In my opinion the goosebumps books would have never been successful without the american cover art. everyone remembers the covers and that was how i decided which books to read as a kid.
@NP-gb5su True, true. Save for “Coo Coo Clock of Doom” where the kid get progressively younger / helpless as the book goes on and the reader never knows just how much worse it’ll be come the next chapter. Also concept-wise “Chicken Chicken” because of the body horror of slowly turning into an animal over the course of a few days and trying to hide it.
The US cover art style does feel so much more atmospheric and haunting. A lot of the UK covers look more familiar from my library as a kid so someone must have donated UK versions cause I am in California. The UK art style feels more kid like and silly of the US versions. This was actually very interesting to watch and look through them side by side.
Looking at the UK covers, it looks like the artist ask "What is the monster, and what is the twist ending?". A good amount of them don't spoil anything, but then we have Piano Lessons Can Be Murder and Be Careful What You Wish For... which spoil the endings. There's also Go Eat Worms!, which is taken from a random chapter where Todd puts worms in his sister's paper-mâché bird's beak.
The bird on the Go Eat Worms UK cover I'm 99% sure is the papier-mâché bird model that the sister in that book makes for a science fair that the main character sabotages by filling with worms.
I tried to read the Goosebumps books as a kid and I thought they were so ridiculous, but I absolutely LOVED sitting at the library and looking at all the covers, so this was the video for me
Welcome to Dead House is my absolute favorite book and has my favorite cover. The cover is actually what drew me into reading Goosebumps books when I was pretty young at maybe 7 or 8. As an adult, it's still top tier.
I honestly think that the only thing that took down some of the UK covers was the slime. It just makes the cover look almost fun with the bright pink and blue slime
In my opinion, there's more to it than that. The UK covers have goofy depictions of people, which seem out of place when compared to their American cover counterparts and don't do anything to convey the spooky atmosphere the books were going for. The American covers also depict scenes with background details. The UK covers with the one or two objects/people surrounded by slime just come across as half assed in comparison.
"I love the legitmatly scary goosebumps covers" in that case i recommend you rank eview the koren goosebumps covers...trust me some of those covers look more like junji ito for kids rather then goosebumps covers....am i just suggesting this because i love the koren covers and genuinly sad no one on youtube does a "all 62 koren goosebumps covers" kind of video but there are tons on the uk and french covers? yes....but still....i think you'd enjoy it.
I just left a comment earlier today on your video reviewing all 62 Goosebumps books as I was shocked by the (UK) covers. Here in Australia we got the US Covers and I'm so glad we did. If we got the UK covers I would never have read the books. The UK covers are too comical/silly and far too colourful for a horror series. I loved seeing the comparison though and it brought me back to my childhood/primary school days where Goosebumps were all the rage and a must have purchase from our monthly school bookclub 😁
This is awesome! I’m so happy I stumbled upon your page. I too also really started enjoying reading during the 90s with the Goosebumps series. I vividly remember when we had scholastic book fairs at school and everyone would run around with their $10 ready to pick out their fav Goosebumps. One of my favorite kind absolutely is the rare books that let you choose your own ending. This is where my love for reading started and I’m so happy to find someone else who equates these books with their childhood. Did you also have the Goosebumps series available in the UK? If not I’m sure you’ve seen it online. This just made my day, thank you!
Fantastic video man ! Loving these goosebumps series vids, shame the last series didn’t work out so much for you. One thing I’ve learned from these videos is that R.L Stine is definitely a size queen, confirmed haha.
I like the UK covers, I love the repeated theme with the bubbles around them and how fun and colourful they are. The covers give me a nice nostalgic feeling looking at them. I actually find the covers on some of the US ones a bit much for kids and dunno if I'd have felt drawn in my the straight 'spooky' artwork of those. I liked the unique feel of the UK ones. Really wish we knew the artist(s)!
I also grew up with these books in the UK and was today yrs old when I learnt that our covers were different we were really robbed on some of them lol. Did you ever read shivers I remember reading most of those too they felt pretty similar to goosebumps
As a kid that was somewhat afraid of the dark/something happening to me in my sleep, the cover for Don't Go To Sleep freaked me the fuck out to a point I could barely look at it at risk of getting nightmares.
