If you grew up in the late 90s or 2000s, you have probably read a “Goosebumps” book or seen one of the television adaptations. If you were like me, you went through a phase where you thought “Goosebumps” was the peak of horror. I remember telling my brother at one point that the intro music to the series was the creepiest music to ever be made. I was in a weird period where I appreciated scary things, but traditional horror was too scary. That made anything R.L Stine created perfect for me. I watched a two-part episode of the 1995 “Goosebumps” series for this post. It was definitely a nostalgic experience.
The episode I watched was “The Werewolf of Fever Swamp.” The basis is a married pair of scientists moving to a swamp area with their kids for a study they are doing. This study is to see how deer adapt to this new environment. Now I know this is a petty thing to be annoyed about, but my biggest critique of the show is that some things were just plain wrong. One, deer live in swamps naturally. Two, they just weren’t in a swamp. I have been in the forests of the American northeast enough to recognize that the swamp was just a forest with some fake Spanish moss strewn about. Like I said, petty.
Other than that, it was surprisingly not that bad. It definitely wasn’t scary, but then again, I’m not the main audience. There were a lot of cliches and archetypal characters, but it wasn’t completely predictable or boring. There was actually a plot twist that managed to surprise me! Though I admit, some things were very predictable to the point that even young me would have seen it coming. They weren’t horrible actors, especially the kids. I have seen a lot of horror movies and shows in my day, and I have to say this was far from the worst.
Most of the characters filled archetypes, and that wasn’t necessarily a problem. The older sister was social and always annoyed with her little brother. The parents were skeptical and just didn’t understand. Their son met a local boy who welcomed him to the community and showed him around. The only problem that I had with the archetypes was with the hermit character. Everyone assumed the mentally ill homeless man was the werewolf. I know this is an older show, but similar tropes still happen in film and literature today. The town outcast isn’t to be trusted and mental health issues are villainized. I know it isn’t outrightly ableist or anything like that, but I think the underlying message is still there. Think about how many horror movies have a mentally or physically disabled person as the villain or “monster.” As someone who has struggled with mental health most of my life, I find it just annoying.
But I digress, the episode exceeded my expectations. I thought it was going to be boring and poor quality, but I was pleasantly surprised. I am just being nitpicky because I honestly can’t find much to critique.