“Goosebumps” is a Scary Good Time (See What I Did There?)

I grew up in the 90’s. Times were simpler then: we had HitClips, POGs, and a book series that was so popular, religious groups decided to pray for all the kids who read them and occasionally have a book burning bond-fire. If you think I’m talking about Harry Potter, get yourself back to the 00’s, millenials. I’m talking about the original “bad for you to be reading” books: Goosebumps!

I remember reading my first Goosebumps book back in 1995. That book was Night of the Living Dummy 2. I read through faster than I had ever read any book in my life (which I think took me two days because I was 8). I couldn’t get enough of these scary stories and soon after had amassed quite the collection. I was also a huge fan of the FOX Kids TV series based on the books, waking up many early Saturday mornings to get scared. When I heard that Sony was making a new movie based on the books, I was hesitant. Could they capture the charm of the books and make a film that somehow included all of the famous monsters without being completely terrible? The answer to that question is yes.

I LOVED the Goosebumps movie. Jack Black plays the author of the books, R.L. Stine. When a new neighbor, Zach, moves in next door (played by Evansville native, Dylan Minette), he takes interest in Stines daughter, Hannah (Odeya Rush). Mr. Stine isn’t ok with this and forbids him from seeing or talking to his daughter. At school, Zach befriends Champ (Ryan Lee) and on the night of the school dance, they decide to rescue Hannah from her controlling dad. In doing so, they discover who he is, and accidentally release the monsters from his Goosebumps manuscripts. The rest of the movie deals with them trying to get the monsters back into the book and has one really good twist that I did not see coming.

The main antagonist of the movie is the most famous Goosebumps villain of all: Slappy the Dummy (from Night of the Living Dummy). He is funny, witty, and of course, full of terrible puns. He is a perfect villain for this type of movie. The movie has a few jump scares mixed in but this film is definitely family friendly. I found myself laughing out loud more than I didn’t and it helped break the mild tension of the film. My only gripe with the film is that sometimes it was a bit hard to see what was happening on the screen due to the contrast of the film. Overall, though, I had a fantastic time at the movies.

If you are a fan of the book series or just family friendly Halloween films such as Hocus Pocus, this film is for you. It finds a perfect mix of nostalgia while still be accessible to new fans. If you need something to do this Halloween season, there is no better choice than Goosebumps!