Goosebumps Documentary

[Reggie Lamborn]

Nearlythree full decades after the release of the first Goosebumps book, the franchise as a whole is more popular than ever. No less than two feature films have been adapted from the popular children's book series, with Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween now playing in theaters everywhere. From the birth of the franchise to its current successes in Hollywood, it's been quite the journey for the series, all of which is heavily explored in a fan-made documentary which is free to watch on YouTube. Needless to say, this is a must-see video for every major Goosebumps fan.

If we're going back to the franchise's roots, we can see that Goosebumps was born in 1992 with the release of R.L. Stine's first book in the series, Welcome to Dead House. An instant hit with young readers, it wasn't long before followup books began to consistently come out, each presenting an all new horror story to provide chills to elementary schoolers. Those who've grown up reading the books still carry a nostalgic appreciation for the series, making the franchise's revival in Hollywood just as fun for adult viewers as it is for the new, younger fans who may have just been introduced to the series.

Just a few short years later, the book series was so popular it was adapted for television as a children's show. It would run for four seasons from 1995 to 1998, producing over 70 episodes overall. With stories directly inspired by the tales from the Stine books, the TV series is just as beloved as the books, still carrying a cult following of its own. Predating the feature films by many years, this would be the only live-action version of the franchise for a long time. Unfortunately, its success seemed to die off by the year 2000, after the show had concluded and the books in the series were no longer being written. This left fans to wonder if that would be it as far as Goosebumps was concerned.

Fast forward to 2008. Books in the series had went back into production, leading to Hollywood taking an interest in adapting the franchise as a feature film. After spending several years in development, the Goosebumps movie would finally hit theaters in 2015, starring Jack Black as a fictionalized version of author R.L. Stine, whose monsters escape from the confines of the book pages to invade the real world. That brings us to the present day, with the official sequel now playing in theaters while the real Stine continues to write new Goosebumps books. It's obviously a great time to be a fan.

Nowadays, it appears Goosebumps is more popular than ever. While we just went through a condensed version of the franchise's history, there's so much more to learn by watching the YouTube documentary, which is very well put together. With a runtime around 45 minutes, watching the video is a fantastic way to kill a good chunk of time, and if you're a fan of the series, you'll be happy you watched it. You can watch the YouTube documentary below! Direct from the Goosebumps: Saga of Scares Youtube channel.

Goosebumps has spawned a pair of television series, a video games series, a comic series and merchandise, as well as a pair of feature films, which star Jack Black as a fictionalized version of Stine.

The series was originally published in English by Scholastic Press in the United States and Scholastic Hippo in the United Kingdom. Spanning various genres, including horror, comedy, fantasy, adventure, supernatural fiction, thriller and mystery, the world of Goosebumps explores a multitude of themes.

Since the release of its first novel, Welcome to Dead House, in July 1992, the books have achieved immense popularity, garnered positive reviews, and achieved commercial success worldwide. They have captivated a diverse audience, including children and older readers, and have sold over 400 million copies globally in 35 languages as of October 2022,[3] becoming the second-best-selling book series in history (behind Harry Potter). At one point, the series held the distinction of being the best-selling book series of all time, selling over 4 million books a month during its prime.[4] Individual books in the series have been listed in several bestseller lists, including the New York Times Best Seller list for children.

The Goosebumps series falls under many genres but mainly horror and thriller, although Stine characterizes the series as 'scary books that are also funny'.[5] Each book features different child characters[6] and settings.[7] The primary protagonists are middle class and can be either male or female.[8] In Goosebumps stories, the central characters are often placed in remote or isolated locations, diverging from common societal conventions. This can range anywhere from comfortable suburban areas to boarding schools, foreign villages or campsites.[9] Books typically feature characters who either recently moved to a new neighborhood or are sent to stay with relatives.[8]The books in the Goosebumps series feature similar plot structures[10] with children being involved in scary situations.[11] At his peak, Stine was known to complete these stories extremely quickly, some of which were written in only six days.[12] The books are mostly written in first person narrative, often concluding with twist endings.[13] They contain surreal horror,[8] with characters encountering the strange and supernatural.[14]

