With Goosebumps: The Vanishing now released on Disney+, some audiences are confused about its connections to the 2023 Goosebumps series.
A lot of the confusion stems from the fact that, despite The Vanishing being Season 2 of the Goosebumps series and sharing the same creative team, it is listed as a separate show on the streaming platform.
When the show was first renewed in February 2024, it was revealed that the new season would take on an anthology format, telling an entirely new overarching story with a fresh cast of characters.
Is Goosebumps: The Vanishing Connected to 2023 Episodes?
Goosebumps: The Vanishing is not connected to the 2023 episodes of the series at all. Storywise, there are no connective tissues between Seasons 1 and 2.
The only similarity between the two is that they are both adaptations of a handful of classic Goosebumps books.
So, those hoping to get a resolution to the multiple cliffhangers in Season 1 will be disappointed.
Thankfully, Season 2 is mostly resolved by the time it wraps up. Though, in classic Goosebumps fashion, it does retain a small cliffhanger.
While speaking to The Direct, Goosebumps: The Vanishing executive producer Rob Letterman teased that he would "never say never" to the idea of bringing back Season 1 cast and storylines. The EP even brought up how RL Stine would revisit certain stories in the original series.
Why Is Goosebumps: The Vanishing an Anthology?
The original Goosebumps book series is an anthology, as was the classic television series that first adapted those stories to live action.
So, making the new Goosebumps series an adaptation isn't a surprising move and feels very fitting to the franchise.
Though, it does seem clear that a seasonal anthology wasn't originally the plan for the show.
The Direct previously spoke with the cast of Season 1, and they seemed notably excited about the future of their characters, curious to see what would happen next. Plus, the amount of important dangling plot threads the show presented didn't feel like they were just fun teases that would go nowhere.
While speaking to Comicbook.com, Goosebumps: The Vanishing executive producer Rob Letterman revealed that "it took [them] a while to grow into the idea" of making it an anthology, adding that "it felt natural to the canon of Goosebumps:"
Rob Letterman: "It took us a while to grow into the idea...bAnd the way we thought about it is 'Goosebumps' is an anthology series by nature. So each book is its own thing. And they don’t end tied up in a perfect little bow. They actually all end with a door opening with a twist or whatever. So it just felt natural to the canon of 'Goosebumps.' It allowed us to explore a whole new set of books, where we could start fresh, explore different genres, and be scared again."
He also added that they started to realize how keeping the same characters for multiple seasons may eventually make less sense and become uninteresting:
Letterman: We joke about this but there’s some truth to it: How often and how many years can a character experience horror without it just becoming totally jaded by the next monster? Like if an abominable snowman showed up on Season 3 with the same set of characters, not the same reaction... So I think, for all those reasons, it just felt like a natural thing to do.
What's Next for Disney+'s Goosebumps?
Going forward, if Goosebumps is renewed for Season 3, it's likely that it will retain the anthology format. So, don't expect to see the cast from The Vanishing again anytime soon.
Thankfully, the original Goosebumps book series has a long list of stories to pull from for future seasons.
There are tons of iconic tales that are ripe for Season 3, including The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, The Beast from the East, Bad Hare Day, and so much more. The series would have content to pull from for years to come if it keeps going.
As fun as anthology resets are, however, there's no denying that many fans want to see certain stories continue. Season 3 should consider bringing in some returning characters to the fold, alongside any newcomers, to spice the format up.
At the very least, Goosebumps can't ever go long without bringing Slappy back into the mix. So, hopefully, Justin Long and the ventriloquist doll that's possessing him can return to terrorize new souls.
Goosebumps: The Vanishing, and the show's first season from 2023, are now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
