Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps

[Silver Nemesis]

I've read a lot of books and I've also abandoned a lot of books. What Goosebumps has going for it is their length. They get to the point and provide readers with a quick tale and a fun experience that compels you to keep turning the page. There's a lot of variety of stories under the banner and the horror/comedy blend is what makes them great. If the books were tailored for an older target audience they wouldn't have the same charm.

Years ago I looked up the word count of the Goosebumps titles. IIRC the average book in the series is around 22,000 words, which is novella length. R. L. Stine said he was belting out one book every two weeks back in his prime. That's impressive. I'm guessing he must've had a lot of editorial help getting each story into a publishable state. I also imagine ghost writers might've been employed for some of the later books, but I believe Stine wrote most of the classics himself. He's very prolific.

I also read some of his Point Horror books when I was a kid, but I didn't enjoy them as much as his Goosebumps series.

The Goosebumps books also wouldn't have been the success they were without the front cover art by Tim Jacobus. They're some of the most evocative and effective pieces of art to grace any collection of stories. They still hold up but kids now wouldn't understand the power of looking at them back in the day. I'd refuse to read a Goosebumps book without the original art.

The UK editions had different covers back in the nineties, though the latest editions have the original American covers. The old UK covers depicted a pool of bubbling slime, and something from the story would be emerging from the slime. What made these covers extra cool was that the bubbles were slightly raised and three dimensional so you could feel them when you ran your hand over them. The Goosebumps logo was also raised.

Many kids in my school collected them just for the covers and didn't actually read them. I had the biggest collection in my class – probably about thirty or so altogether – and I did actually read them. Unfortunately I gave all my Goosebumps books away when I was 17. As an adult I've bought some of them back, but I always purchase second-hand copies online so I can get the editions I owned as a kid.

Memorable book covers are a rare thing these days, just like memorable film posters. Here's a good video on the subject. The creator makes reference to Stine's books.

[thecolorsblend]

Years ago I looked up the word count of the Goosebumps titles. IIRC the average book in the series is around 22,000 words, which is novella length. R. L. Stine said he was belting out one book every two weeks back in his prime. That's impressive. I'm guessing he must've had a lot of editorial help getting each story into a publishable state.

Some writers are just superhuman.

Walter Gibson banged out a new Shadow pulp every week or two back in his heyday. On top of that, he usually worked without an outline. He just pantsed his way through the entire novel.

Even more stunning is how consistently good Gibson's work was. You wouldn't think he was just making it all up as he went along.

Back on topic, I read a theory once that suggested that Stine's prolificacy was one of the main contributors to GB's success. Kids who were inclined to read typically had a lot of turnover. Stine's output meant that a kid could start a GB book, make his/her way through it and a new entry in the series would be available within a few weeks at the most.

[The Dark Knight]

My journey back to the series started around the time I started re-reading Harry Potter. I was feeling that type of nostalgic revival anyway, but it felt like the universe was telling me something.

During a twilight bike ride through a wooded area I went past a guy wearing a Goosebumps shirt, which was all black with just the green font. What a blast from the past to see that. It's what first put the back idea in my head to get back into that world, mixed in with the appropriate setting of where I was. Some time later I drove past a storefront with a retro Goosebumps display on the glass featuring the original mascot, Curly. Not long after I had a dream, which was this:

I was inside my childhood home, looking outside the rear door onto the grassed area at night. I noticed a monster walking and doing backflips. I go to tell my Dad, who hands me a knife to go outside and kill it. I tell him to get me a gun instead, and he walks away to get one. Tired of waiting, I go out there and do manage to kill it. My Dad returns with a gun, and I say you're too late because it's all over. But then I see numerous other creatures attached to the side of the house and inside the trees, and at this point I woke up. This was a Goosebumps dream, no doubt about it. And that's what finally got me to dig out the old books.

Back on topic, I read a theory once that suggested that Stine's prolificacy was one of the main contributors to GB's success. Kids who were inclined to read typically had a lot of turnover. Stine's output meant that a kid could start a GB book, make his/her way through it and a new entry in the series would be available within a few weeks at the most.

That was part of it, I think. Through regular releases the books were always current and helped lift sales across the whole line as more people discovered them. It's worth pointing out RL Stine was the biggest selling children's author before JK Rowling entered the picture. He was doing four million copies a month in the mid 1990s, and now it's around 400 million overall. Mighty numbers any way you slice it. The TV show gave the stories life and solidified the craze. The series peaked in the 90s but I'm cool with that. There's plenty of content to consume from that period and nostalgia is what I'm wanting.

[Silver Nemesis]

At one point in the AYAOTD episode 'The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner' there's a close-up shot of a very distinctive piece of Superman art.

I always wondered what the source of this image was, and today I happened to stumble across some information about it while browsing online. Apparently it's a 1994 poster titled 'Faster Than a Speeding Bullet' by Joe DeVito. Here's the full poster.

The long hair and shiny detailed musculature evoke a strong Superman Lives vibe. I wonder if it influenced the look of the Cage Superman.

[Kamdan]

The long hair and shiny detailed musculature evoke a strong Superman Lives vibe. I wonder if it influenced the look of the Cage Superman.

Cage's long hair for the Superman costume tests was coincidental as it was during the time period when he was making Con Air. Cage briefly mentions to Burton keeping his hair length for Superman but it obviously didn't stick as later costume tests display his hair at a shorter length.

[Silver Nemesis]

I hadn't even heard about this until now, but it seems there's a new Goosebumps TV series launching on Disney+ next month. Here's the trailer.

