Goosebumps

One of the longest children’s horror fiction novellas, sixty-two books were published under the Goosebumps umbrella title from 1992 to 1997, the first being Welcome to Dead House, and the last being Monster Blood IV.

They are written at a 3rd to 7th grade level. The chapters are a few pages each, and most if not all the chapters end with a cliffhanger. It was easy for me to devour the books as a child, and as an adult.

The Classic Goosebumps Series 20 Books Collection Set by R. L. Stine.

Titles in the Set Stay out of the Basement, The Ghost Next Door, Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, The Haunted Car, Let’s Get Invisible, The Scarecrow Walks at Night, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, The Blob That Ate Everyone, Night of the Living Dummy, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, One Day at Horrorland, Return of the Mummy,The Haunted Mask, Vampire Death, The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, A Shocker on Shock Street, Please Don’t Feed the Vampire, Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls.

The first book of the series

Welcome to Dead House is the first book in the original Goosebumps book series. It was first published in July 1992 along with Stay Out of the Basement and Monster Blood, the second and third books. Additionally, it was re-released in 2010 as the thirteenth book under the Classic Goosebumps title, featuring new artwork by Brandon Dorman.

11-year-old Josh and 12-year-old Amanda just moved into the oldest and weirdest house on the block–the two siblings think it might even be haunted! But of course, their parents don’t believe them. You’ll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends.

Plot Summary

Despite the fact that it is the middle of July, the entire neighborhood seems covered in an artificial darkness created by the shadows of massive, overhanging tree limbs. Dead brown leaves, shade, and shadows are everywhere. Then there is the creepy old house, that appears to have been built many years ago. It is an enormous, dark, antique home with two large bay windows on the second floor that look eerily like a pair of dark eyes staring down at the street below. While Josh proceeds to impatiently whine in protest over the family move and how tragic it is for him, Mr. Dawes welcomes the family into the home. Whilst exploring her new room, Amanda watches with amazement as she catches a glimpse of a boy standing in the doorway, before quickly disappearing down the hall.

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Amanda feels much better after seeing her bedroom. She goes outside to tell Josh about it, but both he and Petey are gone. Mr. Dawes offers to provide directions while the family drive around town to find the missing pair. On the way Amanda finds it odd that there aren’t any people in the houses or yards, or even on the street. Eventually, the group find Josh trying to catch Petey amongst the gravestones of the Dark Falls cemetery. The kids’ father Jack ends up catching Petey and putting him on a leash despite how frantic his behavior is. The family then drops off Mr. Dawes at his real estate office in Dark Falls, where he mentions to the Bensons that they can come back the following week to finalize the contracts for the house. After an eventful first visit, the Benson family leave Dark Falls and head back home to their old neighborhood.

Amanda’s best friend, Kathy, comes over on the family’s last night in their old house, reassuring Amanda that Dark Falls is only four hours away. The following morning is moving day, and it’s a rainy, windy arrival in Dark Falls for the family at their new house. Amanda keeps seeing other children in her home and hearing strange sounds. Amanda and Josh start meeting the locals, such as Ray Thurston who seem friendly enough, but also seem a bit strange and off putting. Both Ray and a girl named Karen claim they used to live in their house.

Climax

Two weeks later, Petey goes missing and they can’t seem to find him. That night, Josh comes into Amanda’s room and theorizes that Petey went into the cemetery, just like last time. When they head out to check, they bump into Ray, who warms them about being out here so late. In the cemetery, they find gravestones with their new friends names on then, including Ray’s. Ray confirms that it’s his, and he is actually one of the living dead.

Once a year, they must have the blood from a freshly killed person to sustain their “living dead” existence for another year. They killed Petey because dogs always sense the living dead. Ray attacks Amanda but Josh saves her at the last moment, when he shines his light on Ray’s face. This results in Ray disintegrating and becoming a pile of bones. Amanda and Josh run home but when they arrive, they are attacked by the dead children who explain that there is no dead great-uncle and that the letter sent to their parents was a trick to bring the Benson family to Dark Falls. Suddenly Mr. Dawes, the real estate agent, appears at the door and the dead children vanish.

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He tells them that he has already found their parents and that he will take the kids to join their parents. Although Amanda and Josh think he’s saving them at first, a gravestone reveals Mr. Dawes is also dead. He explains to the children that Dark Falls used to be a normal town years ago, but a yellow gas escaped from a nearby factory and spread throughout the town, transforming the citizens into the undead. Amanda and Josh manage to escape Mr. Dawes after Josh hits him on the head with his flashlight. It turns out the dead people crumble under light, and they knock down a tree to kill all of the living dead. Karen thanks Amanda for doing this before she dies. They rescue their parents and go home to quickly pack up.

As the Benson family is leaving Dead House, they see a new family on the driveway. Amanda notices that these people are being guided by someone that looks like Mr. Dawes. She brushes this off and tells one of the kids that she used to live in their house, and the Benson family drives away.

About the author

R. L. Stine‘s been scaring people all around the world for a lot of years. So far, he has sold over 400-million books and his books have been translated into 35 languages, making him one of the best-selling authors in history. Robert Lawrence Stine was born on October 8, 1943 in Columbus, Ohio. His mother was a home-maker.

He spent most of his time writing stories and drawing comic books. He thought he wanted to be a comic-book artist. Bob graduated from Ohio State University in 1965. In college, he was editor of The Sundial, the school humor magazine, for three years. He boasts that he never went to class. He spent all his time writing the magazine.

In 1967 Bob headed to New York City to become a writer. He went to work at Scholastic, writing for school magazines. Then he began to write joke books and humor books for kids. He wrote books such as How To Be Funny, The Sick of Being Sick Book, and 101 Creepy Creature Jokes. He created Bananas Magazine, a zany humor magazine, which he wrote and edited for ten years. In those days, he wrote under the name Jovial Bob Stine.

Two years later Bob married Jane Waldhorn. Jane became an editor and writer, and they worked together on several books. Later, Jane and her business partner formed their own publishing company, Parachute Press. They helped to create all of R.L.’s most popular book series.

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first teen horror novel

He wrote his first teen horror novel, Blind Date. It became an instant best-seller. Many scary teen novels followed, including Beach House, The Babysitter, and Hit and Run. Says Bob: “I told myself, Forget the funny stuff. Kids like to be scared!”

In 1989, he created the Fear Street series. Teenagers were in terror month after month! The series became the best-selling YA series in history, with more than 100 books. Recently, R.L. wrote six new Fear Street titles for St. Martins Press.

Goosebumps began in 1992. The series quickly became a hit around the world, and it made R.L. a worldwide publishing celebrity. The Goosebumps TV show was the number one kids’ show in America for three years in a row. All of the Goosebumps shows can be seen today on Netflix.