Culture Goosebumps Author R.L. Stine Rewriting Series for Sensitivity Ahead of Reprinting

Comicbook.com (Archive) - March 5, 2023
by, Nicole Drum

Goosebumps is the latest franchise to undergo changes for sensitivity ahead of reprinting. According to The Sunday Times (via Deadline), author R.L. Stine has edited more than a dozen of his Goosebumps books to change references to mental health, weight, or ethnicity. According to the report, the novels have undergone more than 100 edits. Those edits include references to a character being "cheerful" rather than "plump", changing "crazy" to "silly", and completely removing references to villains making victims "slaves.

The report also lists some examples from specific titles. Notably, the reissue of 1998's Bride of the Living Dummy changes the ventriloquist dummy from knocking a girl unconscious using a "love tap" to a magic spell instead while the 1996 book Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns changes the description of one character, Lee, from being like "the rappers on MTV videos" to "tall and good-looking, with brown skin, dark brown eyes and a great, warm smile. He sort of struts when he walks and acts real cool."

Goosebumps is just the latest series to get sensitivity revisions. Earlier this month, it was announced that several of the books in the James Bond library will be edited to remove racist content for upcoming reprints and will also include a disclaimer noting that "This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set."

In the U.K. Roald Dahl's works also are being republished with changes to characters' physical appearances, omissions to the text, or the inclusion of entirely new lines not written by Dahl so that the books can, as the publisher noted, "continue to be enjoyed by all today." The primary difference between the Dahl and Bond edits is that Stine is the original author of the Goosebumps books and is doing the edits himself.

Goosebumps is a series of children's horror fiction that first debuted in 1992 with the novel, Welcome to Dead House. Since then, the series has sold more than 400 million books worldwide and is the second best-selling book series in history after J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. The series has spawned various spin-off series, a television series, and even feature films.

What do you think about Stine editing the Goosebumps series? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

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The willingness of R.L. Stine editing his own works may be exaggerated, as this story is developing:

credit to @Jonah Hill poster for this image on page 4

@Toolbox also found an article of the author's rebuttal, page 4:

Goosebumps author sets record straight on historic edits​

The author of the famed Goosebumps series has been accused of bowing to “woke culture” after it emerged some of his hit children’s books have been “sanitised”.

Last week, Britain’s Times newspaper revealed some of RL Stine’s books had been “sanitised”, to use more inclusive language and change or omit phrases related to “mental health, weight or ethnicity”.
“Writer’s self-censoring includes changing ‘plump’ to ‘cheerful’ and ‘crazy’ to ‘silly’,” The Times reported.

It came days after the controversy over a publisher’s planned edits to some of Roald Dahl best-known books.

Other media outlets seized on the story, implying Stine was involved in the Goosebumps revisions. But that wasn’t the case, according to the author himself
Responding to outraged fans on social media, Stine has said repeatedly that the reports are wrong.

“This story is false. I have never changed a word in a Goosebumps book,” he said on Tuesday in response to a fan who pleaded with him to leave the books alone.
In another tweet, he insisted that any proposed edits had “never” been shown to him.

The Times did reference several changes to Goosebumps books – but pointed out they were made in 2018, as part of an ebook re-release. Publisher Scholastic has confirmed the older edits.
“For more than 30 years, the Goosebumps series has brought millions of kids to reading through humour with just the right amount of scary,” the statement said, according to Deadline.

“Scholastic takes its responsibility seriously to continue bringing this classic adolescent brand to each new generation. When re-issuing titles several years ago, Scholastic reviewed the text to keep the language current and avoid imagery that could negatively impact a young person’s view of themselves today, with a particular focus on mental health.”

Goosebumps accused of getting the ‘woke’ treatment​

Stine has since been embroiled in accusations of being a “sellout” and “woke”. Some even claimed he was “forced” by a “woke mob” to make the changes.
He was also accused of censorship – for changes he never made.

“Hey y’all, @RL_Stine himself is saying REPEATEDLY that he has never changed a single word of a Goosebumps book, calm down with your “Woke” terrified witch hunt good grief,” one person said on Twitter.
Just last month, people were outraged by the decision to alter some of Roald Dahl’s books to make them more inclusive.

