Why All 62 Original Goosebumps Books in Order Still Give Us the Chills

R.L. Stine is basically the Stephen King of the playground. If you grew up in the 90s, those neon-dripping covers were everywhere—tucked into backpacks, traded under desks, and stacked high at Scholastic book fairs. Honestly, looking back at all 62 original Goosebumps books in order, it’s a bit of a miracle how one guy (and a team of very talented ghostwriters and editors) managed to churn out a nightmare every single month for years.

It started with a ghost in the attic and ended with a monster blood-soaked finale. In between? We got ventriloquist dummies with chips on their shoulders and lawn gnomes that definitely weren't just decorative. People still argue over which one is the scariest, but the real magic is in the sheer volume.

The "Original Series" ran from July 1992 to December 1997. That’s a breakneck pace. If you’re trying to track down every single one, you’re looking for a specific run of nostalgia that defined a generation’s fears.

The Early Days: Building a Horror Empire

It all kicked off with Welcome to Dead House. It's actually much darker than what the series eventually became. Think about it: a town full of zombies who need the blood of the living to stay "fresh"? That's heavy for a middle-grade book. Stine wasn't playing around.

1. Welcome to Dead House (July 1992)
2. Stay Out of the Basement (July 1992)
3. Monster Blood (September 1992)
4. Say Cheese and Die! (November 1992)

These first four set the blueprint. You had the "suburban gothic" feel. You had the twist endings. By the time we hit Stay Out of the Basement, kids were already wary of their dads spending too much time in the garage.

Then came the heavy hitters. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (Book 5) tapped into that classic Universal Monsters vibe. But Let's Get Invisible! (Book 6) was different. It dealt with the psychological fear of literally fading away. It’s one of those stories that lingers because it’s not just about a monster under the bed; it’s about losing your identity.

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The Middle Years: When Slappy Took Over

If you ask a random person on the street to name a Goosebumps character, they’re saying Slappy. Night of the Living Dummy (Book 7) introduced the world to the wooden menace, though surprisingly, Slappy wasn't even the main villain in that first appearance. His brother Mr. Wood took the heat. Slappy didn't truly become the face of the franchise until the sequels.

The Girl Who Cried Monster (Book 8) and Welcome to Camp Nightmare (Book 9) proved Stine could do high-concept twists. Camp Nightmare especially—that ending where it turns out they're on another planet? Mind-blown.

8. The Girl Who Cried Monster (May 1993)
9. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (July 1993)
10. The Ghost Next Door (August 1993)

The Ghost Next Door is arguably the best-written book in the entire series. It’s melancholic. It’s sad. It treats the reader like an adult. Hannah’s realization that she’s the one who’s dead is a genuine "Sixth Sense" moment years before M. Night Shyamalan did it.

Then we hit the double digits. The Haunted Mask (Book 11) is the ultimate Halloween story. Carly Beth’s struggle to remove that skin-tight, symbol-of-unleashed-rage mask is visceral.

12. Be Careful What You Wish For... (October 1993)
13. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (November 1993)
14. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (December 1993)
15. You Can't Scare Me! (January 1994)
16. One Day at HorrorLand (February 1994)

One Day at HorrorLand changed the game. It expanded the world. It wasn't just a house or a basement anymore; it was an entire theme park of terror. This book is a pillar of the 62 original Goosebumps books in order because it showed the brand could be a "world," not just a collection of one-offs.

The Mid-Series Slump and Weirdness

Somewhere around Book 20, things got weird. Not "scary" weird, just "what is happening" weird. The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight (Book 20) was a return to form with great atmosphere, but then we got Go Eat Worms! (Book 21).

Let’s be real. Nobody was actually scared of worms. It was gross, sure. But scary? Not really.

22. Ghost Beach (August 1994)
23. Return of the Mummy (September 1994)
24. Phantom of the Auditorium (October 1994)
25. Attack of the Mutant (November 1994)
26. My Hairiest Adventure (December 1994)

Attack of the Mutant was Stine’s love letter to comic books. It felt different—more colorful, more frantic. My Hairiest Adventure is basically a weird puberty metaphor involving dogs. It’s one of those books that fans either love for the absurdity or hate for the logic gaps.

By the time A Night in Terror Tower (Book 27) and The Cuckoo Clock of Doom (Book 28) dropped, the series was at its commercial peak. The TV show was starting. The merchandise was everywhere. The Cuckoo Clock of Doom is particularly cruel—the protagonist accidentally un-exists his sister. That’s dark stuff for a kids' book.

The Late 30s and 40s: High Concepts

As we move through the list of all 62 original Goosebumps books in order, we see Stine (and his collaborators) leaning into more sci-fi elements.

30. It Came from Beneath the Sink! (April 1995)
31. Night of the Living Dummy II (May 1995)
32. The Barking Ghost (June 1995)
33. The Horror at Camp Jellyjam (July 1995)
34. Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes (August 1995)

The Horror at Camp Jellyjam is terrifying. A giant purple blob named King Jellyjam that smells like sweat and forces children to clean him? That’s some folk-horror level imagery right there.

Then came A Shocker on Shock Street (Book 35) and The Haunted Mask II (Book 36). The sequels were starting to pile up because Scholastic knew what sold. If it had a mask or a dummy on it, it was going to hit the bestseller list.

