RETRO REVIEW: Goosebumps: Monsters at Midnight

IDW; $12.99

Goosebumps: Monsters At Midnight takes us to the good ole days of scary childhood books. Based on the book series by R.L. Stine, the comic is about Mia and Ginny, a pair of sisters staying with their grandmother over the summer. During an afternoon in town, they walk by a book store called Cursed Editions. Naturally, Ginny (the little sister) insists on visiting the store after their grandma fell asleep. And once there she wanders through a darkened door baring the sign “The Really Scary Stuff.”

Writer Jeremy Lambert and artist Chris Fenoglio were clearly fans of the horror book series that scared kids in the late ’80s to ’90s. This three-issue miniseries combines elements of a good scary story with some of Stine’s popular characters that’ll delight readers of all ages. It has some nice in-jokes including dropping titles from Stine’s series plus others. It doesn’t skimp on the scares, but is still age appropriate for kiddos – and the grownups who read the original series.

–Amanda Sheriff