Gavin have you done a review of the films and how they compare to the books? I’d love to see that. Maybe we could also watch the films for one of the patreon screenings too? 🧟♀️
Will you be reading the Give yourself Goosebumps series? I can’t even remember which goosebumps book sets you said you had because there are SO many! Those came out between 95-00.
I collected a few of them but not many, as not all the books were released in the UK, but I am going to try and get my hands on them all (this may be a challenge).
Jellyjam in the hate! woooow lol. I think stay out of the basement has to be my fav, it's what I picture when I think about the series. Or say cheese and die.
There should have been another tier to separate "good enough" from "disappointing but not horrible" Also, I share your disdain for the Monster Blood series, but II's cover with Cuddles is one of the most iconic images of the series and Cuddles is just as much of a series mascot as Slappy or Haunted Mask.
Well, the American cover of Go Eat Worms looks great with the color contrast of yellow and purple. Also, it matches a scene in the book, in which Todd takes out his math homework during class and finds purple worms wiggling all over it. Considering that the covers tend to be dishonest from time to time, this was actually truthful.
9:12 It is actually Mr. Wood in the cover because of the ginger hair, compare to the other dummy in the 2nd book cover, it is more of a brown which looks more like Slappy, plus he is the main focus in the 2nd book compare to his first appearance
Hey I was just wondering what about some other of the covers that I haven’t seen you mentioning such as - “Welcome to the wicked wax museum”? Or “The curse of the creeping coffin”, “Tick Tock you’re dead”, “The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek”, “The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock”, “Attack of the Beastly Babysitter”, “Under the Magician's Spell”, and there were many more I think… I just remembered that when was around 8 year old I used to go to the library straight to the alley that these books were kept in and curiously examining and comparing each of their covers and it used to terrify me to death because I was a really sensitive yet curious kid with morbid curiosity so at the same time it intrigued me so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about them plus having anxiety and intrusive thoughts for a while haha 😅
All the ones you mentioned are “Give Yourself Goosebumps” books while this video is just about the original “Goosebumps” series, not the spin-offs or sequel series
@@GavinReadsItAll Ohh I see, I got a little confused because I guess they were mixed on the shelf... Thank you for clarifying! :) (Oh and by the way I would really love to see a video of you talking about these books as well)
I am one of those people who loves Horror at Camp Jellyjam and your slander hurts lmao. I am glad you see the supremacy of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake. Underrated Goosebumps book, but that cover is so freaking cool.
I'm surprised how much I agree with your ranking, I suppose that means you're right as you said! However, I feel that the way the cover relates to the story is important, so I'm noting my difference of opinion in the comments: - Say Cheese and Die (US) I'd say is better than Say Cheese and Die Again, because the barbecue shown is the one from Greg's dream in the book. You can really get goosebumps as an adult when you get to that part after seeing the cover a few times! - Go Eat Worms (UK) deserves more credit because that's the science fair bird from the book! I know it's not scary, but at least there's a story to it :) - The Girl who Cried Monster (US) is maybe the worst cover for such a bad representation of Mr. Mortman. - Monster Blood (UK) is one of my favourites because of how the trashy illustration fits the story so well. The US cover tries to make it look serious, which will inevitably disappoint the curious reader.
I think The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb UK edition looks like a TMNT dressed up as a mummy and got caught up in the ectoplasm from Ghostbusters 2 but that could just be me.
If you mean a financial investment, the short answer is "no." Goosebumps was hugely popular, so many copies were printed and most of the series is still easy to pick up on ebay. Many Goosebumps books are also currently available in newer reprint editions and as Kindle ebooks, which reduces demand for the originals.
Monster blood was my worse goose umps books. I loved the slime on goosebumps but I think because it brings back memories because I live in the UK and how I remember them. However some of the covers are so bad I do prefer the American versions.
I've binged your Goosebumps series and unlocked so many memories. I saw you ordered Fear Street! You should look into Shivers by M.D. Spencer. Some of these were so eerily messed up!
You need to watch a video by Kid Leaves Stoop called "The Lost Goosebumb Books". He talks about the cover art and all the stories that were never published for one reason or another, but that we know of because the art for them was made or because the title was talked about. He got a lot of info from a book called "The Art of Goosebumps", which is exactly what it sounds like. Here’s the link to the video but you can also search for it if you find random links scary 😂 ua-cam.com/video/nTXG1qDbOtA/v-deo.html
Take a shot every time I say "Goosebumps" in the intro
19… phew 😮💨
Aaaand now I’m drunk 🥳🤪
Does Earl Grey count?
