Goosebumps would later spawn a pair of television series, a video game, a comic book series, other merchandise, and a pair of feature films. The films starred Jack Black as a fictionalized version of franchise creator R.L. Stine.
In the 1990s, the books were immensely popular. Written for a reading level of 3rd to 7th grade, they received very positive reviews from kids, parents, and teachers. They were also very financially successful! The original series has sold over 400 million copies globally and has been translated into 35 different languages. It's the second-best-selling book series in history, behind only Harry Potter.
Stine calls the books "scary books for kids that are also funny," although they are technically classified under the horror or thriller genre. The books were usually written in the first person and concluded with a twist ending. It was like M. Night Shyamalan for kids!
Stine had previously written several successful young adult horror novels, and based on this success, Joan Waricha, the co-founder of Parachute Press, persuaded him to write for younger children.
Stine would later claim the name for his book series came to him after seeing a local television station advertise horror movies as "It's goosebumps week on Channel 11!"
After initially signing a six-book deal with Scholastic, Stine would go on to write a total of 62 books in the original series. At the peak of the Goosebumps fame, Stine was known to crank out a brand new story in as little as six days!
The first in the series, "Welcome to Dead House," was released in July 1992. The books were originally aimed at girls, but when girls and boys enjoyed the series equally, the target audience shifted to a unisex demographic.
For many kids, the cover art was almost as iconic as the books. Artist Tim Jacobus would create all but a handful of the original artwork that captured young children's imagination. In more recent years, the original series was later re-released with all-new artwork under the "Classic Goosebumps" banner.
Once sales began to decline and competition increased in the genre, namely from "Animorphs," Scholastic pushed R.L. Stine to create something new, and "Goosebumps Series 2000" was born. From 1998 to 2000, he wrote 25 new books in a format similar to the original series, but they were "much scarier" (according to Stine).
I had stopped reading Goosebumps at that point. Looking at the list of titles in the "classic" series, it would seem that I aged out of these books around 1997. The last title I remember reading in the chronology was number 51, "Beware, the Snowman." I guess that jibes, as I was deep into pro wrestling and other activities by mid 97.
Protocol Entertainment produced a Goosebumps television series in Canada in the 1990s. The series ran for four seasons from 1995 to 1998 on Fox Kids Network. It used plots from the books and quickly became the number-one-rated children's show in the United States for over three years.
I never really enjoyed the TV show. As it often happens when you read a book before seeing the movie or TV show, you create your own "movie" in your head. As you read (or at least I do), you imagine what the characters look and sound like or how they act or even look.
When I'd watch the Goosebumps show, it was always a letdown compared to what I had cooked up in my head.
In April 2020, it was announced that a new Goosebumps live-action series was in the works. The series premiered on Disney Plus on Friday the 13th, October 13th, 2023.
Goosebumps also unleashed a slew of merchandise, including T-shirts, board games, puzzles, hats, dolls, even boxer shorts and bike helmets. I had a seafoam green tee shirt with an iron-on Goosebumps image "transfer" that I wore all the time. I wore it so often the image began flaking off in the laundry.
The only shirt I wore more often during that era than Goosebumps was another one I made myself: a maroon T-shirt with a bright yellow happy face iron-on transfer. That, too, was worn until the smiley face peeled off.
Hey, the 90s were something else, and I was a nerd who thought I was the coolest.
An attraction based on the book series opened in 1997 at the (then) Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando. It featured a stage show in the New York Steet area of the theme park, with characters from the series playing to audiences five times a day. In addition to the stage show, a fun house called Goosebumps' HorrorLand Hall of Mirrors contained a maze of mirrors along with props and gags from the television series.
I often associate the Goosebumps books with summertime. I had a lot of time to kill anyway, and even I got bored watching television after a while.
To be fair, I loved to read as a kid, and these books were fun and entertaining. I was not, and still am not, a fan of horror, and I'm ashamed to admit that several of these books spooked me pretty well as a kid.
Still, I spent a lot of time reading these books all summer long. I had a handful I'd read repeatedly, and some others were tossed into the back of my closet once I finished them.