Several of Dahl’s books, including Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Matilda, were altered.

A Roald Dahl Story Company spokesperson told The Telegraph that it was “not unusual” to review language written years ago, likening it to updating a book’s cover and page layout.
“Our guiding principle throughout has been to maintain the storylines, characters, and the irreverence and sharp-edged spirit of the original text,” they said.

“Any changes made have been small and carefully considered.”

In the past, Dahl has been accused of antisemitism, racism and misogyny.

The late author amended Charlie and the Chocolate Factory himself back in 1973, almost a decade after it was originally published. It followed pressure due to his original description of the Oompa Loompas.
The Dahl proposal brought backlash, notably from the likes of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Queen Consort. Puffin, the publisher, then decided to give people a choice, buy the books as they were written by Dahl, or with the changes.
Shortly after, it was confirmed Ian Fleming’s James Bond books would also be revised by their publisher. The rereleases will be available in April in honour of Casino Royale‘s 70th anniversary.
The rewrites will reportedly focus on Fleming’s descriptions of characters, particularly ethnic minorities.
Prior to his death in 1964, Fleming approved changes to his novels and gave US publishers permission to tone down racial references in Live and Let Die.

 

[Mothra1988]

To be fair, I read the article and replied via page 1's reply box, but I've since updated the OP with @Jonah Hill poster 's tweet image to add additional context for anyone else replying, and this story may develop further.

You're still a niggerslut for trashcanning me, but at least I did something constructive for it bitch
EDIT: adding @Toolbox 's article too. Should limit the number of uninformed replies like mine

Publishers are shitheels. Whenever you hear this stuff, you can rest assurmed a money grubbing POS publisher is behind it instead of the author.

 

[Haramburger]

Publishers are shitheels. Whenever you hear this stuff, you can rest assurmed a money grubbing POS publisher is behind it instead of the author.

I haven't seen it much but I'm beginning to reach Peak Trans™ Reader™

 

[Fomo Hoire]

I am a poorfag who could only read books from the library, meaning incomplete collections out of order based on whatever is in stock at the time. Consequently I did not read much of Goosebumps, and I find the story about them being rewritten to be more scary than the stories themselves.

I read relatively more of Animorphs - probably not the whole thing, but enough to autism at those posts at least.

Trannies essentially being Yeerks is pretty funny lol.

Trannies aren't Yeerks. Yeerks are enemies to humanity, but at least they can be understood as slugs with no other option if they want to experience the world. Some of them are even kind of OK slugs.

Trannies are Howlers. Howlers never lose. Trannies win all the athletic records. They're all perpetual children that think destruction is a game, death threats are not anything to take seriously, and any threats to the Truth in their shared knowledge must be eliminated before it contaminates the hive mind.

KA Applegate is a true believer and one of her kids is a troon. Though I feel like if she was going to wokify her books she already would have done it JK Rowling style, through interviews and tweets.

There is an interview. It isn't released yet. Even if it doesn't wokify everything, I expect it will make the story worse simply because the cliffhanger itself was the message.

I can't imagine being in my late teens or early twenties and still giving a shit. Talking to other people about it? Making art? What the fuck is that?

When I was skimming their reddit, I saw one good post there: a father made sure to read the series to his children, but he found that his first kid tuned out to the ghost written books. He was asking for help in picking which ghostwritten books to read to kid #2, with the goal of balancing between plot, character development, and the kid's attention span.

Good post. Possibly good answers. But I question why there were people paying enough attention to provide those answers.

Is the author of that series based in any way?

When I wrote about Animorphs in the Rowling Derangement Syndrome thread, I had doubts about her today due to the troon kid thing and troons worshipping her as the good version of JK Rowling, but I said her final letter to the fans was meaningful in a way the modern troon fans refuse to acknowledge and another poster called said letter based.

So, historically maybe. Currently dubious.

 

[Cyborg Braphog]

Good post. Possibly good answers. But I question why there were people paying enough attention to provide those answers.

Because they're permanently stunted dweebs who probably can't handle anything more complicated than Lord of the Rings.

 

[NickDigger]

nigger

The IQ level you need to still enjoy Goosebumps after age six.