My poor liver 😄
I need goosebumps
In my opinion the goosebumps books would have never been successful without the american cover art. everyone remembers the covers and that was how i decided which books to read as a kid.
I whole-heartedly agree!
Yeah the cover was and is so important because let’s not lie to ourselves, the story wasnt that good to be honest
@@NP-gb5su some were
@NP-gb5su True, true. Save for “Coo Coo Clock of Doom” where the kid get progressively younger / helpless as the book goes on and the reader never knows just how much worse it’ll be come the next chapter. Also concept-wise “Chicken Chicken” because of the body horror of slowly turning into an animal over the course of a few days and trying to hide it.
The UK covers look like the slapstick version of the US ones
The US cover art style does feel so much more atmospheric and haunting. A lot of the UK covers look more familiar from my library as a kid so someone must have donated UK versions cause I am in California. The UK art style feels more kid like and silly of the US versions. This was actually very interesting to watch and look through them side by side.
To this day, Slappy still scares me
The haunted mask UK cover looks less threatening than the USA cover, I would know because i'm british and read the books 💀
Fun fact:
Tim Jacobus HATES the cover of Night in Terror Tower (apparently they rushed it).
Oh no way!! I love it!! I find the executioner so sinister and scary. Would love to know how he would have done the cover if he had more time
As an Australian, most of our editions are UK editions, however, Goosebumps were all the US. SOOOO glad they were.
I know. My childhood would have been ruined if they didn't break that rule with this one series. Perhaps my life.
Missed opportunity to call the bottom row R. L. Stain on humanity.
Jkjk, I'm gonna go enjoy the rest of the video now.
Looking at the UK covers, it looks like the artist ask "What is the monster, and what is the twist ending?". A good amount of them don't spoil anything, but then we have Piano Lessons Can Be Murder and Be Careful What You Wish For... which spoil the endings. There's also Go Eat Worms!, which is taken from a random chapter where Todd puts worms in his sister's paper-mâché bird's beak.
The bird on the Go Eat Worms UK cover I'm 99% sure is the papier-mâché bird model that the sister in that book makes for a science fair that the main character sabotages by filling with worms.
Sign all correspondences with “Gavin, Goosebumps expert”
He totally should
I tried to read the Goosebumps books as a kid and I thought they were so ridiculous, but I absolutely LOVED sitting at the library and looking at all the covers, so this was the video for me
The US It Came From Beneath the Sink cover is so good it made the book extra disappointing. Like imagine seeing those eyes and then "it's a sponge."
Welcome to Dead House is my absolute favorite book and has my favorite cover. The cover is actually what drew me into reading Goosebumps books when I was pretty young at maybe 7 or 8. As an adult, it's still top tier.
I am glad you decided to put The Curse of Camp Cold Lake in the top tier, it’s a true gem that I think some people forget about at times.
I'd had no idea what Goosebumps was before I watched Gavin's videos. I ate that up. I am so invested in this journey
I love your long videos btw. you’re so soothing and just amazing! Thank you for the videos!!
I honestly think that the only thing that took down some of the UK covers was the slime. It just makes the cover look almost fun with the bright pink and blue slime
In my opinion, there's more to it than that. The UK covers have goofy depictions of people, which seem out of place when compared to their American cover counterparts and don't do anything to convey the spooky atmosphere the books were going for. The American covers also depict scenes with background details. The UK covers with the one or two objects/people surrounded by slime just come across as half assed in comparison.
Love the video !! The U.S covers look amazing; but since I'm French the french ones will always have a special place in my heart :')
"I love the legitmatly scary goosebumps covers" in that case i recommend
you rank
eview the koren goosebumps covers...trust me some of those covers look more like junji ito for kids rather then goosebumps covers....am i just suggesting this because i love the koren covers and genuinly sad no one on youtube does a "all 62 koren goosebumps covers" kind of video but there are tons on the uk and french covers? yes....but still....i think you'd enjoy it.
I just left a comment earlier today on your video reviewing all 62 Goosebumps books as I was shocked by the (UK) covers.
Here in Australia we got the US Covers and I'm so glad we did. If we got the UK covers I would never have read the books. The UK covers are too comical/silly and far too colourful for a horror series.
