If you wanted a good scare as a kid, you turned to R.L. Stein's Goosebumps. To this day, you probably remember the episodes that freaked you out the most. Given the 90s-era special effects and low-budget acting, Goosebumps is scarily comedic.
Whether some episodes still give you the chills, or just provide a good laugh, you can't deny that the Goosebumps series is one of a kind. These are some of the best Goosebumps episodes that are always worth revisiting.
1. "Say Cheese and Die... Again"
"Say Cheese and Die... Again" is the haunting sequel to "Say Cheese and Die." In the first episode, Greg and his friends come across a camera that foretells the future—the pictures it takes shows the subject's terrible fate.
Greg doesn't learn his lesson the first time around. After getting rid of the camera, Greg digs it up in the second installment just to show to his teacher that it actually exists.
This leads to him taking a photo of his friend, Shari, by accident. The picture ends up coming out as a negative, a sign that she'll become so skinny that she'll eventually fade away.
Shari then snaps a picture of Greg as payback, and the camera depicts him as extremely overweight. As Shari gets thinner as time goes on, Greg gets bigger and bigger until he nearly explodes.
Not only is this episode pretty disturbing, but the subpar acting and funny prosthetics make it all the more hilarious.
2. "Stay Out of the Basement"
Ever wonder what your dad does in the basement? Sometimes, it's best not to find out. That's the case with "Stay Out of the Basement," when Margaret and Casey Brewer have to deal with an unemployed father and his mysterious trips down to the cellar.
After Margaret and Casey's mother leaves to see a family member, they're stuck with their father, Dr. Brewer. The kids start to realize something's a little off when Dr. Brewer tells them not to go in the basement. It gets even weirder when he serves them green, plant-like slop.
Margaret and Casey soon find out that Dr. Brewer has been doing some experiments on plants in the basement. The battle against Dr. Brewer quickly turns into a mission to rescue him from his evil plants' clutches.
3. "The Haunted Mask"
If you watched "The Haunted Mask" as a child, you probably developed a lifelong fear of wearing masks. This episode follows Carly Beth, a girl who just wants to play a trick on two boys who constantly scare her.
Carly Beth buys a horrifying mask from a strange salesman, ignoring all of his warnings. She insists on going through with the prank, so she ends up putting the mask on.
It starts to become attached to her body and even begins to warp her personality.
4. "Night of the Living Dummy II"
Slappy is probably the most iconic character from the Goosebumps series, both for his brash personality and his demonic facial expression.
The puppet first appears in "Night of the Living Dummy II" when Amy starts using Slappy as her new dummy.
Just like the classic horror character, Chuckie, Slappy has a mind of his own. He starts causing trouble around the house, and Amy gets the blame for it. After all, who doesn't love an episode about a psychopathic dummy?
5. "The Ghost Next Door"
The plot twist at the end of "The Ghost Next Door" is mindblowing. The episode starts in the middle of Hannah Fairchild's nightmare, a terrifying dream about her room on fire.
When she wakes up, Hannah tries to go about her day, only to realize that no one listens to her.
A boy named Danny is the only one who she can actually communicate with. She comes to believe that Danny and his family are ghosts, as Danny seems to randomly disappear and his mother can't even hear her.
When she finds a newspaper article about a deadly fire in a nearby home, she becomes even more suspicious about the family.
However, Hannah's theory is completely backward—she finds out that Danny's mother is deaf. Hannah is the actual ghost, and she's been brought back to save Danny.
6. "Perfect School"
"Perfect School" isn't as scary as it is unsettling. The story centers around Brian O'Connor, a troublemaker whose parents send him away to boarding school. Brian begins to notice that the school is just too pristine.
Instead of actually helping the mischevious students change their ways, the school creates clones of the young men. Brian finds the real students trapped in the school's basement, while the clones go home with their parents.
7. "The Girl Who Cried Monster"
"The Girl Who Cried Monster," gives you a reason never to visit the library. In this grotesque episode, you'll meet Lucy Dark, a girl who loves to tell scary stories. When she heads to her local library, she spots the librarian, Mr. Mortman, and his pet spiders.
Lucy watches as he transforms into a green, scaly monster with bulging eyes. He starts to devour crickets and Lucy (justifiably) sprints home.
She tells her parents about Mr. Mortman, but they don't believe her thanks to all the scary stories she's been telling. Instead, her parents invite Mr. Mortman over for a very awkward dinner.
Although Goosebumps episodes are more likely to make you laugh than jump out of your seat, it's still fun to reminisce. Just remember that at one time, these episodes actually managed to frighten you.