Why Goosebumps Matters to Me
R.L. Stine is a great author. He's most famous for his Goosebumps series. He's written so much more. Fear Street was another hit with me. I read the Goosebumps series as it came out (because I'm old, but whatever) and I still remember many of the storylines. I'm not sure what that says about me. I was a strange child who was really concerned with keeping my things nice, so it was important to me that my books stayed in wonderful shape. I kept all of my toys in safe places and made sure even tiny pieces never got lost (I had this Polly Pocket I got at like 7 and it had a tiny ring that I never lost). It really bothered me when I'd read a paperback and the spine would crease. My littlest pet shop hampsters had the original paper bedding that came with them. Once, I decided to play 'basketball' with one of my Kitty Kitty Kittens (remember those? They had marbles in their heads and when you moved them, they 'purred'). I cracked its eyeballs on the court and it bothered me so much that I went and got a new one that could be my, now blind kitten's, companion. And I realize that is all very weird. I'm comfortable with myself so it's fine if that information is out in the world. Plus, I'm pretty sure only 2 people will read this, so what do I really have to lose by admitting how damn weird I really am. But anyway, back to Goosebumps... I read a lot as a kid but always kind of in secret. I didn't want my friends to know, because that would make me weird, nerdy, and uncool. So I didn't have books in my room. In fact, you couldn't walk into my house and see any books at all. It wasn't 'cool' to read, and I was already a loser and massively uncool (totally not because of the weird stuff stated above, I'm sure), I didn't want another mark against me. Then Goosebumps came out. And I unapologetically loved them. I got a crate to put in my closet so I could proudly keep them on display. I went to Taco Bell when they had their Goosebumps collab and got everything I could for my collection. I even had the board game.
I honestly don't remember which one was the first I read. I want to say I started with book 1 and bought them as they came out, but that might not be true. I know I had all the first ones and I don't remember buying a bunch at once, so if I didn't start with Welcome to Dead House, I wasn't far off from it. I looked at the release schedule and it looks like it took 9 months for Stine to hit his stride and get a book out a month (which, like, mad props. That had to have been grueling--and yes, I read that toward the end he may have had ghostwriters but he still had to do a lot of work even if that is true, so my props still stand).
The Goosebumps series made me proud to read and unashamed of being excited to wait for the next book and uncaring about what my friends thought of me (in this aspect, at least. I was still an adolescent so to say I didn't care what people thought of me would be a complete lie). I remember going to my local Shopko to get the new book the day they dropped and I would lie on my bed and read it cover to cover that day. I reread these books to fill the time between and I would carefully store them so the bumps on the cover wouldn't wear off. They were a treasure to me.
My absolute favorite was The Haunted School. I haven't read it in years (more on this later) but I still remember the basics. A boy is going to school and falls for a pretty girl but she's got a secret. Years ago, the class photographer (who I'm fairly certain was named Mr. Chameleon) is an evil dude who traps his subjects in a black-and-white prison of their pictures. But this girl managed to escape when she finds a lipstick buried at the bottom of her backpack (I remember thinking how screwed I'd be because I didn't wear makeup at the time). She is so excited by seeing the color that she starts writing on the wall and the color cuts through the world and allows her to escape back to the 'real' world. Only she is still black and white so she always has to wear makeup from head to toe and colored contacts. I remember wondering how she went to the store and bought all that make-up, being black and white and all, but I don't think that's the point. Anyway, she decides to continue her schooling, and then it's picture time. Guess who the photographer is?
That is the most complete book I remember, but I do remember lots of bits about other books. How monster blood always made me think of Gak. How scary I think putting a mask on after having read The Haunted Mask is (also, they always smell). The end of Attack of the Mutant when he cuts his finger and realizes he's a comic book character. How Slappy is just creepy AF and every time I watch that Buffy episode with the dummy, I think of Goosebumps. It's been almost 20 years since I've read a Goosebumps book but I remember the covers. I remember the way they felt. I remember how my room looked when I'd read them.
