THE STORIES ARE ALIVE.

Teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette), who’s just moved together with his mom to a small town in Delaware, learns that there are strange things going on in his neighbor’s house.

A nifty way to adapt R.L. Stine’s horror stories for kids, turning the author himself into a protective father who desperately tries to keep the creatures he invented locked inside his books. Total mayhem erupts when they do escape in this wild Gremlins-style comedy that only loses some of its touch in the effects-laden climax.

Fun, with a good cast and fear of loneliness as a relatable theme.

2015-U.S. 103 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Rob Letterman. Story: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski. Novels: R.L. Stine. Cast: Jack Black (R.L. Stine), Dylan Minnette (Zach Cooper), Odeya Rush (Hannah Fairchild), Ryan Lee, Amy Ryan, Jillian Bell. 

Trivia: Black also provides voices for a couple of ”Goosebumps” creatures. Kumail Nanjiani appears in an alternative opening scene. The books were originally adapted as an anthology series, Goosebumps (1995-1998). George A. Romero made a first attempt to adapt one of them as a movie. Followed by Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) and another TV series, Goosebumps (2023-2025).