Goosebumps is the oh-so-’90s brainchild of author R.L. Stine. Its original run went on for 62 books over 5 years and was designed to provide horror for kids; a sort of Stephen King-lite. In the ’90s, it spawned a television adaptation that ran from 1995 to 1998. That adaptation ran for 4 seasons and 74 episodes. Mostly, it faithfully adapted the books in the series and starred some then-unknown names like Ryan Gosling. The series has stayed in the zeitgeist through nostalgia and eventually led to two film adaptations: Goosebumps in 2015 and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween in 2018. Both featured original stories and starred Jack Black as a fictionalized version of R.L. Stine.
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Disney Plus had previously ordered a new Goosebumps TV series back in February, and fans are now being given more details about the project. According to Variety, the series will adapt five books from the series and star Justin Long as new teacher Nathan Bratt, who ends up embroiled in a “decades-old supernatural murder.” In a twist, however, the series will not be episodic, but will involve an overarching storyline.
“The series follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together - thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries and pasts with each other - in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process,” reads the official logline for the Goosebumps series. Who these five high schoolers will be has not yet been revealed. Considering the series only got announced a few months ago, it’s possible that the casting process is not yet complete.
It is also possible that the so-called “teenage secrets” these high schoolers must uncover about their parents will involve the plots of the original Goosebumps books. The protagonists in those novels were often 12-years-old, which would make them old enough now to have a high schooler. Fans can probably expect lots of Easter Eggs while watching the series, and the creators of this adaptation can also take a few lessons from the ’90s Goosebumps show.
It would not be surprising to see the return of some fan-favorites like Slappy, the wooden dummy with a taste for killing, or Monster Blood, a gelatinous being that consumes whatever it touches, or even the Haunted Mask, which proves difficult to remove once someone puts it on. Considering the fact that most of the monsters are lower-key frights, Goosebumps is ripe for the use of practical effects. Longtime fans will no doubt be delighted to return to the realm of Goosebumps - and perhaps show their own children some of the magic.
Goosebumps will be released as a Disney Plus exclusive.
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Source: Variety
