Goosebumps

Submitted by rthomas on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 15:14.

AT–A–GLANCE

What is it?

A best-selling worldwide brand, based on the book series by R. L. Stine, that debuted as a monthly book series from Scholastic in 1992.

Who’s it for?

Kids ages 8–12

VISIT THE SITES

scholastic.com/
goosebumps
Goosebumps Facebook page
r.l.stine.com
On Twitter: @rlstine

More Information

Books/Author Interviews
Scholastic Trade Publicity
tradepublicity@scholastic.com

For information on the brand, television show and consumer products:
Caitlin Friedman
cfriedman@scholastic.com

“R.L. Stine rode a wave of kid popularity, partly fueled by the fledgling Internet, to become perhaps the best-selling children’s author of the 20th century.”

Stephen King
Entertainment Weekly, August 17, 2007

“R.L. Stine is a Master of 'Safe Scares'”

The Wall Street Journal

Press Coverage

Wall Street Journal Weekend Confidential "Writer R.L. Stine is a Master of 'Safe Scares'" (October 28, 2022)
NPR's All Things Considered "'Goosebumps' is turning 30— the scariest part is how old that makes you” (October 31, 2022)
ABC News "R.L. Stine's celebrates 30 years of iconic 'Goosebumps' series" (October 28, 2022)
E! News “Goosebumps Author R.L. Stine's Childhood Fear Confession May Surprise You” (July 28, 2022)
Armchair Expert Podcast interview with R.L. Stine (July 21, 2022)
Yahoo! Entertainment “'Goosebumps' at 30: R.L. Stine on the blockbuster book franchise and why he's 'Stephen King for kids'” (July 15, 2022)
The Hollywood Reporter “‘Goosebumps’ Turns 30: R.L. Stine Reflects on Writing Series, Scaring Generations of Young Readers” (July 1, 2022)
The Today Show “R.L. Stine on 30 years of ‘Goosebumps’ and how he almost never wrote scary kids’ books” (June 27, 2022)
TIME “R.L. Stine Is Still Out Here Scaring Kids 30 Years After Launching Goosebumps” (June 24, 2022)
The Guardian interview with R.L. Stine (July 11, 2021)
The Irish Times "R.L. Stine has sold 400 million books: 'And people say kids don't read'" (July 8, 2021)
Paste Magazine interview with R.L. Stine (January 15, 2019)
Entertainment Weekly interview with R.L. Stine (August 09, 2017)
People Magazine interview with R.L. Stine (November 2, 2015)
NPR On Point with Tom Ashbrook interview with R.L. Stine (October 30, 2015)
TIME “After 400 million books sold, R.L. Stine finally has a movie” (October 19, 2015)
CNN Reliable interview with R.L. Stine (October 18, 2015)
NPR Weekend All Things Considered interview with R.L. Stine (October 18, 2015)
CNN CNN’s Brian Stelter: “I was a 12-year-old ‘Goosebumps’ blogger. Now R.L. Stine and I are friends” (October 17, 2015)
The Verge interview with R.L. Stine (October 14, 2015)
Wall Street Journal interview with R.L. Stine (October 2, 2015)
EntertainmentWeekly.com Author R.L. Stine on His Summer Book Recommendations (August 3, 2012)
Reuters R.L. Stine Scares Boys and Girls, Just a Bit (August 2, 2012)
Newsweek Goosebumps Creator R.L. Stine on 20th Anniversary Series" (July 30, 2012)
Atlantic Wire R.L. Stine Has Been Giving Us Goosebumps for 20 Years (July 19, 2012)
Time.com R. L. Stine profiled in "What Scares the People Who Scare Us?" (October 31, 2011)
Parade Magazine "Personality Parade" feature (October 30, 2011)
Time.com "140 Best Twitter Feeds" includes R. L. Stine in the author category (March 28, 2011)