37. The Headless Ghost (September 1995)
38. The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena (October 1995)
39. How I Got My Shrunken Head (January 1996)
40. Night of the Living Dummy III (February 1996)
41. Bad Hare Day (March 1996)
42. Egg Monsters from Mars (April 1996)

Bad Hare Day and Egg Monsters from Mars are often cited by fans as the point where the "horror" started to feel a bit more like "slapstick." But then The Beast from the East (Book 43) came along with its bizarre, life-or-death game of tag in a strange forest, and the tension was back.

The Home Stretch: Ending the Original Run

The final twenty books are a mixed bag. You have gems and you have... Chicken Chicken.

44. Say Cheese and Die - Again! (June 1996)
45. Ghost Camp (July 1996)
46. How to Kill a Monster (August 1996)
47. Legend of the Lost Legend (September 1996)
48. Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns (October 1996)
49. Vampire Breath (November 1996)
50. Calling All Creeps! (December 1996)

Calling All Creeps! has one of the most cynical endings in the series. The "hero" decides that since everyone thinks he's a monster anyway, he might as well actually become their leader and take over. No moral lesson. Just pure, petty revenge.

The 50s brought us:
51. Beware, the Snowman (January 1997)
52. How I Learned to Fly (February 1997)
53. Chicken Chicken (March 1997)
54. Don't Go to Sleep! (April 1997)
55. The Blob That Ate Everyone (May 1997)
56. The Curse of Camp Cold Lake (June 1997)

The Curse of Camp Cold Lake is famous primarily for its cover art—a terrifying skeletal ghost with glowing eyes peeking out of the water. It’s widely considered one of Tim Jacobus's best illustrations. The story itself is surprisingly grim, dealing with a girl who tries to fake her own drowning to get attention, only to be stalked by a real ghost who wants a "buddy" in the afterlife.

Finally, we reach the end of the line:
57. My Best Friend Is Invisible (July 1997)
58. Deep Trouble II (August 1997)
59. The Haunted School (September 1997)
60. Werewolf Skin (October 1997)
61. I Live in Your Basement! (November 1997)
62. Monster Blood IV (December 1997)

The Haunted School (Book 59) is a standout late-series entry. The "Grey World" is a genuinely eerie concept—a place where color and sound are drained away.

Then there’s I Live in Your Basement! (Book 61). This book is a fever dream. It’s a series of "waking up from a dream" loops that involve inside-out people and projectile vomiting. It’s easily the most surreal thing Stine ever put his name on.

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And then, with Monster Blood IV, it just... stopped. The original series was over, making way for Goosebumps Series 2000.

Why the Order Matters for Collectors

If you're hunting for these today, condition is everything. But also, certain books are rarer than others. The later titles—roughly 55 through 62—had smaller print runs. As the series' popularity began to slightly dip and kids moved on to other things, fewer copies were produced.

Finding a first-edition Monster Blood IV or I Live in Your Basement! in good shape is significantly harder than finding Monster Blood I.

Spotting a True Original

• The Price Tag: Original 90s copies usually have a price around $2.95 or $3.25 on the cover.
• The Covers: They feature the classic "Goosebumps" font with a raised, embossed feel. If it's flat, it might be a later reprint.
• The Inserts: Many original copies came with trading cards or bookmarks. Finding these intact increases the value exponentially.

The Legacy of the 62

What most people get wrong about Goosebumps is that they think it's just "kids' stuff." But if you look at the themes across the 62 original Goosebumps books in order, you see a deep-seated exploration of childhood anxiety.

The fear of not being believed (The Girl Who Cried Monster).
The fear of moving to a new place (Welcome to Dead House).
The fear of your own body changing (My Hairiest Adventure).

Stine tapped into the fact that being a kid is kind of terrifying. You have no power. You have to do what adults say. And sometimes, the adults are wrong—or worse, they're the ones being replaced by plant clones.

Honestly, the series shouldn't have worked as well as it did. The prose is simple. The twists are often predictable. But the atmosphere? That’s something you can’t fake. Tim Jacobus’s art played a massive role, too. Without those vibrant, creepy covers, would we still be talking about these books thirty years later? Maybe not.

How to Revisit the Series Today

If you want to dive back in, don't just go for the "Best Of" lists. Try reading them in chunks.

• The Camp Trilogy: Read Welcome to Camp Nightmare, The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, and The Curse of Camp Cold Lake back-to-back. It’s a wild ride through summer vacation tropes.
• The Urban Legends: Read The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and The Headless Ghost for that classic spooky Americana feel.

If you’re a collector, check local thrift stores and library sales before hitting eBay. You’d be surprised how many of these are still sitting in boxes in people's attics, waiting to give someone else "the chills."

The best way to experience them now is to acknowledge the campiness but respect the craft. It’s hard to keep kids reading. It’s even harder to keep them scared. R.L. Stine managed to do both for 62 straight months, and that’s a feat that hasn't really been matched since.

To start your own collection or complete a set, focus on finding the "Big Three" of rarity: The Haunted School, I Live in Your Basement!, and Monster Blood IV. Once you have those, the rest of the 62 usually fall into place fairly easily. Check for the "Goosebumps" fan community "collector checklists" to track which printings you have, as some variants (like those with "Special Edition" stickers) are highly prized by completionists.