I loved seeing the comparison though and it brought me back to my childhood/primary school days where Goosebumps were all the rage and a must have purchase from our monthly school bookclub 😁
Year 5. 1994. Bookclub box comes in. Goosebumps books taken out. Slick, rippled covers. Everyone in awe. A magical moment.
This is awesome! I’m so happy I stumbled upon your page. I too also really started enjoying reading during the 90s with the Goosebumps series. I vividly remember when we had scholastic book fairs at school and everyone would run around with their $10 ready to pick out their fav Goosebumps. One of my favorite kind absolutely is the rare books that let you choose your own ending. This is where my love for reading started and I’m so happy to find someone else who equates these books with their childhood. Did you also have the Goosebumps series available in the UK? If not I’m sure you’ve seen it online. This just made my day, thank you!
I'm using this video to decide which cover I'm going to get custom earrings made from 😅
One Day at Horrorland is my favorite episode, second favorite GB book, and my favorite cover. I even have it on a TShirt LOL
Fantastic video man ! Loving these goosebumps series vids, shame the last series didn’t work out so much for you. One thing I’ve learned from these videos is that R.L Stine is definitely a size queen, confirmed haha.
Me for the first 3 minutes looking at your’e 😬🙃😬🙃😬
Me when gav realised and self corrected 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
I like the UK covers, I love the repeated theme with the bubbles around them and how fun and colourful they are. The covers give me a nice nostalgic feeling looking at them. I actually find the covers on some of the US ones a bit much for kids and dunno if I'd have felt drawn in my the straight 'spooky' artwork of those. I liked the unique feel of the UK ones. Really wish we knew the artist(s)!
Great video/idea.
I also grew up with these books in the UK and was today yrs old when I learnt that our covers were different we were really robbed on some of them lol. Did you ever read shivers I remember reading most of those too they felt pretty similar to goosebumps
As a kid that was somewhat afraid of the dark/something happening to me in my sleep, the cover for Don't Go To Sleep freaked me the fuck out to a point I could barely look at it at risk of getting nightmares.
Gavin have you done a review of the films and how they compare to the books? I’d love to see that.
Maybe we could also watch the films for one of the patreon screenings too? 🧟♀️
I could swear I had a book in a special cover... That was like a see through plastic dust cover but with green slime in it you could squish around
Will you be reading the Give yourself Goosebumps series? I can’t even remember which goosebumps book sets you said you had because there are SO many! Those came out between 95-00.
I collected a few of them but not many, as not all the books were released in the UK, but I am going to try and get my hands on them all (this may be a challenge).
Jellyjam in the hate! woooow lol. I think stay out of the basement has to be my fav, it's what I picture when I think about the series. Or say cheese and die.
There should have been another tier to separate "good enough" from "disappointing but not horrible"
Also, I share your disdain for the Monster Blood series, but II's cover with Cuddles is one of the most iconic images of the series and Cuddles is just as much of a series mascot as Slappy or Haunted Mask.
Well, the American cover of Go Eat Worms looks great with the color contrast of yellow and purple. Also, it matches a scene in the book, in which Todd takes out his math homework during class and finds purple worms wiggling all over it. Considering that the covers tend to be dishonest from time to time, this was actually truthful.
I almost clicked off after you did not put “You cant scare me “ cover on rl slay, it is so iconic. I agree with everything else
I think that UK and US versions are not comparable, US version are so much better, they should be in 2 different videos imo
Would love to see you do this for the original point horror books too. I remember so many of these colours from my younger reading years.
I'm sorry but Night of the Living Dummy deserved to be in the Slay tier!! It was my favorite as a kid. Those colors are just 👌
I always liked the cuccu clock of doom US cover even though it isn't scary,just i like the colors.
Hehhehe nostalgia!! I used to love the mask and living dummy covers when I was a kid
Wow, did they really release that 'stay out of the basement' cover in the UK? You poor guys. The covers were half the fun.
