History Series / Goosebumps2023

** was simply told by her mother when she got home "It's so nice to see you!" Knowing how distant her mother is from her, this immediately alerted her that something was wrong.

** For Lucas, he took the form of his deceased daredevil father, claiming that he had been a government witness during a trial that lasted over a year, and thus was forced to [[FakingTheDead fake his suicide]] by the government under the threat of imprisonment. Despite having literally witnessed his death and burial himself, Lucas almost immediately forgets his suspicions and gladly accepts his "father's" proposal that they go for a ride on his motorcycle to "catch up." The moment he touches him, he becomes a puppet.

** was simply told by her mother when she got home "It's so nice to see you!" Knowing how distnat her mother is from her, this immediately alerted her that something was wrong.

** For Isaiah, he took the form of a talent scout from the University Of Washington revealing, along with mind controlled parents, that he had been offered a full scolarship to said university in spite of his arm injury which had severely hampered his football skills. Isaiah ''almost'' falls for it, but his cast just happens to disappear the moment he is about to sign the offer, alerting him that something is up.

** was simply told by her mother when she got home "It's so nice to see you!" Knowing how distnat her mother is from her, this immediately alerted her thjhat something was wrong.
** For Margot, he takes the form of her mother whom she and the gang had just visited, claiming she and her father (currently under Kandu's control) had worked things out and decided to get back together. But she is saved from the "family hug" that would have led to her dummification by Isaiah.

''Goosebumps'' is a 2023 horror comedy series based upon Creator/RLStine’s iconic book series [[Franchise/{{Goosebumps}} of the same name]]. It was developed by Creator/RobLetterman - director of the [[Film/Goosebumps2015 2015 film adaptation]] - and Creator/NicholasStoller, and stars Creator/JustinLong, Ana Yi Puig, Miles [=McKenna=], Will Price, Zack Morris, Isa Briones, and Rachel Harris.

Following a Halloween party in a haunted house, a group of teens find themselves at the center of a series of bizarre, supernatural events in their town - events which may lead back to their parents. The series was released on both Creator/DisneyPlus and Creator/{{Hulu}} on Friday the 13th, October 2023.

For the 90's live-action series, see ''Series/Goosebumps1995''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Say it with me… ''Viewer beware…'']]

* SealedEvilInACan: Slappy, thrice over. [[spoiler:First locked in a suitcase that sat neglected on a magic shop's shelf, then bricked up behind a wall in Ephraim's basement and finally dismantled and hidden away by the gang's parents. As it turns out, Kanduu's evil spirit is a case of Sealed Evil In A Dummy.]]

* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler: The first episode ends with Harold Biddle's spirit possessing Mr. Bratt after appearing reflected in a bathroom mirror. The finale ends with Kanduu's spirit doing the exact same thing, even prompting a "Not again!" from a shaken up Bratt.]]

* AccentAdaptation: Slappy now sounds like an EvilBrit due to being voiced by English actor Chris Geere [[spoiler: who also plays his human self, Kanduu]].

* AdaptationalBadass: This iteration of Slappy is much more effective than his counterparts in the book and the original series. Instead of trying to bully his "slaves" into following his orders, he [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates them]] by [[spoiler:helping them gain success (in Ephraim's case) or popularity (for Harold) to persuade them to do his bidding. It also seems to have supernatural knowledge of what his victims will need, as once Bratt reads the spell to revive him, he knows immediately about his need for an ending, even though Nathan didn't even think of writing the book until after Slappy was thrown off a cliff]]. And since [[spoiler: he's the spirit of an EvilSorcerer inhabiting the dummy body]], he's also able to teach them magic spells, at the very least the one to turn other people into puppets. [[spoiler: Once he is restored to life, he is able to use those spells himself.]]
* AdaptationalWimp: To compensate for his increased manipulative and arcane skills, Slappy is much less of a physical threat than in any other adaptation. This version of the spell only allows him to talk, but not to move on his own, let alone physically push around his victims like he used to. This makes him easier to seal away if one can ignore his manipulation, as he can't really do anything to stop them once they've decided to ignore him, as both Ephraim and the parents demonstrate. [[spoiler: Justified in-universe in that Kanduu is much more imposing and powerful when not impeded by being stuck inside the body of a dummy.]]

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Kanduu, an age old British EvilSorcerer. Better known by the name of the vessel his spirit inhabits for most of the show - Slappy the Dummy.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: How Lucas is freed from the worms' influence: up to that point, he had performed a series of reckless stunts to emulate his late father, who died during one. [[spoiler: Then Nora reveals that he was suicidal and picked a jump that he knew would have killed him, leading to Lucas realizing the futility of his actions.]]
* CassandraTruth: Nora's sixth sense to the supernatural occurrences in Port Lawrence are dismissed by her friends as her being crazy. It gets bad enough that Isabella's mother puts her in a mental ward and tries to drug her to keep her docile. [[spoiler: At least Isaiah and James's parents are starting to realize she's been right the whole time.]] It's implied that Isabella's mother is guided more by denial for what they witnessed and a need to save appearances than more strictly this trope.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: A repentant Harold tosses Slappy off a cliff after realizing the dummy manipulated him into killing his parents. While the impact broke Slappy into pieces, his head does an EyeAwaken and TheStinger of the episode indicates someone will retrieve him, which Nathan Bratt does the very next episode.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: Ephraim saw no problem with turning the theater manager into a life sized dummy, but he instantly drew the line at setting countless people on fire, which prompted him to betray Slappy and try to seal him up.]]