 

[Kulee Baba]

I don't care. Goosebumps does not carry any artistic value.

 

[stupid frog]

RL Stine is alive, if he wants to do this gay ass shit to his books, whatever.

Also as someone who read them in the past ten years, they aren't even good. I'm sorry guys.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Stop censoring shit. If we censor then we unequivocally are denying that anything happened.

 

[Lokenstien]

I don't care. Goosebumps does not carry any artistic value.

Easy to understand introductions to genres are always inherently valuable. Goosebumps, while simple and often one-note, offer a wonderful introduction to reading and an easy to grasp concept of horror for young people. Judging spooky children books under the guise of "artistic value" is pretentious and a failure to grasp why these books are so beloved.

 

[Death of an Ego]

I know a lot of posters here probably have fond memories of goosebumps, but I tried reading a few of them and just dismissed them as kiddie pulp bullshit, which is really what they are. Like a lot of pulp, they were churned out almost like from an assembly line, ghostwriters and all. So rewriting them for "modern sensibilities" doesn't really matter all that much in that aspect. If they wind up softening the edge to butter knife grade, well, they were about as edgy as a brick to begin with, so I can't really care much there either.

If they insert weasel words and propagandize the works, then I will take notice. But a lot of this thread is "nooooo, my nostalgia!" Dahl's works are far more important to children's lit than animorphs or goosebumps or really any of the pulp. The covers were great, the content was meh. And as been said, there's tons of books out there to read.

 

[Mothra1988]

I know a lot of posters here probably have fond memories of goosebumps, but I tried reading a few of them and just dismissed them as kiddie pulp bullshit, which is really what they are. Like a lot of pulp, they were churned out almost like from an assembly line, ghostwriters and all. So rewriting them for "modern sensibilities" doesn't really matter all that much in that aspect. If they wind up softening the edge to butter knife grade, well, they were about as edgy as a brick to begin with, so I can't really care much there either.

If they insert weasel words and propagandize the works, then I will take notice. But a lot of this thread is "nooooo, my nostalgia!" Dahl's works are far more important to children's lit than animorphs or goosebumps or really any of the pulp. The covers were great, the content was meh. And as been said, there's tons of books out there to read.

I like the attitude of "I don't like this and so it's okay." You are letting the barbarians in the gate. It wasn't long ago that censoring books was off limits, but now it will be okay because you don't care about Dahl, Goosebumps or whatever. It will be two minutes before it's something you give a shit about. I don't know how many times people had to try to hammer this into your heads since 2014, but you never learn. The slippery slope is real.

 

[Kulee Baba]

Easy to understand introductions to genres are always inherently valuable. Goosebumps, while simple and often one-note, offer a wonderful introduction to reading and an easy to grasp concept of horror for young people. Judging spooky children books under the guise of "artistic value" is pretentious and a failure to grasp why these books are so beloved.

They are still not literary classics. Who wrote classics in the children's reading? JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, JRR Tolkein. CS Lewis. The list goes on.

But not RL Stine, nothing wrong in loving his little books but they're not classics.

 

[Morethanabitfoolish]

I'm not a Stein fan but if his books get children reading then more power to him. Extra credit for confirming he did not agree these changes even if he did not condemn them either.

Why is this suddenly happening the past two(?) months with such intensity and speed? Who is behind it? If Stine denied his own involvement and Roald obv wasn't involved, is it publishers? Scholastic for Stine and Penguin for Dahl. It wasn't a lone aggressive new diversity hire, would need to be at least 2 and in sync and with both companies bending over to let them.

How long have they been wanting then planning to do this? Or did they hit 2023 and decide to go full retard out of no where? I see articles saying Penguin is rolling back the changes after backlash but people say their updated digital copies (lmao) of the Dahl book still are the censored version. Where is this springing up from that can also put wheels on it so quickly?

It's been going on for a while, as people pointed out the publishers actually made these changes years ago. However now people are starting to actually notice the changes and call them out. Dahl's the big one but I'd put money they'll find others that have been quietly adjusted without anyone being aware. I'd put money there's other stuff in Puffin's lineup they've done this to and are quietly hoping no-one finds.

