Goosebumps

...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.

Season One:

As someone who watched at least some of the original Goosebumps series in my youth, though have admittedly forgotten most of the storylines, I was surprisingly hooked from the first episode's cold open. Where the season progresses thereafter manages to deliver genuinely intriguing reveals, one after another. This is most of all thanks to the great source material, R. L. Stine's various cursed objects setting the stage for a lot of scary fun. Unfortunately, without going into too deep of detail, the writers simply did not know how or where to end the season. The eighth episode serves as a natural send-off to these characters, albeit feeling rushed, but the season persists with an additional two episodes that are quite forced and just wholly unnecessary.

That said, the characters here, particularly our central cast of teens, are fairly well-written and so likable enough, even if their personal drama is not all that interesting. I would be remiss, however, not to highlight Justin Long's pure excellence in his role as Mr. Bratt, as well as Chris Greere's eerie voice performance of Slappy (who yes, of course, is in this series).

On that note, I appreciated Slappy's perfectly evil look and the excellent puppeteering behind him, matching his devilish personality. While the visual effects are not quite as flawless, I found them more than up to par for what this series is going for.

Despite its faults, I would recommend this season. Goosebumps fans in particular should enjoy what it offers.

Season Two:

While I definitely have issue with certain elements of this second chapter of Goosebumps anthology, I do enjoy a great deal of what the season offers. Undeniably nailing the scary fun that Goosebumps is and should be, the overall storyline here delivers a lot of thrilling moments and reveals, particularly in its finale that fortunately sticks the landing. On that note, I do narrowly prefer this season, even though the first season's story was a fair amount more impactful, at least until its lackluster ending. Anyways, adding to the excitement of this season are similarly freaky visuals, monsters and body horror alike.

Despite a fairly well-written overarching plot, the characters here in of themselves are quite lackluster, and so where this version of Goosebumps goes wrong. The central cast, mostly comprised of teenagers, are simply written without real care, failing to provide an interesting or emotionally-inclined vehicle to journey through the scares with. From their unconvincing relationships to their sometimes unlikable personalities, it's difficult to invest in the fate of any of these characters. That is, at least, beyond David Schwimmer's role, which admittedly does a lot of the leg work to maintain the story's intriguing elements, including the still largely overlooked emotional aspect to the plot.

Most attempts at humor are also ineffective, and combined with a soundtrack consisting of very current, very out-of-place hits, there's certainly an ill-advised focus on capturing the zeitgeist.

Still, thanks to a very intriguing story that largely encapsulates the Goosebumps spirit, I would recommend this season to fans of the franchise.

Well, I just finished Vanishing and rather disappointed with the waste of talent and resources invested in these series. These could have accomplished so much more, because in general the atmosphere worked, cast chemistry worked and there were some good ideas. But everything was ruined by the script. Was it AI written? Yes, sci-fi genre is usually quite forgiving in terms of plot holes. But this piece is either treating viewers as idiots or disrespects sci-fi in general: starting with billions dollar facilities manned by five people and finishing with high achievers AI wooden cutouts and "sexuality is a spectrum" stereotypes written in...

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.

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.