S 1: Substitute Creature

Despite the author's ominous (and obvious) pseudonym, the skeleton logo and the hyperbolic claim on the jacket (""If you dare to be scared... read Spinetinglers!""), this series inaugural is unlikely to send chills up or down readers' backbones. Jace suspects that Mr. Hiss, his substitute teacher, just might live up to his name. The curious fellow is said to eat eyeballs for lunch, and when Jace walks in on him in a small room in the library, the sub's hands and face seem to be covered with blood. But his deportment in the classroom is normal-and he turns out to be a terrific teacher. So what is going on here? ""Not enough,"" will be the response of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps fans, to whom Spinetinglers is clearly trying to appeal. Despite snappy writing and likable young characters, the story lacks Stine's inventiveness and fleet pace. The eventual explanation for Mr. Hiss's odd conduct is dopey and decidedly anticlimactic. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)