Home / Arts and Entertainment / Goosebumps Turns 30: How a Spooky Book Series Captivated Generations
Goosebumps Turns 30: How a Spooky Book Series Captivated Generations
27 Oct
Summary
- Goosebumps book series sold over 400 million copies worldwide
- R.L. Stine never planned to write scary stories, just wanted to be funny
- Goosebumps TV show premiered 30 years ago, reaching 8 million households
In October 1995, a new TV series based on the popular Goosebumps book franchise premiered, captivating a generation of young viewers. The show's debut, which reached almost 8 million households in the U.S., marked a major milestone for the beloved book series that had taken the world by storm just a few years earlier.
Goosebumps, created by author R.L. Stine, has since sold over 400 million copies worldwide in 35 languages, making it the second-best-selling literary franchise behind Harry Potter. However, Stine never set out to write scary stories for children. As he revealed in 2015, "I never planned to be scary, I always just wanted to be funny."
Despite his initial reluctance, Stine's spooky-yet-humorous tales struck a chord with millions of young readers, who discovered the books through word-of-mouth and a "secret kids' network" in the early 1990s. The series' success didn't stop on the page, as it has since spawned video games, comic books, two feature films, and a modern Disney+ series.