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Seems to be Slappy's weakness [[spoiler: and Kanduu's in general, his casual attitude to murder is what ends up snapping his thralls out of his control and causing them to rebel.]]

* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler: Bratt can briefly reassume control of his body if he gets hurt while in Biddle's mental prison. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true, leading to poor Bratt getting smacked back and forth.]]

** Isabella is a {{Troll}} who often mocks her classmates on the internet in order to cope with feeling invisible and overlooked, but she isn't actually a mean person overall. When The Haunted Mask influences her to chew out Lucas and Colin while in Colin's office, she instantly regrets having done it, apologizes, and assures Lucas that she's willing to accept his meager repayment for her broken drone. She also loves her little brother, [[spoiler: which is what ultimately enables her to throw off the Mask's influence, as harming him is farther than she's willing to go.]]
** Lucas is a callous jackass not caring of the collateral damage of his stunts, but he is also a kid still struggling with the death of his father, trying to gather the courage to succeed in the stunt that killed his father, [[spoiler: not knowing that his father was actually suicidal and chose an impossible stunt for that reason]].

** The publisher also mentions that the story need a "proper" ending after Slappy's defeat, a twist that also delves more into his past. [[spoiler: Sure enough the episode ends with a reveal about Slappy's past, and him being back to take the stage as the villain for the final episode.]]

** In the books, The Haunted Mask can only be overpowered and removed by using a symbol of love. [[spoiler: In the show, Isabella's love for her little brother is what causes her to throw off its influence, since physically harming him is a line she's unwilling to cross.]]

** The Haunted Mask initially looks very different from its depiction in the book and other adaptations, but [[spoiler: once it seals onto Isabella's face, its "troll" form resembles the mask from the cover art of ''The Haunted Mask II''.]]

** At the end of ''Night of the Living Dummy'' [[spoiler: Biddle]] remarks that this narration is still missing the twist. One of the most famous things about the books are their twist endings.

** Harold Biddle, while [[spoiler: possessing and posing as Mr. Bratt, decides to tell the gang the whole story about their parents, Slappy, and his death, hoping that they will take his side and see their parents for the "awful murderers" they are. However, they ultimately point out that their parents were only trying to help him and the fire that took his life was from his violent attempts to resist them.]] He still feels he was the victim and the parents were cruel bullies.

** [[spoiler: The last James clone's attempt to kill Isaiah and James's parents makes them realize that Nora was right and they have to help her stop Biddle from finding Slappy.]]
** [[spoiler: Slappy demanding that Harold kill the group like he killed his parents makes Harold snap out of his self-centered rage and realize just how much Slappy had manipulated him, prompting him to throw the dummy off a cliff instead.]]
* OhNoNotAgain: A non-comedic example at the very end of the series [[spoiler: as Mr. Bratt sees Kanduu's reflection staring at him from the mirror, realizing another ghost is going to torment him.]]

** Episode 6 provides additional context to the scene of Harold's death that we saw in episode 1: [[spoiler: The pounding on the basement door was done by his friends, who were trying to save him from Slappy. He dropped his candle in terror because he believed they were bullies there to hurt him. This resulted in the fire that ultimately killed him.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Played with [[spoiler: as Harold Biddle is already dead at the start of the series, but still his atonement is marked by him moving on to the afterlife.]]

* SealedEvilInACan: Slappy, thrice over. [[spoiler: First locked in a suitcase that sat neglected on a magic shop's shelf, then bricked up behind a wall in Ephraim's basement and finally dismantled and hidden away by the gang's parents. As it turns out, Kanduu's evil spirit is a case of Sealed Evil In A Dummy.]]
* SelfServingMemory: [[spoiler: Harold's "murder" was a total accident caused by his classmates trying to get rid of Slappy out of concern that he was corrupting Harold. Harold saw it as their (non-existent) bullying taken too far and that he's the innocent victim. The kids rightfully and unknowingly call him out on this warped perception.]]
* SinsOfOurFathers: The main characters’ parents had something to do with Biddle’s death, and at the end of the pilot, Nora warns that Biddle will visit “the sins of the father” upon their children. [[spoiler: It is eventually revealed that the parents were trying to help Biddle, who ended up causing his own demise. [[NeverMyFault That doesn't stop Biddle]] from blaming them and looking for revenge on the children.]]

