I was going through a thrift store by my house the other day looking for horror VHS tapes like I do in my free time, and I came across a goldmine. No, not a VHS goldmine; they had nothing good this day. Instead, on a table in the center of the store, there was about 40 different Goosebumps books. It hit my nostalgia nerve, and it hit it hard. My mind was taken back to a time when I was in elementary school, reading R.L. Stine’s delightfully horrifying books during library time. This is a list of 10 of my favorite books from the Goosebumps series. Hopefully, it will bring back fond feelings of innocent nostalgia for you as well. That, and the fond feelings of being absolutely terrified out of your tiny developing mind.

10. A Night in Terror Tower

“All locked up and no place to go!

Sue and her brother, Eddie, are visiting London when they run into a little problem. They can’t find their tour group. Still, there’s no reason to panic. No way their tour guide would just leave them. All alone. In a gloomy old prison tower.

No way they’d get locked inside. After dark. With those eerie sounds. And a strange dark figure who wants them . . . dead.”

9. The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight

“Jodie loves visiting her grandparents’ farm. Okay, so it’s not the most exciting place in the world. Still, Grandpa tells great scary stories. And Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies are the best.

But this summer the farm has really changed. The cornfields are sparse. Grandma and Grandpa seem worn out. And the single scarecrow has been replaced by twelve evil-looking ones.

Then one night Jodie sees something really odd. The scarecrows seem to be moving. Twitching on their stakes. Coming alive . . .”

8. The Curse of Camp Cold Lake

“Camp is supposed to be fun, but Sarah hates Camp Cold Lake. The lake is gross and slimy. And she’s having a little trouble with her bunkmates. They hate her. So Sarah comes up with a plan. She’ll pretend to drown — then everyone will feel sorry for her.



But things don’t go exactly the way Sarah planned. Because down by the cold, dark lake someone is watching her. Stalking her. Someone with pale blue eyes. And a see-through body. . . .”

7. The Horror At Camp Jellyjam

“Two kids in a runaway trailer careen down a steep hill and end up at the weirdest sports camp ever–where winning isn’t everything–but staying alive is!”

6. Monster Blood

“Soon after he purchases a dusty can of monster blood at the funky old toy store near his great-aunt Kathryn’s house, Evan begins to notice some strange things happening to the people around him.

While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It’s fun to play with at first, and Evan’s dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!

But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy stuff. It seems to be growing.

And growing.

And growing.

And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite…”

5. How I Got My Shrunken Head

“What has two eyes, a mouth, and wrinkly green skin? Mark’s shrunken head! It’s a present from his Aunt Benna. A gift from the jungle island of Baladora.

And Mark can’t wait to show the kids at school!

But late one night the head starts to glow. Because it’s actually no ordinary head. It gives Mark a strange power. A magical power. A dangerous power…”

4. Night of the Living Dummy

“When twins Lindy and Kris find a ventriloquist’s dummy in a Dumpster, Lindy decides to “rescue” it, and she names it Slappy. But Kris is green with envy. It’s not fair. Why does Lindy get to have all the fun and all the attention? Kris decides to get a dummy of her own. She’ll show Lindy. Then weird things begin to happen. Nasty things. Evil things. It can’t be the dummy causing all the trouble, Can it?”

3. Say Cheese and Die!

“Greg thinks there is something wrong with the old camera he found. The photos keep turning out . . . different.

When Greg takes a picture of his father’s brand-new car, it’s wrecked in the photo. And then his dad crashes the car.

It’s like the camera can tell the future–or worse. Maybe it makes the future!”

2. Stay Out of the Basement

“Dr. Brewer is doing a little plant-testing in his basement. Nothing to worry about. Harmless, he says. But Margaret and Casey Brewer are worried about their father. Especially when they… meet… some of the plants he is growing down there. Then they notice that their father is developing plant like tendencies.”

1. The Haunted Mask

“A young girl purchases the most frighteningly lifelike Halloween mask and then, to her horror, discovers that she is unable to remove it from her face.”

I think that most of the scare factor comes from the relatable age, as the characters in the books were all as old as I was. That, mixed with the frequent twist endings, proved to be very disquieting. The covers helped a lot as well.Much of the nostalgia factor from these books can be attributed to their awesome cover art, which was illustrated by a man named Tim Jacobus.

R.L. Stine produced a very large catalogue of books under the Goosebumps name. I’m absolutely positive that many of you will not have your favorites in here; there are just so many! The original Goosebumps series contained 62 titles and ran from 1992-1997.

If you’re feeling really nostalgic, you can watch the entire series on Netflix.

Which ones did I miss? What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

All synopsis are courtesy of Goodreads.com, with the exception of # 9 and # 5, which come from Amazon.com.