"Teenage Sponge Boys from Outer Space" is the third and final story in Goosebumps Triple Header: Book 1.
Plot[]
12 year-old Mac likes to take things apart for fun. The problem is he never knows how to put those things back together. His best friend Becky is obsessed with watching the weather channel to the point that she can accurately predict the weather. The two kids end up late for school and take a shortcut through the woods. Suddenly they hear a loud crashing sound. They search for the source, but only find a strange tented up area. When they make it to school, they learn that not only were they late, but so were two other boys named Dirk and Deke. The two brothers have a strange, chalky white complexion and are taller and skinnier than the other students. As the kids erase the chalkboard as punishment for their lateness, Dirk begins erasing the board with his head. At lunch, Mac tosses a soda can over to Becky, but it ends up hitting Deke in the head. Strangely, he doesn't react to it.
As Mac and Becky head home, they're stopped by Dirk and Deke who reveal that they are actually sponge-headed aliens who can shape their heads into many strange forms. The crash that Mac and Becky heard earlier was their spaceship that they've been desperately trying to repair so they can return home. Since Mac and Becky now know their secrets, Dirk and Deke force the two kids to repair their ship for them. For the next three days, the kids are forced to work for the sponge boys, stealing items from their parents to repair the spaceship, including the battery of Mac's dad's car. Dirk and Deke force Mac to install the battery, but when he mentions his inability to repair things, they turn his fingers into sponges. After he complies, they turn his fingers back to normal.
After the ship is repaired, Dirk and Deke try to force Mac and Becky to go to space with them. Becky stalls for time until it starts to rain, resulting in the heads of the sponge boys filling up and becoming increasingly heavy. Mac and Becky shove them into the ship and escape just as the ship launches. Mac returns home as his mom notices that he is holding a bolt in his hand. He throws it in the trash can just as he hears the spaceship crash.
Trivia[]
- This story's title could be an allusion to the 1959 film Teenagers from Outer Space.
- The preview for Goosebumps Triple Header Book 1 found in the School Mark edition of The Haunted School simply refers to this story as "Sponge Boys".
| Goosebumps Triple Header series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Book 1 | Ghost Granny • Spin the Wheel of Horror • Teenage Sponge Boys from Outer Space | |
| Book 2 | Ghoul School • The Revenge • The Mummy with My Face | |