This doesn't evoke the classic Goosebumps feel for me. I don't understand why every modern Goosebumps adaptation has to pick and mix things from different books and tie them together with an original plot, turning it into a kind of all-stars narrative. Why not just focus on one book, and one monster, and make a good straightforward adaptation of it? I also think the 'kids' in the trailer look far too old. The protagonists in Goosebumps stories should be around 10-13. Maybe 14 or 15 at oldest. I've just checked the ages of the young actors in this series, and they're all in 24-27 range.

The Haunted Mask (1995) remains the gold standard for R. L. Stine adaptations. I doubt it'll ever be topped. The nineties atmosphere, which for me is a big part of Goosebumps' appeal, will certainly never be recaptured.

[Silver Nemesis]

I read Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns earlier this week, which is one of the Goosebumps books I didn't read as a child. I've got the TV adaptation on DVD and have watched it many times around the Halloween season, but I'd never read the book until now.

Predictably, there are many things in the book that didn't make it into the adaptation. Only about fifty percent of the book is covered by the TV episode, which wouldn't have been the case if they'd adapted it as a two-parter. But to be honest, the book isn't worth wasting two episodes on. It's ok, but hardly one of Stine's best.

The plot is essentially a retread of The Haunted Mask: the protagonist sets out to get even with a duo of kids who frightened her on previous Halloweens. But Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns lacks the sympathetic protagonist and atmospheric descriptive prose that made The Haunted Mask such a compelling seasonal read. It comes across as a lacklustre attempt to recapture the magic of that earlier book. The twist ending is also weak and reads like something Stine came up with as an afterthought when his deadline was looming. It isn't adequately foreshadowed, and it directly contradicts earlier passages where the protagonist expresses fear and uncertainty concerning her situation.

I'll probably watch the TV episode again over the next few weeks, and I'm glad I read the book so I have a deeper understanding of the characters' back stories. But without the Halloween angle, I expect the book and TV episode would both have been consigned to a forgotten corner of Goosebumps lore. They're extremely middling.

Stick with The Haunted Mask.

[Silver Nemesis]

I've just been re-reading The Haunted Mask in anticipation of Halloween, and I'd completely forgotten about this scene. Does it remind anyone of anything?

Glancing across the street, Carly Beth saw the old Carpenter mansion looming over its dark, weed-choked lawn. Everyone said the ramshackle old house was haunted by people who had been murdered inside it a hundred years ago.

Once, Carly Beth had heard frightened howls coming from the old mansion. When she was Noah's age, Steve and Chuck and some other kids had dared each other to go up to the house and knock on the door. Carly Beth had run home instead. She never did find out if the other kids were brave enough to do it.

Now Carly Beth felt a chill of fear as she hurried past the old house. She knew this neighbourhood really well. She had lived in it all her life. But tonight it looked different to her.

Was it just the wet glow left by the rain?

No. It was a heavy feeling in the air. A heavier darkness. The eerie orange glow of grinning pumpkins in the windows. The silent cries of ghouls and monsters waiting to float free on their night to celebrate. Hallowe'en.

Was Stine intentionally referencing this scene with Dr Loomis?

[The Dark Knight]

I've been slowly making my way through the BumpyGoose whilst navigating various other issues, and just finished The Ghost Next Door the other day. The Haunted Mask is next, and that's my favorite in the series, so it'll be at the top. But to be professional, this is my ranking thus far:

1. STAY OUT OF THE BASEMENT
2. THE GIRL WHO CRIED MONSTER
3. LET'S GET INVISIBLE!
4. SAY CHEESE AND DIE
5. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUMMY
6. WELCOME TO DEAD HOUSE
7. THE GHOST NEXT DOOR
8. WELCOME TO CAMP NIGHTMARE
9. MONSTER BLOOD
10. THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB

I dig the stories based in suburban areas due to their relatability. Stay Out of the Basement has long been one of my all time favorites due to the isolation the kids have in being stuck at home with a father clearly behaving strangely. The TV episode managed to translate it pretty well, too.

The Girl Who Cried Monster is a classic. I love the twist and the premise of breaking into the library, hiding to witness the transformations and not being believed. To me, that's the series at its near purest. Something small scale but nonetheless a huge discovery.

For a simple and repetitious idea, Stine really has you on your toes with every time the mirror string gets pulled in Let's Get Invisible! The idea of your reflection pulling you in and replacing you is fantastic. No gore needed for that to be scary. Say Cheese and Die gets a high placement for its concept as well - a camera that depicts a future calamity. I enjoy the subplot of the abandoned house and the mysterious observer following them around too.

What I like about Night of the Living Dummy isn't necessarily the dummies coming to life, but the way it can be a commentary on the accuser being depicted as an insane troublemaker who creates tension and a split within their family. I like the way Stine depicted that over the course of the book.

Welcome to Dead House is a solid opening book even if on the generic side. I'm interested in its mythology, and would love to see a prequel depicting the accident that made Dark Falls what it is. The twist could be the characters discovering they're all dead at the end of the book, similar to The Ghost Next Door. Stine apparently had a prequel ready to go, but it wasn't released.

The Ghost Next Door is a book that genuinely affected me by the time it came to a close. It's less a horror story and more an emotional character study. It's the saddest story in the canon in my estimations, and that makes it special.

Camp Nightmare isn't bad per se (twists makes it what it is), and Monster Blood to me was rather boring despite liking the idea. Curse of the Mummy's Tomb was too much of a conventional adventure story and not really what I'm looking for with the series. I'm going to keep on reading when I've got the time, and all books will be completed.

[Silver Nemesis]