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Goosebumps

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This article is about the book series by R. L. Stine. For bumps on a person's skin, see Goose bumps.
For the TV series, see Goosebumps (TV series).
R. L. Stine with some of his creations.

Goosebumps is a 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.

The Goosebumps series was often challenged in American libraries for their sometimes-violent content; the novels were fifteenth on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books from 1990 to 1999.[1]

The series spawned several spinoffs, also written by Stine, including Give Yourself Goosebumps and Goosebumps: Series 2000 which appeared in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

The series inspired two board games produced by Milton Bradley, "Terror in the Graveyard" and "Escape from Horrorland", a 1996 PC game produced by DreamWorks Interactive also entitled, "Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland" like Milton Bradley's board game and another book-based PC game entitled "Attack of the Mutant", several direct-to-video movies and a TV series.

During the height of the series popularity, two parody books were released by an author going by the penname 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 artist Tim Jacobus, while the covers for the later Give Yourself Goosebumps series were digitally created by Craig White.

Inspirations

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 1955 science fiction 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 and The Phantom of the Auditorium is a clear parody of the french novel The Phantom of the Opera. Many books also resemble episodes of the original television series, The Twilight Zone, 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. A Give Yourself Goosebumps book, Welcome to the Wicked Wax Museum, was based on the film House of Wax. Another Give Yourself Goosebumps book, Zombie School, is based on the movie They Live, and features the same subliminal advertising as the movie.

Stine named the original Night of the Living Dummy as his favorite Goosebumps book in his autobiography. The main character of the book Slappy the Dummy has earned the reputation of Goosebumps' most popular antagonist. He will be featured in the first book of Goosebumps HorrorLand, Revenge of the Living Dummy. The Monster Blood series is also very popular among fans, albeit not to the extent of the above. There were three sequels, and an upcoming Goosebumps HorrorLand book Monster Blood for Breakfast!. The book One Day at Horrorland proved to be so popular that R.L. Stine wrote a sequel titled Return to Horrorland and later the entire Goosebumps HorrorLand series. Two games spun off from the book both named Escape from Horrorland, one version a boardgame, the other a computer game. The Haunted Mask and its sequel The Haunted Mask II proved so popular that both were made into TV episodes. Stine even planned a sequel for the nonreleased Goosebumps Gold series called The Haunted Mask Lives! There was even a reproduction of the Haunted Mask sold in certain stores. There is now a planned Scream of the Haunted Mask in the Goosebumps HorrorLand series.

Some of the most popular characters of the book are Cuddles the Hamster from Monster Blood II, Slappy the Dummy, the Horrorland Horrors, Amaz-O the bunny magician from Bad Hare Day, Prince Khor-Ru the mummy, the Mud Monsters, the Egg Monsters from Mars, the Beast from the East, and Curly the Skeleton. Curly, while having no appearance in any of the books, became the spokesperson for Goosebumps and has been illustrated in various Goosebumps memorabilia, along with being featured on the cover of five of the Tales to Give You Goosebumps anthologies. Amaz-O and Evan Ross from the Monster Blood books would be featured as guest stars in Return To Horrorland. Goosebumps HorrorLand draws off popular Goosebumps mini-series and will feature the return of many classic villains.

Stine has also named Brain Juice,[2] and Invasion of the Body Squeezers[3] (both from the Goosebumps 2000 series) as two more of his favorite books.

Overall, the series itself was so popular that it helped spawn a number of children's horror book series in the 1990s, including Spooksville, Spinetinglers, Shivers (book series), Deadtime Stories, Bone Chillers and Graveyard School.

Conventions

The primary protagonist(s) of a Goosebumps story is usually situated in a remote location or somehow isolated from typical societal conventions. While sometimes this is as simplistic as comfortable suburban areas, or as exaggerated as indifferent summer camps, boarding schools, foreign villages, campsites, unfamiliar relatives' homes or overseas areas. The books in the Goosebumps series feature semi-synonymous plot structures with normal kids being, frequently indirectly, involved in scary situations; after the central conflict has either been or appears to have been resolved, there is usually a twist ending. Also, in his autobiography, R.L. Stine has stated that he often ends chapters in a state of suspense. Following the conclusion of every Goosebumps book, Stine includes a 1-3 chapter preview of the next book in the series.