 

[Lokenstien]

They are still not literary classics. Who wrote classics in the children's reading? JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, JRR Tolkein. CS Lewis. The list goes on.

But not RL Stine, nothing wrong in loving his little books but they're not classics.

Classic. A term that like many others, has seen degradation in the modern era. In its most literal form, none of the authors you listed fall into such category since they are not Greek or Roman. The next best definition of classic is one of excellence and high quality. In that sense JK Rowiling should be expressly excluded since her idea of magical highschool was unique for its time but her writing and prose are very basic and lacking in reflection. Further Roald Dhal is barely remembered in this day and age not for his actual works, but rather adaptions of his ideas into animated movies. To judge the larger impact of an artist work while they are both still alive and producing art is to disregard the longevity and enduring quality that defines the idea of classic works.

The only debatable concept of "classic" in regards to R.L Stine is the merit of his contribution to the horror genre, especially as an introduction point to writings about mankind's most visceral reaction: fear. In this sense I believe R.,L. Stine will be regarded as one of the defining literally horror authors who helped bridge the gap of adult and childhood fears.

 

[Mothra1988]

I'm not a Stein fan but if his books get children reading then more power to him. Extra credit for confirming he did not agree these changes even if he did not condemn them either.



It's been going on for a while, as people pointed out the publishers actually made these changes years ago. However now people are starting to actually notice the changes and call them out. Dahl's the big one but I'd put money they'll find others that have been quietly adjusted without anyone being aware. I'd put money there's other stuff in Puffin's lineup they've done this to and are quietly hoping no-one finds.

The James Bond books are also being censored apparently, which were never for kids. So this bullshit has already spread to adult literature.

 

[6 Years Ago]

Why is this suddenly happening the past two(?) months with such intensity and speed?

I just figured they were feeding popular books through an AI and throwing money at publishers one by one.

I don't actually know anything though so there's that

 

[Escaped Abortion]

This is effectively self censorship which is not a new concept it's something authors have done since the Ancient Greeks and perhaps since the invention of writing. What's not talked about in this context though is the Goosebumps books have actually been re-edited multiple times throughout the years to remove cultural relics. A good example is some of the early books referenced Gameboys and other stuff from the 1990s. This is essentially a continuation of that and it's telling they see gender as a concept as obsolete.

I don't even see why it's necessary to remove the 90s call backs from the piece. When I was a kid we read books and saw shows set decades before we lived. It was a window into the recent past. It's a way to experience history. It's not like we need to go back and give everyone in Tom Sawyer smartphones to expect children to relate to the characters.

 

[Fomo Hoire]

The James Bond books are also being censored apparently, which were never for kids. So this bullshit has already spread to adult literature.

Bond was never for kids, according to normal people standards.

According to the people who think sex ed needs to be pushed to the moment a parent leaves a child alone unattended at preschool for the first time, and who thinks those first sex ed lessons should include gender identity and sex toys instead say... "If anyone touches you in the nono zones, tell an adult"...

The people doing this probably think the kamasutra is for kids.

I'm vaguely reminded of the time someone did an analysis of which games Sarkeesian approves of and which she doesn't, and it turns out the answer was she likes games rated E for everyone because they have no sexual content... But she's counting on people assuming that all games are for kids and all games are equally for tiny kids in particular.

 

[NyQuilninja]

Peeps do know all of the nacy drew books where rewritten in the 60s and 70s? Despite being written only 30 year's prior. Silently rewriting books has been a long tradition. However it sucks when the Original print can no longer be found or viewed. As is the case with many books today

 

[Der weiße Teufel]

Peeps do know all of the nacy drew books where rewritten in the 60s and 70s? Despite being written only 30 year's prior. Silently rewriting books has been a long tradition. However it sucks when the Original print can no longer be found or viewed. As is the case with many books today

I know Enid Blyton books were updated a couple of times to change things that were either deemed outdated (like uncommon words) or "problematic", like children getting spanked or whatever. Honestly, I am surprised there hasn't been an official rewrite yet where George (Georgina from the Famous Five) announces her true transmasc self and he/him pronouns. Or they/them the very least. She would be the perfect candidate. But I assume these books are not popular anymore with the current crowd. (I feel very old now.)