History YMMV / GiveYourselfGoosebumps

* NightmareFuel:

* HarsherInHindsight: The third line of the SECOND book mentions visiting the World Trade Center, and continues to do so even in the reprints, despite how easy it would be to remove this reference.

* NightmareFuel: A staple of the series. The deaths are often gruesome, though the bad endings that don't cause immediate death often involve [[FateWorseThanDeath slavery, being trapped in a horrific environment]], [[AndIMustScream paralysis]], or worse...even a realistic and mundane death like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_death being trapped in a refridgerator and suffocating]]. [[http://www.qbd.com.au/products/l/4923/9780590934923.jpg This cover]] is really creepy for a children's horror series.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny:

* FridgeLogic: It doesn't get anymore improbable than ''Into the Jaws of Doom''. Great book as it is, if there really was a murderous super computer in a science museum, you sure as hell wouldn't be fighting alone with a random computer avatar. Even without that plothole, that still doesn't explain the bizarre exhibits in the third floor, like the mirror maze with a spiky pendulum... Or the random giant magnet... Or the tiny germ that can't stop growing ... [[OverlyLongGag or the weird ending where you randomly ran into a group of people]]! And that faulty smoke bomb... that was just cheap.

* NightmareFuel: A staple of the series. The deaths are often gruesome, though the bad endings that don't cause immediate death often involve [[FateWorseThanDeath slavery, being trapped in a horrific environment]], or worse... [[AndIMustScream paralysis]]. [[http://www.qbd.com.au/products/l/4923/9780590934923.jpg This cover]] is really creepy for a children's horror series.

* Harsher in Hindsight: The third line of the SECOND book mentions visiting the World Trade Center, and continues to do so even in the reprints, despite how easy it would be to remove this reference.

** Both "Night in Werewolf Woods" and "The Knight in Screaming Armor" contain several choices that are based on things that the reader would not be in control of at all if the event was really happening. The result of this is that it is that you end up choosing what happens to you, rather than what you want to do - meaning the books practically want you to cheat!

* UnfortunateImplications:
** Read enough of these books and a disturbing trend emerges. The descriptions of you, the protagonist, almost always seems to be of a light-skinned individual (not counting the books that you turn into a vampire). The author doesn't always bring up your skin color, but every so often, descriptions of your ''pink'' skin emerges. Kind of bothersome for non-white readers, even more so when he approached racism quite deftly in one novel (see FantasticRacism). It's even worse for ''The Knight in Screaming Armor'', since the book assumes the reader's of Anglo-Saxon origin. Not a drastic leap for white readers, but for everyone else, it's irksome. At least gender managed to be homogeneous for the entire series.
** R.L. Stine must have a grudge against the right-handed population (read: 90% of us), because if surviving a situation involves using one hand, people who are left-handed win a disproportionate number of these encounters (usually because the left hand isn't restricted). Might be a cause of AuthorAppeal: RL Stine himself is left-handed ...
** In some novels, your gender is mentioned, obviously accidentally. You are always male.

** The scavenger hunt in ''Shop Till You Drop ... Dead!'' requires you to find the "Poison Perfume" in a stack of identical bottles. You have the choice of being lazy and just picking up any old bottle, but then at the point when you need the Poison Perfume to survive, the book gives you the option of using an alternative item if you don't have the real perfume (and still gives you the chance of a good ending, albeit not the best ending that you reach if you do the scavenger hunt right.

* FridgeLogic: It doesn't get anymore improbable than ''Into the Jaws of Doom''. Great book as it is, if there really was a murderous super computer in a science museum, you sure as hell wouldn't be fighting alone with a random computer avatar. Even without that plothole, that still doesn't explain the bizarre exhibits in the third floor, like the mirror maze with a spiky pendulum... Or the random giant magnet... Or the tiny germ that can't stop growing... [[OverlyLongGag or the weird ending where you randomly ran into a group of people]]! And that faulty smoke bomb... that was just cheap.

** R.L. Stine must have a grudge against the right-handed population (read: 90% of us), because if surviving a situation involves using one hand, people who are left-handed win a disproportionate number of these encounters (usually because the left hand isn't restricted). Might be a cause of AuthorAppeal: RL Stine himself is left-handed...