Of course, there is also how The Ghost Next Door shaped my own novel, Last Time She Died. I remember when I came up with the idea (and I've written about this before), it was more silly than anything else. As I shaped it into something more serious, I thought of this Goosebumps book. I thought of how the main character was dead but he didn't realize it and he just thought the neighbor kid was the ghost. I remember it was the fire he'd built in his own backyard to tell his sibling a ghost story that ended up catching the house on fire because he hadn't put it out properly. I remember thinking of my own house and picturing myself as this kid and having a fire behind the garage and accidentally killing my whole family. I remember this book had a lot of dream sequences and time passed so strangely.
My original draft had a lot more of this. Alexia accidentally haunting her friends and family and the strange time and disappearing people. But I purposefully didn't reread this book or even a synopsis online because I didn't want it to shape my writing any more than my memories of it had. I loved this book and I wanted to capture some of the magic that stuck with me for all that time. I hope I was successful, even though I know my final product is nothing like a Goosebumps book and maybe not even something an R. L. Stine fan would enjoy. I like to think they would though. So I'll keep telling myself that if you liked this book, you'll like mine. Tell me I'm wrong.
Reading Goosebumps shaped my reading preferences. I like scary stuff, it seems. I remember in 6th grade, there was a book in the library by Stephen King and I believe it was my mom who said if I liked scary books, I might someday like his. And she was right. I read that book from the library, and I still am not completely sure why a Middle School (grades 6-9) would have Stephen King on offer, but they did. So, yeah.
Another thing Goosebumps did was make me a proud reader. I didn't have to hide that I enjoyed reading. I felt good spending my money on books. My overstuffed bookshelf today isn't sure if that is a good or a bad thing.
While Goosebumps books weren't the first books I ever read or even the first books I remember enjoying, they were the first books I remember loving. They were the first books I wanted to read and reread. I didn't have to read them for school. I didn't do book reports on them. Plus, they were cool and got made into a TV show so it wasn't weird that I enjoyed them. Lots of people did.
When I moved out on my own, I took them with me. I packed them up carefully and toted them to my first apartment. While in college, I moved many many times. I think about 6 in the 4 1/2 years it took me to get my degree. Then I bought a home and I, for the first time, set up a real bookshelf and filled it with books. I read and read and packed the shelves two rows deep and then stacked books on top and then ran out of space for books and started piling them other places. But some books are missing from my shelf. Goosebumps. There are none on display. Zero. Where did they go? Did I take them back home at some point? Did I let my sister borrow them? Did I leave them in an apartment by mistake when moving? I don't know. Every now and then, I'd get a wild hair and go find a buried box in a closet or packed up in the garage and see if they were hidden in a plastic tote to no avail. I helped my parents organize their garage and attic and wondered if they would show up. They didn't. When my sister died in 2017, part of me thought I'd find them on her bookshelf. And I did, kind of. She had Phantom of the Auditorium, but no others (she was a massive Phantom of the Opera fan). About a year later, I frantically looked again for my books before deciding they were gone. Possibly forever. Probably forever.
Due to a life circumstance, I had to pack up our spare bedroom and move everything out of it. The closet had long been used for storage and I realized I'd secretly been holding out hope that somehow my Goosebumps books were buried at the bottom in a box and I would uncover a treasure. I did not. And that's where I am today. Mourning the loss of my books and wondering how I could have ever lost something that meant so much to me. I feel like I can pine over them forever or just go out and do something about it,
So my plan now is to go find them. In a bid to relive my childhood, I'm going to go out and hunt for these books. Not mine, sadly, but a new collection of the books. And I don't want to do it the easy way by just buying a lot on eBay. I want to hunt and find them. I want to be anxious, surprised, and happy each time I uncover them. I suppose we will see how it goes, but my plan is to read and hopefully write a review for each that I find.
It's a weird goal, and I can't figure out why it's so important to me, but Goosebumps was a huge part of my childhood and it feels right to do something that sparks the same kind of excitement I remember from my childhood.
I'd love to know what books shaped your reading habits. Or, if there was a special book or series that you just couldn't wait for the next one. And, obviously, I'd love to know how you felt about Goosebumps.
I'll keep you posted on my progress. Wish me luck!
PS, did you know there was a podcast called Goosebuds where they apparently talk about Goosebumps? I did not but I think I'm going to find it and start listening.