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This article is about the book series by R. L. Stine. For the bumps that form on skin, see Goose bumps.

Goosebumps is a series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by R. L. Stine . Sixty-two books were published under the Goosebumps umbrella title from 1992 to 1997, the last one being Monster Blood IV.

The Goosebumps series was often challenged in American libraries for their sometimes-violent content; the novels were fifteenth on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books from 1990 to 1999.^[1]

The series spawned several spinoffs, also written by Stine, including Give Yourself Goosebumps and Goosebumps: Series 2000 which appeared in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

The series inspired two board games produced by Milton Bradley, "Terror in the Graveyard" and "Escape from Horrorland", a 1996 PC game produced by DreamWorks Interactive also entitled, "Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland" like Milton Bradley's board game, several direct-to-video movies and a TV series.

During the height of the series popularity, two parody books were released by an author going by the pseudonym R.U. Slime called Gooflumps: Eat Cheese and Barf! and Stay Out of the Bathroom.

Front covers and most other Goosebumps-related art was done by artist Tim Jacobus, while the covers for the later Give Yourself Goosebumps series were digitally created by Craig White.

Inspirations and references

A lot of Stine's plots are, by his own admission, based on classic sci-fi/horror movies, TV shows, and stories. For instance, one of the most popular books in the series, Night of the Living Dummy, was inspired by Stine's reading of the original Italian version of Pinocchio, while taking its title from the film Night of the Living Dead. The book It Came From Beneath The Sink! took its title from the fifties science fiction film It Came from Beneath the Sea, though plotwise there is little resemblance between the two. The two-part Series 2000 book Invasion of the Body Squeezers is an obvious parody of the classic science fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Many books also resemble episodes of the original Twilight Zone television series, including Say Cheese And Die, Welcome To Camp Nightmare, Be Careful What You Wish For, and The Haunted Mask and its sequel, to name a few. Many books feature a twist in the end, such as the original Night of the Living Dummy, where the protagonists had spent the book fighting a murderous dummy, only to be confronted with a second creature at the end, or another book in the series, The Girl Who Cried Monster, which was based on the fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf, also has a twist at the end; the main character's parents transform into monsters to protect her from the villain. Welcome to Dead House ends with a sadistic real estate agent thought dead turning up on the last page, seen in the distance by the main characters. A Give Yourself Goosebumps book, Welcome to the Wicked Wax Museum, is based on the movie House of Wax. Another Give Yourself Goosebumps book, Zombie School, is based on the movie They Live, and features the same subliminal advertising as the movie.

The original books

Popular books and characters

Stine named the original Night of the Living Dummy as his favorite Goosebumps book in his autobiography. The Night of the Living Dummy series, which features the walking, evil, talking ventriloquist dummy Slappy (who surprisingly played only a small part in the original novel, with the equally villainous Mr. Wood being the main antagonist), are some of the series' most popular books, and Slappy has gained a reputation as Goosebumps' most popular and well-known antagonist. Later books attempted to explore his background and how he came to be created, and the final book in the series, Slappy's Nightmare, was told from Slappy's (third-person) point of view. The Monster Blood series is also very popular among fans, albeit not to the extent of the above.

Stine has also named Brain Juice,^[2] and Invasion of the Body Squeezers^[3] as two more of his favorite books.

Conventions

The books in the Goosebumps series often include a plot structure with normal kids getting involved in scary situations and twists at the end of each story, after the central conflict has either been or appears to have been resolved. Also, in his autobiography, R.L. Stine has stated that he often ends chapters in a state of suspense. Following the conclusion of every Goosebumps book, Stine includes a 1-3 chapter preview of the next book in the series.

List of books

Television series

A popular television series was made, based on the Goosebumps books and the spin-offs. It ran for four seasons from 1995 to 1998.

Videos and DVDs

File:Goosebumps.jpg.jpg

Carly Beth in her mask from the episode "The Haunted Mask".

In 1995 eight Goosebumps videos were released; the last one released was The Bride Of The Living Dummy. But in the fall of 2004 four DVDs were released based on four of the previously released videos. Now there are thirteen DVDs to date.

Goosebumps Graphix

In September 2006, a Goosebumps graphic novel was released. Titled Goosebumps Graphix, it is based on three Goosebumps books—The Abominable Snowman of Pasedena, The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, and The Werewolf of Fever Swamp. Another graphic novel has been released, with another one planned for July.

Goosebumps in other languages

Goosebumps books were also popular worldwide.

In Spanish, it was known as Escalofríos (literally "Shudders")^[4] in Latin America, and Pesadillas (literally Nightmares)^[5] in Spain.

In Greek, the series is called Ανατριχιλες.
In Swedish, the title is Kalla Kårar.
The title in Danish is Gåsehud, a direct translation of the word "Goosebumps".
In Norway, the title of the series is Grøsserne, meaning/defined as "Novel which uses horror effects", "Thriller" or "Chills".
In Canadian French, the translation is Chair de Poule.
In German, the title of "goosebumps" is the direct translation "Gänsehaut"
The Dutch translation is Kippenvel, which is Dutch for goosebumps. (However, the Dutch word originates from "chicken skin" instead of "goose bumps.")
In European Portuguese the title is Arrepios (literally "Shivers").
In Brazilian Portuguese the title has been maintained while each story´s title was translated. (Say Cheese and Die for instance turned Sorria e Morra).
In Hebrew, the title is "צמרמורת". which means "Goose-bumps".
In Arabic, the title is "صرخة الرعب" which means "scream of horror".
In Thailand, the title is "ชมรมขนหัวลุก" which means "Scary Club".
In Finland, the title is Goosebumps.
In Italian, the title is "Piccoli Brividi".
In Polish, the title is "Gęsia Skórka".
In Russian, the title is "Страшилки", meaning "Scary stories".
In Catalan, the title is "Pànic", meaning "Panic".

Footnotes

^ http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/top100challenged.htm
^ http://teenink.com/Past/2001/June/Interviews/RLStine.html
^ http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-stine-rl-chat.asp
^ "Escalofrios/Goosebumps #01: Bienvenidos A Ls Casa de la Muerte". Powell's Books. April 2004.
^ "Pesadillas (Edición Monstruo: ¡Tres horrores en uno!) N.º 14". Ediciones B. 2002.

Piccoli Brividi means Small Shudders Chair de Poule means Hen Flesh

External links

[1] ttp://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/top100challenged.htm

[2] ttp://teenink.com/Past/2001/June/Interviews/RLStine.html

[3] ttp://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-stine-rl-chat.asp

[Spanish_goosebumps-4] "Escalofrios/Goosebumps #01: Bienvenidos A Ls Casa de la Muerte". Powell's Books. April 2004.

[5] "Pesadillas (Edición Monstruo: ¡Tres horrores en uno!) N.º 14". Ediciones B. 2002.

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 ==Footnotes==
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+Piccoli Brividi means Small Shudders
+Chair de Poule means Hen Flesh
 ==External links==