Goosebumps

Everything has to be redone, reimagined and recycled these days. Unfortunately goosebumps is not off-limits even though we just had two movies within the last 10 years as well as Fear Street spin offs on Netflix. No, but here we get a series that tries some new things, but just can't escape the absolutely unnecessary and forced tropes amongst the casting, the plotting, and the overall product. Justin Long being the bright spot, of course and some of the Visual horror aspects. Otherwise, I can already tell it might be difficult to make it through more than a few episodes. I'll stick with the classic books and the classic TV series.

I am 38 years old, the original Goosebumps books and TV show were in my prime. I enjoyed them and Fear Street as I got older. I didn't mind the movies that came out a few years ago but nothing has been "Goosebumps" to me. This attempt is the same. Is it a halfway decent show that I can watch with my son to pass some time over the weekend. They definitely called it "Goosebumps" to get more viewers but it is not really Goosebumps. They took some inspiration from some of the books and wrapped it into 1 series. I do have to say that as a gay man, I am finding the "check boxes" to get a little old. It is nice to see characters who resemble everyone, the gay kid with a straight best friend combo was cool BUT the stereotypes are getting a bit old. Not every gay kid is androgenous or flamboyant. It would be nice to see these characters but with a little less of the stereotypes. Aside from that, I've definitely seen worse things on TV.

Something people are gonna have to realize is that there are so many books to the goosebumps series and would probably take more than several life times to make into a cartoon or live action. People love Goosebumps and want more, but the thing is not everything can be made perfect especially with time and money. I couldn't care less what anybody thinks this show was great each episode and probably my favorite adaptation of Goosebumps. If you're gonna cry about how it won't follow the story just stick to the short and more accurate 1990's TV show. The people who made this show did their best to bring as many books as they could into this show with a great plot, so stop saying it was bad.

MY REVIEW: Best adaptation so far, amazing acting, rushed endings for most of the episodes, great on transitioning to each character after each episode, foreshadowing was great, and was kinda upset how there wasn't too much bloody stuff but ehh still alright. I haven't watched a better Halloween movie or show since Hubie Halloween.

...but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. The first two episodes are not the best I didn't really know why. The acting is overdone sometimes and the jokes don't land but somewhere in the 3rd or 4th episode this switches. The humor is actually landing and we get modern humor with some pop culture references but also some throwbacks to the x-files and of course MANY of the old goosebumps episodes/books.

Each episode has it's own "monster" but they are all connected through the friendgroup. At first I thought I would prefer stand alone episodes and different actors but I actually prefer it this way.

The CGI looks great even though the scenes sometimes give CW energy. Overall the Storytelling overways everything and it feels so good to be back in the goosebumps world.

The soundtrack is AMAZING too, straight up bangers in every outro.

If you are a Boomer at heart even though you grew up with goosebumps: you probably already wrote a review about how much this is a woke cashgrab that's unoriginal, but somehow your comment is. This is not for you.

This is for the people that learned the core values of shows like goosebumps and can still have fun and actually like diversity and that everyone gets a seat at the table. Don't take this show too serious because it really doesn't take itself that serious either and then you will have a great time!

Update after completing the show: No spoilers; It's still good, I still miss the old intro, it diverts expectation which I like but the PACING.. the show really needs to work on that. Some episode are just filler (episode 5? And 9).. absolutely boring. 90% talking 10% plot. We need a better balance between slow moody teen drama and action fantasy novel. Because right now the balance is off. Otherwise pretty good like I said. I'm going to lower my score from an 8 to a 7. It didn't wow me in the end but it was nice. Soundtrack is also really good.

As someone who grew up reading the books and giving every atrocious cinematic attempt the benefit of the doubt, I am pretty pleased with this one.

I winced when I hit play, and settled back, prepared to be disappointed.

I finished every episode in two days, and am excited for the next.

It is very much a show aimed at teenagers, so it has the high school shenanigans and drama. The acting skill varies, as does the script writing. Justin Long is Justin Long (which I love. YMMV).

Every attempt at trying to exactly duplicate the stories and spirit of the books has failed miserably, so this show went in a different direction. They used a Goosebumps villain and created a framework from it, then wove different Goosebumps stories into an episodic/serialized show.

If you're looking for Masterpiece Theater, this ain't it. If you're looking for something fun inspired by delightful Goosebumps books, enjoy!