Ever since Robert Lawrence Stine published his Fear Street series, readers quickly huddled to read more from the next big name in the Horror-fiction category. Though aimed at a young audience, the books do indeed provide a good fright. Even adults have reviewed them along those lines. What makes his next series, Goosebumps, so successful, is the fact that R. L. Stine has masterfully balanced simplicity with an unbeatable pace in storytelling. He thrills while he kills (in reference to his characters, of course) and each book brings something to bear on the meaning of fear.
Even the most hardcore fan might have missed out a few tidbits here and here about this much-loved series. In our top-25 list, we’re going to cover not just a smattering of curious facts concerning the books as well as the super-popular TV show inspired by the same, but we’re also going to give you a sneak-peek into some of the craziest most horrifying books in the line-up. If you’re already a fan who’s read every installment six ways from Sunday, then this is probably going to be a rather nostalgic read for you. We can confidently say, ‘Reader beware, you’re in for a scare.’
25 Goosebumps For Dummies
Slappy, the dummy with a soul as dark as Hell, is one of the franchise’s more renowned characters. A ventriloquist’s dummy is often more creepy than artistic. In Slappy’s case, things go downhill and fast. This dummy is so sadistic that viewers of the TV version only ever saw one other character from the Slappy story-set reappear after sharing screen-space with the diabolical manipulator, and that’s Jimmy O’James. Another skin-tingling Slappy-fact has to do with Night of the Living Dummy III, where the master monster was struck by lightning and promptly shattered into pieces. Then along came Bride of the Living Dummy and Slappy is back in action, somehow mind-bogglingly repaired and raring to kill. There has been no lead-up explanation to how the capricious dummy managed to serve himself a plate of bloodthirsty immortality.
24 These Tentacles Are Made For Goosebumping
It’s truly blood-curdling to realize that two big horror sectors in the literary world can crossover and do it so subtly that it will take a super-nerd to unearth the link. This is precisely what happened in How I Got My Shrunken Head, where readers are introduced to the Hawlings. Further digging has unearthed the fact that the Hawlings hail from the Miskatonic University, located in Arkham. This is curious and creepy at the same time because the man who created Arkham and Miskatonic University is none other than H. P. Lovecraft, the progenitor of the Cthulhu Mythos. The scene in Shrunken Head is, therefore, technically set in the same realm/timeline as Cthulhu. Watch out for those tentacles, they bite.
23 Somebody Stop And Help Me!
One shudders to think that any one of the Goosebumps books could even remotely be inspired by real-life events. Take The Haunted Mask, for example, where taking off a mask seems to pose more trouble than putting it on. This is exactly what afflicted R. L. Stine’s son who couldn’t, no matter how much he tried, take off his Halloween mask. The plotline that this incident inspired pertains to the mask shop where the items on sale really like to cling to customers’ faces and do worse by them afterward. Imagine the panic of not being able to get this bloody thing off you and sensing all sorts of claustrophobia and breathlessness during your attempts to rip it off. It was a dark October for Stine’s son and an even darker read for fans who simply can’t stop turning the pages of The Haunted Mask.
22 A Good Public Scare
Disney is known for many things, especially princesses who sing to their heart’s content and perform elegant magic the likes of which has inspired an almost unreal set of standards for young girls today. Stepping out of this musical limelight was the Horrorland Fright Show at Disney MGM, where Goosebumps-based live shows went up on stage to scare the bejesus out of people. It enjoyed a good run from 1998-99, after which it was closed down (for sinister reasons, probably). The show paid homage to both the TV show and the books, and included characters like Curly the Skeleton, the two Haunted Masks, Amaz-O the Magician, Cuddles the Hamster, Lord High Executioner, and of course, the incorrigible Slappy.
21 No Big Shocker, But Hey…
The show does live up to the books, so much so that it gives viewers a peek into previous and future episodes (almost like the creators liked messing with timelines). In Shocker on Shock Street (the TV show, that is) viewers can see masks and props that belong to other Goosebumps episodes. This is no great ‘shocker’ or creep-factor, to be honest. But to be true to the Goosebumps TV fandom, this can indeed be construed as a legit secret in the franchise, a curious little hint of the frights that came before that adapted episode, and a look at fresh scares soon to come. Like we said, it will take a true nerd-master to spot the odd mask out in the Shocker episode.
20 Commemorating The Horror-Guru
Ever since he started writing at the age of nine, R. L. Stine has been doing for kids what Stephen King has been doing for their grown-up versions. In one of his Tweets, the prolific master of frights has typed his reasons for writing Goosebumps: ‘I just like to scare kids.’ As accomplished as he is ingenious, it is the least the show can do to give the man a creepy-cameo in the form of a mask. Yes, there’s a mask of R. L. Stine in the Haunted Mask episode, keep your eyes peeled for it in the shop scenes. That’s one way to immortalize the horror master, in an immortally spooky show.
