Goosebumps

This article is about the book series by R. L. Stine. For the bumps that form on skin, see Goose bumps.

R. L. Stine with some of his creations.

Tagline: "They're a real scream!"

Goosebumps is a formerly popular series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by R. L. Stine. Sixty-two books were published under the Goosebumps umbrella title from 1992 to 1997, the last one being Monster Blood IV. They are sometimes considered a fad of the 1990s.

Like the later Harry Potter novels, the Goosebumps series was often challenged in libraries (usually in the U.S.A), for their sometimes-violent content; the novels were 15th on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books from 1990 to 1999. [1]

The series spawned a gamebook spinoff, also written by Stine, called Give Yourself Goosebumps. Several of the titles in the series were made into movies; the series also inspired a television series named Goosebumps which ran from 1995 to 1998. The book The Haunted Mask inspired two videos. The series even inspired two board games produced by Milton Bradley, "Terror in the Graveyard" and "Escape from Horrorland". The series also inspired a computer game to be produced by DreamWorks Interactive (now known as EA Los Angeles) released in 1996 also entitled, "Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland" like Milton Bradley's board game.

In January 1998, Cry Of The Cat was published as the first book in the new series Goosebumps: Series 2000. There are 25 Series 2000 books, including two sequels to a book from the original series (Night of the Living Dummy) and two other sequels, Return to Horrorland and Return to Ghost Camp. The final title in the series, Ghost in the Mirror, was released in January 2000.

There were two parody books by R.U. Slime called Gooflumps: Eat Cheese and Barf! and Stay Out of the Bathroom.

Front covers and most other Goosebumps related art was done by the artist Tim Jacobus. And in the later Give Yourself Goosebumps books the cover was digitally created by Craig White.

Inspirations and references

A lot of Stine's plots are, by his own admission, based on classic sci-fi/horror movies, TV shows, and stories. For instance, one of the most popular books in the series, Night of the Living Dummy, was inspired by Stine's reading of the original Italian version of Pinocchio, while taking its title from the film Night of the Living Dead. The book It Came From Beneath The Sink! took its title from the fifties sci-fi film It Came From Beneath The Sea, though plotwise there is little resemblance between the two. The two-part Series 2000 book Invasion of the Body Squeezers is an obvious parody of the classic science fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Many books also resemble episodes of the original Twilight Zone television series, including Say Cheese And Die, Welcome To Camp Nightmare, Be Careful What You Wish For, and The Haunted Mask and its sequel, to name a few. Many books feature a twist in the end, such as the original Night of the Living Dummy, where the protagonists had spent the book fighting a murderous dummy, only to be confronted with a second creature at the end, or the first book in the series, The Girl Who Cried Monster, which was based on the fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf also has a twist at the end; the main character's parents transform into monsters to protect her from the villain. Welcome to the Dead House, in which a sadistic real estate agent thought dead turned up on the last page, seen in the distance by the main characters. A Give Yourself Goosebumps book, Welcome to the Wicked Wax Museum, is based on the movie House of Wax.

Popular books/characters

Stine named the original Night of the Living Dummy as his favorite Goosebumps book. The Night of the Living Dummy series, which features the walking, talking, evil ventriloquist dummy Slappy (who surprisingly played only a small part in the original novel, with the equally villainous Mr. Wood being the main antagonist), are some of the series' most popular books, and Slappy has gained a reputation as Goosebumps' most popular and well-known antagonist. Later books attempted to explore his background and how he came to be created, and the final book in the series, Slappy's Nightmare, was told from Slappy's (third-person) point of view. The Monster Blood series is also very popular among fans, albeit not to the extent of the above.

Conventions

The books in the Goosebumps series often include a plot structure with normal kids getting involved in scary situations and twists at the end of each story, after the conflict has either been or appears to have been resolved. Also, in his auto-biography, R.L. Stine has confirmed that he often ends chapters in a state of suspense.

Television Series

Main article Goosebumps (television series)

A popular television series was made, based on the Goosebumps books and the spin-offs. It ran for four seasons from 1995 to 1998.

Videos and DVDs

File:Goosebumps.jpg.jpg

Carly Beth in her mask from the episode "The Haunted Mask".

In 1995 eight Goosebumps videos were released; the last one released was The Bride Of The Living Dummy. But in the fall of 2004 four DVDs were released based on four of the previously released videos. Now there are ten DVDs to date, and in September of 2006 five episodes are planned to be released, which are A Shocker On Shock Street, Click, The Perfect School, An Old Story, and My Best Friend Is Invisible.

Goosebumps Graphix

In September 2006, a Goosebumps graphic novel was released. Titled Goosebumps Graphix, it is based on three Goosebumps books—The Abominable Snowman of Pasedena, The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, and The Werewolf of Fever Swamp.

Goosebumps in other languages

Goosebumps books were also popular worldwide.

• In Spanish, it was known as Escalofríos (literally "Shudders") in Latin America, and Pesadillas (literally Nightmares) in Spain.

• In Greek, the series is called Ανατριχιλες.
• In Swedish, the title is Kalla Kårar.
• The title in Danish is Gåsehud, a direct translation of the word "Goosebumps".
• In Norway, the title of the series is Grøsserne.
• In Canadian French, the translation is Chair de Poule.
• The Dutch translation is Kippenvel, which is Dutch for goosebumps. (However, the Dutch word originates from "chicken skin" instead of "goose bumps.")
• In European Portuguese the title is Arrepios (literally "Shivers").
• In Brazilian Portuguese the title has been maintained while each story´s title was translated. Say Cheese and Die for instance turned Sorria e Morra).
• In Hebrew, the title is "צמרמורת".
• In Arabic, the title is "صرخة الرعب" which means "scream of horror".

See also

• Give Yourself Goosebumps
• List of Goosebumps books
• R.L. Stine
• Goosebumps (Television Series)
• Slappy the Dummy

External links

• Goosebumps home from Scholastic Press
• Official Goosebumps Graphix site