Goosebumps.. When you hear this word, you will expect something that will make your hair stand or something scary. That is what I interpreted it to be. It’s the Halloween month and of course, directors will play on this month to bring you horror story.

Directed by Rob Letterman, Goosebumps is a story about a young teenage boy, Zach Cooper played by Dylan Minnette, and a mum who had just moved to a new home; a new environment to start afresh ever since his father passed away. And of course, his got a weirdo neighbour who has a pretty daughter. I’m sure you know what comes next. Zach falls in love with the man’s daughter, Hannah played by Odeya Rush.

So who is the weirdo?

It is Jack Black who plays R.L. Stine, a famous author of the best selling Goosebumps series. Every encounter with Zach, Stine will warned him not to get near his daughter. Zach and Hanna has been meeting secretly at every opportunity and when Stine found out he was angry. Since he stays just beside them, he overhead them quarreling and fears for Hanna’s safety after failed attempt to intervene with the presence of the police.

Zach saw the opportunity to save Hanna when he saw Stine leaving the house. Now, maybe, if you are afraid of ghost, you will get goosebumps. With help from a new friend who he met on the first day of school, Champ played by Ryan Lee, went on a journey to save the damsel in distress. After going through a few obstacles, they finally got into the house. That is when they found Goosebumps books and Hanna. Growing up to the the series, Champ was surprised to see the collection and started to check out the books. Most of the books were locked. Why were they locked?

Hanna then tried asking them to get out before he father is back. However, Champ couldn’t let it go and wanted to know why the book is locked. Zach was so annoyed that he took the key and unlocked the book. And boom, something happened. The characters came alive! It seems like Stint was bullied when young. Feeling lonely, he started writing and then, the characters feels so real. He created the monster to exact revenge against the bullies.

Fast forward, the monster took over the town and Stint has to type in on his special typewriter to ‘suck’ the monster into the book. However, along the way, Zach soon realized Hanna is actually one of the characters Stint created. So what will happen to Zach and Hanna? Will she be sucked into the book and be forever locked?

Rated PG, the movie is now shown at your nearby cinemas. I would give it 2.5/5. Reason being, the story is predictable but it is suitable for young children. There is some element of humour in the movie. If I have to pick one character in the movie that I like it would be Slappy, pictured above! Thanks to him, I did not fall asleep in the cinema. Just so you know, he is like a son to Stint. He calls him “Papa!”