A Case of the Bumps: The Curly Shuffle

There was never any expectations when Goosebumps was created. No brilliant thru-line as to how to advertise the book series, no real belief that there would be much of a book series after the initial six. But the world is funny in some ways, huh? Goosebumps found itself with a surprising amount of momentum through the mid-90s. Going from a popular book series to a massive franchise. Goosebumps became a cultural zeitgeist. But in the beginning, there wasn't any definitive face for the brand. No mascot to tie the franchise together. You could argue Slappy could have fit that role, but I'm talking before his proper rise to prominence with Night of the Living Dummy II. 

Before Slappy got his little wooden mitts on the franchise and became its de facto mascot, Goosebumps did have one prior mascot. A mascot who wasn't tied to any book (despite merch saying otherwise), a mascot that felt in line with what Goosebumps represented, a mascot who could be a real master of scaremonies. And that mascot was Curly the Skeleton. A character as iconic as the series itself. But what really was Curly? Was he a good mascot for the brand? And why was he never fully utilized in the series proper? Well, that's what we're here to talk about as make no bones about this Case of the Bumps.

The origins of Curly start when Goosebumps began to spin itself off from the main series. In October of 1994, the first spinoff series, Tales to Give You Goosebumps, was released. The book of short stories featured new cover work by Tim Jacobus. The cover featured a haunted house on a hill with a wispy skeletal ghost as the main attraction. This was believed to be the prototype of what Curly would eventually be. I've always loved this cover, mainly for the ghost, but I can see how tricky it would be to make this design work outside of one cover. But as the series progressed, it felt like the wisest call to make would be to stick with the general idea of a skeleton on the front cover. It also was good timing as Scholastic was in need of a brand mascot as the series was beginning to move towards merchandising.

The second book, More Tales to Give You Goosebumps, presented a more pefected version of Curly that could work as a mascot for the series. Tim stuck with the skeleton design, but made him non-ghostly, added a ghostly white buzzcut, and even an ascot which would become more iconic to his second, more well known design. And off to the races we went, with Curly being featured on the covers to the subsequent Tales books, as well as most of the Monster Edition books, which were hardcover compilations of particular books. 

But having just a skeleton wasn't enough to be an intriguing sell. Added to the Jacobus artwork was Drool the Bulldog, named as such from a series of letters sent to the Goosebumps Newsletters with suggestions on the dog's name. Drool as an addition really helps with the cover art, selling the kiddy cartoonish style of Jacobus' artwork. And thus, Goosebumps found its mascot and co-mascot. I like the choice to have Drool just be a normal bulldog and not a skeleton dog of some sort. Not that it couldn't have worked, but you already have one skeleton, so it may have been overkill. But despite a dog pal and being the cover boy for side books, that's not exactly the version of Curly that most people associate with.

This guy right here. That's the one. Pink mohawk, sunglasses and ascot. Now this is what screams "hip for the 90s". This is the version that was featured in all the major merch. Toys, apparel, games. If you know Goosebumps from the original era, you likely remember this version. You'll also notice the book he's holding. Say Cheese and Die! The fourth book in the original series. And because of that, he oddly became tied to the history of that book as well. Now, if you've read the book, or watched the episode, you'll note there's no character named Curly in the book. The main antagonist is Spidey, AKA Dr. Fritz Fredericks. But then again, it's just merch that needed to advertise the books, it couldn't be any messier?

Yeah about that not being messier. During the 1996-1997 run the books featured a new ad for the Goosebumps Fan Club which now featured "Curly", only it's the skeleton chef from the cover of Say Cheese and Die! Which is a reference to a nightmare Greg has in the book. Does this by extension suddenly mean that Curly is Mr. Banks? Is Greg's dad named Curly Banks? Does that make Say Cheese and Die more integral to Goosebumps' first era? Of course not! By all accounts, this was a mistake when advertising the fan club pack, and the final material given features the standard Curly we know and love. I think the association with Say Cheese and Die just led to a bigger snafu than intended. Still calling Greg's Dad Curly Banks because it sounds funny. 

Goosebumps came to an end in 2000, and by then, Curly was already being featured much less. With the Tales series done, Goosebumps moved on to Triple Header, which featured new monster mascots in Lefty, Righty and Slim. Which meant it was slim pickins for our favorite skeleton dude. The series would be revived in 2008 and while Curly made a sporadic appearance in some merch and even in the How to Draw Goosebumps book, by then, it became the Slappy show. Slappy was the face of the product, the most recognizable monster, just what Goosebumps became. Even when Goosebumps released a series of comics from IDW, Curly appeared, but mainly as a henchman for Slappy. 

A truly miserable fate if ever there was one.

So, now that we're aware of the character's past, could he have been a featured monster in an actual book? Was there a way to implement Curly into something, anything, Goosebumps related? While I can't fully think of how to fully implement a story of a punk skeleton and his bulldog pal, I do think he could have served as a wraparound narrator for a book series, akin to that of Slappy in SlappyWorld or the Story-Keeper of Hall of Horrors. A Cryptkeeper-esque ghoul who serves as the master storyteller of the Goosebumps world. I mean we're already ripping Cryptkeeper off with the "Scaremonies" thing, and Stine has never been subtle about his own ripping off of ideas, so why not? 

That should be Curly's fate overall. Serving as in many ways the being who connects Goosebumps together. The one who has all of the knowledge of the stories and is in many ways, the one presenting those tales to the audience. So like a librarian who is also a punk rock skeleton. Even presenting a story in the same way that Screams in the Night does in setting up the world as the creation of the mind of the author and that the story can change at the whim of said author with characters going in and out of existence. The only one who knows of this is Curly, who acts as the one who knows the truth of the world of Goosebumps and what borders between the real and the fictional. I mean, it's out there, but it would give some credit to the original mascot of Goosebumps. Even funky skeletons need jobs too.

Honestly, I hope Curly comes back. Even if not in any meaningful role and just a cover ghoul. He's a perfect character design that feels right in line with the 90s while also still feeling perfectly in line in the 2020s. We as a society need more cool looking skeletons. Also, it would be a welcome change than just Slappy over and over again. That dummy's had too much of a chip on his shoulder for too long. Goosebumps has had a bunch of amazing monsters and creepy creatures, but it's kind of interesting that one that's stood the test of time was the cartoon skeleton that never got his own book, regardless of what some merch wants you to believe. He's to hopefully more Curly in the future.