19 Not-No-Sweet Caroline
Remember the scene, in the same Haunted Mask episode mentioned earlier, where Carly Beth is enjoying a sandwich? Avid Goosebumps TV fans are already cringing to read what happened next because they were witness to Carly biting into a delicious but deplorable meal that contained a thick live worm. For all you trivia freaks out there, the worm was not a result of CG prowess but an actual worm, for real, yuck and all. Wonder how much Carly got paid to do that, or did she know the truth at all? It would probably be way more authentic (abusive) to keep the actress in the dark about the whole thing. We can’t imagine it went over well behind the scenes, if that’s the case.
18 A Frightfully Good Debut, Dah-ling!
His very first book proved to be ‘too scary for kids’; according to BuzzFeed. Be that as it may, kids took to it like a school of hungry piranhas to a swimming horse. Welcome To Dead House marks Goosebumps’s debut into a fresh series after Fear Street, which Stine published earlier. The book contains all the classic elements of fine horror fiction for young readers: a dark street, strange figures, an old creaky house, a town-wide secret, cemeteries, and heart-stopping chases. The fight scene near the end takes place in and around the cemetery and involves dead children, a lost dog, a sinister real-estate agent, and how light literally conquers zombie-darkness. In keeping with the series’ sub-textual motto ‘bad guys can win too’, the prominent villain in the book (a Mr. Dawes) is still alive to meet-n-greet the new family moving into the Dead House (dun dun DUN!).
17 Shall We Play Favorites, Mr. Stine?
In The Horror At Camp Jellyjam, a slew of creepy-crazy antics takes place under the dictates of King Jellyjam, who also happens to be Stine’s self-confessed favorite in the entire series. When asked about his reasons for the same, he Tweeted, “[King Jellyjam is] disgusting. He smelled so horrible that he had to have campers bathe him 24 hours a day. At the end of the book, the campers revolt and stop bathing him, so he dies from his own odor — I liked that one!” Who are your favorite characters and why? Don’t think it, we’re not all psychics here. Ew, get your head out of the gutter and go leave a comment.
16 A Smelly Scare
Since we’re on the topic, we thought it best to give you a sneak-peek into another Goosebumps pièce de résistance. The Horror At Camp Jellyjam redefines bizarre. Main characters include Wendy and Elliot who, near the end of the book, are involved in aiding child slaves as they rush out an igloo. A group of brainwashed counselors stands against them, but the police show up for the prominent reason of investigating a despicable stench coming from the camp; it’s not the first time they received such complaints. Elliot and Wendy get back with their parents and two weeks pass before Buddy (who’s been rehabilitated) comes over to give Elliot his sixth King Coin. A smell suffuses the room as he takes the coin, causing Wendy to panic. The kids believe they’re going to face another Jellyjam nightmare. But it’s only… Even we need to maintain spoiler-limits, so read the book to unravel the ‘harmless’ cliffhanger, one among others in a series known for more terrifying endings.
15 Black’s Grim Source Of Inspiration
The Goosebumps movie, having received mixed reviews, has still done a much better job than some adaptations these past few years. In an interview he’d given for Biography, Jack Black (who played R. L. Stine in the movie version of the books) revealed the source of his inspiration for playing the illustrious writer on screen. While it has nothing to do with the bestselling author’s actual persona, it still leaves much to interpretation that Black based his performance on ‘Citizen Kane’. He’s on record saying, “He didn’t mind that I was doing a much different characterization of him. He has got a great sense of humor, so he was fine with the fact that I was portraying him as this anti-social grouch. He understands drama. The necessity for liberties to be taken.”
14 Who Let The Wolves Out!
It’s not that the book is scary because it has a werewolf theme, it’s HOW Stine wrote around that theme that’s made The Werewolf of Fever Swamp a genuinely bone-tingling read. Near the end of the book, readers learn (via character Grady’s narration) that the whole story occurred a month ago. Grady and his pet dog Wolf get along quite well. The boy enjoys his companionship on full moon nights. Will, another character, had bitten Grady, passing down the werewolf transformation curse. What’s truly interesting (and creepy because of it) is that Grady seems to have grown accustomed to being a beast. In fact, he even goes hunting and exploring with Wolf when it comes time to shape-shift. A werewolf, apparently, is a dog’s best friend.