I read most of these books during our trips in Maine, which you'll read about with each entry below.
Eventually, when I moved out of my parents' house and wanted to be more "adult," I packed up my Goosebumps books and sold the whole set on eBay. And if I remember right, I got much less than they were worth, especially with the memories they contained. I don't remember, but I probably lost money on shipping, too.
Below, you'll find my list of five favorite Goosebumps and, of course, a bonus one, as is par for the course here.
Do you remember these stories? Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
5. A Shocker on Shock Street (1995)
I was so excited to see this book on store shelves. It wasn't due out until September, but one day in Maine, after our daily trip to town for groceries, Mom let me go into the bookstore next to Shaw's to pick something out. It was mid-August, and there it was on the bookshelf, weeks ahead of time! I quickly grabbed it and asked Mom if we could take it home. My parents may not have said "yes" to things often, but they were always happy to buy me books, even if they were far from educational. I always guessed it had more to do with encouraging and supporting reading (it's FUNdamental, after all) rather than me being quiet for long stretches while reading. I'm sure.
In Shocker on Shock Street, Erin and her best friend Marty love old horror movies, especially the Shock Street franchise. Both are ecstatic to discover that Erin's father is the designer of a new theme park based on the movies! Erin's father, Mr. Wright, reveals that all of the attractions will include animatronic robots but wants his daughter and Marty to be the first ones to visit the new theme park. Erin wants her Mom to join them, but Mr. Wright strangely responds that they are better off with just two people and she should forget about Mom for the day.
When they arrive at the park, Erin and Marty board a tram that takes them to a haunted house. The tram ends up being a roller coaster, and since it doesn't have seat belts, the kids almost fall out several times during the wild ride.
After the haunted house, several stars from the Shock Street movies approach Erin and Marty, offering to sign autographs. The tram continues into the Cave of the Living Creeps, where, once inside, the friends are attacked by giant animatronic worms and spiders. Then, the tram unexpectedly comes to a stop, so Erin and Marty decide to walk.
Finally, they find a way out and discover they're now on Shock Street, the setting of their favorite horror movies.
The two are attacked by hundreds of zombies, and they (rightfully so) decide they need to leave the park entirely. Just as all hope is lost, the kids are saved by Wolf Boy and Wolf Girl, two stars from the Shock Street franchise. However, are real werewolves looking to eat the children.
The kids escape again and find themselves back on Shock Street. The two worry they'll be stuck there forever when Russ Denver, the park's director, shows up and tells the kids that the filming was a success. Erin is confused until Mr. Denver explains that everything that had happened to them was being filmed for a new Shock Street movie that stars Erin and Marty!
Erin demands to see her father, but Mr. Denver tells her he's inside an attraction called "Shockro's House of Shocks." Erin hesitates because she knows that, according to Shock Street film lore, anyone who enters the building is instantly shocked by thousands of volts of electricity. Marty runs towards the attraction while Erin notices Mr. Denver is plugged into the wall. He's a robot!
Erin tries to warn Marty, but it's too late. As he enters the building, he's hit with electricity and falls to the ground. Erin sees her Dad and runs to him for help, but then Erin suddenly stops talking properly. She stops moving altogether and freezes in place.
Erin's "father" tells his co-workers that the test robots seem to have stopped working correctly. He inspects them and discovers that damaged computer chips caused the malfunctions. The story closes as he mentions he knew something was wrong earlier when the girl robot asked about her "Mom." He offers to replace the computer chips so that Erin and Marty can finish testing the new theme park before it opens to the public.
4. Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes - (1995)
This book came out during the summer of 1995. With its release in August, I don't know if I picked this up before we left for Maine or while we were there. In any event, I remember reading this one on the beach in front of the lake.
The cabins my extended family rented encircled one end of the lake, and a small manmade beach was at the center of the complex. Everyone would convene there in the afternoons to converse, relax in the sun, and watch the kids swim. I spent a lot of time swimming and playing there, but as I got older, I read numerous books and the daily edition of USA Today that someone brought back from town.
