History Blog / BloggerBeware

--->Wow, no one likes this guy. Maybe the reason he wants slaves is he's lonely and needs a friend. Aww, it almost makes you feel sorry for the camera-smashing, art-ruining, vomit-spewing, kitchen table-sitting, child-beating, child-choking, worm-filled son-of-a-bitch.

* NostalgiaFilter: Defied. Troy admits he loved (most of) the books as a kid, which doesn't stop him from tearing them apart as an adult. That said, he did admit in [[https://annotatedbloggerbeware.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Earth_Geeks_Must_Go! his review]] of ''Literature/EarthGeeksMustGo!'' that his nostalgic affection for the original-series books prevented him from getting as mean as he really could have, a problem that he ''didn't'' have with the ''Series 2000'' books, where he had no problem going into full-bore CausticCritic mode. According to him, his lack of nostalgic affection for the later books eventually turned the blog into a chore, and eventually convinced him to wrap it up.

* NostalgiaFilter: Defied; Troy admits he loved (most of) the books as a kid, which doesn't stop him from tearing them apart as an adult.

* AnachronicOrder: The reviews for the original ''Goosebumps'' books were uploaded in the order that Troy chose to review them in, rather than order of release. The fact that the books ''are'' listed in release date order can also lead to this trope, but in regards to the blog itself.

* MostWritersAreAdults: Pointed out in the once-a-review "R. L. Stine Shows [[TotallyRadical He Is Down With Kids]]" section.

** Troy notes this in ''Attack of the Jack'O'Lanterns'' with the black kid who's mentioned as being as "Cool as an MTV rapper", unintelligible, one of the antagonists and having an afro.

Troy's work is so full of allusions that a fan of the books and the blog compiled a reference guide called Breeder Beware that can be found [[http://breederbeware.wordpress.com here]]. The blog became so famous among the ''Goosebumps'' fandom that, for years, most of the book recaps on [[TheWikiRule Goosebumps Wiki]] -- even some on Wikipedia itself -- were just Steele's recaps with all of the snarky parts cut out.[[note]]In recent years, many of Troy's recaps on Goosebumps Wiki and Wikipedia have been removed and/or replaced.[[/note]]

* ProductPlacement: Troy's review of ''The Cuckoo Clock of Doom'' was overdosed with references to '''''Film/{{Juno}}'' (In Theaters Now)''', shoehorned in a way that wraps back around to a RunningGag. Many of the commentators thought it was just Troy doing a bit, but he referred to being paid by Fox Searchlight numerous times afterward, and jokingly implied that it covered a month's rent.

* PlatonicBoyGirlHeroes: {{Trope Namer|s}}. He points out there's the "obligatory [[PlatonicBoyGirlHeroes platonic boy-girl relationship]]" in each story.

** The phrase "halfway through", most commonly found under "Platonic Boy/girl relationship" in the format "person, who disappears halfway through the book," but if no one [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Chucks]], he ''will'' find someone or something that does ''something'' some fraction of the way through something else.

** "And then the car wash cost five dollars," after a plot point in ''Calling All Creeps'' where a student car wash is unrealistically expensive, being used as a FauxHorrific gag.
** "Oh, cool, I've seen [insert movie Stine is clearly homaging/ripping off here], too."
*** In the ''Series 2000'' recaps, this becomes "Oh, cool, I've read [insert two or three original series books whose plots Stine is reusing], too."

* BerserkButton: ''Chicken Chicken'' is the only ''Goosebumps'' book Troy legitimately ''despises''. He even admits that it almost ended the blog...

* DudeNotFunny[[invoked]]: Troy's opinion of ''Chicken Chicken'' and ''Revenge R Us''.

* FlatWhat: A running gag.

* NostalgiaFilter: Pointedly averted; Troy admits he loved (most of) the books as a kid, which doesn't stop him from tearing them apart as an adult.
* PlatonicLifePartners: He points out there's the "obligatory [[PlatonicBoyGirlHeroes platonic boy-girl relationship]]" in each story.

** The FlatWhat.

** The one where it turns out they're all dogs or something.
** Mentioning the common themes in the series such as moving and all the scientists.

** "And then the car wash cost five dollars."
** A sentence that is clearly set up to use the title of one Goosebumps book as a phrase, but instead uses another ''Bad Hare Day''.

** "''Film/{{Juno}}''. In theaters now." during the ''Cuckoo Clock of Doom'' review.

* SelfDeprecation: Troy links to [[http://twitter.com/thetroysteele his Twitter]] with the caption "What updates with less frequency than ''Blogger Beware''?"

** The blog itself became this over time, ironically for a nostalgia blog. Troy's posts frequently reference then-recent movies and ongoing television series (eg. ''Series/MadMen'', ''Series/PushingDaisies'', ''Series/{{Whitney}}''), recent political and cultural events that mark it as a product of the mid-to-late 2000s. Particularly the ''Cuckoo Clock of Doom'' entry with its RunningGag promoting ''Film/{{Juno}}'' (In Theaters Now), which is PlayedForLaughs.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: No, ''Series/TwoGuysAGirlAndAPizzaPlace'' isn't [[LampshadedTheObscureReference readily accessible]] to that many people.

** It also tends to come off sort of this way whenever he admits that a book was relatively good.

* {{Bowdlerize}}; Troy has quality edited a few aspects of the older reviewers that haven't aged well. One example is changing him jokingly calling Creator/ChristopherPike a "faggot" to "asshole".