13 No Amount Of School Supplies Will Prepare You
In another of Stine’s literary jewels, we explore the peculiar and rather untoward nature of circumstances in The Haunted School. The story nears a nerve-racking finish with Thalia back in the real world but devoid of any color (a situation that she’s been alleviating through the clever use of makeup and contact lenses). She’s eagerly seeking a way back into Greyworld to rescue her friends who are still trapped there. Comparing both reality and Greyworld, she prefers to live in the latter, leaving just two of the group back in a gym in the real world. The not-so-lost boys have come back only in time to hear the principal say, “Yes Mr. Chameleon, you can click their class photo.” The name apparently rings a dark bell in Tommy’s mind who desperately tries to keep the photographer from pressing down on the button. What happens next is, well, up to you to read and find out.
12 Stine, The Collector
The man likes his souvenirs as much as he likes creating some of the most memorable monsters and creepy creatures in the realm of literature. Stine has been known to claim at least one prop for his ‘collection’ from the sets of Goosebumps for television. The crew even had need of a dummy of him, apparently, but it too went into Stine’s collection. The souvenirs need to be of a certain type; the stranger the better. Hopefully Stine will open his collection to the public one day. We can’t even begin to imagine how much amazing stuff is scattered throughout his home.
11 What? No Visual Effects?
Interesting things happen on a film set when the camera re-rolls an unedited segment. While filming the Goosebumps movie, Director Rob Letterman intentionally chose to project the movie to a closed group of three hundred people, and he aimed to show it without any visual effects whatsoever. According to his reveal on Crave, “I literally put it up for 300 people, parents and kids, and I was truly scared because I didn’t know if it was going to work. And this is what was interesting, there [were] these moments early on in the movie where we had a couple jump scares in there. When those happened the kids screamed, the parents [gasped], and they all started laughing because they got over it!”
10 Don’t Drink The Purple Stuff
We covered Stine’s favorite character earlier, and now it’s time to see which of his many bestsellers is one after his own heart. He often dithers between Night of the Living Dummy and The Haunted Mask. In truth, his real favorite is Brain Juice. He has admitted to this as well, citing the core plot-theme involving two kids who drink a purple liquid, and get smarter and smarter, but ruining their lives as a consequence. He goes on to share that few people talk about this book, and finishes by saying that he personally loves the plotline. Brain Juice, anyone?
9 The Past Can Be A Scary Place
For an adventure set around a rather medieval theme, the plot contains more than its appropriate share of kid-oriented action. A Night In Terror Tower has supremely creepy plot-elements that include time-entrapment spells and torture instruments. Then there’s the scene where a horde of rats nearly swamps the children in the story. The kids are already lost in the Terror Tower (set in London, and no connection to the tower there). The story also has a sprinkling of death sentences and is rife with gruesome medieval villainy. It boggles the mind how so much darkness could have been packed into one night, but Stine has done it again, he’s gone and scared us way too much.
8 The World Very Nearly Lost Goosebumps
When you have a select group of authors whom you adore and will do anything for, their books become the lifeblood of your reading sessions, when even the smallest twist can light a fuse of theories and ideas in your mind about where the story is headed. Imagine if one of those authors shares the fact that they at first did not even want to write the book and/or series that you fell head over heels in love with. This is precisely what happened with Stine and Goosebumps. Targeting teen readerships, his Fear Street series was a step in a new direction for Stine. He was of a mind not to risk jeopardizing its success by doing something slightly different and targeted at a younger audience. The idea came from his editor who suggested that he write a scary series for seven-to-twelve-year-olds, purely because nobody else was doing so at the time.
7 The Books Were Ignored At First
What initially began as a series of four books soon picked up steam and became sixty-two, not including spinoffs. It’s therefore surprising to learn that Goosebumps was not a super-duper hit during the first leg of its journey. It took a few months during which word of Stine’s new series spread, encouraged by average marketing efforts on the part of his publisher. Soon, he received a contract to write six more books, and then more were in demand, and then history was made. Stine nostalgically recalls when the books sat on shelves with no interested buyers/readers. He says that international fame landed on the series almost out of the blue, and how it happened is still a mystery to him.
6 You’ve Gotta Be Kidding, Mr. Stine!
You know him as Stine R. L. but he had another name. This was before he became a bestselling horror novelist in the young readership department. Stine used to write comedy and was affectionately named “Jovial Bob Stine”. Get this, he also worked for a celebrity magazine. It’s funny (pun intended) that he managed to make the long leap into horror. Guess scary things are jokes to Stine because he was as good a comedy writer as he is a New York Times bestselling horror fiction author. Who knows, maybe he’ll cross into comedy-horror and give us his own take on films like Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. That would be a treat!