Nothing really stands out about reading this book, but when I look at the cover, I can remember the sand-covered pages from being shoved under my lawn chair when I went for a swim.
My Uncle Bob and I had an unbroken swimming streak for several years. We'd take a dip every day, no matter how hot or cold. Seriously, we once went in as a hurricane was approaching, and the water was bitterly cold and the skies gray and windy... but we kept the streak alive!
In Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, Joe Burton's father loves tacky lawn ornaments like pink flamingos and plaster skunks. (So do I!) When he brings home two ugly lawn gnomes named Hap and Chip, the trouble starts for Joe and his sister Mindy.
When the family dog, Buster, investigates the gnomes, he begins licking their faces. To Joe's surprise, Joe sees the gnome's expression change! He shouts for everyone to look, but by the time they turn around, the expression is back to the same old smile.
The next morning, Joe wakes up to the yelling of an angry neighbor, upset that some of his prized melons were smashed to pieces during the night. The blame immediately falls on Buster, the dog, but Joe knows he is innocent. Later, Joe notices a melon seed sticking out of the gnome's mouth.
In the morning, Mr. McCall calls again to say the rest of the melons were vandalized with sloppy smiley faces drawn in black marker. Mindy reveals that she caught Joe sneaking out during the night, but he says it was to calm Buster down after he had been howling at something. Joe's notices black paint on the gnome's fingers, but his father blames him for trying to blame a statue and grounds him for two weeks.
Later that night, Joe is restless, thinking about the gnomes, and looks out his window, but they're missing! He tries to wake up his parents and sister, but they are tired of his constant gnome talk.
Joe convinces his friend Moose to help him set a trap. Hours pass before the gnomes start to move and begin causing mischief. Joe and Moose follow them, but all the noise wakes up Buster. The dog barks, and the gnomes discover the boys following them. When Mindy interrupts, the gnomes drag her into the street.
Eventually, they corner the gnomes, who tell the children they mean no harm and only want attention. They explain that they are Mischief Elves and that causing mischief is simply part of their nature. They claim to have been kidnapped and forced to work as lawn ornaments, begging them to help free six other gnomes trapped at the hardware store. If the children help, they promise to stop causing mischief.
The gnomes lead their way into the store's basement, and the kids quickly discover the gnomes are lying! Shocker!
A horde of 600 gnomes awaits them, but Buster comes to the rescue. When Joe uses his dog whistle to make Buster bark for help, the whistle causes the gnomes to freeze in terror. Hoping the gnomes are permanently frozen, the kids escape from the basement and lock them all inside.
The following day, Joe's father is upset that the gnomes were "stolen" during the night and heads off to the store for new decorations. He returns home in the afternoon with a giant plaster gorilla that Joe and Mindy decide is ugly but better than a gnome.
As Joe jokingly tells it to behave itself, the gorilla winks at him in return!
3. One Day at HorrorLand (1994)
If memory serves, this was one of, if not THE first, Goosebumps book I can remember reading. As a kid who loved going to Disney World, I was initially attracted to the inclusion of a theme park, even if I wasn't sure what it was about. This was one of the Goosebumps that I read repeatedly, and definitely on hot summer days when the heat kept us indoors.
It's odd how things can come back to you after being buried for so long in the old memory bank, but when I was writing out the synopsis for this book, a long-tucked-away memory resurfaced.
I was sitting on the front steps of our house on a summer evening. We'd just finished dinner, and Mom and Dad turned on the news, which was my cue to exit. It had rained while we ate, and the asphalt road had that... smell. A fresh rain on a hot summer road smell. If you've ever smelled it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Weird that I remembered smelling one of summer's signature scents while reading a Goosebumps book, but...
This was the 16th book in the original series, first published in 1994. It received a sequel during the Series 2000 days, titled Return to HorrorLand. This book has also received several adaptations, more than nearly every other Goosebumps title, including three video games, a board game, and a spin-off book series.
