Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps

[The Dark Knight]

I like darker material as much as anyone. But I do think the tone of modern content has become repetitive and exhausting. There just doesn't seem to be that spark of magic. Goosebumps still interests me because I believe it does have that. The market of children's novellas means there's added pressure on creating scary ideas. Importantly, Stine gives us a nice mix of mystery and humor that makes this a world you're eager to dive in to. I'm about half way through the original run of books (taking my time) and I'm still finding things to enjoy.

On this topic, as I've gotten older my belief has cemented that Batman should be something ALL ages should be able to watch. B66, BTAS and the Burton/Schumacher series fit that criteria. B89 and BR are the darkest of those interpretations but they're undeniably comic book with a sense of adventure. The restrictions on BTAS were also a blessing in disguise as far as I am concerned.

An atmosphere of constant hard violence and swearing runs the risk of becoming one note and lacking the full nuance the world of Batman deserves. Absolute Batman rubbed me the wrong way in this regard. It actually makes me feel like that style interpretation is LESS valid because it's not mainstream. A permission to now like the characters and material because it's been made less 'embarrassing'. I think the trick is presenting something unreal so we have the desire to wish it was. Escapism 101.

I do think a course correction is required in the near future.