''Goosebumps'' is a

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

anthology horror television series based on

R. L. Stine Robert Lawrence Stine (; born October 8, 1943), sometimes known as Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee, is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor. Stine has been referred to as the "St ...

's best-selling book series of the same name. It is an anthology of stories about tweens and young teens finding themselves in creepy and unusual situations, typically involving supernatural elements or the occult.

Production

''Goosebumps'' was filmed largely in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, with different houses and historic properties in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

and other outlying rural areas serving often as the sets for each episode rather than constructing artificial houses and buildings. Ontario also provided a more affordable filming location and an aesthetic that could double as American while maintaining ambiguity in terms of location and setting. Props for the series were designed by Ron Stefaniuk and Alan Doucette, while Stefaniuk retained many of the animatronic props at his own studio after ''Goosebumps'' was cancelled.

Episodes

Broadcast history

''Goosebumps'' originally began airing on YTV (in English) and

Canal Famille Vrak (stylized as VRΔK) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts live-action programming aimed at youth audiences. History Background The youth channel TVJQ () went on the air in ...

(in French) in Canada. Since 2022,

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

started airing reruns. In other countries, Fox Kids in Australia in 1995 and on Fox Kids in the United States starting on 27 October 1995 and ending on 16 November 1998, with reruns on Fox Family lasting until 6 September 1999 and 3 September 2001 respectively. Every October from 2007 to 2009, Cartoon Network aired the episodes. From 6 September 2011 until 5 October 2014, The Hub broadcast the series. From 2013 onwards,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

has streamed all 74 episodes of the TV series on its online streaming service. In the UK, it aired on Children's BBC from 1997-1999, with repeats aired until 2001.

Marketing

To coincide with Fox's release of several tapes from the series, a Halloween 1998 tie-in marketing campaign with

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

promoted the video series on 10 million packages and included with each videocassette coupons for products like

Fruit Roll-Ups Fruit Roll-Ups is a brand of fruit snack that debuted in grocery stores across America in 1983. It is a flat, pectin-based, fruit-flavored snack rolled into a tube, spread on a backing sheet of cellophane to prevent the product from sticking to i ...

and

Gushers Fruit Gushers (also simply Gushers) are a Betty Crocker-branded fruit snack introduced in 1991. They are soft and chewy with a fruity-juice center. History Fruit Gushers (sometimes simply "Gushers") were introduced in 1991 as a Betty Crocker f ...

Reception

Some of the VHS releases were among the best-selling children's videos in November 1998, according to '' Billboard''.

Home media

VHS releases

United Kingdom

United States

DVD releases

Beginning in 2004, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD in individual volumes, containing one two part episode per disc but later changed sometimes two separate episodes per disc. Later releases included either two discs or multiple episodes on one disc.

Original releases

(With two episodes per disc, except for ''Chillogy''):

Double features

On 16 September 2008, twelve of the above sixteen discs were re-released in new double-feature sets, containing the same episodes as before.

Revival releases

Starting in 2008, new DVD sets were released to coincide with the

Goosebumps HorrorLand ''Goosebumps HorrorLand'' is a horror novella series by R.L. Stine, a spin-off of his popular ''Goosebumps'' books. There was an almost ten-year gap between the publication of the initial installment in the ''Goosebumps Horrorland.'' Overvi ...

revival books. These DVD's were a big upgrade from the previous releases, with menus and enhanced audio and picture quality Unlike the original releases, these sets include three to four 22-minute episodes, instead of two. They also feature new cover art, as opposed to previous releases which used the cover art for the corresponding series book. Many of the previously released titles have been re-released as well, but only new releases are included in this list. Out of all of these DVD releases, 69 out of the 74 episodes have been released on DVD in the United States, excluding the Haunted Mask parts 1 and 2 Werewolf Skin parts 1 and 2 and the Cuckoo Clock of Doom. The Haunted Mask and Werewolf Skin however were previously released on VHS.

Season sets

On 26 November 2012,

Revelation Films Revelation Films is a British film and television production and distribution company delivering visual entertainment via cinema, television and digital platforms. Tony Carne founded Revelation Films in 1992 as a video and television production ...

started to release season sets of the series in the United Kingdom (DVD region 2). These releases contained the episodes' mostly uncensored versions as presented on the defunct UK Fox Kids channel (albeit still truncating the ending of "A Shocker on Shock Street"); a description on the back of the DVD cases mentions the heavy censoring the episodes were subjected to when they aired on CBBC. Unlike on Fox Kids, all six hour-long specials from across the first and second seasons are presented in their entirety, rather than being split into two-part episodes. Curiously, all the episodes of Season 4 have the Season 2 opening, though their end credits retain the Season 3-4 theme. On 2 April 2014,

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

released the entire series in four DVD sets as well as a "Most Wanted Collection" in Australia and New Zealand (DVD region 4).

Online

* The complete series is now on iTunes. * The series is available for streaming on

(United States, United Kingdom, and Canada).

''Goosebumps Presents''

The books in the original ''Goosebumps'' series that were made into episodes of the ''Goosebumps'' television series were subsequently re-released in a series called ''Goosebumps Presents''. The main difference between the books in this series and their original publications is that the ''Goosebumps Presents'' editions contained photos from the corresponding episodes. Eighteen books were released from 1996 to 1998.

Reboot

On 28 April 2020, it was announced that a reboot

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

TV series was in the works by Scholastic Entertainment,

Sony Pictures Television Studios Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

and Neal H. Moritz's production company

Original Film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal ...

who produced both the 2015 film and its sequel. In March 2021, R.L. Stine had stated that the series had found a producer and a director. In February 2022, it was announced that the series will be heading to

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

. It was also revealed that the series will not follow the anthology format of the first Goosebumps series, but will instead be a 10 episode series with a storyline inspired by the films that follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together – thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other – in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.

References

External links

* at Scholastic Press * {{Former YTV original series 1990s American science fiction television series 1990s American anthology television series 1990s American children's television series 1990s American horror television series 1995 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s Canadian science fiction television series 1990s Canadian anthology television series 1990s Canadian children's television series 1995 Canadian television series debuts 1998 Canadian television series endings American children's fantasy television series American children's horror television series American television shows based on children's books American television shows featuring puppetry American horror fiction television series Canadian children's fantasy television series Canadian children's horror television series Canadian television shows based on children's books Canadian television shows featuring puppetry Canadian horror fiction television series Dark fantasy television series English-language television shows Fox Kids Fox Broadcasting Company original programming YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming Goosebumps Television series by Hyperion Pictures Television series by 9 Story Media Group Television series by Saban Entertainment Television shows filmed in Toronto