A Goosebumps Movie about R. L. Stine? · 6:43am Apr 25th, 2014
Most of us who grew up in the 1990s remember an awesome book series called Goosebumps. 
Goosebumps was so popular in the mid-90s that it even had its own TV series!
That theme is so awesome.
Everyone credits J. K. Rowling for inspiring a generation to read with her Harry Potter books, but R. L. Stine deserves some of the credit. It's a shame that his contributions to children's literature have been overshadowed by the success of J. K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer. By the time Harry Potter and Twilight arrived on the scene, people had largely forgotten about Goosebumps.
Imagine my delight when I heard that they were making a Goosebumps movie! At last! A chance to do justice to an awesome series of books. And the film stars Jack Black... as R. L. Stine.
I know. They're practically twins, right? 
All joking aside, I was a little concerned with the casting of Jack Black. Just look at this interview of R. L. Stine.
Who thought Jack Black was the right person to portray R. L. Stine?
I suppose I shouldn't complain. R. L. Stine seems fine with the casting.
Apparently, the movie isn't going to be a biography of R. L. Stine. Instead, Jack Black will be portraying the creator of Goosebumps, who is a prisoner of his own imagination. His stories have come to life and the only way to keep his monsters from attacking everyone is to lock them up in books. When they manage to escape, Stine must work to return them to the written word before they wreak havoc.
I was underwhelmed by the premise for a couple of reasons. For one thing, R. L. Stine wrote more than 60 Goosebumps books. It would've been awesome to adapt some of the more famous stories into several movies, as opposed to cramming them all into one film. For another reason, this story has been told before. Anyone remember Extreme Ghostbusters? There was an episode called "Deadliners," in which there are spirits who enter the mortal realm through writing and have taken the form of villains from the stories of famous horror novelist J. N. Kline. (An obvious homage to R. L. Stine.)
This episode first aired in 1997; a whole 19 years before the Jack Black Goosebumps movie is scheduled to be released.
I probably shouldn't worry too much about the casting or the plot. As long as the film has a competent director, I'm sure things will work out alright. So who's directing the Goosebumps film? Rob Letterman? 
What else has he directed? Gulliver's Travels (2010) and Shark Tale?
Strap in, folks. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
And for those of you who are curious, here are my top three favorite Goosebumps books, in no particular order.
Egg Monsters from Mars.
The Beast from the East
Deep Trouble
Feel free to share your favorite Goosebumps memories in the comments.
I punched my best friend in the face one time because I caught him trying to steal my Goosebumps. But then I used the book to help stop his bloody nose from bleeding out. From then on out, we became closer friends all throughout life, and I have to thank Goosebumps and a violent ten year old me for that.
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Awesome story! Thanks for sharing!
There's something strangely poetic about a Goosebumps book stained with blood.
Too many memories to count, although an awful lot of them entailed browsing the school library's shelf dedicated to R.L. Stine, looking and hoping to catch another book that they either recently bought or had been on an endless stream of other students borrowing them.
Ghost Beach, Werewolf of Fever Swamp and Monster Blood III were among my personal favorites. Vampire Breath was both a good book in the series and a good episode in the tv series.
I remember having a tonne of Goosebumps books as a kid. I also had a lot of the choose your own adventure style ones -- I can't remember the name of that particular spin-off series thing -- and read the shit out of those. The Beast from the East was probably my favourite Goosebumps book.
I also recall there being a few Goosebumps board games floating around. The one I owned was the theme park one (One Day at Horrorland, I think?). It was pretty neat even if every playing session just devolved into us fucking around with the rides, lol.
I loved the choose your own adventure ones...and using a book mark as my own little 'cheat code' in case I got a bad ending. Good times...
I think the 90's was a very interesting time to grow up as a kid.
I was too old for his goosebumps books...but absolutely loved his fear street series...the dude at the library would save me a copy of the new ones when they came out ...which at one point was monthly....also loved watching the goosebumps tv show...I'm scared for this movie though...seems like an epic fail waiting to happen
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I think I still have it. And weirdly enough, it was the Monster Blood story.
Goosebumps books were more my sister's thing. I was kind of a wimp when I was a kid. Still, if Monster Blood isn't involved in the movie, I am going to be sorely disappointed. I have a soft spot for ooze monsters.
I loved beast from the east. As well as deep trouble. I also loved the monster blood series.
Shocker from shock street is the only one I can recall with any clarity. It was a good, if weird one though. (There's some irony In calling any of the books weird)
Oh man, Goosebumps. Good times! I miss the books... Beast from the East helped turn me into a furry!
I'm not sure about the movie...
I fondly remember 'Attack of the Jack-O-Lanterns', myself.
Honestly, one would think that around now would be a good time to revive that show idea. There's enough raw material for the order of the standered 52 episodes, and teen horror is making a general comeback as far as I can tell.
I have 7 goosebumps books.
I'm gonna listen to that when I read.
Maybe it's a crossover with Extreme Ghostbusters? That would kick ass.
Of note is that Tara Strong plays Kylie Griffin in there.
i.imgur.com/gwJiRMY.jpg
I remember I had Ghostbuster bed sheets and one of the ghosts on it was this guy at the end credits. Interesting thing was that those bed sheets were of The Real Ghostbusters. Guess they recycled old ghost designs for the credits?
mma-core.com/images/fighters/full/Scott_Bigelow_103627.jpg
If I recall, Beast From the East had video games, plugging in too many controllers and not at the right time, running, and touching some goopy substance that never came off. Oh, and some Greetings From Asbury Park.
God, I remember when YTV showed Goosebumps. Back when it rocked and had PJ Phil as the host of The Zone. Now the channel is shit. What are they feeding the kids these days... YTV in the 90's kicked so much ass.
I got a swell Goosebumps story. When I was in 3rd grade, I had a classmate who was a bit of a tomboy. She said she wore boxers and was wearing Goosebumps at the time. I told her to prove it. And she did.
In the middle of work time in class.
I think we were in a corner or something, cause no one noticed when she dropped her jeans, revealing boxers with Slappy prints all over them... or were they skeletons with the Goosebumps logo all over? I can't remember... maybe she showed me more than once. 3rd grade was an awful long time ago.
Looking back at that moment, it was pretty fuckin sexy. I kinda wish I knew what sexy was at the time...
Oh, and I read a lot of The Baily School Kids at the time, along with Animorphs a year or two later.
I was scared shitless of the Haunted Mask and the worms ones, but I still red 'em and loved 'em. The TV show was kinda shit though
I'm a 90's kid, through and through. I remember watching Nirvana music videos on MTV, I remember when Marilyn Manson was a band and not just one guy jerking himself off, and I remember when Jurassic Park had the best CGI the world had ever seen.
Nostalgia, at its core, is a profound sense of loss. It's not just remembrance; it is remembering something you used to care about and the accompanying feeling of dissonance when you wonder why you don't care anymore. I think the reason is always the same, though: you've grown up and you've moved on.
I used to collect the Goosebumps books, and I have many memories that I could share, but I just don't have it in me. There are too many things from my childhood and teenage years that I miss already. I'm a firm believer in picking one's battles, and this is a grave I'd rather not dig up.
tl;dr: I'm drunk.
That episode of Extreme Ghostbusters was 2spooky4me as a kid.
I like the one episode with the haunted masks, and the one book with the mad scientist child. Can't remember names, though
Woah, this is news to me. I used to have every episode on VHS, a movie would be a great thing to see.