?Goosebumps is a series of children's horror fiction novels written by author R. L. Stine who is considered s one of the best-selling American children’s authors of “scary stories.”
Goosebumps is a series of children's horror fiction novels written by author R. L. Stine. As one of the best-selling American authors in recent years with over 350 million books sold worldwide since 1992, Stine is sometimes described as the "Stephen King of children's literature," for his Goosebumps collection of fictional stories with children characters involved in stories with horror, humor and supernatural themes.
The series has been sold in thirty-five languages, has been listed on many bestseller lists, including the New York Times Best Seller list for children, and has also spawned a popular television series.
Many literary critics in the media have congratulated the Goosebumps series as a collection of “deliciously chilling” scary stories "that have helped many kids develop a passion for reading and usually comment that anything that gets more kids to read more often is a great thing. Some have observed that while the Goosebumps books are not great literature, Stine understands his audience and the books are written primarily to interest and engage young readers, not bore them with long-winded passages and confuse them with words that they don’t understand. More critical observers have noted that they feature short sentences, simple sentence structure, easy vocabulary, uncomplicated paragraphs, and shallow, simple plots, but the overall takeaway is usually that even though the Goosebumps series do not contain any real violence, they do contain enough supernatural elements to give the young readers a bit of fright, danger, and loss of control. They also feature positive moral elements that can teach young readers that ultimately there is nothing more important than the love of your family and friends (and maybe a few good scary stories).
Top Five Scary Goosebumps Stories:
Of the many popular scary Goosebumps stories, it would be difficult to point to one or two as the best overall, but the entire premise of the Goosebumps series is encapsulated in “One Day at Horrorland” and many consider it to be Stine‘s best piece of work for the kids.
Next up on most lists of scariest Goosebumps tales would have to be “The Haunted Mask,” a scary tale set on Halloween, the perfect occasion and background set-up for a children’s tale of ghostly fears and ultimate salvation when the plot finally unwinds.
Similar to the green pollutants that transformed the mutant Ninja Turtles, the kid heroes in “Monster Blood” also find a can of greenish goo that contains "Monster Blood" goop that takes on a life of its own and threatens to engulf the world unless the kids can stop it, making “Monster Blood” third place on many lists at the very least.
“Welcome to Dead House” was the first Goosebumps book, and many adult critics consider it Stine’s nastiest and grimmest effort, earning it fourth place on any list of the “most scary” Goosebumps tales.
“Night of the Living Dummy” takes up number five position on many reader’s lists of the “most scary” although there are probably hundreds of others that could fit in fifth place just as easily.
