History Trivia / Goosebumps

* OldShame: Stine has admitted that he doesn't care for The ''Barking Ghost'', as well as [[https://web.archive.org/web/19980205081421/http://thebumps.simplenet.com:80/askrl3.htm not being happy with the writing]] in ''Go Eat Worms''. He also does not have fond memories of writing ''Cry of the Cat'', the first ''Series 2000'' book, because Scholastic kept rejecting Stine's drafts and [[ExecutiveMeddling forcing him to rewrite it]] to make the story "scarier."

* YouLookFamiliar: Several actors were reused in different episodes. The most egregious example is Creator/LauraVandervoort, who starred in three episodes.

* YouLookFamiliar: Several actors were reused in different episodes. The most egregious example is Creator/LauraVandervoot, who starred in three episodes.

** On a similar token, the back tagline for the first ''Literature/{{Bonechillers}} book declares it's so scary it'll give you goosebumps.

* RealLifeRelative: Not among the main cast, but for the several extras playing monsters, the actors portraying [[Literature/StayOutOfTheBasement swamp creature]] and the [[Literature/EscapeFromTheCarnivalOfHorrors Snake Lady]] are married in real life. Let that sink in for a moment....

* TheOtherDarrin: The role for Slappy in the films went from Jack Black in the first to Creator/MickWingert in [[Film/Goosebumps2HauntedHalloween ''Haunted Halloween'']] (and before then, it was reported that Avery Jones, the man who puppeteers Slappy, would also provide the voice for the sequel).

* TheOtherDarrin: The role for Slappy in the films went from Jack Black in the first to Creator/MickWingert in [[Film/GoosebumpsTwoHauntedHalloween ''Haunted Halloween'']] (and before then, it was reported that Avery Jones, the man who puppeteers Slappy, would also provide the voice for the sequel).

* TheOtherDarrin: The role for Slappy in the films went from Jack Black in the first to Creator/MickWingert in ''Haunted Halloween''.

** The original draft of ''The Girl Who Cried Monster'' had Mr. Mortman eating children, but [[ExecutiveMeddling the editors]] thought it was too much and asked him to change it so that he eats turtles instead.

* WriteWhatYouKnow:
** "The Haunted Mask" was inspired by a time when R.L. Stine's son pulled on a green rubber Frankenstein mask and couldn't get it off.
** Stine says in his autobiography that he grew up poor but lived in a rich neighborhood and felt out of place with everyone else. The protagonists of ''Diary of a Dummy'' are in a very similar situation.

* TributeToFido: Whitey from ''Let's Get Invisible!'' is named after Stine's childhood dog.

* Stine says in his autobiography that he grew up poor but lived in a rich neighborhood and felt out of place with everyone else. The protagonists of ''Diary of a Dummy'' are in a very similar situation.

** "The Haunted Mask" was inspired by a time when R.L. Stine's son pulled on a green rubber Frankenstein mask and couldn't get it off.
** Stine says in his autobiography that he grew up poor but lived in a rich neighborhood and felt out of place with everyone else. The protagonists of ''Diary of a Dummy'' are in a very similar situation.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The short story ''The Thumbprint of Doom'' [[https://web.archive.org/web/19980504163519/http://thebumps.com/recent1e.htm almost]] got an episode, but the writer choose to do ''Awesome Ants'' instead.

** Billy Brown & Dan Angel's script for ''Werewolf Skin'' was rejected by the network, which causes them to leave the show. Ron Oliver had to step in and re-write that episode. Even after that, the network had the scarier parts of Oliver's cut trimmed down.
** The original version of the ending of ''The Haunted Mask'' was shot in a way that was considered to be too scary, so it was reshot.

** Billy Brown & Dan Angel's script for ''Werewolf Skin'' was rejected by the network, which causes them to leave the show. Ron Oliver had to step in and re-write that episode.

** ''Say Cheese and Die-Again!'': 3 years.

** The longstanding accusations that Stine used ghostwriters for ''Goosebumps'' originate from one of these lawsuits. Scholastic accused Stine of hiring freelance writers to send him manuscripts, which he then submitted to Scholastic as his own work with only minor revisions, in breach of contract. Scholastic would also blame this for the series' declining sales through the late '90s. Stine denied it at the time, and still does today (the matter was never resolved in court or elsewhere), though he's admitted that books for ''Ghosts of Fear Street'' were ghostwritten. A few of the ''Tales to Give You Goosebumps'' stories have also revealed to have been ghostwritten, although it's unknown if all of them were or only a few.

* FranchiseZombie: The success of the original series led publisher Scholastic to bet everything they had on it and tell author R.L. Stine to keep going. He did, and the quality suffered. The books ended up StrictlyFormula and became shorter. Their popularity dropped as a result. It's been rumored that Stine became so fed up with this that many of the later books were ghostwritten.[[note]]Stine denies ghostwriting involvement, but realistically at least ''some'' proportion of the original books must have been ghostwritten -- they came out monthly between 1992 and 2000, and once you include spin-off series such as ''Give Yourself Goosebumps'' and ''Tales to Give You Goosebumps'' up to three books could be released in the same month, which is an unfeasibly high level of output for a single author[[/note]]

* FranchiseZombie: The success of the original series led publisher Scholastic to bet everything they had on it and tell author R.L. Stine to keep going. He did, and the quality suffered. The books ended up StrictlyFormula and became shorter. Their popularity dropped as a result. It's been rumored that Stine became so fed up with this that many of the later books were ghostwritten.[[note]]Realistically at least ''some'' proportion of the original books must have been ghostwritten -- they came out monthly between 1992 and 2000, and once you include spin-off series such as ''Give Yourself Goosebumps'' and ''Tales to Give You Goosebumps'' up to three books could be released in the same month, which is an unfeasibly high level of output for a single author[[/note]]
** Possibly averted with Stine's [[UnCancelled ''Goosebumps Horrorland'' books]] and their spinoffs. If anything, these books are getting longer and more complex (if not necessarily better) as the series goes on.

** ''Goosebumps 2000'' was supposed to have a book called "The Incredible Shrinking Fifth Grader", but the series ended before it could be published. R.L. Stine later revealed the plot had been repurposed for his horror novel ''The Adventures of Shrinkman'', and Tim Jacobus shared the unused but completed cover art for the Goosebumps wiki. A similar plot was also used in the third arc of the ''Goosebumps Horrorland'' series under the title ''Night of the Giant Everything''.
** There was going to be one more ''Give Yourself Goosebumps'' book, but it got scrapped when the line ended. Artist Craig White shared the cover artwork with the Goosebumps wiki and, while the plot's still unknown, the cover featured some malevolent looking penguins in an arctic setting.

** Many of the books have technology (or lack thereof) on display that solidifies them as taking place in the 90's.

* PlayingAgainstType: Kristen Bone, who is known for playing somewhat naive but generally supportive characters, such as [[WesternAnimation/MaggieAndTheFerociousBeast Maggie]], [[Literature/{{Franklin}} Snail]], and [[WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie Zoey]], portrays Tara Webster in the adaptation of ''Cuckoo Clock of Doom'', who happens to be one of the most sadistic and manipulative characters in the entire series (who isn't a monster anyway).