There was a time when R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books were the biggest things on Earth. Stine released dozens of the spooky novels in the 90s and they all flew off the shelves as soon as young readers could get their paws on them. But when the century came to an end, so did the demand for new books and Stine’s series went the way of pogs, the Spin Doctors and Legends Of The Hidden Temple.
It is a bit surprising that it wasn’t until 2015 that we saw a Goosebumps film. It was also a bit surprising that the film was a hit and spawned a sequel in 2018. Kids these days liked Goosebumps? Who would’ve guessed?
And now those kids will get a chance for more Goosebumps. Deadline says that Neal H. Moritz, producer behind the big-screen movies, is creating a Goosebumps TV series with Scholastic Entertainment and Sony Pictures TV. No word on which network or steaming service the show will end up on.
There was a Goosebumps show before, of course. It ran in the mid-90s and wasn’t that great, always considered a poor man’s Are You Afraid Of The Dark?. But a lot of time has passed since then and with Stine’s franchise gaining steam lately, it’s possible that this new show could be a pretty big hit. I am definitely in favor of it because I am always down with more anthology horror on TV, it’s something that never goes out of style. Now, will Goosebumps be my type of show? Well, that’s unlikely since it’s aimed at kiddos. But I still lend it my support! I am especially encouraging because TV budgets and abilities have gotten far better since the first adaptation. A Goosebumps show with the monetary power of Stranger Things? Kids would be lucky to have that.
You know what Scholastic should do? They should start re-publishing the old Goosebumps books with original covers. It has been a long, long time since I read a Goosebumps book but I guarantee I would pick one up again if it looked and felt like a copy from the 90s. That’s a creepy walk down memory lane I would willingly take.