6 Goosebumps Books Worth Reading as an Adult

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]Now, I know what most of you are out there thinking right now. Goosebumps?

[00:00:05]They're kids books. Like none of them are for adults at all. To which I say, yeah, no, I mean you're absolutely right. But, I consider myself to be a kid at heart. And in my case, nostalgia is one hell of a drug. So, I've decided to think back on my time with the Goosebumps books I've read even in the last couple years and single out the ones I think even adults you out there.

[00:00:31]I'm sure you're an adult. You you out there. I Yep. Not you.

[00:00:36]The Goosebumps books that I think even adults would get a kick out of.

[00:00:40]Honestly, whether you're 18 or 80, I think these books have a shot to give you the creeps or at least keep you invested in the story that it's telling.

[00:00:49]And of course, we have to begin with the story that started it all. And that is [music] Welcome to Dead House. Now, since this book was the first in the series, it definitely has its fair share of like edgier moments, you know. You can tell that R.L. Stine, the author, was trying to figure out where exactly he could and couldn't cross the line with making children's horror books. Adults, if you want a good old-fashioned ghost story with an incredibly depressing off-screen Okay, the off-screen death that happens in this book still bumps me out.

[00:01:25]And it's been a couple weeks at this point. I cannot get over what happens toward the end of this book. I won't spoil it, but damn it. Why? It really does kind of play out as like a solid like B-level horror movie in a in a sense. Obviously, appropriate for kids, but still, it's not too bad. It's worth a pick up, and I think even adults would enjoy this. But, let's turn the heat up a little bit because this next book certainly creeped me out way more than even I thought possible for a Goosebumps book. It's also a book whose cover terrified me as a kid and rightfully so.

[00:02:00]That is The Curse of Camp Cold Lake. And honestly, nine times out of 10, the cover arts for Goosebumps books, all done by the amazing Tim Jacobus, they kind of oversold how scary the story would be.

[00:02:15]Uh but this one doesn't. This story is probably more depressing and even darker than the cover that you see here. Like to me, this is the darkest story R.L.

[00:02:26]Stine has ever typed up and slapped a Goosebumps logo on. It has a chilling, like demonic main villain who tries several times to kill off our main character in just various ways.

[00:02:38]Drowning, you know, what have you.

[00:02:40]There's also some really cool, like scary visual descriptions. There's this alternative version of the summer camp.

[00:02:47]It kind of turns into this like Silent Hill-esque looking place, which is awesome. Bar none, one of the most unsettling things that takes place in this book is the main character, the main girl, she considers um like you know offing herself. It kind of brings the story to a different level for me. And I'm I'm a little surprised R.L. Stine even put that in this book, but it definitely was the one moment that stayed with me after I was done reading it. And I even thought to myself at the time, I don't think kids should read this.

[00:03:23]Um but yeah, so Curse of Camp Cold Lake, definitely creepy, worth a read if you want probably the most chilling story in the series.

[00:03:32]Next up, I want to shift gears ever so slightly. So we've talked about two books that I think are pretty creepy in the Goosebumps series. Next up though, I want to talk to you guys about one that I had the most fun reading. And actually, this is my favorite Goosebumps story. Not because, oh Oh gosh, it just disturbed me so much I was so scared out of my wits.

[00:03:54]It actually kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time that I read Welcome to Camp Nightmare. I cannot praise this little book enough. Adults out there, if you want a Goosebumps book that will actually make you feel young again and kind of give you that like childlike summer excitement from reading a story or hanging out with your friends, add in a mystery that's really gripping, a story that feels like the narrative walls are just closing in on the main character the entire time.

[00:04:24]That's what you get with this story. Cuz you just don't trust anyone or anything happening in this. You can tell while you read this book that something is just off about this camp. Counselors and the leaders all are acting strange, kids are disappearing one by one, and the leadership figures at this camp simply don't acknowledge it. Or they make up an excuse to just get the topic dropped.

[00:04:52]And I'm just you're just reading the story even as an adult and I'm like I'm like you're full of You know what happened to them. What what is going on?

[00:04:59]And it all just leads to this crazy revelation at the end, which I'll admit, the ending may or may not hit for you adults out there. Whether I like the ending or not, that wouldn't have came close to wiping out all the enjoyment that I had. I could not get enough of Welcome to Camp Nightmare, and uh yeah, I think you guys will enjoy it, too.

[00:05:20]So, I'm convinced that this next book is actually just a disturbing drug trip disguised as a kids novel. Like there's no way this this can actually exist.

[00:05:31]Even having read it, my mind isn't even so much remember the plot as it remembers all the different cracked out scenes that this book shows you.

[00:05:40]All of this that stems from a head injury that the main character sustains while playing baseball. And soon after he starts receiving these mysterious phone calls from a kid who claims to live in his basement. And it is the namesake of this next one, I Live in Your Basement. First off, see this blob on the front?

