Goosebumps

In October 2007, Cartoon Network began airing episodes of the show Goosebumps. After looking it up on Wikipedia, I found that it was a Canadian show from the 1990's. I thought, "Old foreign show, may check it out." I hadn't read the books when I was little, so I didn't know what to expect. The first episode, "The Haunted Mask" aired, and I was instantly hooked.

Every episode was like a mix of a Twilight zone episodes and M. Night Shymalan film. Creepy atmosphere, and a twist ending. After watching this show, I asked my little brother to bring home as many of the books from the elementary school library as he could. As soon as I find the episodes on DVD, you can bet I'll buy them.

Where do I start with this? I'm a huge fan of both the book and show, heres why. Growing up in the 90s, there was every kind of show a kid could love. Both live action and animated, there was much to offer, Ren and Stimpy, Clarissa explains it all, Freakaziod, the Tick, etc. One stood out to me. Goosebumps, I had read some of the books and when I saw the TV show, I fell in love with the series. The characters are super cliché, the dialogue is delightfully cheesy, and the monsters are really cool. My favorite monsters are the horror land creatures, Slappy, the Scarecrow, and the Mummy. This is truly a classic 90s show in every way. I would watch this every weekend, and even bring the tapes to my day care. In sort, this is one of the best shows from the 90s, and makes me miss fox kids even more. There used to be a show for everybody, now thats just a thing of the past.

I think what the remake gets wrong is it not being an Anthology siries, or a 22 minute episode. The show is amazing, all 4 seasons consist of good episodes. And even the bad ones you can still laugh at today.

The Best in Siries 1 is definitely the "Haunted Mask" 2 parter that was great. Not only is it's premise good, but the characters have great growth too. Carley Beth, who's always getting scared and pranked by Chuck and Steve, as they know she is scared of EVERYTHING. So Carly who is sick of these pranksters decides to get a mask, to try and get them back. Little does she know the Mask is Alive!, and it's trapped onto her body. The pacing of the episode is great, lots happen but it is split into two whole parts. The WORST episode is "My hairest adventure" the plot is ridiculously strange. The boy or should I say Dog, plays in a band, and he's always getting chased by dogs. One day whilst being in the band he finds some Lotion, he puts it on his skin. And things start getting weird for him...he's becoming hairy. Hairy Larry. And then by the end of the episode he reverts back to his original self, a dog.

Series 2 has some fantastic episodes. The best is "Night of the Living Dummy" which is where Slappy terrorises these kids as he does best. The episode is great because Slappy is a Goosebumps icon, and any scene he's in, he's a scene steeler. The WORST episode though however is "Calling all Creeps" it's a nerdy kid who always gets picked on by his peers, and then makes a speech about it. And that's all I can ever really remember about that particular episode.

Siries 3 has it's ups and downs. The Best is "One day at Horrorland" where the Morris family get lost, and seem to find an amusement park. After arrival, things become strange, Mirrors closing in on them, Boat ride having a spider, and the door closing. And a game where they are the Lunch for the Monsters. And they are controlled by them, and then fall into the sea. The episode is bundles of fun. My least favourite is "DON'T go to Sleep" because this one puts me to sleep, quite literally. Whilst "Strained Peas" is probably and objectively speaking the worst episode, I do like the bond between the baby and brother, and becoming a bigger brother. And the bond between him and his best mate.

Siries 4. The best is "The Ghost Next door" as the girl is all fine and everything's going great for her. Until she's chased by a creature. She is then informed by the person next door that she is infact a Ghost. Which is a great plot-twist that comes out on nowhere. The worst is probably "How I got my Shrunken Head" for my I was bored entirely by it. And the magical elements didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me.

That's my run-down of the best and worst episode s of each siries in my Opinion. "Welcome to Dead House" is a fantastically creepy episode that is a place full of dead eating Zombie maniacs. This episode is also fun, and definitely recommend it. Especially with Halloween coming soon, it's the best time to do a horror marathon, and after that maybe even a Christmas marathon. Now time for my verdict.

Verdict,

7/10 Iconic, great music and fun episodes that contain creepy and weird stuff in them. Never forgetting the Iconic opening sequence with the Music.

Back in the nineties, during the Pre-Potter era. My generation was being delighted by the works of R.L. Stine and his magnificent book series "Goosebumps." Between 1992 and 1995 I myself read some great ones like "Monster Blood," and it's two sequels, "Say Cheese and Die," "Ghost Bead," "Deep Trouble," and the greatest one of them all "The Haunted Mask." So obviously in 1995 when FOX Kids premiered this show I watched it. And Loved it! The show's adaptation wasn't very accurate but it was still entertaining and faithful to the novels. This was a great show, not scary but neither were the books. It's just a nice entertaining show from an entertaining series.

I used to watch this show a few years ago on FoxFamily (now ABCfamily) along with Eerie Indiana. Goosebumps wasn't intensely scary, just mysterious and suspenseful - it sure kept MY attention. Anyway, I guess you can only catch it on DVDs these days, as I do not believe it airs anywhere on television. All of the episodes are unique and, for the most part, have intriguing plots and endings.

So, in general, if you're looking for scarily satisfying shows to watch as a family, then Goosebumps is perfect. There are also movies that came out that are based on the old Goosebumps books we all loved to read. Good luck, and I hope you have as much fun watching the shows as I did!