Fans of the “Goosebumps” franchise have seen some ups and downs. The Disney+ revival series was cancelled. And Tubi has an original R.L. Stine film adaptation coming to their streaming service later this month. Just like a good story, there are highs and lows, twists and turns. One we didn’t really expect was all episodes of the classic ’90s “Goosebumps” series for free on the new Scholastic TV app.
You may remember Scholastic as that company that tried to bring book fairs and reading in general into your life as an elementary school student. They were a huge name at the time and even though their clout has diminished a bit in the digital age, they still carry enough weight to have launched a free streaming app and Roku channel, dedicated to kid friendly educational programs. Oh, and “Goosebumps” apparently.
Given that we’re kicking off October, how’s a good time to find and embrace ways to get some ghoulish fun. “Goosebumps” ran for four seasons on Fox Kids, from 1995 to 1998. While It’s not as legitimately creepy as it’d television contemporary, “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” It’s at least based on books that kids could pick up and read, prior to or after seeing episodes. In that sense, it was a big win for endorsing the power of books while being entertaining for kids of a variety of ages. Plus, leg’s face it, Slappy the Dummy was legitimately off-putting.
Thee for the four seasons are available on the app, which is more than enough to get you through spooky season. And if you want to mix things up, there’s episodes of “The Magic School Bus” you can dive into or various Garfield products. Reportedly they also have the short-lived Nickelodeon adaptation of the “Animorphs” book series. The show was awful but the books are forgotten gems that sorely need to be rediscovered by today’s audiences.
Good on you Scholastic, It’s never too early to scare children into a good read!