Although Troy intended to eventually review ''all'' of the books and all of Creator/RLStine's work, he admitted to having an inconsistent schedule, [[ScheduleSlip which has led to gaps spanning months or even]] ''[[ScheduleSlip years]]'' [[ScheduleSlip between posts]]. His most recent proper review is from 2012, though he periodically posted one-off entries from then on (the most recent one of these was in 2015). As the blog is no longer online (though it can still be viewed through the Wayback Machine, linked above, plus [[http://annotatedbloggerbeware.shoutwiki.com/ Annotated Blogger Beware]]), one can assume there are no further updates forthcoming.

For the record, R.L. Stine was asked if he knew of the blog's existence during a {{Website/Reddit}} Q&A in 2013. [[http://twitpic.com/diibch Here's his response.]]

[[https://web.archive.org/web/20220312013852/http://www.bloggerbeware.com/ Blogger Beware]] is a ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' {{Blog}} run by Troy Steele. He writes synopses and reviews of ''Goosebumps'' books full of humor and snark. He intends to eventually review ''all'' of the books and all of Creator/RLStine's work. The blog opened with a review of ''Egg Monsters from Mars'' in January 2006 and continued through ''Revenge of the Living Dummy'', the first ''Goosebumps Horrorland'' book, in June 2012.

His work is so full of allusions that a fan of the books and the blog has compiled a reference guide called Breeder Beware that can be found [[http://breederbeware.wordpress.com here]]. The blog became so famous among the ''Goosebumps'' fandom that, for years, most of the book recaps on [[TheWikiRule Goosebumps Wiki]] - even some on Wikipedia itself - were just Steele's recaps with all of the snarky parts cut out.[[note]]In recent years, many of Troy's recaps on Goosebumps Wiki and Wikipedia have been removed and/or replaced.[[/note]]

Troy admitted to having an inconsistent schedule, [[ScheduleSlip which has led to gaps spanning months or even]] ''[[ScheduleSlip years]]'' [[ScheduleSlip between posts]]. His most recent proper review is from 2012, though he periodically posts one-off entries (the most recent one of these was in 2015). As the blog is no longer online (though it can still be viewed through the Wayback Machine, linked above, plus [[http://annotatedbloggerbeware.shoutwiki.com/ Annotated Blogger Beware]]) one assumes there are no further updates forthcoming.

For the record, in 2013 R.L. Stine was asked if he knew of the blog's existence during a {{Website/Reddit}} Q&A. [[http://twitpic.com/diibch Here's his response.]]

Troy admitted to having an inconsistent schedule, [[ScheduleSlip which has led to gaps spanning months or even]] ''[[ScheduleSlip years]]'' [[ScheduleSlip between posts]]. His most recent proper review is from 2012, though he periodically posts one-off entries (the most recent one of these was in 2015). As the blog is no longer online (though it can still be viewed through the Wayback Machine, linked above) one assumes there are no further updates forthcoming.

* {{Bowdlerize}}; Troy has quality edited a few aspects of the older reviewers that haven't aged well. One example is changing him jokingly calling Creator/ChistopherPike a "faggot" to "asshole".

[[https://web.archive.org/web/20220312013852/http://www.bloggerbeware.com/ Blogger Beware]] is a ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' {{Blog}} run by Troy Steele. He writes synopses and reviews of ''Goosebumps'' books full of humor and snark. He intends to eventually review ''all'' of the books and all of Creator/RLStine's work. The blog opened with a review of ''Egg Monsters from Mars'' in January 2006.

Troy has admitted to having an inconsistent schedule, [[ScheduleSlip which has led to gaps spanning months or even]] ''[[ScheduleSlip years]]'' [[ScheduleSlip between posts]]. His most recent proper review is from 2012, though he periodically posts one-off entries (the most recent one of these was in 2015).

** The blog itself sometimes falls into this, as Troy frequently references then-recent movies and ongoing television series (eg. ''Series/MadMen'', ''Series/PushingDaisies'', ''Series/{{Whitney}}''), recent political and cultural events that mark it as a product of the mid-to-late 2000s. Particularly the ''Cuckoo Clock of Doom'' entry with its RunningGag promoting ''Film/{{Juno}}'' (In Theaters Now), which is PlayedForLaughs.

[[http://www.bloggerbeware.com/ Blogger Beware]] is a ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' {{Blog}} run by Troy Steele. He writes synopses and reviews of ''Goosebumps'' books full of humor and snark. He intends to eventually review ''all'' of the books and all of Creator/RLStine's work. The blog opened with a review of ''Egg Monsters from Mars'' in January 2006.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: No, ''Series/TwoGuysAGirlAndAPizzaPlace'' isn't readily accessible to that many people.

* TheOneWith:
** [[RunningGag "The one where it turns out they're all dogs or something."]]
** Troy's description of the ''Invasion of the Body Squeezers'' series.
--->'''Part 1''': I think this is the one about hugging.\\
'''Part 2''': Or is it this one?

** [[TheOneWith The one where it turns out they're all dogs or something.]]

* {{Bowdlerize}]; Troy has quality edited a few aspects of the older reviewers that haven't aged well. One example is changing him jokingly calling Creator/ChistopherPike a "faggot" to "asshole".

* RealityEnsues: Troy expresses delight at this trope in ''Werewolf Skin'':
--> ''In a refreshing change of pace, Alex our narrator doesn't buy into the ridiculous theory.''