The book opens as the Morris family is driving through the desert, searching for the Zoo Gardens theme park. Inside the car are Lizzy and Luke Morris, Luke's friend Clay, and their parents. Dad left the map at home, and they quickly got lost. Soon, they come across a frightening billboard that reveals the existence of a different theme park, HorrorLand, just a mile away. Looking to get off the road, the family heads in that direction. As soon as they park and begin walking away, the car explodes!
They are greeted by a parking lot attendant who apologizes for the inconvenience and allows them to park for free. Gee, thanks! When they ask to use the telephone, they are told there are no phones in the entire theme park! The existence of cell phones would ruin quite a few old stories, wouldn't they?
The parents send the kids off into the park alone while they search for a new ride. The kids come across a strange sign that says, "NO PINCHING." Weird, they think as they climb into The Doom Slide. Their first ride of the day consists of ten numbered slides, one of which is a never-ending slide of Doom.
Each child picks their own favorite number and slides down. Luke and Lizzy reach the bottom, but Clay is nowhere to be found.
The rides in HorrorLand are a little too scary, maybe even too dangerous. They decide to go find their parents, who now seem to be missing. After escaping a swarm of bats, they find their parents, and instead of running away as fast as they can, they all choose to ride the seemingly safest ride in the park, the "Coffin Cruise."
The Coffin Cruise is a relaxing ride down a river in makeshift rafts, but soon, they are locked into the coffin rafts along with large spiders and other creepy crawlies.
After escaping the coffins, the family tries to leave, only to find a sign that says, "NO EXIT: NOBODY LEAVES HORRORLAND ALIVE." While looking for any way out of the theme park, they are captured by the park employees, called HorrorLand "Horrors." These monsters put them on a game show where the humans being killed or tortured on national television for other ghouls and Horrors.
Just as they are about to be pushed into a pit of death, Lizzy remembers the weird “No Pinching” signs all over the park. She pinches the Horror closest to her, causing it to deflate and die. The family starts pinching the rest of the Horrors, allowing themselves a clearing to escape through the front gate.
The family steals a shuttle bus and drives home. In the driveway, they discover that a Horror had clung to the back of the bus during the whole ride. Instead of attacking, he holds out free passes to return to the park next summer!
2. Attack of the Mutant (1994)
I was very interested based on just the synopsis on the back. I was a fan of the X-Men cartoon series in the early nineties, and this sounded similar. I wasn't a superfan of X-Men, and I didn't really read comic books as a kid, but I've always loved the idea of big, muscular superheroes and villains in colorful costumes. It's similar to pro wrestling, right?
I've also always been a Batman fan, going back to the classic Adam West show that used to air in reruns during the daytime. The cover art looked a little like the Michael Keaton Batman to me, and I was excited to find out more. If I remember right, I read this book in one sitting, only stopping for dinner.
Attack of the Mutant is the 25th book in the original series. It follows Skipper Matthews, who loves comic books. His favorite series is The Masked Mutant, a comic series about a shapeshifting villain named, what else but The Masked Mutant.
One day, Skipper has an orthodontist appointment, and while riding the city bus there, he meets a girl who introduces herself as Libby Zacks. The two get talking, and Skipper realizes he has missed his bus stop. Getting off the bus, he sees a tall pink building that looks just like the Masked Mutant's headquarters. Knowing his Mom would be upset if he missed his appointment, he doesn't have time to investigate and runs to the orthodontist.
Skipper doesn't get a chance to return to the pink building until a week later when he purposely gets off at the same bus stop as last time. This time, though, the building has vanished into thin air, leaving only a vacant lot. Skipper returns home to find another issue of The Masked Mutant has arrived in the mail. In that edition, the Masked Mutant disguises his headquarters with an invisibility curtain!
Skipper decides that must be what happened to the vanishing building from the bus stop and plans to investigate further. A few days later he meets with Libby and explains his theory. She's skeptical but agrees to check out the empty lot with her new friend. As the kids walk further and further into the lot, the building suddenly appears in front of them.
The two enter the building, and a yellow light shoots out of the wall onto Skipper, scanning his body up and down. When the light disappears, they take an elevator down into the basement.