9:12 It is actually Mr. Wood in the cover because of the ginger hair, compare to the other dummy in the 2nd book cover, it is more of a brown which looks more like Slappy, plus he is the main focus in the 2nd book compare to his first appearance
Hey I was just wondering what about some other of the covers that I haven’t seen you mentioning such as - “Welcome to the wicked wax museum”? Or “The curse of the creeping coffin”, “Tick Tock you’re dead”, “The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek”, “The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock”, “Attack of the Beastly Babysitter”, “Under the Magician's Spell”, and there were many more I think… I just remembered that when was around 8 year old I used to go to the library straight to the alley that these books were kept in and curiously examining and comparing each of their covers and it used to terrify me to death because I was a really sensitive yet curious kid with morbid curiosity so at the same time it intrigued me so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about them plus having anxiety and intrusive thoughts for a while haha 😅
All the ones you mentioned are “Give Yourself Goosebumps” books while this video is just about the original “Goosebumps” series, not the spin-offs or sequel series
@@GavinReadsItAll Ohh I see, I got a little confused because I guess they were mixed on the shelf... Thank you for clarifying! :)
(Oh and by the way I would really love to see a video of you talking about these books as well)
I’ll be so real I completely forgot they made other covers for the UK books 😳😳😳
I am one of those people who loves Horror at Camp Jellyjam and your slander hurts lmao. I am glad you see the supremacy of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake. Underrated Goosebumps book, but that cover is so freaking cool.
You should do this for 2000 or horrorland and hall of horrors
I'm surprised how much I agree with your ranking, I suppose that means you're right as you said! However, I feel that the way the cover relates to the story is important, so I'm noting my difference of opinion in the comments:
- Say Cheese and Die (US) I'd say is better than Say Cheese and Die Again, because the barbecue shown is the one from Greg's dream in the book. You can really get goosebumps as an adult when you get to that part after seeing the cover a few times!
- Go Eat Worms (UK) deserves more credit because that's the science fair bird from the book! I know it's not scary, but at least there's a story to it :)
- The Girl who Cried Monster (US) is maybe the worst cover for such a bad representation of Mr. Mortman.
- Monster Blood (UK) is one of my favourites because of how the trashy illustration fits the story so well. The US cover tries to make it look serious, which will inevitably disappoint the curious reader.
i think my favourite uk cover would be deep trouble
Not RL Stine being a menace 💀💀💀💀
I think The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb UK edition looks like a TMNT dressed up as a mummy and got caught up in the ectoplasm from Ghostbusters 2 but that could just be me.
I am pretty sure Jacobus didn't do the "Be careful what you wish for" cover either it definitely looks different to me anyway
im gonna say this and you cant stop me
some of these look like yu gi oh cards
Be Careful What You Wish For was another cover not drawn by Jacobus, instead being handled by Stanislaw Fernandes
wait, it's just me or the mask in the cover of u.k. haunted mask looks a lot like a boglin?
I was only used to seeing the US version of the covers and omg I never realised how bad the UK ones are lmao
Bro putting a shocker on shock street at mediocre is a crime, but I can see why you would put that there
Same with calling all creeps
Goosebumps books
Are the GB books a good investment (the originals)?? Also, are the stories all different or similar? Anyone can chime in :) Thanks
If you mean a financial investment, the short answer is "no." Goosebumps was hugely popular, so many copies were printed and most of the series is still easy to pick up on ebay. Many Goosebumps books are also currently available in newer reprint editions and as Kindle ebooks, which reduces demand for the originals.
The UK ones really are terrible 😅
Monster blood was my worse goose umps books.
I loved the slime on goosebumps but I think because it brings back memories because I live in the UK and how I remember them. However some of the covers are so bad I do prefer the American versions.
goosebumps is poggers🤑
I've binged your Goosebumps series and unlocked so many memories. I saw you ordered Fear Street! You should look into Shivers by M.D. Spencer. Some of these were so eerily messed up!
You need to watch a video by Kid Leaves Stoop called "The Lost Goosebumb Books". He talks about the cover art and all the stories that were never published for one reason or another, but that we know of because the art for them was made or because the title was talked about. He got a lot of info from a book called "The Art of Goosebumps", which is exactly what it sounds like. Here’s the link to the video but you can also search for it if you find random links scary 😂 ua-cam.com/video/nTXG1qDbOtA/v-deo.html
Clearly UA-cam recommended it to me because of you, since I’ve never read a Goosebumps book in my life, so it’s only fair that you watch it as well
I clicked so fast!
The UK likes slime
We have "r.l stine obsessed with things being bigger" sounds like my gf
✨❤️✨
IMO the Curse of Camp Cold Lake is very mediocre but that cover is amazing.
oh thank god you fixed the spelling lollll
👻⛄🐺🦇
346 like
Jeez, the UK covers are wack.
Tim Jacobus also didn’t do the Be Careful What You Wish For cover.