There were two things in my childhood that I discovered that influenced my deep dive into the world of horror, arts and telling stories. Those two things where the original Twilight Zone series and Goosebumps. Both introduced me to complex yet bite sized horror tales that always deliver a twist. I owe my current ventures into art, horror and storytelling to those two properties.
When I heard that there was going to be a new Goosebumps show that was more aimed to older individuals, specifically teens and young adults, I was stoked. My problem with the recent two films were that they were a bit too childish. Seeing popular monsters back were cool, but they didn’t come close to how it felt to see the original series and read the original 62 books as a kid. This new Goosebumps show is taking big risks and many are worried that it might not pay off.
The series steps back from the anthological approach and delivers more of a connected narrative. The show follows a group of teens who find out that their parents may have been apart of a tragedy that befell their small town in the 90s. Strange occurrences with some weird items lead them down a path towards some creepy buried secrets. Many are wondering if the show works. I’m here to say that the show is really good. It updates the idea of Goosebumps in a way that feel more mature and more nuanced. There’s a more grounded feel to it despite the fact that the antagonizing forces are monsters. There’s a more human approach that I find quite pleasing.
I have only seen the first five episodes and will deliver a more rounded opinion once the show finishes, but so far i’m really liking it. The way they change up the stories works in favour of the show as many of the original tales are not too scary and go into some pretty wild territory that doesn’t work with a grounded approach. The performances as well are pretty good and I feel myself connecting to the characters in a way that I haven’t felt in quite sometime. It’s no secret that I watch less shows than movies and that’s mostly because shows take longer to get through and i’d much rather watch a movie in a smaller amount of time. Every year though there are a handful of shows that come out that I enjoy and really get into. Goosebumps is one of those shows this year and I feel the characters are part of that. Justin Long and Miles McKenna are specifically stand out to me right now and are giving some truly killer performances. All the guys who look like Mile Mckenna’s James need to hit me up because I may be simping a bit for him.
One element that I also found quite impactful was the score. That’s one point that every adaptation has done well, suitable music that pulls you into the world of the story. This version is no exception and some of the pieces of the score went kinda hard and worked wonders for their scenes. The choices of songs on the soundtrack are kick ass as well. Everything from Nine Inch Nails to Yeah Yeah Yeahs to even The Proclaimers have some needle drops that round out the truly stellar soundtrack.
I’m hearing a lot of negative opinions on the show from people inside and out of the fanbase of the series and I’m here to clear up some things i’m hearing. Many of the arguments state that the show is woke when it really isn’t. The thing that you could consider the most woke is the fact that the cast is diverse. We have a wide range of personalities and perspectives and I personally don’t see anything wrong with it, but some do. It’s almost as if people expected the show to do the same thing as the original 90s show with the same 90s politics. It was pretty apparent from the start that this was gonna be a TV-14 rated gen z take on the Goosebumps brand, so i’m not sure how some can be disappointed with it. Yes, this show has a gay trans dude and other characters of different ethnic backgrounds, but our modern communities do as well and the shows wants to reflect our current time similar to how it did in the 90s except for some of the network censorship at the time.
I’m not sure the full extent of the story at this moment as I have five episodes left, but at this point i’m really into what they are doing with it. The new Goosebumps show on Disney+ is a step up from the previous adaptations. By telling this more well rounded narrative with some deep character work, they are bringing a more magnetic energy to the property and breathing new life into it. I’m excited to see where it goes next, but at this point i’m really digging it.
Seriously though, Hit me up cute guys who look like Miles McKenna!
The Rating
