Our 7 Scariest Goosebumps Picks

Night of the Living Dummy
The very first Goosebumps story I ever read had me so hooked on R.L. Stine that I think I spent all of my allowance for the next three years on the rest of the series. It also prompted my love of ventriloquism, surprisingly, as the story revolves around a young girl finding the dummy, becoming a ventriloquist, and watching the horror unfold as her dummy becomes more evil with every page. Slappy the dummy is a classic character in the Goosebumps series and makes his way through several follow-up books. I mean, it can’t get much creepier than wooden doll with painted eyes making horrible things happen in your life, can it?

Welcome to Camp Nightmare
The words “horror” and “summer camp” seem to go together well in the world of entertainment, and this story from Stine is no different. It’s #14 in his original Goosebumps series, but a great place to start for your kids. Billy Harlan is enjoying his time at Camp Nightmoon until strange happenings occur. Campers are disappearing, there’s a rumor that a monster is lurking in the woods, and now his own parents have stopped responding to his letters. A perfectly creepy summer read, this Goosebumps story should come with a flashlight to help your child read under their blanket.

It Came From Beneath the Sink!
I’m going to be honest here—this one absolutely terrified me as a kid. A brother and sister duo, Katrina and Daniel, move into a new, incredible house with their family and are stoked. Until they discover a sponge-like creature under their sink that is a living, breathing, and evil thing. The one chapter that still stands out to me is when Katrina tries to kill it by running it through the garbage disposal, bits of the sponge flying everywhere, and the thing still survives. C’mon. That’s terrifying. I may be an adult, but I still refuse to use sponges on my own dishes.

Be Careful What You Wish For
I’m pretty sure that part of my love of this Goosebumps story is because the main character is also named Samantha, but it quickly became a favorite for other reasons. The chilling story about a girl who is granted three wishes, but then places those around her in danger, it’s also an excellent lesson for your kid on being content with what they have. Make them read this story when they’re wishing for things, rather than being happy with what they have. It totally worked on eleven-year-old me.

The Ghost Next Door
I have always loved a good ghost story, and this Stine classic is the perfect combination of hair-raising chills and can’t-put-it-down page turning. It seems to happen overnight, but the house next door to Hannah, our heroine of this story, has been sold and a new family has moved in. She meets Danny Anderson, a boy who seems oddly pale and totally strange. Hannah begins to investigate, as you would, when weird things start happening in the neighborhood, and Danny seems to get more bizarre by the day, including surviving some near-fatal accidents. Trust me, your kids will read this one and talk about it for weeks. I know I did, and I’m pretty sure I was suspicious of all my neighbors, too. (Sorry, neighbors. You just needed to get a little more sun, I guess.)

Stay Out of the Basement
Oh boy. This one was terrifying. With a botanist father, Margaret and Casey Brewer are used to their dad doing experiments and working with plants. But after discovering some hybrid plants in the basement (like, half-human hybrids), they become deeply concerned. Especially when their father seems to start having some plant-like tendencies of his own. I’m actually shuddering just writing this. Stay Out of the Basement is so creepy, that you could probably start hiding your kids’ Christmas gifts in your own basement. They won’t be heading down there anytime soon.

The Haunted Mask
I’m just going to put this out here—if you read this book as a kid, and claim you weren’t the tiniest bit nervous to put on your Halloween costume come the next October, I do not believe you. The story of a girl named Carly who finds the creepiest mask in the world, puts it on for Halloween, and isn’t able to take it off has stayed with me for over fifteen years. This is one of those Goosebumps stories that nearly everyone has a nostalgic pang for, and the few people who never read a book by R.L. Stine (Unfortunately, they exist. That’s a horror right there!) still happen to know. It inspired several other books, so you can continue to read how a seemingly innocent mask can wreak havoc on all of those who come near it. And then you can scare the daylights out of your kids on Halloween! R.L. Stine would be proud.
Did I leave out your favorite? Which Goosebumps story do you remember the best?