Give Yourself Goosebumps

Series: Goosebumps

Author: R. L. Stine

R. L. Stine was a great children's author. He knew exactly what his target readers wanted, and we got it. 

This is not a book review. This is just a reminiscent piece about a book that dominated a lot of my childhood reading in school. I was never a fan of Goosebumps for a long time. What was supposed to be a children's horror story in the series, was at the most just disgusting, not at all one bit scary. But, the boys in my class loved it. There was set in my class that looked down upon the people who read Famous Five instead of Goosebumps (Blyton is better any day, duh, come on, whom were they kidding)! But, Goosebumps was one of the first books that I came across where you could maneuver the story. Yes, nothing but the famous Give Yourself Goosebumps series. 

I came across an article on Brainpickings that reminded me of this, and hence the post. Have to admit, I enjoyed the Give Yourself Goosebumps series like no other. We would try and take the stories as dangerously as possible, and try not to get killed in the end. They were called game books. Sitting there, and making that choice at the bottom of the page as to which page to proceed next, I swear we felt like we were making a top secretive, important billion-dollar decision that the world depended on. 

Goosebumps was a weird series. But the Give Yourself Goosebumps series was plain fun. I rarely came across other books that incorporated such a style. It was new, fun and different. 

Also, thinking back now, that must have been one nice challenge to write a book like. Where any page that your reader chose across the book, they had a logical flow and conclusion. If I attempted something of the sort, it would be ambitious. R. L. Stine was a great children's author. He knew exactly what his target readers wanted, and we got it. 

Rushing through those corridors leading to the library to grab the most wanted Give Yourself Goosebumps series book is still a fond memory!