Bloggers beware, you’re in for a scare! 

After the death of his father, Zach (Dylan Minnette) has moved house from New York City to Madison, Delaware with his mother who is hoping for a change of scenery. Zach befriends the girl living next door, Hannah (Odeya Rush). Her father however, keeps her locked in her house a lot of the time. Having heard an argument and a scream from Hannah next door, Zach breaks into their house to discover a book shelf filled with Goosebumps original manuscripts. Whether you were a parent who read them to your children, or you grew up reading R.L. Stine’s fantastic franchise yourself, you’re certainly going to get a pleasant surprise from this homage to the stories and the wonderful author who brought them to life. Being the huge fan of the book series that I was, (by collecting every single book), you could say I was concerned about a film adaptation of Goosebumps. But to my surprise, the film, though cheesy at parts, is a charming, nostalgic adventure.

Surprisingly, this is one of Jack Black’s best suited roles. R.L. Stine himself even features as a cameo role within the film as a drama teacher. The supporting cast, especially Dylan Minnette did a great job also. The direction is sharp and the script feels very close to that of a Goosebumps book. Quite a few of the characters we love are incorporated: Slappy, the garden ghomes, ghouls/zombies, the drooling werewolf of Fever Swamp, clowns, the preying mantis, aliens, and the list goes on. There could however, have been more famous characters featured also. At parts, the CGI was slightly too artificial – the blend of reality and fantasy was executed very well nonetheless.

Fans of the book series and children will thoroughly enjoy this adventure, and those new to the concept will find it just as great, but won’t experience the same nostalgic feel of which the fans will thrive off. Enjoyable from start to finish, Goosebumps is a fast-paced film, and Slappy’s not happy…