Many horror fans who grew up in the ’90s were converted to the genre through R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” books and its namesake TV series. With nostalgia in the air, the show was rebooted for Disney+ in 2023, but it’s a far cry from the beloved ’90s series – something that left Stine both impressed and baffled.
“That was a weird series, I thought,” Stine told Popverse. “It was ‘Goosebumps’ and not for kids. It was a ‘Goosebumps’ series not for kids. What was that about? I don’t know. I thought it was pretty good.”
The original “Goosebumps” is a lighthearted anthology horror show that retains the kid-friendly spookiness of the books. By contrast, the reboot takes a more serialized approach, telling stories geared toward a YA demographic. This element might have puzzled Stine, but the author feels certain aspects of the series remain true to the original spirit of “Goosebumps.”
What did R.L. Stine like about Disney’s Goosebumps reboot?
The tagline of R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps” — “Reader Beware, You’re in for a Scare!” — sets the tone for the franchise. With that in mind, Stine felt Disney’s reimagining delivered on that mantra, as he found the show to be quite spine-tingling.
“I just watched the first two episodes of the new season, and man, it’s very different, and it’s terrifying,” Stine told The Hollywood Reporter in regard to Season 2. “The thing about ‘Goosebumps’ is that no one ever dies.”
While Stine typically avoids killing off his child protagonists in “Goosebumps,” the reboot takes a darker approach with its older characters. Still, he believes that the show retains one core aspect of his stories: adults being hopeless in the fight against spooks. “In ‘Goosebumps,’ either they don’t believe the kid or they’re not around and they don’t help.”
To that end, Disney’s reimagining still echoes the original “Goosebumps,” even if it leans more macabre. Be that as it may, the Disney+ “Goosebumps” series was cancelled after two seasons in 2025, so the bold experiment was quite short-lived.
