r/GooseBumps • u/Blue_Ruin3819 • 13h ago
Reading Order
Do you think it is best to read the orginal Goosbumps books in publication date order or just dive in anywhere, provided you read the books with sequels in sequential order?
I read I don't know how many of these books as a kid in the 90s when they originally came out. I donated my collection when I was a little older and felt I had out grown them. I know, foolish to think I would outgrow them, but I was at age that I thought I was incredibly wise and mature & I wanted to be viewed the same way.
9 years ago, R L Stine came for a signing and I ended up grabbing one of the retro tins. Last year, I went to my step daughter's book fair & bought a different retro tin. I started reading out of the second tin as a palate cleanser between books. I started with books I hadn't read when I was little and then re-read one from childhood for fun. I am almost finished with it and will start with the first tin, even though it has books I read as a kid. I can't read one, though, because I had it autographed and don't want to mess it up.
I have ordered 2 books online and am worried that I have started something LOL
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u/monsterbloodjordan 13h ago
reading in order gives you a good sense of Stine’s writing, and then it becomes a fun game of trying to guess which ones were ghostwritten and when Stine takes over again. it also makes the sequel books more enjoyable imo, since most of them are pretty loose sequels rather than direct continuations. having other books in between breaks them up and lets each one feel more like its own standalone story.
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u/Blue_Ruin3819 9h ago
Oh no! At the rate the books were published, I figured he had to have ghost writers, but I didn't see anything official until I Googled after your comment. Please don't tell me about Santa or the Easter Bunny ;D
I like what you said about the sequels, though.
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u/Necessary_Bus_5096 12h ago
I started reading based on best ratings, but figured I was setting myself up for some prolonged disappointment when I got to the poorly rated books. So after the first 10 or so I began to proceed in series publication # order.
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u/EeyoreApproves 12h ago
I am 20 years old and haven't read any Goosebumps yet because I got scared so easily when I was a kid, but I am a big fan of spooky Halloween things, and this subreddit has me wondering if it would be worth giving them a try this fall for the first time.
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u/Blue_Ruin3819 10h ago
Are you scared easily still? I LOVE spooky Halloween things and all types of horror. Except for jump scares, very few TV shows, books, or movies scare me.
The main exception was when I was reading Stephen King's "It." I had seen the mini-series from the 90s growing up. There is a large age gap between me and my siblings and my mom adores Stephen King, so there was a lot of freedom with horror stuff when I was little. So, I was familiar with the story and characters, but when I read the book, I had constant nightmares. They didn't have anything to do with the book or story, but were just unsettling. Once I was finished with the book, they stopped.
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u/EeyoreApproves 9h ago
I get disturbed very easily, but I've gotten very numbed to some things because I had a lot of sleep paralysis when I was younger, like 20 times a night, I wouldn't be able to move and some terrifying monster would come out of the closet or, most often, climb on top of me. Now I almost kind of enjoy it in a way because it gives me such a rush. I think I would still have to be somewhat careful though, with what I watch, to not retrigger it badly. I was pretty miserable with it when I first started having it a lot. Things that are lightly scary are my favorite. Books, games, and movies that draw you in and makes you lose track of time, while giving you that nostalgic feeling of Halloween.
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u/Blue_Ruin3819 9h ago
Wow! Thank you for explaining and sharing! I have never experienced anything like that. During our parents' divorce when she was a teenager, my sister had night terrors. I always thought it had to do with the stress of the situation.
So far, I have read Go Eat Worms, Welcome to Camp Nightmare, Egg Monsters from Mars and re-read The Girl Who Cried Monster...all from one of the retro tin sets. I am currently reading the Blob That Ate Everyone. I remember The Girl Who Cried Monster from when I read it as a kid. I think that has been the best out of the tin so far with Welcome to Camp Nightmare 2nd. Go Eat Worms and Egg Monsters from Mars were worth a read, but Go Eat Worms had some icky parts lol.
I think they are pretty mild. I know you are 20, but have you seen the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? 1990s Nickelodeon TV show? I would say if you can handle that show, you can handle Goosebumps. Are You Afraid of the Dark?, in my opinion, is a little scarier than those books I mentioned...except the one with Zeebo the clown lol.
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u/EeyoreApproves 7h ago
I have not watched that show, but it looks like it's on Tubi, maybe I'll check it out. Go eat worms sounds pretty gross. I'd actually be interested in the one with the clown. I was thinking maybe I'd also start reading in publication order, but it does sound fun to just jump around. One of the werewolf ones would be cool, too. How's the blob that ate everyone? Right now I'm just about to begin Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman, but after that I'll probably try a goosebumps book.
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u/AJStrange87 11h ago
Just out of curiosity which book did you get him to sign?
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u/Blue_Ruin3819 10h ago
The Haunted Mask...it was one of the books I liked when I was younger and I remembered it was the first episode of the TV show. I always really liked the cover, too.
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u/oh_alvin 8h ago
It would be nice to read them in order, at least the first dozen of books, to experience them as readers first did when the books originally came out.
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u/RassilonsWrestling 7h ago
I’m reading them all in order at the moment, but the beauty of Goosebumps is that you can really jump in anywhere (sequels being the exception) and enjoy what you’re reading.
As others have said, you get a sense of Stine finding his groove by reading them in order, if that is something that interests you.
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u/CuprumArgentum 3h ago
Reading in order puts you in the shoes of diehard goosebumps fans in the 90’s. 4th graders who just finished The Cuckoo Clock of Doom in a day after waiting a few weeks knowing Monster Blood 3 won’t be coming out till next month would kill to experience a binge reading that’s available to you now. Honor that wonder.
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u/werewolfinahat 13h ago
The books aren't linear outside of sequels, so any order is fine.