Do you crave tales of creatures that recoil from the night? Then Goosebumps is the book series for you. R.L. Stine's cacophony of scary books has terrified and delighted children for over 30 years, inspiring a popular TV series and two blockbuster movies. While the books might seem a little juvenile for adults, one thing nobody can deny is Stine's creativity, especially regarding his monsters.
The creatures in the books, TV episodes and movies are certainly unique monstrous creations, not just in children's horror but all horror in general. They range from hulking, brutish monsters to tiny but dangerous terrors. But readers must beware, they're always in for a scare.
The Blob that Ate Everyone
While on the goofier end of creatures, the blob is no less dangerous. It all begs when amateur scary story writer Zack finds a mysterious typewriter in a shop wrecked by a storm. He thinks it would be the perfect material to write his stories, but he got much more than he bargained for.
His friend Adam uses the typewriter to accidentally unleash one of Zack's favorite creations – the blob monster. The blob then goes to eat everyone in town, and while Zack seems to destroy it simply by writing it out of existence, the twist ending reveals it's not relatively as easy as that.
The Phantom of the Auditorium
This phantom is so well-remembered that he would eventually get his own stage musical. A local school legend recounts a play called 'The Phantom,' revolving around a ghostly figure and his forbidden love. But the night the school was to perform this show, the young boy playing the phantom disappeared.
Seventy-two years later, the school is putting it on again when strange things begin to happen. Sets are vandalized. The sound of screams seems to come out of nowhere. And a masked man is seen scurrying in the flies. Is it the creepy night janitor? The jealous understudy? Or is there something else afoot entirely?
Rip the Cat from 'Cry of the Cat'
If somebody isn't a cat person, this evil kitty will do them no favors. Rip was a cat experimented on by a woman who tried similar experiments on other cats. They all died, but Rip was too evil to let that get in his way.
He's lived far more than the usual nine lives by scratching the life away from his owner, causing her to mutate into a human-cat hybrid. After accidentally being killed by a girl named Allison, Rip decides to make her his new target. But can he get her before all his nine lives are used up?
The Werewolf of Fever Swamp
This creature is well-regarded as one of the creepiest and most tragic monsters in the Goosebumps canon, especially in the TV adaptation. Fever Swamp in Florida is the new home for young Grady Tucker, whose father plans an experiment with deer. But someone or something has begun attacking the deer.
Is it the creepy hermit living in a shack in the swamp? The large dog Grady and his new friend Will found? But as the mystery unveils itself, the werewolf turns out to have quite a miserable existence – and even death might not be enough to take his pain away.
The Masked Mutant from 'Attack of the Mutant'
Have you ever been freaked out by the prospect of the villain triumphing over the heroes? Well, this guy has managed to achieve that. The Masked Mutant is a supervillain who's the star of his own comic, fighting his archenemies, The League of Good Guys. He can shape-shift into anything, making it hard for the League to defeat him.
But he's gotten bored fighting the same people and has found a new target – his biggest fan, Skipper. So one day, he somehow pulls Skipper into his world, ready to kill him. And this time, he's prepared to deal with the League cruelly and all too lethal.
Fifi the Poodle from 'Please Don't Feed the Vampire!'
Rip the cat may be malicious, but the world of Goosebumps isn't the best for dogs, either. In the choose-your-own-adventure book 'Please Don't Feed the Vampire!,' Fifi is the reader's pet poodle who gets her teeth into something called "Vampire in a Can." Depending on the readers' path, she then becomes hungry and infects all the dogs in the neighborhood.
While the image of a fancy poodle with fangs is silly, it's distressing and somewhat sad for people who love dogs. Imagine if man's best friend one day became a vicious, blood-sucking demon.
The Camera from "Say Cheese… and Die!"
While seemingly nothing more than an average object, this little camera, cursed by a mad scientist, can change the future – always for the worse. When young Greg finds it, he notices the photo he took of his dad's car, but it's in ruins. Later, he took a picture of his friend Shari, who vanished without a trace.
As the story goes on, it's revealed it has another power - stealing the souls of anyone taken in the pictures. Where do they get sent? Nobody knows. Not even those fortunate enough to come back.
Lord High Executioner from 'A Night in Terror Tower'
Ever had a nightmare being stuck in an unfamiliar place and someone was coming down the hall with an axe? On a trip to the Terror Tower in London, siblings Sue and Eddie notice a man in black not too far behind them. Soon the people around them, including their parents, have disappeared.
Upon journeying further, the man in black is revealed to be the lord high executioner of the king and is out for their blood. While not the overall villain of the piece, the executioner is the most active threat that the kids face, almost like a baby's first slasher.
The Haunted Mask
If looks could kill, the haunted mask would and could. A long time ago, an ugly shopkeeper tried to create a synthetic mask that would be the most beautiful face he could. He intended to attach it to his face and cover it forever.
But every time he tried, the masks grew hideously ugly and monstrous. Finally, he abandoned the masks, but they lay in the shop's basement, waiting to be worn again. Every time these masks have been found, they bring out the evil of anyone who wears them to feed and eventually take control of that person entirely.
Slappy the Dummy
It wouldn't be Goosebumps without at least a little passing reference to this diminutive tyrant. While something of a red herring in his debut book, Night of the Living Dummy, he quickly took over the spotlight for all its sequels.
Slappy is a dummy with a mean, sadistic attitude and is always four steps ahead of everybody he meets. While he isn't precisely hungry for blood, the things he has in mind for his would-be victims might be worse than death. For instance, he likes enslaving his owners or transforming them into helpless (yet aware) dummies.