The Definitive Ranking of All 62 Original "Goosebumps" Books

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Volume: 50

Release date: December 1996

Volume: 26

Release date: December 1994

Volume: 29

Release date: March 1995

Volume: 53

Release date: March 1997

Volume: 60

Release date: October 1997

Volume: 61

Release date: December 1997

Volume: 35

Release date: September 1995

Volume: 58

Release date: August 1997

Volume: 28

Release date: February 1995

Volume: 45

Release date: July 1996

Volume: 51

Release date: January 1997

Volume: 47

Release date: September 1996

Volume: 52

Release date: February 1997

Volume: 22

Release date: August 1994

Volume: 32

Release date: June 1995

Volume: 38

Release date: December 1995

Volume: 61

Release date: November 1997

Volume: 17

Release date: March 1994

Volume: 37

Release date: November 1995

Volume: 40

Release date: February 1996

Volume: 6

Release date: March 1993

Volume: 42

Release date: April 1996

Volume: 25

Release date: November 1994

Volume: 19

Release date: May 1994

Volume: 33

Release date: July 1995

Volume: 44

Release date: June 1996

Volume: 36

Release date: October 1995

Volume: 57

Release date: July 1997

Volume: 46

Release date: August 1996

Volume: 5

Release date: January 1993

Volume: 39

Release date: January 1996

Volume: 59

Release date: September 1997

Volume: 48

Release date: October 1996

Volume: 27

Release date: January 1995

Volume: 49

Release date: November 1996

Volume: 12

Release date: October 1993

Volume: 31

Release date: May 1995

Volume: 2

Release date: July 1992

Volume: 54

Release date: April 1997

Volume: 55

Release date: May 1997

Volume: 43

Release date: May 1996

Volume: 15

Release date: January 1994

Volume: 56

Release date: June 1997

Volume: 34

Release date: August 1995

Volume: 24

Release date: October 1994

Volume: 3

Release date: September 1992

Volume: 10

Release date: August 1993

Volume: 23

Release date: September 1994

Volume: 30

Release date: April 1995

Volume: 8

Release date: May 1993

Volume: 41

Release date: March 1996

Volume: 9

Release date: July 1993

Volume: 13

Release date: November 1993

Most of the later Goosebumps books had pun-tastic titles that were basically just drawn-out into 125 pages jokes. It's an ingenious formula, sort of like what The Onion does today only with children's horror novellas. But of all the play-on-word plot devices, Piano Lessons Can Be Murder hits closest to home. Anyone whose parents forced them to take music lessons can attest: Sure, there's an actual horror plot to this book, but the scariest thing of all is just remembering how much you hated practicing for 40 minutes a day. 

Volume: 16

Release date: February 1994

Haunted theme parks have been a big thing for the horror genre since Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, so naturally R.L. Stine would need to put his own spin on it. This version of the story centers on a family's terrifying trip to Horrorland, a theme park that more than lives up to its name. It also has a weird reality TV/Truman Show-esque subplot that proved to be ahead of its time (the monsters in the theme have been filming the family for their own show). And the twist ending—that the family is offered more free passes by monsters—is more darkly humorous than most.

Volume: 4

Release date: November 1992 

It's often said that Native Americans believed a picture steals your soul, so naturally horror writers have mined this trope for screams. One of the earliest Goosebumps titles, the book focuses on a haunted camera that kills anyone whose picture is taken. It's sort of like Marty McFly disappearing, only without time travel. And the cover, with a skeleton family flipping burgers, is perfectly macabre. 

Volume: 20

Release date: June 1994 

Of all the Goosebumps covers, this is the one that scariest. There's just something about an evil scarecrow that's undeniably creepy. The plot involves two kids, Jodie and Mark, staying on their grandparent's farm. They notice some creepy-looking scarecrows, and soon enough, they've come alive and are looking for blood. The reason, though—that they were made using instruction from an evil book—is pretty cool. And the last page, hinting that a similarly evil teddy bear was created, is one of the best Goosebumps twists. 

Volume: 1

Release date: July 1992

The first book in the Goosebumps series is also one of the best. R.L. Stine treats us to a classic family-moves-into-a-haunted-house scenario. Like all the stories that would follow, there's a spooky twist at the end of the book that young readers can identify with. Though the series would later get wild and zany with the plots (see: The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena), this is where it all started. 

Volume: 14

Release date: December 1993

Every horror series needs a werewolf (or two), and this is the best werewolf-centric book in the Goosebumps series by far. The story follows Grady, a new resident of Fever Swamp, who starts investigating howling in the woods. Is it the character known as Swamp Hermit? A dog named Wolf? Or even Grady's new friend Will? Like all good werewolf stories The Werewolf of Fever Swamp is a tale of alienation and transformation, but mostly it's about a kid who wants a pet dog really badly. Who can't sympathize with that?

Volume: 21

Release date: July 1994

Go Eat Worms is a pretty #advanced Goosebumps book in that the main character is sort of a dickish weirdo you want to see punished. You see, Todd really, really likes worms. He's obsessed with them. He likes scaring people with them, playing with them, and digging for them in the playground. There was probably a kid like this in your class, and his name was also probably Todd. The story itself is basically about a giant worm that starts tormenting Todd in order to teach him a lesson. (The lesson: don't play with worms because that is a weird thing to do and the worms don't like it.) It may well be the strangest Goosebumps book in the entire series. 

Volume: 18

Release date: April 1994

There are actually four books in the Monster Blood series, but the second really knocks it out of the park. The story picks up after Evan Ross, of the original Monster Blood, moves to a new school where he's getting bullied by a kid known as Conan the Barbarian. (Oh, side note: Monster Blood is a substance that makes anything you feed it to grow huge, and become evil.) After finding an old tin of Monster Blood, Evan and a friend decide to feed it to a classroom hamster to get back at Conan. Things don't go as planned and Evan ends up drinking some monster blood himself to save the day (and Conan's life).

The moral of the story: don't feed classroom pets evil blood, no matter how good your reason.

Volume: 7

Release date: May 1993   

Just look at that cover. Those eyes! How ventriloquist dummies were ever supposed to be anything other than nightmarish is unfathomable. This book focuses on twin siblings Kris and Lindy, whose dummies may or may not be coming alive and doing terrible things in the night (of course they are!). It's like Toy Story, if Woody wanted to kill you in your sleep. 

Volume: 11

Release date: September 1993  

The Haunted Mask may have been the eleventh book in the series, but it was the first one that you could find literally everywhere you looked. (Seriously, these things were sold everywhere from supermarkets to car washes.) The story focused on timid 11-year-old Carly Beth, who winds up with an evil Halloween mask she can't remove. The book is insanely thrilling from start to finish, with a twist ending that was just the right amount of horrific ("How do I look in your mask?"). Anyone who's read it will tell you, the thought of it still gives them shivers.