It was the series that both captivated and terrified a generation. Gateway prose to the horror genre for many, Goosebumps benefited both from the breathless simplicity of its writing style and the genuine terror of the series. It takes healthy inspiration from real life horror stories, with the basis of characters such as the terrifying dummies in children’s stories like Pinocchio, which makes the characters all the more chilling.
Goosebumps benefited not only from its inherently spooky writing, but also from the isolated setting of its writing. While this ranged wildly from boarding schools to blissfully ignorant suburbia, the focus was always on an isolated location and, more often than not, upon a new arrival in town or a trip somewhere else. This gave the books an unsettling character before the paranormal had even become invovled. This combination heightened the the feeling of a lack of control and, at the same time, commanded your attention, making it impossible to leave the book in case something earth-shattering happened on the next page.
The books were award-winning and justifiably so. Abandoning the comedy of the successive reincarnations of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Goosebumps made use of real horror and didn’t treat us as children. It was the thing that you loved to read to be a bit naughty and mischievous. That alone makes it a spooktacular series indeed.