Since R.L. Stine’s first Goosebumps book hit shelves in the 1990s, we’ve seen countless comics, video games, and a beloved TV series. The Rob Letterman (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) 2015 film of the same name was geared toward a much younger audience, as was its 2018 sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween directed by Ari Sandel.
But the latest Goosebumps adaptation, a 10-part series developed by Letterman and fellow writer-executive producer Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), delivers an appropriately darker tone without sacrificing any moments of levity.
Set in the present day, Nathan Bratt (Justin Long) moves into an amazing home in the small town of Port Lawrence twenty years after teenager Harold Biddle (Ben Cockell) tragically died in a basement fire, possibly murdered. So, of course, it’s haunted. But five high schoolers find this out before the new homeowner when popular quarterback Isaiah (Zack Morris) throws a Halloween bash in the seemingly empty venue.
Party attendees include Isaiah’s best friend James (Miles McKenna), his neighbor/crush Margot (Isa Briones), the school’s lovable daredevil Lucas (Will Price), and AV club outcast Isabella (Ana Yi Puig), who no one actually pays any attention to. Everyone except Margot either has some kind of strange experience in the house or leaves with an unknowingly doomed souvenir, like a camera that foresees death. As for Nathan, he gets possessed by the resident ghost to do his Biddling.
The overarching narrative and individual stories stay true to Stine’s “careful what you wish for” theme established in his books. The first few episodes unfold like an anthology, each one following the cursed object and its disastrous effect on the young person currently possessing it. Anyone familiar with the Goosebumps books will know what these stories will entail based on the episode titles — “Say Cheese and Die!” “The Haunted Mask,” “The Cuckoo Clock of Doom,” “Go Eat Worms!” and “Night of the Living Dummy.”
It takes a while to connect with the characters, but by Episode 2, the overall story really picks up and we see how the supernatural artifacts coincide with the character’s personal struggles. For example, Isabella feels invisible and seemingly hates her classmates. Her basement discovery, a haunted mask, feeds on that deep-seated resentment, acting like a little devil on her shoulder (or face) and encouraging revenge.
The endearingly reckless Lucas became an instant favorite with the potential to spark a, dare I say, Eddie Munson-like fan reaction. He has a rocky but mostly good relationship with his mother Nora (Rachael Harris). But as we see with all of the teens, their parents have secrets, including a shared secret regarding Biddle. Much like the girls of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, this new friend group, brought together by terrifying events, has to pay for their parents’ sins.
Rachael Harris, mostly known for her comedic roles, delivers a solid performance as Nora, a single mother of a boy who’s hellbent on doing dangerous stunts. It’s hard to really get into her character without giving anything away but she definitely gets to express a range of emotions. Rob Huebel has his melancholic moments as the school’s guidance counselor Colin but largely acts as a norm-core dad with a beige aura, as the kids describe.
Justin Long as the vengeful Biddle-possessed Bratt is peak physical comedy. As the quintessential Scream King, Long’s been on opposite ends of the evil spectrum in horror hits like Jeeper’s Creepers, Drag Me to Hell, Tusk, and Barbarian. He looks like he had a blast alternating between being a total menace out for blood and being an awkward teenager trying to have normal adult interactions and barely succeeding. He’s giving a goofy yet frustrated dad vibe, and it works so well.
Goosebumps is a horror-comedy but also a teen drama — messy love triangles, pressure to earn a football scholarship, parental issues (because if there’s one thing parents in YA series/films/books are gonna do it’s have an affair). But the storylines aren’t melodramatic on a Degrassi level (no shade; I love Degrassi), and it’s a fairly realistic portrayal of an American high school. Speaking with the New York Post, Stoller explained, “A lot of our touchstones weren’t just horror, but also the great teen stuff — the John Hughes movies, stuff like Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life.”
Given the small-town shadiness and the overbearing (yet also never home) parents, Goosebumps is already being compared to Riverdale. And any group of kids banding together to fight a supernatural threat will always be likened to Stranger Things. While it has some of the typical YA elements, it’s not campy like Riverdale, or as nostalgia-driven as Stranger Things. It’s closer to The Midnight Club, though not as devastating.
Goosebumps is a fun (and funny) horror-comedy with a compelling mystery, genuinely creepy visuals, a talented multigenerational cast, and plenty of slime-drenched, worm-eating gross-out moments. The series takes an episode or two for the story to get going but if you stick around, you’ll be pleasantly surprised, or at the very least, entertained.
The first five episodes of Goosebumps debut Friday, October 13, 2023, on Disney+ and Hulu, followed by weekly episodes.
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