User blog:GodzillaFan1/Hunting for Goosebumps: Part 1

It will probably be a while before part two is made, but in this series I will be documenting my trips in the search of Goosebumps books and merchandise. In case you are wondering, these searches take place in the American states of Indiana and Ohio.

I've been wanting to expand my Goosebumps collection ever since I became a fan again in October 2015. On Christmas of that year, I got the Goosebumps Retro Scream Collection: Limited Edition Tin, and A Nightmare on Clown Street. I was pretty content with them. But as a collector, I wanted to grow my collection even more. I wanted the original Goosebumps prints specifically. But the only places to find them are in flea markets and thrift shops. Oh, and eBay, but that isn't as fun. So here it is... my 4 month journey in the search of Goosebumps.

Stop 1: Flea Market #1

So there's this huge flea market in Ohio that's spread across multiple large buildings. It can get pretty crowded at times, but it's overall really cool. They have a lot of things there that interest me. But did they have Goosebumps books? I saw a grand total of 0 books, so nope. Next.

Finds: 0

Stop 2: Flea Market #2

Just a few minutes out of town is this decently sized flea market. Unlike the flea market in Ohio, this flea market was FLOODING with books. Seriously, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing a rack of books somewhere. So I had high hopes. I checked out this mini book room. They had every book under the sun, except for Goosebumps. I scanned my eyes over hundreds of books, and I didn't see a single Goosebumps book. Maybe if I stayed there for a more few minutes, and searched very extensively, I could've found something. But I didn't have that much time, so I left the mini book room disappointed. But there was still hope. While wandering around the store, I found more shacks of books. I searched through them, and didn't find a single Goosebumps book. I even searched through the DVD racks in hopes of finding Goosebumps TV series DVDs. They didn't have them either. I walked out of the store extremely disappointed.

Finds: 0

Stop 3: Goodwill #1

There's this thrift shop in America called Goodwill. These stores are everywhere. You donate things to them, and they put them on the shelves. It's mainly a clothing store, but almost all Goodwills have a book section, big or small. So I traveled to three different Goodwills. In town, and out of town. Did I find anything in these stores? Let's find out.

So there's a Goodwill a few minutes away from my house. I went there once, and they didn't have anything that interested me. However, I went for a second time in the search of Goosebumps books. I searched through all the books, and didn't find anything Goosebumps. Go figure. Next.

Stop 4: Goodwill #2

This Goodwill was in Ohio. I walked in, and was surprised at how small it was. It was flooded with clothes, and everything non-clothing was pushed to the sides of the store. I went to the end of the store, and discovered a small books section. I searched and searched. I found nothing. I was just about to walk out, disappointed again, until something caught my eye. In between these large and wide books was a slim and small blue book with yellow slime at the bottom. Could it be? I got closer, and saw the big bold black words: R. L. Stine. Is this the 2003 reprint of The Haunted Mask? I didn't have that version of the book, so I got excited. I went even closer, and came to the shocking realization. It wasn't The Haunted Mask. It was the paperback 2004 reprint of The Headless Ghost.

"Really...?" I thought to myself. I already had the hard cover version of the 2004 reprint. They only had one Goosebumps book, and it just so happened to be one I already had. I was pretty miffed and disappointed to say the least.

Finds: 1

Stop 5: Goodwill #3

This Goodwill was out of town, but in my state. This Goodwill had an identical layout to the Goodwill that was in my town, but the books were near the entrance instead of at the end of the store. They had a lot of books, so I searched through them extensively. Did they have anything Goosebumps? Take a guess.

No.

Finds: 0

Stop 6: Wall-Mart

There's a Wall-Mart in every town near me. There's one a few minutes away from me, but their books section is laughably small, so of course there are no Goosebumps books. The closet one in Ohio has a small books section too. So no Goosebumps. However, one that was out of town but in state had a HUGE books section. I searched extensively, especially in the kid's section. To my surprise, they had all the popular kid's books, expect for Goosebumps. I honestly wish I was making this up. What's strange about this is that when I was a kid, I would come to this Wall-Mart almost every week, and they would have the newest Goosebumps books (Goosebumps HorrorLand) every time. So I was hoping they would at least have some Goosebumps Most Wanted books. Nope. None.

Finds: 0, 0, and 0.

This journey in searching for Goosebumps has been very frustrating and disappointing. I'm running out of options too. I may have to resort to eBay for my Goosebumps needs.

Overall finds: 1