If you’re new to The Rebel MFA Way, welcome! This is an essay in my Trigger Warning Series — where I unpack and dive deep into the intersection of trauma and storytelling of film, tv, and fiction. I love having conversations around these topics, so share your thoughts in the comments!
Warning — there are spoilers for Goosebumps in this article.
If you are a product of the 90s like I am, then perhaps you remember the distinctive theme song at the beginning of the show, Goosebumps. (And if not, push that “play” button to hear it!)
I’ve been a bit obsessed lately with rewatching and then re-evaluating how I feel about stories, shows, and movies from the past. And since 2023 was the year of the latest Goosebumps release, I figured it would be the perfect time to put that obsession to use. I have a lot of thoughts on how this version compares to the original or other remakes, but I will refrain from adding those in unless it’s necessary.
As a horror lover, I loved the Goosebumps world as a kid. It didn’t scare me, but it satiated my need for thrill-seeking. However, watching the new Goosebumps as an adult, I can see how much scarier things have gotten. I think if I was a child watching the 2023 version of Goosebumps, I might’ve shit my pants. But also… the trauma inherent in the new version is cray cray. So let’s get into it.
The Trauma Line
On the surface, Goosebumps is a horror-supernatural anthology story featuring all the usual suspects we might find in “scary movies” — a cursed dummy, werewolves, possessions, etc. But the tropes are just a manifestation of the deeper, darker trauma that lies beneath them.
The true root of this story is about the intergenerational trauma that’s handed down to us and how to “escape” from it, we have to acknowledge it and find a way to grieve, forgive, and move past it.
With ensemble casts like this one, it can be more difficult to follow all the through lines, but in Goosebumps, it’s pretty easy. The setup is this:
In the past, a group of friends befriend a quirky kid named Harold Biddle (Ben Cockell) but he starts to scare them after he discovers a possessed puppet named Slappy. They try to convince Harold to give it up but he won’t and they are afraid he will do something he’ll regret. While attempting to get the puppet away from Harold, they accidentally start a fire in the house without realizing that Harold was inside a locked room. They decide to hide the puppet so it can’t be found (but duh… of course someone finds it). In the present day, this group of friends has tried to forget about Harold. They are all grown up with children of their own and each of them is haunted in their own ways.
Now, in the present, their poor kiddos have to deal with the trauma their parents inflicted on Harold who is vengeful in death. On top of that, he isn’t even the worst thing to fear… because Slappy is actually possessed by something even worse — a demon! So… when the doll is found, it unleashes all the pent-up anger and monstrosity that has been waiting to be released all those years. Crazy things start to happen like their teacher being possessed by Harold Biddle. Werewolf attacks. Killer earthworms. And at the center of it all? Slappy, the creepy ass doll.
The trajectory of the show reveals a picture of how the “monsters” of the show got from point A to point B. What was done well was the way they subverted some of the typical trauma storylines though. The children pay for the “sins” of their parents, yes, but they also help them grieve and forgive the past to defeat the “monster” who is coming after all of them.
Another aspect of this version of Goosebumps that we never received with older versions is the individual trauma storylines. In this new version, we get to see how the pain and trauma of characters like Lucas (Will Price) and Margot (Isa Briones) end up as easy prey for Slappy and the “monsters.” It also makes sense why their bond is forged in the aftermath of such horrific events — even if they aren’t all besties to begin with.
As a complete aside — I fully agree with some movie reviewers that Justin Long has become that guy for the horror genre. He is completely unhinged and crazy sauce in Goosebumps and everything I’ve seen him in these last few years only confirms this (House of Darkness, Barbarian, It’s a Wonderful Knife, Dear David, etc). If anything, watching his performance in Goosebumps is well worth your time.
The Storytelling
I may be in the minority of viewers who share this opinion — but I loved the past/present timeline and the way the show revealed aspects of the “parents” wrongdoing. At the beginning of the series, we’re meant to think of the parents as “bad.” But as the show progresses, we are meant to see them as “good” people who did some “bad” things. I’m not sure I completely agree with that, but I do however think the way they revealed it all was fascinating and worked well for the show.
I also think that the passage of time between the parents’ series of events and their children is great because it’s a believable amount of time for the parents to think they “got away” with it. That there weren’t going to be repercussions. Then they find out… oh shit, actually we ARE going to have to deal with this.
I think the way the tension, setting, and atmosphere worked together in this series is what made it feel creepier than I thought it would be. It showed me that if I want a “creepy” book versus a horror book, there doesn’t need to be so much violence or gore — but more sensory emotions that make you feel uncomfortable. I know that I have a tendency to go toward the extreme side when writing horror and this reminds me that I can pull it back and still have an effective and creepy story.
What inspires me about the Goosebumps world in general is that R.L. Stine is a master at episodic storytelling. He has always been fantastic at creating a world and then dropping us into it in his books. Each story is different… different monsters, different locations, but all in this world of his. His Goosebumps series books are also quite slim yet he can get an entire story within them. His Fear Street novels are usually around 30,000-50,000 words which is technically a shorter novel. It takes a lot of mastery of the craft to tell a good story with shorter words and a lot can be learned from how he does that — it’s definitely why I’m studying him.
As a lover of this series, I have to say that I’m mostly pleased with the way it turned out and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to find the trauma line and watch the characters and story grow because of it.
I also won’t complain if I never see a puppet like Slappy every again.
Want to see what films could be up next for this series? Check out my Letterboxd account → https://boxd.it/pktaA