Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank into obscurity.
This month we head back to the ’90s to relive R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps“!
- Aired on FOX Kids, YTV
- Aired from 1995-1998
“Viewer beware, you’re in for a scare!“
To say that R.L. Stine and “Goosebumps” were part of my childhood is an absolute understatement. In the 1990s, Stine was my gateway drug into horror and horror literature. The way J.K. Rowling made reading in vogue for kids in the aughts, R.L. Stine made it almost a must for kids in the 1990s. Everyone I knew had at least one copy of “Goosebumps” in their backpack or book collection (“Stay Out of the Basement” was the first book I owned in the series), and I always had my head buried in the latest copy.
“Goosebumps” was always a common sight at school book fairs and book stores, and during the nineties, the book series picked up so much steam that it only made sense that a TV series was made. Meant to tap into the success of Stine’s horror books, “Goosebumps” was produced by Protocol Entertainment and Scholastic Entertainment, with an excellent opening theme by Brad McDonald, and premiered on primetime television, October 27, 1995.
The live action series took 43 of the original 62 books from the “Goosebumps” line and adapted them for syndicated television, airing on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons. The first among the episodes to open the series was “The Haunted Mask,” the Halloween-set tale about young Carly Beth Caldwell who steals a Halloween mask from a new store in an attempt to scare her two school bullies. Despite the storekeeper’s warnings that she should leave the mask alone, after taking the mask she begins to realize that it’s changing her personality and making her act violently and recklessly. Much to her horror, she discovers the mask melding with her body when she wears it. Upon realizing this, Carly Beth tracks down the mask store salesman, desperately looking for a way to break the spell and remove the Haunted Mask. The episode proved to be a ratings hit that also loyally brought the creepy book to screen.
Stine often thrived in speaking to his intended audience, reaching down deep to touch on what kids of that era endured in school and family life. There were often themes about morality, bullying, vanity, the price of greed, stealing, the power of our imagination, peer pressure, and much more in Stine’s stories, and those carried over into the television series. The series produced some banner episodes, many of which are still celebrated by fans.
Some of the best include “Night of the Living Dummy,” which features the first live action appearance of Slappy the ventriloquist dummy, the Frankenstein tale “Stay Out of the Basement,” and the second Halloween-centered episode, “Attack of the Jack O’ Lanterns.” Although strictly targeted to kids and preteens, “Goosebumps” successfully maintained much of Stine’s horror tone and habit for shocking plot twists. “Be Careful What You Wish For” and “The Girl Who Cried Monster” delivered some especially memorable surprise endings; I also love the delightfully twisted final scene to “Calling All Creeps.” Like the books, the episodes were adept at pulling the rug out from under the audience, similar to what Rod Serling did with “The Twilight Zone.”
The series is also well known for featuring a lot of future Hollywood stars including a very young Ryan Gosling and Scott Speedman (“Say Cheese and Die”), and Katharine Isabelle (“It Came from Beneath the Sink!”), respectively. “Goosebumps” lasted four seasons with seventy four episodes being produced. Along with the series there came a large line of merchandise including action figures, school supplies, stickers, and so much more. Years after its cancellation it flourished in syndication and is still widely loved by horror fans and nineties kids to this day.
In fact, many fans continue to debate on which was the superior horror anthology: “Goosebumps” or Nickelodeon’s “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” Although I’m a fan of both shows because of the different flavors of horror they bring to the table, it’s still a fascinating discussion to this day. Although “Goosebumps” ended in 1998, R.L. Stine continued bringing his brand of horror entertainment to television years after, presenting various adaptations, television shows, and television films. The book series also continued on alongside the more mature “Fear Street,” and in 2015 garnered its own really good feature length movie starring Jack Black. Last we heard, a brand new live-action television series is currently in the works.
For devotees of “Goosebumps,” the original television series is a creative and imaginative interpretation of Stine’s bestselling books that carried the author’s ability to relate to kids into the live action format with flying colors.
Is It On DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming? Thankfully the TV series is not at all hard to find, as most of the episodes have been released, re-released, and repackaged onto VHS and DVD for many, many years now. There have been multiple reprints of the episodes on physical media, and they can often be found in the movie sections of department stores during the Halloween season. Most of the episodes can also be streamed on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies, and Vudu.