Scholarly Review

There are many Goosebumps novels, and it would be easy to discuss the literary merit of each. However, special attetention is clearly due to My Hariest Adventure [4]and Say Cheese and Die.[5] R. L. Stine's style of writing is perhaps best showcased in these two episodes. As always, the episodes, well, leave the viewer with goosebumps. But there is much, much more to Goosebumps than the scare factor. When one begings to watch Goosebumps and is not scared by it (this usually takes years) one is able to appreciate it on a much deeper level. For example, if one pays close attention to Say Cheese and Die, one notices R. L. Stine's usage of humor, most notably in the "Umm, tasty" joke[6]. Instances like these take Goosebumps to a level that most viewers never come to appreciate. The depth of Goosebumps extends even beyond the subtle jokes, though. The memorable antagonist of Say Cheese and Die, "Spidey"[7] can be seen as a symbol of perverted, creepy men everywhere. The family car[8], for instance, can be seen as a symbol of decadence and excess. It is no conincidence, therefore, that the camera (no doubt a symbol bad luck and misfortune) should wind up with the very family who posseses such a car. In a truly post-victorian style, Stine develops and contrasts the luxury and wealth of the protagonist with the degredation of the antagonist. This same contrast is found in The Haunted Mask[9] between Carley Beth and her family and the jaded shop keeper who supplies her the mask. Just as in Say Cheese and Die, the protagonist steals something (in this case the mask itself) from the antagonist. It can be argued that the old man who made the mask was not infact an antagonist, but his role in creating the mask clearly establishes him as the antagonist of the story[10]. Further establishing his role as the antagonist is Stine's careful development of his greed and personal dissatifaction. In the same way that Spidey brought about his own ruin because of his greedy attempt to see the future, the old shop keeper brings about his own ruin as a result of his greed to be physically attractive[11]. Ironically, the protagonist of the story, Carley Beth, also expresses personal dissatisfaction when she thinks she is so cowardly that she should buy the mask to make up for her cowardice[12].

Stine clearly intended for his characters to be true-to-life. It is uncharacteristic of most children's writing (the term childrens writing is used nominally) that the protagonist of the story has a flaw. Because Stine's characters possess both good and bad traits, they are much more real, and, in turn, Stine's works can be clasified in the same category as other realist works. While the writing of most of Stine's peers is primirialy of Romantic characteristics, his own writing remains unwaveringly true to the both the good and bad aspects of his characters and their situations. Because of this distinction from his peers, Stine belongs to the post-modern realist group of writers.

Twist endings

Many books feature a twist in the end, similar to the format of those like The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone, such as the original Night of the Living Dummy, where the protagonists spent most of the narrative fighting a murderous dummy, only to be confronted with a second creature at the end. Another 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 Dead House ends with a sadistic real estate agent, thought to be dead, turning up on the last page, seen in the distance by the main characters. A Shocker on Shock Street ends with the two main characters revealed to be robots, and in Attack of the Jack O'Lanterns it is revealed that two kids are aliens.

List of books

Main article: List of Goosebumps books

Television series

Further information: Goosebumps (TV 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.

As of October 1, 2007 the series began running on Cartoon Network, presumably in honor of Halloween. Now runs on Saturdays in a 4 episode 2 Hour Block.

VHS and DVDs

File:Goosebumps.jpg.jpg
Carly Beth in her mask from the episode "The Haunted Mask".

In the mid-late 1990s, several Goosebumps VHS tapes were released. DVDs of the series have also been released, many of which were contained episodes previously released on VHS. The DVDs run at approximately 44 minutes each, and include no special features or menus. Some include two separate episodes as opposed to a single two-part episode.

  • Released on September 7th, 2004: "Welcome to Dead House," "The Werewolf of Fever Swamp," "The Haunted Mask II," and "Night of the Living Dummy III"
  • Released on April 12th, 2005: "Cry of the Cat," "Deep Trouble," and "How I Got My Shrunken Head"
  • Released on September 6th, 2005: "Chillogy," "The Ghost Next Door," and "Scary House" (note: "Chillogy" and "Scary House" were not based on Goosebumps novels.)
  • Released on September 5th, 2006: "A Shocker on Shock Street," "My Best Friend is Invisible" (also includes "An Old Story" [based on a short story by R.L. Stine]), and "Perfect School"
  • Released on September 11th, 2007: "Night of the Living Dummy" (also includes "Bride of the Living Dummy"), "Say Cheese and Die" (also includes "Say Cheese and Die - Again"), and "It Came From Beneath the Sink" (also includes "Strained Peas" [not based on a Goosebumps novel])

The future of Goosebumps DVD releases, in terms of complete season sets, is unknown. Possible candidates for future releases are those that were previously released on VHS, or were never released but aired as two-part episodes:

  • "The Haunted Mask," "Welcome to Camp Nightmare," "Stay Out of the Basement," "A Night in Terror Tower," "Attack of the Mutant," "Monster Blood," and "One Day at Horrorland"

A new Goosebumps movie is said to be in production, although it is early in the preproduction stages and it is unclear whether it will have a straight-to-DVD release or a theatrical release.[citation needed] Speculation points to the film's plot being based on one of two possible source materials: The Series 2000 two-part story, "Invasion of the Body Squeezers", or the upcoming Horrorland series. NOTE: Although the above information may be in reference to a separate release (and therefore should remain in this article), it is highly likely, although unconfirmed, that this information is regarding the recently-released The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It DVD, which is not based on a Goosebumps book, nor is it an original Goosebumps story.

Goosebumps Graphix

In September 2006, Scholastic began releasing Goosebumps comic books. Titled Goosebumps Graphix, each is based on three Goosebumps books. Each book is approximately 135 pages in length, and each of the stories are illustrated by a different artist, producing several different unique art styles.

