The Haunted Mask was always one of the scarier Goosebumps books in my opinion. Just the basic idea behind it, how the mask affects it's victims, really creeped me out and filled me with a sense of existential dread even as a kid. It doesn't have quite the same impact here, to be honest, but I still enjoyed what they did with it overall.
Again though, like the first episode, this classic plot from the books was secondary to more character development and world building. While I would have liked more focus on the Haunted Mask itself the creepy third act really lets it shine in a classic monster movie sort of way that's fun enough. It's fortunate too that although it's pretty formulaic in it's execution the central mystery of what happened to Harold Biddle in 1993 remains intriguing enough to propel the series as a whole forward.
Without giving away too much, I'll also say that Justin Long continues to be a highlight here. He's really great at making major tonal shifts between his physical performance (no doubt thanks to learning a thing or two about slapstick horror from Sam Raimi on the set of Drag Me to Hell), awkward humour, and the genuinely uneasy and menacing vibes he can put out when called for.
And talk about a hell of an ending! The final seconds of this episode are pretty surprising, making it real hard not to immediately jump to the next episode... which is exactly what I did!
Two episode in and this new series is still going strong for me! Here's hoping it can maintain that level throughout.