None of the elevator buttons seem to do anything, so they are forced to find a new way out. Skipper and Libby get separated, and soon, Skipper finds a room full of The Masked Mutant drawings. He figures he's in the comic book's production headquarters, but his excitement is cut short when he finds sketches of himself. Libby shows up all spooked and convinces him they need to leave.
At home later that night, he received another issue of his favorite comic. The book declares that the villain has a new rival and depicts Skipper sneaking into the Masked Mutant's headquarters to save the Galloping Gazelle, an established hero in the series.
Skipper runs back to the headquarters, suspecting that the Galloping Gazelle is really in danger. Inside, he finds Gazelle tied to a chair. As Skipper unties him, the Masked Mutant arrives. Somehow, Libby shows up and pulls out a toy gun, insisting that if she's really in a comic book, she can do whatever she wants. She pulls the trigger, and the gun shoots out a laser beam, dissolving the evil Masked Mutant.
Skipper is relieved until he watches Libby transform into the Masked Mutant. The Mutant reveals that Magnificent Molecule Man, another supervillain, had been pretending to be the Mutant. Skipper slowly figures out that Libby was never real as The Mutant explains that he wanted new foils for fresh new stories. Because Skipper was so knowledgeable about the series, The Mutant knew he would make a great character. That weird light that scanned his body is what turned him into a comic book character days earlier.
Skipper declares himself The Colossal Elastic Boy, who can only be defeated by sulphuric acid. Immediately, The Mutant turns himself into a wave of acid, but Skipper is expecting this and ducks out of the way. With his knowledge of the series, he knows that The Mutant has been defeated because the Mutant can only turn into solids; if he turns into a liquid, he's trapped in that form forever.
Gleefully, Skipper goes home, and he decides to cut some cake for him and Mitzi. While doing this, Skipper accidentally cuts his hand with the knife, but blood does not come out of the cut. Instead, he bleeds ink. He asks Mitzi to get her the new comic that came in the mail, as he suspects his career in comics isn't over yet.
1. The Horror at Camp JellyJam (1995)
As the 33rd book in the original series, this one was released in July of 1995, making it the perfect summer read! I must have picked up this book while still at home, but I remember reading it multiple times during the summer, including during the eight-hour car ride up to our annual Maine vacation. I can't tell you how many times I read this book. Again and again, I'd pick this one over the others to read. My original copy had warped pages from getting wet all the time, either at the pool or floating in the lake in Maine, and the binding had so much Scotch tape holding it together; this was clearly my favorite to anyone who saw it.
In Camp JellyJam, Wendy and Elliot are on a very long road trip with their parents. Bored, the kids decide to ride in the camper hitched to their parent's car, but after several minutes of riding in the trailer, the kids realize the trailer has come unhitched, and they begin rolling uncontrollably backward downhill. It comes to a violent stop in the woods at the bottom of the hill. Suddenly, a knock at the door reveals Buddy, a counselor at the nearby summer sports camp called King JellyJam's Sports Camp. He offers to let them stay at the camp until they can make contact with their parents.
Despite a mysterious warning from a strange girl in the woods to not go anywhere near the camp, the kids go along with Buddy anyway.
The camp logo is a cartoon purple blob monster called King JellyJam. The siblings are separated into separate bunks and immediately thrust into various athletic competitions, where they earn "King Coins." When campers win six of the coins, they get to join the "Winner's Walk" during the evening ceremonies. The counselors frequently repeat the camp slogan "ONLY THE BEST," urging Wendy to try harder, like her brother Elliot.
Elliot eventually wins his first coin, and the ground shakes in an earthquake tremor. Counselor Buddy says they are normal occurrences in the region and to ignore them.
That night, they attend the Winner's Walk, and Wendy sees her new bunkmate, Diedre, march with several other kids. After the Walk, Diedre never returns to the Girl's cabin.
Wendy and the other girls in the bunk go out searching for Diedre but run into the girl from the woods. She gives another warning to Wendy about the camp but disappears again when the counselors show up. Back at the cabin, one of the other girls opens Diedre's dresser drawer, and they find that it's been emptied out. Wendy digs deeper, and the counselors act as if Diedre just went home. When she tries to call her parents, Wendy discovers that none of the camp phones make outgoing calls.
