Okay, that's hyperbole. Goosebumps didn't end its run until 2000 before returning in 2008. And Goosebumps is still around as Stine still makes books. But behind the scenes in 1997, Scholastic and the Stines were not as humble to one another as expected. Rights issues began to strain the relationship, as did eventual legal woes. By the middle of the fifties, the Stine-run Parachute Press logo was placed on books and merchandise. Speaking of the books, while sales were still good, the zenith of the franchise's success had long passed, leading to a year where the decline began. And in a bid to try and drum up interest, the franchise would see changes in 1998. A new brand in Series 2000, and the end of the original series.
But the original era didn't go so quietly into the night. It instead provided what I feel are twelve of the more interesting books in the entire series. Not all perfect, but many feeling like an attempt by Stine to get back much of that mojo that was seemingly lost as the series pressed on. What ultimately ended up happening was a batch of mixed results, but I'd say more positive examples than negative. And while the final book ended the series on a sour note (a staple of Stine and Goosebumps to be honest), it gave me some of my favorite books in the series. So let's dig a bit deeper into the final 12.
Even with twelve books remaining, the skew between female and male protagonists is pretty dire. Three female (Jaclyn DeForest, Crystal and Sarah Maas) to nine male (Jack Johnson, Matt Daniels, Zackie Beauchamp, Sammy Jacobs, Billy Deep, Tommy Frazer, Alex Hunter, Marco/Keith and Evan Ross). And given the final six books are all male protagonists, it's perhaps the most noticeable berth in protagonists in the entire series. I guess Stine just found more of a mojo with male characters, especially as he wound the original series down, but yikes. Protagonists this time around overall were still solid for the most part, a few weak stragglers like Sarah, Crystal and Evan, but otherwise a strong batch.
Quality is an interesting thing to discuss with these twelve. Honestly, save for a few weak ones and a super weak final book, the final twelve books have some of the strongest stories. A stark difference from the thirties and forties. And from book 58-61 we have what can be considered one of Stine's rare hot streaks. But we did start slow with the okay but forgettable Beware, the Snowman. How I Learned to Fly followed, giving us one of the more unique Goosebumps stories that is so anti-genre yet still fits right in. And then the dregs of Chicken Chicken, which feels like there's good ideas inside but no vision to do anything with it. Don't Go to Sleep! fared better this time around in my eyes as did The Blob That Ate Everyone.
Shaky quality followed into The Curse of Camp Cold Lake and permeated through My Best Friend is Invisible. And then, for a short bit, Goosebumps got good again. In fact, it got better than expected. Slow start with Deep Trouble II, but still a stronger sequel than expected. But then came the great trilogy of The Haunted School, Werewolf Skin, and for my money the best Goosebumps book in the original 62, I Live in Your Basement! A genuinely unsettling, scary and even somewhat Lynchian book that still holds up. A sign that if Goosebumps proper was ending, maybe the landing could still be stuck. And then Monster Blood IV happened to not only fail at sticking the landing, it crashed miles away from the target.
So overall, quality still feels like a real rickety roller coaster. Some ups, some downs, some very straightforward. But, like I said, mostly an uptick in quality from the previous batches. More focus on scary scenarios, more surprising violence and just generally stronger flows. Which given the turmoil beginning between the Stines and Scholastic is surprising. Biggest issue to me is again just the structure of Monster Blood IV and the continued ignorance of what made the first book feel more special for what ultimately became a lame cash grab to end the series.
Twists this time ranged from mediocre to surprisingly good. For every talking snowman, Conan clone and "Pig Pig" we had secret aliens, stories being written by blob monsters, stories being the dream of blob monsters, evil kid-hating cameramen, extra werewolf skins and a surprisingly happy ending for a kid who got treated like garbage for most of the book. A definite step up from what we were given for the majority of the thirties and forties. The genuine feel of making the twist matter... mostly.
The final twelve feel like a final season of a TV show. Some questionable quality and like many a really underwhelming finale, but a genuine feel of the end of an era. That while Series 2000 doesn't feel like too far a departure of the norm, the sense that the golden days are over is definitely there, which is a shame. Though I also think 62 is a strong enough number to end any run. And for at least giving me a mostly strong final batch to go out on, I can't appreciate that enough.
AWARDS
1997. The entire final year. Men in Black, Titanic, Hercules and more in the theatre. South Park, Recess, Daria and the final episode of Beavis and Butt-Head are notable in animation. Goldeneye, Final Fantasy VII, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in video games. Just an amazing year for popular culture in general. And I'd say if there was a year for Goosebumps to end its initial run, this would be it. But what fared best? Let's see with some awards.
GOLD STINE AWARDS
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