  • The first book in the series, released September 2006, is titled Creepy Creatures, and contains The Abominable Snowman of Pasedena, The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, and The Werewolf of Fever Swamp.
  • The second, released in May 2007, Terror Trips, contains Deep Trouble, One Day at Horrorland, and A Shocker on Shock Street.
  • The third, released in July 2007, Scary Summer, contains The Horror of Camp Jellyjam, Ghost Beach, and Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes.
  • As of November 2007, a fourth volume in the series has not been announced.

Goosebumps HorrorLand

Main article: Goosebumps HorrorLand

R.L. Stine is writing a twelve-book series entitled Goosebumps HorrorLand. The series, based on One Day at Horrorland and other popular Goosebumps mini-series, is the first Goosebumps series where each book is part of the same plot:

The new series will be an immersive storytelling experience welcoming fans to HorrorLand, a vast theme park which R.L. Stine describes as "the scariest place on Earth." In a Goosebumps first, the new series will be a serialized adventure, and the story won't end on the final page of book #1. Instead, the spine-tingling and funny bone-tickling adventures will continue on the Internet and in books #2-12, each of which can also stand alone. The first nine HorrorLand books all will feature a combination of frightful new faces as well as the vilest villains from the original Goosebumps series. Ordinary kids are being summoned to HorrorLand-but why? Readers are in for the ride of their lives as the cast of characters trapped in the theme park grows larger with each book, and their situations become more and more perilous.

Books #10-12 will take place entirely in HorrorLand. Who-or what-is behind the evil plot to assemble these kids? The answer will be revealed in the final book. Soon after the debut of books #1 and #2 in April 2008, Scholastic will begin to reissue original Goosebumps books-ten bestselling titles that tie in with each new story as it unfolds in HorrorLand.

Scholastic will launch HorrorLand with a dedicated website that, with the publication of each book, will further the narrative and provide corresponding clues to help readers unlock the secrets to HorrorLand. In addition, the web site will offer readers original HorrorLand material not available in the books-including ten free internet-only related stories, bonus downloads, interactive games, and more.[13]

Scholastic has opened a page previewing the titles in the series.[14] The website EnterHorrorLand.com will be a "gameplay experience which immerses fans in HorrorLand itself"[15] and will open in February 2008[16]. The website EscapeHorrorLand.com will be a "serialized, story-driven, fact-finding experience" hosted by the protagonists of One Day at Horrorland.[17]

Goosebumps in other languages

Goosebumps books were also popular worldwide.

  • In Spanish, it was known as Escalofríos (literally "Goosebumps")[18] in Latin America, and Pesadillas (literally Nightmares)[19] 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 Grøssarne, meaning/defined as "Novel which uses horror effects", "Thriller" or "Chills".
  • In French, the translation is Chair de Poule (literally "hen flesh", the French phrase for goose bumps).
  • In Slovenian language, the translation is Kurja polt, a direct translation of the word "Goosebumps".
  • In German, the title of "Goosebumps" is the direct translation "Gänsehaut"
  • 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". which means "Goose-bumps".
  • In Arabic, the title is "صرخة الرعب" which means "scream of horror".
  • In Thailand, the title is "ชมรมขนหัวลุก" which means "Scary Club".
  • In Finland, the title is Goosebumps.
  • In Italian, the title is Piccoli Brividi which means "small shudders".
  • In Polish, the title is Gęsia Skórka.
  • In Russian, the title is Ужастики, meaning "Chillers". The TV series is entitled Мурашки, which is Russian for "goose bumps", though the word originates from "little ants".
  • In Catalan, the title is Pànic, meaning "Panic".

Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/top100challenged.htm
  2. ^ http://teenink.com/Past/2001/June/Interviews/RLStine.html
  3. ^ http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-stine-rl-chat.asp
  4. ^ By R. L. Stine, 1996
  5. ^ By R.L Stine, 1998
  6. ^ R.L. Stine, Say Cheese and Die, pg 67
  7. ^ R.L. Stine, Say Cheese and Die,pg 33
  8. ^ R.L. Stine, Say Cheese and Die, Pg 98
  9. ^ R. L. Stine, The Haunted Mask, 1994
  10. ^ R.L Stine,The Haunted Mask, Pg 23
  11. ^ R. L. Stine, The Haunted Mask, pg 104
  12. ^ R. L. Stine, The Haunted Mask, pg 47
  13. ^ http://news.morningstar.com/news/ViewNews.asp?article=/PR/20070517NYTH068_univ.xml&pgid=qtqnPress3cfm
  14. ^ http://www.scholastic.com/horrorland/
  15. ^ http://www.scholastic.com/internationalrights/postcard.asp?postcard=horrorland_small.gif
  16. ^ http://www.enterhorrorland.com/
  17. ^ http://www.scholastic.com/internationalrights/postcard.asp?postcard=horrorland_small.gif
  18. ^ "Escalofrios/Goosebumps #01: Bienvenidos A Ls Casa de la Muerte". Powell's Books. April 2004.
  19. ^ "Pesadillas (Edición Monstruo: ¡Tres horrores en uno!) N.º 14". Ediciones B. 2002.
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