During softball practice, Wendy takes a practice swing and accidentally hits Buddy hard in the chest. Oddly, Buddy is unfazed and pretends not to even notice.
Even more kids disappear after the next Winner's Walk, and Wendy begins plotting her escape. Elliot doesn't want to leave and would rather win his sixth King Coin before going home.
So, Wendy sneaks out and follows the Camp Counselors in the evening into a cave, where she witnesses Buddy hypnotizing the other counselors. Then, deeper in the cave she finds dozens of kids hard at work, including several of the kids who disappeared following a Winner's Walk. They are using mops and brushes to clean a disgusting creature described as an enormous purple gelatinous blob that sweats out snails. King JellyJam can't stand his own smell and kidnaps the most athletic children and forces them to clean him nonstop. Anyone who stops cleaning or refuses gets eaten.
The next day, Wendy convinces Elliot to follow her to the cave, and she devises a plan to defeat JellyJam. She yells for all of the kids to lay flat on the ground, and the blob can't grab them to eat them. Suffocating in his own stench, JellyJam melts into a pile of his own rancid goo. Wendy and Elliot free the child slaves just as the local police arrive to investigate the source of a smell that has plagued a nearby town. The police's whistles snap the counselors out of their trances, and the children are reunited with their parents.
Two weeks after leaving the camp, Buddy arrives at Wendy and Elliot's home. At first the kids are scared, but Buddy just came to give Elliot his sixth King Coin. After the door closes, the kids smell a disgusting stench...
BONUS. - Escape from the Carnival of Horrors (1995)
One day, I went with Granny to the Genovese Drug Store in town when she went to pick up her prescriptions or newly developed photos or something. Genovese was a chain of stores that was eventually bought by Rite-Aid, I believe. While she conducted her business, I wandered over to the toys and books aisle. I really loved the fresh rubbery-plastic smell of inflatable pool floats that always seemed to be hanging there (I eventually just had to pick up a bright orange one for use in Mom and Dad's pool), but when she came over, she saw me thumbing through this book.
I told her how it was a "choose your own adventure" series and showed her the cool holographic alligator on the cover as she smiled and nodded. Gramps and Granny were very generous with us grandkids, but there were only a few times they ever bought us things like toys and books on a whim. This was one of them, and I'll never forget it. I didn't ask her for it, but she knew how much I loved the Goosebumps books and offered to get it for me to read at home. This, too, was another book that would end up getting taped back together and warped from pool water.
This title also reminds me of hours spent as a kid laying on top of their big rusty brown-colored sofa as I read these books (or countless hours of television). There was a hole in one of the seat cushions that Gramps would stick his pocket knife into, blade first so that it'd be ready to help open mail or the occasional Christmas or birthday present wrapping paper.
I also recently talked with my wife about how when Granny would take me grocery shopping or on other errands, she'd let me wander the store without her. Often, she'd give me a task, like "Go get this item," and I'd search the store for it. It would give her the time she needed to shop in peace and gave me a job to feel like I was helpful.
I can remember doing this with her as young as 6 or 7... SIX OR SEVEN! Can you imagine letting your 6 or 7-year-old wander a large store alone? On purpose?
In 2024, I cringe at the thought but also remember how much fun I had back then doing it. While gaining independence is great and all, the world is a sick, sick place these days, and I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time when other adults watched out for the kids, and abductions and child trafficking weren't something you had to worry about as much as you do today. Maybe some of you in other parts of the country where folks are more spread out think this is weird, but living in the high-density North East, it's a constant concern, and it only takes a few seconds of distraction for some sicko to act.
Anyway, the story starts as you and your friends visit the old county fairgrounds. The workers are putting up rides and booths for the annual carnival, but things look quite different this year. You meet Big Al, the creepy carnival barker, who invites you to come and test some rides.
There were three storylines you could follow, and at the end of each page, it would ask you a question and give you a page number to turn to based on your answer. According to Wikipedia, there were twenty-three bad ways to finish the book, one ambiguous one, and two happy endings.
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