R L Stine’s Goosebumps has been renewed for a second series at Disney+, with a change in format to an anthology show.
R L Stine’s Goosebumps is one of the bestselling book series in history. It is no surprise that it has had myriad screen adaptations over the years.
Perhaps the most fondly remembered is the 1990s television series, which had memorable opening titles in which the shadow of the G in Goosebumps made it’s way through an eerie town while the unsettling theme tune played over it.
Many of the original novels were adapted, and it marked a high point for television horror aimed at young adults, as it was broadcast around the same time as Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, a horror anthology aimed at older teenagers. Several of Stine’s works have made it to the screen, from a trilogy of Fear Street films to Zombie Town and one-off television film The Haunting Hour, which saw Hannah Montana’s Emily Osment star opposite Jigsaw himself, Tobin Bell.
In 2015, director Rob Letterman and writer Darren Lemke made Goosebumps, a feature film that made Stine one of the central characters as his creations come to life (a really, really good film that as well: do seek it out). A sequel, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, this time directed by Ari Sandel and written by Rob Lieber, once again saw Stine’s monsters wreak havoc in the real world.
The latest Goosebumps television series premiered on Disney+ last year. Developed by Letterman and Nicholas Stoller, for the first time in the franchise’s history it used a serialised story that incorporated various Goosebumps monsters. It followed a group of young teens as they uncover dark secrets about a tragic event from thirty years ago.
Disney+ has renewed Goosebumps for a second series, but it’s now reverting to the anthology format. There will be a brand new cast, and the series will contain eight episodes.
You can watch the first series of Goosebumps on Disney+.
