Reader beware – you’re in for a scare.
The 90s are long gone, but the memories of me going to the school library to read all the Goosebumps books are still alive.
I still remember how I used to pester my Dad every day to get me the entire series, because I wanted to own that collection of books.
Authored by R.L. Stine, Goosebumps introduced most of us to the genre of horror. It was our first encounter with horror stories.
I distinctly remember carrying these books in my school bag and trying to read them in between the classes and reading them hiding under a blanket at night, so that I could finish them on time.
Goosebumps were one of those books that got us into the habit of reading.
I had just one aim – to finish a book every week before I had to return it to the library. As a kid I would get totally lost in them – both the story and the amazing cover art.
Their covers introduced us to creepiness. They were creepy and expressive to another level. We literally had goosebumps seeing them in the night.
One particular cover I still get goosebumps thinking about is that of the book titled, The Blob That Ate Everyone.
At that time, these books were terrifying (to me at least). The spooky covers and titles would make me curious to read them and yes, it was better than any other horror show or movie.
And do you remember the Give Yourself Goosebumps series?
In these books, we could choose the horror we wished to go through. The readers had to make choices and their choices would decide the course of the story. With each choice we made, the horror only grew.
Let’s be honest, Goosebumps never intended to scare the living hell out of us, but it did make us wonder about a lot of things around us.
A Goosebumps story could easily describe anything from a vampire, to a demon, and even a flesh-eating alien from outer space, sometimes freaking us out and entertaining us on other times.
When I think about these books now, I feel that the content per se wasn’t scary. But the way it came to us, readers, made it frightening.
And if you’ve been to schools that hosted Scholastic Book Fairs, you would know what saving each penny from your pocket money felt like. We would get these books at discounted prices.
Aren’t you filled with nostalgia every time you see those colourful and creative book covers?
The best part about Goosebumps books was that even after being a series, they were mostly an independent bunch of books. We could just pick one and choose our horror story for the day.
Ah! The nostalgia.