Goosebumps Reading Challenge
If you grew up in the 1990s and went to public school in the U.S., then Scholastic probably had a hold on your entire youth. I can’t remember anything more exciting than when the Scholastic book fair came, loading up on all the latest children’s book releases. Honestly, they can take credit for inspiring modern book hauls on BookTok and BookTube. I also lived for those monthly ordering sheets sent to my classroom, always talking my Mom into letting me get the 99¢ options.
While many of the reads are long forgotten, there was one series that still has a tight grip on me: Goosebumps. To honor one of my earliest exposures to the horror and thriller genres, I’m going to give the novels my undivided attention and take on what I’m calling the Goosebumps Reading Challenge.
Why to Re-Read Goosebumps As an Adult
Currently, there are 235 books published under the name. However, there are only 62 novels in the original Goosebumps series that ran from 1992 to 1997. These are the titles that I want to focus on because I’m a 90’s kid, and this millennial wants to revisit her childhood nightmares. (Jokes! Saving that for therapy.)
Actually, I have loved all things creepy and scary since I was little. For example, I would regularly rent the original "Candy Man" on VHS to watch and rewatch on the weekends in elementary school, alongside the newest Mary Kate & Ashley release. I also couldn’t get enough of “Are You Afraid of the Dark”, watching after school at my babysitter's house. So, naturally, Goosebumps became a staple for me — first in book form and then the television series.
My Goosebumps Reading Challenge Plan
When the pandemic hit, nostalgia became my favorite drug to get through the fear and anxiety of daily life, which led me back to Goosebumps. My creepy safe place. I decided I wanted to start collecting the horror novels and begin rereading them. Per usual, my wife went above and beyond the following Christmas, scoring a huge assortment of the original Goosebumps series on eBay. Now, I have 1 through 56 (out of 62), so I’ve decided to read (roughly) one book per week for 56 weeks. I’m going to do my best to track down the last six in the series, but those are some of the rarest Goosebumps novels as a few of them only exist as first editions.
Over the next year of millennial sentimentality, I plan to re-read the original Goosebumps series in it’s (nearly) entire form and offer quick, simple reviews from the eyes of a 30-something living in the 2020’s. Times have changed, so let’s see if they still offer the same level of scares, fun, and comfort that they did when I was a kid.
Care to join me? Follow along here on the Literary Cobblestones' blog as well as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.