[00:06:02]Yeah, for once, the cover does not do the scene that this blob takes place in justice. This is a tame version of what happens in the book. From the beginning though, we get this story that feels more like a horror psychedelic Joe Rogan weed story than a typical Goosebumps plot. And it is awesome. Give this one a read if you want to dive into one of Goosebumps' more out there stories, uh rather than like a typical hey haunted house, hey campground something's going on, hey it's a haunted amusement park. This is definitely one that R.L. Stine probably wanted to make into an adult story that he had to scale back and just throw into the Goosebumps lineup. It is totally, totally worth a read, and I love this book.

[00:06:51]The next thing I want to switch gears one more time and talk about the mascot for Goosebumps. No, unfortunately, I'm not talking about Curly the Skeleton.

[00:07:00]I'm talking about the ventriloquist dummy from hell, and that is Slappy. Yeah, there you go. Even if you have never read Goosebumps, you've probably seen this guy by accident or come across him in promotional material for the series. Uh Slappy is iconic. He probably has the most like stand-alone books of any villain in the series.

[00:07:23]Uh and for my money, this is the best one.

[00:07:26]Uh I recently reread Slappy's Nightmare, and I have not read this since I purchased this book whenever I was probably, I don't know, 10 years old maybe. And the story is actually way better than I remember. Because for one, it's told completely from Slappy's point of view. Other Night of the Living Dummy books in the series take the point of view of, you know, a young kid that bought Slappy or, you know, their parent bought Slappy for them and then chaos ensues from there. This one though is told completely from his perspective and I think adults out there will find enjoyment in getting inside the mind of Slappy, which includes nearly pulling off a man's head and, you know, tying an infant up in curtains. But I digress.

[00:08:11]It's just nice to follow a character who isn't constantly being berated by their parents or by a younger sibling. This story is all Slappy at 100 miles per hour. You even get like the funny twist of him in this having to do three good deeds sprinkled in there for good measure. It's It's actually kind of hilarious.

[00:08:32]And he's pissed off that he has to do these three good deeds, of course, and, you know, he really kind of battles with that the whole time. But there are moments in here that made me go, "Damn, I'm surprised they put that in a kids book." The words die and death were used quite a lot too, which again, for back then is no big deal, but nowadays it's kind of strange seeing that in a book that was probably read by, you know, 8 through 12-year-olds, but you get that.

[00:08:55]And Slappy's Nightmare is just It's a good time. The story flows pretty fast.

[00:08:59]I love the interactions between Slappy and his, you know, owner, Jimmy-O-James at the beginning.

[00:09:06]Honestly, their back and forth is probably the most interested I've been in a dialogue between two characters in a Goosebumps book. So, there's that for what it's worth. It's just It's a good time with a Goosebumps book and I I love it and I think you guys might too. That is Slappy's Nightmare.

[00:09:24]Last, and certainly not least, I want to recommend to you guys a Goosebumps book that is incredible. It's It's like I'd probably characterize this as a pretty badass Goosebumps book. And it also keeps with that same theme that we've had so far of not following your typical Goosebumps protagonist. In Headless Halloween, we follow a bully.

[00:09:47]A bully who literally goes to hell and back and ends up not exactly getting a happy ending. I literally love this book. It is a perfect Halloween read.

[00:09:59]And honestly, if I ranked all my all-time favorite Goosebumps stories, this one would probably drop into the top three. It's just a book that's kind of mean, you know, [clears throat] which is pretty refreshing, actually. There is no uplifting or heartfelt message, you know, at the end of this to to take away. It just is brutal from from front to back, you know. The main character is not very sympathetic. And and he ends up kind of going to this alternate like Halloween world where kids are like with zombified like demonic versions of themselves. It just all has this like sense of anger to it that I love.

[00:10:40]And you know, it's almost like R.L.

[00:10:42]Stine just wrote something he thought would be badass as a Goosebumps book and it worked. I love it. And I think if you're an adult reading this, whether you're reading it by yourself or if you're reading it to your kid to get that proper creepiness from a Goosebumps book, Headless Halloween will not let you down. And that, my dear viewers, is all for this list. I really tried to get a small but diverse list of books. I wanted to go more than just oh, these are the six scariest. And hopefully you guys found this list helpful. If you're looking into giving this classic series a go, it's really worth it. I love Goosebumps. I can't get enough of it.

[00:11:17]I've I've made several videos about the series now, so but let me know, guys, in the comment section which Goosebumps books you love and which do you think still work as solid stories even if you're older now. I'd love to see what everyone thinks. Thanks so much, guys, for checking this video out.

[00:11:33]If you have not, consider subscribing for cool videos like this if you enjoyed it. Leave a like if you don't mind. And, uh, yeah, I'll talk to you all again very soon.