After an eight-year hiatus, R.L. Stine, the Stephen King of the middle school set, is back with a new "Goosebumps" series.

Born in Mississippi but now a New Yorker, Stine made a big splash in the 1990s with "Goosebumps," a collection of more than 60 children's novels that are often violent and macabre. In fact, the series was on the American Library Association's 1990-99 list of the 100 most frequently challenged books. But so were "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker and J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in Rye."

The latest two Goosebumps books (Scholastic; $5.99 each; ages 8-12) herald the coming of 10 more. Each will give the reader a book in two parts. The first part may bring back an original villain and the story that spawned him or it may introduce a new bad guy.

This new series begins with "Goosebumps HorrorLand #1: Revenge of the Living Dummy," in which Slappy, a demon-possessed ventriloquist's doll, harasses a suburban pre-teen and her friend.

The second new book is "Goosebumps HorrorLand #2: Creep From the Deep." Past "Goosebumps" character Billy Deep and younger sister Sheena are in the midst of a holiday at sea with their scientist uncle when they must confront Captain Ben, the murderous pirate leader of a skeleton crew -- comprising literal skeletons, by the way.

In the second part of each book, our young heroes are mysteriously drawn to HorrorLand, the theme park "Where Nightmares Come to Life."

The youngsters have won contests they never entered. Thus, they snag a weeklong visit to HorrorLand, where buzzards swoop overhead, rides have names such as "The Bottomless Canoe" and "Quicksand Beach," the park attendants -- called "Horrors" -- dress up like ghouls and monsters, refreshments include "Liver 'N Onions" ice cream and -- oh, yes -- parents disappear.

At HorrorLand, the scoundrels the young protagonists thought they had escaped in the first part of the books pop up again.

Stine's plotlines remind one of notebook novelettes penned by mischievous seventh-grade boys. The scenes are packed with bizarre, unexplained turns of events followed by impossible escapes.

For instance, in "Creep From the Deep," an inky underwater cloud engulfs their sub as Billy, Sheena and their uncle, Dr. D, plumb the depths in hopes of finding a sunken treasure ship. Suddenly, Dr. D disappears from the vessel. Later, he reappears on dry land as a prisoner of Captain Ben and his crew of carcasses.

The stories also ping with adolescent humor.

In "Revenge of the Living Dummy," Ethan, a grade-schooler, shocks folks at a retirement home with his abusive ventriloquist jokes. Then, Britney, the story's narrator, finds that she is the victim of an improbable practical joke at the hands her cousin.

Sibling-rivalry angst rears its knobby head, too.

Billy Deep, who calls himself the Undersea Mutant, dreams up imaginary derring-do, while his sister is the real risk-taker. He struggles with that.

Messages and morals aside, "Goosebumps" is an excellent distraction for the middle-school mind. Stine has found a superb way to carry that off -- he simply recasts would-be pages from a seventh-grader's notebook.