{"id":28859,"date":"2025-01-03T08:50:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T13:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2025-01-06T10:13:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T15:13:50","slug":"goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/","title":{"rendered":"Goosebumps\u00a0Returns with Classic Humor & Grief Storyline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 30 years ago, R.L. Stine began publishing his Goosebumps<\/em>\u00a0children\u2019s horror novels, capturing the imaginations of kids and young teens around the world. The books were first adapted for the screen as an anthology TV series in the \u201990s, with each episode covering a different novel, before coming to theaters as a film directed by Rob Letterman (Shark Tale<\/em>,\u00a0Monsters vs. Aliens<\/em>) in 2015.<\/p>\n

Select\u00a0Goosebumps\u00a0<\/em>themes and characters were able to be expanded upon with the Disney+ and Hulu\u00a0Goosebumps<\/em>\u00a0series, which arrived in 2023 and followed one story throughout the first season. Letterman returned to the franchise to executive produce the series and was joined by Hilary Winston (Krapopolis<\/em>) as showrunner.<\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0Goosebumps: The Vanishing<\/em>, the second season of the new anthology, is set to arrive on January 10 with a brand-new spooky story and all-new characters, following as fraternal twins Devin and Cece discover a threat stirring in their home while adjusting to life with their recently divorced dad. As they explore the new threat, they become wrapped up in the tale of four teenagers who mysteriously disappeared in 1994.<\/p>\n

Stine himself wasn\u2019t involved much with season two, but the guidance he gave during season one carried over and his touch is still there, Letterman says. \u201cLast season, he talked to the writers\u2019 room and talked to us about the magic of\u00a0Goosebumps<\/em>. The first question he always gets is, What made it a phenomenon? He always says, \u2018I have no idea! I think it\u2019s this, but I don\u2019t know.\u2019 It\u2019s really inspiring to have him share his perspective on it. It boils down to a couple of things that we stick with: core fear, universal fear, fear that translates to every human being no matter what age you are, flawed characters, no happy ending\u2014hates that; you can\u2019t do that\u2014always have a twist.\u201d<\/p>\n

And \u201cthe balance of comedy and horror is really important to him, and it\u2019s something we really dig,\u201d Letterman adds. \u201cIt\u2019s [about] finding that tone where it\u2019s a grounded world and people are very scared, but you can also have light, funny moments within it.\u201d<\/p>\n

These lighter moments are woven throughout the storyline, but there are plenty of more serious messages as well. \u201cGrief is a big part of this,\u201d Winston explains. \u201cI think all horror has bigger, deeper themes. Grief and loss and families dealing with that is at the core of this. It doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s not tons of fun, but that\u2019s the core of this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLast season, we leaned in pretty hard on \u2018careful what you wish for,\u2019 which is very classic\u00a0Goosebumps<\/em>, but this one is more about dealing with trauma and grief and letting go of that and facing up to it,\u201d Letterman says. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole tonal shift, which is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new season, like the first, is able to appeal to both adult fans who grew up with the series and newer, younger fans with its dual storylines. David Schwimmer and Ana Ortiz star as the main adults in this season, and they have \u201ca real, deep, meaningful storyline,\u201d Winston explains. On the other side are the teens and their problems, which are relatable to a younger demographic. There are also flashbacks to teens in 1994, and \u201cmaybe you read the books as a kid and remember being a kid in 1994,\u201d giving the series appeal across generations.<\/p>\n

Although the series is available on Disney+ and the books often follow pre-teen characters, the show\u2019s protagonists were \u201caged up to 17, 18, so they\u2019re on the cusp of adulthood, [which] allows you to tell a more mature character story,\u201d Letterman notes. \u201cThis season takes place over a summer. It feels very YA. It\u2019s relatable. We never pull our punches or pander down. We have a big adult audience that follows the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The previously mentioned humor woven in among the spooky plot points ensures that a younger demographic can still enjoy the series, too. \u201cAlways having the humor in our show helps everybody take a break and a breather,\u201d Winston says. \u201cI think it\u2019s why it might be easier if you do have a younger kid watching\u2014whether or not they\u2019re supposed to. [When] they\u2019re getting scared, there is going to be David Schwimmer coming in with a joke or our teens having a funny observation. That really helps, and that\u2019s what keeps it very\u00a0Goosebumps<\/em>.\u00a0Goosebumps<\/em>\u00a0always had that kind of tongue-in-cheek [humor], puns and different things going on that kept you from getting too scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwimmer and Ortiz are joined on-screen by a slew of up-and-coming actors, who made the casting process easy for those behind the scenes. \u201cI remember when we wrote up [character names] like \u2018Devin\u2019 and \u2018Cece\u2019 on a dry-erase board, and then all of a sudden there was somebody like Jayden Bartels,\u201d says Winston. \u201cYou\u2019re like, \u2018Oh my gosh, I just met Cece, even though we invented her!\u2019 With this case, this is what happened. [The cast] just really came together. They formed their own group and dynamics, and then we wrote toward that. Sam McCarthy and Jayden [who play Devin and Cece, respectively] have such a brother-sister relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis usually happens by episode three, [when] we\u2019ve gotten to know them,\u201d Letterman says. \u201cHilary and I are then like, OK, let\u2019s start writing toward our cast and how they behave. But Sam and Jayden bicker like brother and sister on- and off-screen. It\u2019s the most fascinating thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting in the chemistry read!\u201d Winston interjects.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom day one,\u201d Letterman affirms. \u201cWhat\u2019s on screen is it. That is the relationship. It\u2019s really funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

And unlike the first season when fans had to wait for a new episode each week, all episodes of season two are dropping at once on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10. Though this style of premiering doesn\u2019t necessarily make it any easier when writing and producing a program, \u201cwe feel good about it because it\u2019s a very binge-y show,\u201d Letterman says. \u201cThe storylines all fold, and we cliffhang every episode. There\u2019s an engine to each episode that drives you to the next. It\u2019s a page-turner, just like a book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston adds, \u201cIf somebody wants to stay up watching under the covers on their iPad just like people used to do with the\u00a0Goosebumps<\/em>\u00a0books, then we would be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston share details about the second season of Goosebumps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":28860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,21],"tags":[5434,10378,10377,10376],"class_list":["post-28859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-goosebumps","tag-goosebumps-the-vanishing","tag-hilary-winston","tag-rob-letterman","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nGoosebumps\u00a0Returns with Classic Humor & Grief Storyline - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goosebumps\u00a0Returns with Classic Humor & Grief Storyline - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston share details about the second season of Goosebumps.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-03T13:50:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-06T15:13:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/01\/Disney-GoosebumpsTheVanishing-0125.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/\",\"name\":\"Goosebumps\u00a0Returns with Classic Humor & Grief Storyline - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-03T13:50:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-06T15:13:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/goosebumps-returns-with-classic-humor-grief-storyline\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Goosebumps\u00a0Returns with Classic Humor & Grief Storyline\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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