* UnderestimatingBadassery: [[spoiler: The last James clone thinks untying and leaving the rope in a pit would stop Ben (Isaiah's dad) from following him and that the real James's mom would instantly be taken out with a small board. He's proven wrong on both counts when Ben manages to escape after a few minutes and she whacks him with the board, causing him to explode and die.]]
* UnreliableNarrator: Played with. [[spoiler: Harold Biddle actually turns out to be an extremely reliable narrator, accurately recounting all the facts that led to his death, to the point that the kids rightly conclude that his murder was an accident and he's a victim of Slappy more than anything. He, however, is stuck believing his SelfServingMemory and insists his former friends killed him.]]

** In episode 4, ''Go Eat Worms''. [[spoiler: "Your father didn't make that jump because he thought he could. [[DrivenToSuicide He did it because he knew he couldn't!]]"]]

* WhamShot: [[spoiler: Slappy's body expelling a smoky spirit similar looking to Harold Biddle's that flies into the corpse he had Bratt dig up.]]

* OhNoNotAgain: A non-comedic example at the very end of the series [[spoiler: as Mr. Pratt sees Kanduu reflection staring at him from the mirror, realizing another ghost is going to torment him.]]

* EvilCannotUnderstandGood: Seems to be Slappy's weakness [[spoiler: and Kanduu's in general, his casual attitude to murder is what ends up snapping his thralls out of his control and causing them to rebel.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: This iteration of Slappy is much more effective than his counterparts in the book and the original series. Instead of trying to bully his "slaves" into following his orders, he [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates them]] by [[spoiler:helping them gain success (in Ephraim's case) or popularity (for Harold) to persuade them to do his bidding. It also seems to have supernatural knowledge of what his vistims will need, as once Bratt reads the spell to revive him, he knows immediately about his need for an ending, even though Nathan didn't even think of writing the book until after was thrown off a cliff]]. And since [[spoiler: he's the spirit of an EvilSorcerer inhabiting the dummy body]], he's also able to teach them magic spells, at the very least the one to turn other people into puppets. [[spoiler: Once he is restored to life, he is able to use those spells himself.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: This iteration of Slappy is much more effective than his counterparts in the book and the original series. Instead of trying to bully his "slaves" into following his orders, he [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates them]] by [[spoiler:helping them gain success (in Ephraim's case) or popularity (for Harold) to persuade them to do his bidding. It also seems to have supernatural knowledge of what his vistims will need, as once Bratt restores him to life he knows immediately about his need for an ending, even though Nathan didn't even think of writing the book until after was thrown off a cliff]]. And since [[spoiler: he's the spirit of an EvilSorcerer inhabiting the dummy body]], he's also able to teach them magic spells, at the very least the one to turn other people into puppets. [[spoiler: Once he is restored to life, he is able to use those spells himself.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: This iteration of Slappy is much more effective than his counterparts in the book and the original series. Instead of trying to bully his "slaves" into following his orders, he [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates them]] by [[spoiler:helping them gain success (in Ephraim's case) or popularity (for Harold) to persuade them to do his bidding]]. And since [[spoiler: he's the spirit of an EvilSorcerer inhabiting the dummy body]], he's also able to teach them magic spells, at the very least the one to turn other people into puppets.

* CassandraTruth: Nora's sixth sense to the supernatural occurrences in Port Lawrence are dismissed by her friends as her being crazy. It gets bad enough that Isabella's mother puts her in a mental ward and tries to drug her to keep her docile. [[spoiler: At least Isaiah and James's parents are starting to realize she's been right the whole time.]]

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In "Night of the Living Dummy Part 2" Mr Bratt begins writing about the events of that happened in the show. His publisher states that his story could potentially become a series of novels, a reference to the ''Goosebumps'' books.

* LeaningontheFourthWall: In "Night of the Living Dummy Part 2" Mr Bratt begins writing about the events of that happened in the show. His publisher states that his story could potentially become a series of novels, a reference to the ''Goosebumps'' books.

* DemonicDummy: SeriesMascot Slappy is the Overarchingvillain of the series. In the present day, Biddle is attempting to locate him after he was stolen and hidden.

* AdaptationalWimp: To compensate for his increased manipulative and arcane skills, Slappy is much less of a physical threat than in any other adaptation. This version of the spell only allows him to talk, but not to move on his own, let alone physically push around his victims like he used to. This makes him easier to seal away if one can ignore his manipulation, as he can't really do anything to stop them once they've decided to ignore him, as both Ephraim and the parents demonstrate. [[spoiler: Justified in-universe in that Kanduu is much more imposing and powerful when not inpeded by being stuck inside the body of a dummy.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: To compensate for his increased manipulative and arcane skills, Slappy is much less of a physical threat than in any other adaptation. This version of the spell only allows him to talk, but not to move on his own, let alone physically push around his victims like he used to. This makes him easier to seal away if one can ignore his manipulation, as he can't really do anything to stop them once they've decided to ignore him, as both Ephraim and the parents demonstrate. [[spoiler: Justified in-universe in that Kanduu is much more imposing and powerful when not inhibited by being stuck inside the body of a dummy.]]