The author has plot devices he follows throughout his Goosebumps books. Stine says he does not have any death in his stories, and the children in his novels are never put into situations that would be considered too serious.[15] He attributed the success of his books to their absence of drugs, depravity and violence.[16]

According to the documentary Tales from the Crypt: From Comic Books to Television, R.L. Stine said that he remembered reading the popular/infamous Tales from the Crypt comic books when he was young and credited as one of his inspirations. Books and characters in the series were inspired by books and films. For example, the character Slappy the Dummy was inspired by the literary classic The Adventures of Pinocchio.[19] Some of Stine's ideas for the books also came from real life; Stine got the idea for the book The Haunted Mask after his son, Matt, had a Halloween mask he had trouble getting off.[20] Stine also uses his childhood fears to help him write his books. The author said, "Luckily, I have a great memory. As I write a story, I can remember what it feels like to be afraid and panicky".[21] Stine states he often thinks of a title to a novel first, then lets the title lead him to a story.[22]

Two common themes in the series are children triumphing over evil and children facing horrid or frightening situations and using their own wit and imagination to escape them.[23] Stine does not attempt to incorporate moral lessons into his novels, and says his books are "strictly reading motivation".[24]

Following the success of Stine's young adult horror novels, the co-founder of Parachute Press (the company that developed the series),[26] Joan Waricha, persuaded him to write scary books for younger children.[27] Stine says the name for the book series came to him after he saw a TV station's ad in TV Guide that stated "It's goosebumps week on Channel 11".[28][29] He originally signed a six-book deal with the publisher Scholastic,[30] but went on to write 62 books in the original series, the first book being Welcome to Dead House, released in July 1992. The series was originally aimed at girls, but both boys and girls enjoyed the series equally with half of Stine's fan mail being sent from boys.[15] The cover illustrations for this series was done primarily by Tim Jacobus.[31] Thirty-two of the books from the original series were later re-released with new artwork under the Classic Goosebumps rename.[32]

The books in the Tales to Give You Goosebumps and Goosebumps Triple Header series were written as short story anthologies, featuring a collection of stories in each book.[33] From 1994 to 1997, six Tales to Give You Goosebumps books were published. Two Goosebumps Triple Header books were released from 1997 to 1998, beginning with Three Shocking Tales of Terror: Book 1.[34]

Fifty Give Yourself Goosebumps books were published from 1995 to 2000, starting with Escape from the Carnival of Horrors. The books in this series were written as gamebooks, featuring multiple endings.[35] The books in this series were ghostwritten by several authors, including Kathryn Lance and Stine's sister-in-law Megan Stine.[36][37][38] Many of the cover illustrations for this series were done by Mark Nagata.[39]

Due to declining Goosebumps sales and increasing competition (primarily from another series from Scholastic, Animorphs), Scholastic and R. L. Stine decided to create Goosebumps Series 2000.[40] From 1998 to 2000, 25 books in the series were published, beginning with Cry of the Cat. The books in this series were written in a similar format and featured similar content to the original series,[41] but Stine classified them as being "much scarier."[30] The covers in this series were illustrated by Tim Jacobus.[31]

The series was renewed in 2008 following the release of the first book in the Goosebumps HorrorLand series, Revenge of the Living Dummy, that was published on April 1, 2008.[44] Before the 2008 release of Revenge of the Living Dummy, there had not been a Goosebumps book published in almost 10 years.[45] Stine decided to start writing Goosebumps books again after receiving mail asking him to write new books in the series.[46] Nineteen Goosebumps HorrorLand books were published,[47] and books in the series mainly featured two stories.[23] The series continued in 2012 with new stories featuring some of the series' most memorable villains, including Slappy the Dummy, the Lawn Gnomes and others. The first book of the spin-off series Goosebumps Most Wanted, Planet of the Lawn Gnomes, was released in October 2012.[48]

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