 1 thing that made him sad was that they didn't let him have a pet because he wasn't responsible enough. In fact, the only that made Victor happy was school and from reading all those books his science teacher said he'd become famous. When it was time for the science fair he was excited, he had worked a month on his project so Victor hoped he won but Lizzie Leggot won and all Victor got was a lousy honorable mention. Then all he could think of was the science fair he read his parent's books back to back trying to think of his new project then he looked at the cemetery at the back of his house and got an idea, Victor did experiments in the Attic his parents thought he was spending to much time there. They wondered if should've got a pet. 1 year later it was time for the science fair, so he brought his project to school. All of his hard work paid off and this time Lizzie was the one who got an honorable mention. After school, Victor thought he could ditch his creation at the cemetery but he started having fun with him and soon it was his pet! Victor got famous just like his science teacher predicted each year he got older while his pet didn't and when he died his loyal sidekick was still there. Years passed and people forgot about Victor but his pet became kinda famous. He didn't know what to do but eventually, he went to school. Even though he was a lot bigger his classmates didn't care. He started skipping grades because he was so smart. In middle school, he entered the science fair, got a first place like Victor, and if you're wondering what materials he used it's better not to answer!
The Medicine Cabinet
A curious kid named Ryan liked to look everywhere because he was so curious. One time, his parents told him to NEVER go into the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. but he couldn't stop thinking about what was in it, so he waited until his parents were asleep, then he went in. He found some makeup, and rubbed some on his cheeks, just for fun. when he woke up the next morning, he saw that he looked even younger than he was and went back to the medicine cabinet and saw that it was not ordinary makeup but Age Reversing Make-Up. Ryan hid it from his parents by wearing a hoodie and running out of the door before his mom could give him a kiss. At school Ryan put his hoodie up, so his classmates wouldn't make fun of him but his teacher didn't allow kids with hoods on in class so he removed it and everybody laughed. Ryan's teacher wasn't surprised and she gave Ryan a note on how to reverse it. Even though Ryans teachers secret formula stopped him from getting any younger, it didn't make him go back to looking like his old self. So Ryan knew he had to confess. Ryan's mom and dad said they had him later in life and they used that makeup to look younger. Since Ryan used all of his parent's makeup they were stuck looking, like this for good. Ryan didn't care how old they looked because he loved them. From then on, things were pretty great for Ryan's family. Even though sometimes, people looked at them funny they did not care because they had each other, and that is all that's mattered.
The Invasion
The people of Fairview are very happy people but zombie invasions start happening across the world and they close in on Fairview. The leaders of the city meet together and discuss their plans. The mayor orders everyone to welcome the zombies and give them fake brains, which works. The zombies end up liking the fake brains and the humans and zombies unite, living happy lives. However, aliens arrive. The new mayor (Tiffany Rottenflesh), a zombie, suggests that they welcome the aliens. However, the aliens destroy the humans and zombies, taking over Fairview.
The Demon
Rowley and Greg watch a scary movie at a sleepover called THE POSSESSION, and in the movie, a bunch of teenagers finds a demon book with demon writing. They then read it and one of their friends gets possessed by a demon. After Rowley gets scared and they turn off the movie. Greg says the movie is cheesy and the effects looked fake, but Rowley says that what if someone said the words in the book, so Greg says the words. Greg gets "possessed" by a demon (he is obviously faking since Rowley is so naïve) and starts wrecking things until Rowley sprinkles toilet water on Greg and Greg gets mad, and then Robert and Linda Jefferson kick Greg out of the house.
Trivia
- This is the third book to have a purple cover, with the first being Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, and the second being Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown.
- This is the third book to not have the word "Diary" in it, with the first being The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book and the second being Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure.
- One of the zombies in the trailer looks similar to Greg Heffley.
- The zombie Greg was only used twice in the whole book.
- The book was referenced back in 2019 in Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal at the end, where Rowley said since the book was mostly scary stuff, he could make a book called "The Spooky Adventures Of Greg + Rowley".
- This is the first book to have Greg as a minor character.
- A lot of the characters resemble Greg or Rowley and have their personalities.
- This is the first book to be an anthology of stories, as opposed to just one big one.
- In the trailer, there are skeletons dancing in a graveyard. This is a reference of a 1929 Silly Symphonies cartoon called The Skeleton Dance.
Goofs/Errors
- In Ghost Friend, Gabe can't pick up a controller and Gabe says that because he's a ghost he can't pick up or touch anything, but he later sits down on Rusty's bed and a bleacher at a sports game.
- In The Demon, when Greg gets possessed there is a silhouette (both characters are boldly black with no details) of both Rowley and Greg, but Rowley has extra hair coming off his head, his normal hairstyle has his hair going down his head, not off his head.
External links
- The Demon reveal
- The Invasion reveal
- The Medicine Cabinet reveal
- The Science Project reveal
- The Mummy reveal
- The Stain reveal