Today, I read a Goosebumps book.
It wasn’t really scary, and it wasn’t really suspenseful. I saw the twists coming from a mile away, and there were no grounds on which I could sympathize with the characters.
But none of that mattered, because R.L. Stine’s 50+ book series isn’t really meant to frighten readers. It’s meant to make reading more appealing, it’s meant to be an escape, and more than anything else, it’s meant to be fun. And you know what? It is. The relatively flat characters, the cartoonish settings, and the entirely obvious plot twists make the books what they are, lovely little diversions that provide more pure enjoyment than most classic children’s literature ever could.
And that’s why, dear reader, I’m going to read these suckers one by one and tell you about them. I’ll tell you when they were at their creepiest, explain how you can tell it’s the nineties, and maybe even write a haiku or two. I’d be willing to bet it’ll be fun for me. And hopefully, it’ll be fun for you, too.
Things That Go Bump 