** Both "Night in Werewolf Woods" and "The Night in Screaming Armor" contain several choices that are based on things that the reader would not be in control of at all if the event was really happening. The result of this is that it is that you end up choosing what happens to you, rather than what you want to do - meaning the books practically want you to cheat!

* ScrappyMechanic: Not many readers were fond of ''Weekend at Poison Lake'', because its luck-based gameplay gimmick was extremely confusing and illogical.

** Some readers felt this way about the use of dice in ''Into the Jaws of Doom,'' mainly because it was a luck-based gimmick that wasn't balanced by character stats or something of a similar nature. The result was that it was very easy to die simply because you got a bad roll, and there was nothing you could do about it (other than cheat).

** Some readers felt this way about the use of dice in ''Into the Jaws of Doom,'' mainly because it was a luck-based gimmick that wasn't balanced by character stats or something of a similar nature. The result was that it was very easy to die simply because you got a bad roll, and there was nothing you could do about it (other than cheat and try again).

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: If you're a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fan, it's impossible not to laugh at the part of ''Revenge of the Body Squeezers'' when you take a pick axe to chip away Leonard Nimoy's cemented star on Hollywood Boulevard.
** Pick an ending in The Curse Of The Creeping Coffins, any ending. They are almost all fricking hilarious!!

* UnfortunateImplications: Read enough of these books and a disturbing trend emerges. The descriptions of you, the protagonist, almost always seems to be of a light-skinned individual (not counting the books that you turn into a vampire). The author doesn't always bring up your skin color, but every so often, descriptions of your ''pink'' skin emerges. Kind of bothersome for non-white readers, even more so when he approached racism quite deftly in one novel (see FantasticRacism). It's even worse for ''The Knight in Screaming Armor'', since the book assumes the reader's of Anglo-Saxon origin. Not a drastic leap for white readers, but for everyone else, it's irksome. At least gender managed to be homogeneous for the entire series.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: If you're a Star Trek fan, it's impossible not to laugh at the part of ''Revenge of the Body Squeezers'' when you take a pick axe to chip away Leonard Nimoy's cemented star on Hollywood Boulevard.
* NightmareFuel: A staple of the series. The deaths are often gruesome, though the bad endings that don't cause immediate death often involve [[FateWorseThanDeath slavery, being trapped in a horrific environment]], or worse...[[AndIMustScream paralysis]].
** [[http://www.qbd.com.au/products/l/4923/9780590934923.jpg This cover]] is really creepy for a children's horror series.

* ScrappyMechanic: Not many readers were fond of ''Weekend at Poison Lake'', because its luck based gameplay gimmick was extremely confusing and illogical.

* UnfortunateImplications: Read enough of these books and a disturbing trend emerges. The descriptions of you, the protagonist, almost always seems to be of a light skinned individual (not counting the books that you turn into a vampire). The author doesn't always bring up your skin color, but every so often, descriptions of your ''pink'' skin emerges. Kind of bothersome for non-white readers, even more so when he approached racism quite deftly in one novel (see FantasticRacism). It's even worse for ''The Knight in Screaming Armor'', since the book assumes the reader's of Anglo-Saxon origin. Not a drastic leap for white readers, but for everyone else, it's irksome. At least gender managed to be homogeneous for the entire series.
** R.L. Stine must have a grudge against the right-handed population (read: 90% of us), because if surviving a situation involves using one hand, people who are left-handed win a disproportionate number of these encounters (usually because the left hand isn't restricted).
*** Might be a cause of AuthorAppeal? RL Stine himself is left-handed...
** In some novels, your gender is mentioned, obviously accidentally. You are always male.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: [[http://www.qbd.com.au/products/l/4923/9780590934923.jpg This cover]] is really damn creepy for a children's horror series.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: A staple of the series. The deaths are often gruesome, though the bad endings that don't cause immediate death often involve [[FateWorseThanDeath slavery, being trapped in a horrific environment]], or worse...[[AndIMustScream paralysis]].

*** Might be a cause of AuthorAppeal? RL Stine himself is left-handed...

* NightmareFuel: [[http://www.qbd.com.au/products/l/4923/9780590934923.jpg This cover]] is really damn creepy for a children's horror series.