Sunday 10 July 2011

Goosebumps

I've been reading Goosebumps recently. Weirdly enough, I'm now reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar which is a bit of a melancholic jump.

What got me reading Goosebumps though, a 90s series of books for kids that were meant to be a bit scary, was this blog. It's a funny look at the whole series. I like the bits at the end of each summary such as the Great Prose Alert. Weirdly enough the book I was fondest of as a kid- One Day at Horrorland- is the one the blogger is harshest on.

The blog hails Be Careful What You Wish For as the best in the series. I didn't read that one when I was younger, so ordered it from Amazon.

The prose is pretty clear, which I guess it should be for children. It has simple, weird scenarios- such as "What would you do if you were the last person in the world?". It got my imagination going, something which a few of the adult books I've read recently haven't managed to do.

Note: each of these posts will be under 200 words, kind of inspired by Twitter's use of a word limit.

Edit: I no longer follow the 200 word limit. I just think it made my posts almost confusing in their brevity... hm...

5 comments:

  1. I'll break my own 200 word rule this time to ask anyone who's reading this- what are your memories of Goosebumps? Ever tried to revisit them?

    Cheers,

    Jack

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  2. I like this blog already :)

    Nope, never tried to revisit them but I have fond memories of them. Dunno if you've had any lectures with Kevin McCarron but he has all sorts of theories and views on R.L. Stine. It's kind of surreal to be sitting in a lecture listening to a serious academic type talking about Goosebumps.

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  3. Hey - clicked on here over from GAF. Imposing a 200 word limit is admirable; trying to fit within that kind of limit would pretty much kill me ¬_¬

    As for Goosebumps, my Mum worked in a bookshop when I was little, so after school I'd always go and spend the couple of hours until she finished work by making my way through the entire Goosebumps collection, heh. Great times!

    The Choose Your Own Adventure ones were pretty good for the various unfortunate and grisly ways you could meet your end, but my favourites of the proper books were The Haunted Mask and Monster Blood; I remember trying to make my own Monster Blood for hours :D

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  4. Alex-

    Thanks for the comment. I'll be taught by Kevin McCarron next year for Literature and Addiction- perhaps I'll somehow bring up R.L. Stine! Which module did you have him for?


    persuasioncheck-

    Thanks. Yeah, the limit is tough but it's so I don't ramble too much. It feels nice having to cut words- as if I'm editing the post down to the best bits.

    Sounds like a fun childhood :) I remember the choose your own adventure ones- I always "cheated" and checked what the best way through the book was.

    Monster Blood recipe would be much appreciated, unless it's a trade secret :P

    I recommend this post: http://www.bloggerbeware.com/2008/01/03-monster-blood.html

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  5. I could show you how to make Monster Blood... but I'd have to kill you! (*Insert cheesy evil laugh*)

    Thanks for that link - that site's an entertaining read :D

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