It almost sounds like a setup for one of author R.L. Stine’s young-reader horror stories: a possessed book that just won’t die.
Except in this case, it’s a whole horrifying book series.
If you grew up in the 1990s, you know exactly what I’m talking about: “Goosebumps,” the kid-friendly horror franchise that started as a tantalizingly subversive Scholastic book series before spinning off a 74-episode anthology TV show, then a frenetic 2015 Jack Black movie followed by a stand-alone 2018 sequel.
Now, as all things Halloween swirl in the pumpkin-spice-scented air: It’s ba-aaaaack.
And while “Goosebumps,” in all its forms, has always been a hit-or-miss affair, this latest 10-episode incarnation — now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu — arrives as a reasonably fun bit of mood-setting, spooky-season entertainment.
Nerve-jangling comedy
A nonthreatening, humor-laced nerve-jangler in the vein of “Halloweentown,” “Hocus Pocus” and, more recently, Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” remake, it’s not likely to win any technical awards. But it is something older kids and their parents can freak out to together, preferably huddled on the couch with the lights turned low.
Borrowing the tongue-in-cheek comedic undercurrent of Stine’s books, this is “safe” horror, creepy enough to give you the heebie-jeebies but not full-on nightmares.
It’s also something of a mulligan for co-showrunner Rob Letterman, who directed the 2015 Jack Black version.
That film did well enough to earn a sequel — for which neither Letterman nor Black returned — but at the same time, it suffered from an overstuffed script more designed to cram in as many characters and themes from Stine’s books as possible than to weave a complete, compelling story.
The chief misstep there was trying to pay homage to Stine’s book series in a two-hour timeframe. But as a 10-part TV series with a total running time in the neighborhood of seven hours? Well, time is now on Letterman’s side. And he takes advantage of it.
Back to high school ...
Working alongside co-creator Nicholas Stoller, the writer-director of comedy films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Neighbors,” Letterman’s approach for this newly resurrected incarnation involves a multi-threaded narrative built around an ensemble cast of characters and centering on the fictional Port Lawrence High School.
All the expected teen stereotypes are present and accounted for: the star quarterback, the girl next door, the jealous girlfriend, the gay best friend, the quiet one with a dark secret. The list goes on.
More importantly, there’s Mr. Bratt, a new-to-town English teacher who moves into an abandoned house that, unbeknownst to him, was the site years earlier of a now-notorious Port Lawrence tragedy.
Also unbeknownst to him: While partying at the house just before he moved in, our high school mischief makers accidentally awakened a spirit whose thirst for revenge will touch each of them by the time it’s all done.
Cleverly, that’s where Stine’s original works come into play.
Here's Slappy!
One of the kids is tormented by a haunted mask — from Stine’s “The Haunted Mask.” Another falls victim to a possessed camera — a reference to Stine’s “Say Cheese and Die!” Still another suffers at the hands of “The Cuckoo Clock of Doom.”
The campy central element of various other Stine books similarly work their way into things (yes, including fan favorite Slappy the ventriloquist dummy from “Night of the Living Dummy”). The difference this time is that they are much more neatly woven into the overarching narrative, which eventually reaches beyond the high school characters and eventually ensnares their parents.
If they’re going to come out on the other side alive, it’ll basically take a whole-town effort.
Granted, that’s a lot of storytelling going on there. Maybe too much for the purposes of the talky, slightly soapy first episode, which is a bit of a slog given how many characters and subplots need introducing.
Viewers who stick with it, though, will be treated to, among other things, a fantastic performance from Justin Long, who plays English teacher Mr. Bratt — and whose physical comedy, starting in Episode 2, helps him quickly become one of the best things about the show.
Taken all together, this new “Goosebumps” can be counted on to scratch that Halloween entertainment itch nicely — until it is inevitably resurrected again down the road.
Mike Scott can be reached at moviegoermike@gmail.com.
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GOOSEBUMPS
SNAPSHOT: Author R.L. Stine’s best-selling Scholastic horror series is adapted for the screen once more.
CAST: Justin Long, Zack Morris, Isa Briones, Miles McKenna, Ana Yi Puig, Will Price, Rachael Harris.
CREATORS: Rob Letterman and Nick Stoller.
RATED: TV-PG.
WHEN AND WHERE: First five episodes now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu, with a new episode arriving every Friday.