Growing up in the 1990s, one of my favorite hobbies was reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books, which were mega popular at the time. I’m pretty sure I read all of the original books as a kid, and they played no small role in developing my love for all things horror. For me and many others, Stine’s books were a “gateway drug,” and I can’t imagine my life without them in it.
The success of Goosebumps helped pave the way for a whole lot of horror entertainment that was primarily geared towards younger audiences, and YouTube channel In Praise of Shadows explores “How Horror for Kids Dominated in the 90s” in a new video that caught our attention this week. It’s a look at how important horror fun can be for young minds, teaching kids not simply that monsters and evil really do exist, but that they can be defeated.
With Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween and A House With a Clock in Its Walls arriving in theaters this coming Fall, we could be on the verge of a “horror for kids” revival…