(ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2021)
Katie Baker
Opinion Editor
Spooky season is right around the corner, which means it’s time to break out all of the classic Halloween movies. The movie Goosebumps may not be your first movie choice, but I truly suggest you add it to your list of things to watch this season. Although the film Goosebumps (2015) came out 6 years ago, it still brings as much enjoyment to me as it did back then.
Based on the scary stories written by R.L. Stine, the movie features Teen Zach Cooper and his single mom as they move to the small town of Madison, Delaware. After moving, Zach is forced to go to a new school where he meets Champ, a ‘nerdy’ guy who tags along in the adventures throughout the movie. He also befriends his new neighbor, Hannah, who seems to be locked inside of her house by her mysterious father. Upon meeting through her window, Hannah sneaks out of the house to spend more time with Zach. She takes him to an abandoned carnival site in the woods where Zach attempts to learn more about Hannah’s relationship with her father.
Upon investigating some unsettling noises coming from Hannah’s house one night, the two boys find out that Hannah’s dad is the famous R.L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps series. They also discover bookshelves full of locked-up original manuscripts, and once opened, they unleash some of the author’s scariest fictional monsters into the real world. One of the most terrifying monsters is Slappy: the ventriloquist dummy who is seeking revenge on R.L. Stine for locking him and the other monsters away in the books for so long. The group has to find a way to get all of the monsters back into their books and save the town of Madison from being destroyed.
The movie is meant to be more action based than the terrifying stories that Goosebumps fans know and love, but still pays a respectful homage to the creative and spooky tales of our childhood. It also contains an innumerable amount of imaginative monsters that fans of the Goosebumps books will remember. The movie takes viewers on a monster-filled journey that leaves them anxiously waiting to find out what happens next.
The casting for the movie isn’t terrible, I think choosing Jack Black to play R.L. Stine was a good choice. His famously known humor may be turned back to PG, but it’s still full of funny moments and phrases. Other popular actors in the movie are Dylan Minnette, famously known for his role in 13 Reasons Why, who plays Zach Cooper, and Odeya Rush, who is known for her role in Dumplin’ and The Odd Life of Timothy Green.
If you’re looking for a fun yet thrilling Halloween movie to start off the spooky season, I highly recommend Goosebumps, especially if you’re looking to get back in touch with some of the most memorable stories from growing up. Both nostalgic and haunting, I can’t recommend this film enough.