Overview

Goosebumps is one of the best-selling children’s book series of all-time – with more than 400 million English language books in print, including international editions in 24 languages. A global megabrand and pop culture phenomenon, Goosebumps has inspired two feature films, television series, video games, consumer products, and more. The official website is www.scholastic.com/goosebumps

Books

In July 1992, Scholastic introduced a monthly book series by R.L. Stine called Goosebumps with Goosebumps: Welcome to the Dead House. Twenty years later, Goosebumps is now one of the best-selling children’s series of all-time—with more than 400 million English language books in print, plus an additional 50+ million international copies in print in 24 languages—selling at the phenomenal rate of four million books per month in the mid-1990s. The Goosebumps series made R.L. Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity (and Jeopardy answer), and Goosebumps was named the world's bestselling book series of all time in the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records. Check out this interview with R.L. Stine.

Audio

Nearly 50 Goosebumps HorrorLand, Goosebumps SlappyWorld, and Classic Goosebumps titles are available for digital download at audiobook vendors nationwide.

Television

Goosebumps (2023)

The new live-action Goosebumps series, executive produced by Scholastic Entertainment, premiered in fall 2023 and is now available on Disney+ and Hulu. This 10-episode first season follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process. The series was Disney Branded Television's most-watched season premiere of the year, holding Hulu's #1 spot on its premiere weekend. In early 2024, it was announced that the series was picked up for a second season.
Nicholas Stoller and Rob Letterman developed the series and serve as executive producers, with Stoller executive producing via Stoller Global Solutions, alongside Hilary Winston, Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film, Conor Welch of Stoller Global Solutions, Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman of Scholastic Entertainment, Erin O’Malley, and Kevin Murphy. Julia Ruchman, James Eagan and Nick Adams serve as co-executive producers. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

Goosebumps (1995)

The award-winning classic Goosebumps television series, which ran from 1995-1998, told the spookily outrageous and funny tales of ordinary kids who find themselves in extraordinary and scary situations. The series originally aired on Fox Kids and consistently rated # 1 for four consecutive seasons. The classic TV series is available on Netflix, Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu. The television series has won numerous awards. Historically, the classic television series was sold in more than 100 territories with the strongest ratings in France, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Venezuela, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Interactive

The Goosebumps HorrorLand video game is available for Nintendo Wii™ & DS™ as well as Playstation®

Goosebumps Dead of Night is a first-person survival adventure game and sequel to Goosebumps Night of Scares. Slappy the Dummy has unleashed a nightmare of Goosebumps monsters, and they're all out to get you! The game was released by Cosmic Forces in 2020 and is available for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Goosebumps HorrorTown lets players build and manage a spooky town featuring R.L. Stine monsters, inquisitive humans and story-driven quests. The game was released by Pixowl in 2016 for iOS, and Android.

Goosebumps: The Game is a point and click video game in which the player needs to investigate their surroundings, puzzle out clues, and outsmart the monsters before it’s too late! The game was released by GameMill in 2015 for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Goosebumps Night of Scares is an action-adventure tie-in to the 2015 Goosebumps movie. The game plays in a first-person perspective where the player must explore R.L. Stine's haunted house in search for clues on how to defeat Slappy while hiding from monsters. The game was released by Cosmic Forces in 2015 for iOS, Android and Oculus Go.

The Goosebumps HorrorLand video game released in 2008 for the Nintendo Wii™ & DS™ and Playstation® platforms.

Escape from Horrorland, an interactive sequel to the book One Day at HorrorLand, was released for the PC in 1996.

Attack of the Mutant an interactive game based on the book of the same name was released for the PC in 1997.

Feature Film

Goosebumps, a feature film starring Jack Black, based on the book series by R.L. Stine, was released by Sony in theaters on October 16, 2015. The sequel, Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween was released in theaters on October 12, 2018. The films grossed a combined total of more than $250 million dollars and inspired a successful consumer products program. The films are available through various distribution channels and on DVD.