Goosebumps (original series)/Printing differences

The first printings of the Goosebumps (original series) often had cover ads for things such as the TV series, contests, and the Goosebumps Fan Club that later printings (if they existed) eliminated. This page contains a list and gallery of these ads, as well as an explanation of different editions (both of which are technically first printings) which have different ISBNs and tear-outs or ads.

First printings vs. later printings[]

OS 17 Why Im Afraid of Bees 1stpr vs 13thpr covers and cpy page — #17 First Printing cover and copyright page (left) with ad for the What Give You Goosebumps? contest, compared to the 13th printing cover and copyright page (right) showing no ad.

To find out what printing a book is, look at the number line on the copyright page. There will be a number line in descending order, and the last number shows the printing of the book. For #17 shown in the left picture here, the number line 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 indicates the first printing. For #17 shown on the right, 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 41 13 indicates the 13th printing.

Note also that the cover on the left has an ISBN and price on the left spine, while the one on the right doesn't. For Goosebumps, the price and ISBN were printed on the covers of the first printings until book #36, and were not present (except for "special" editions) for books #37 and later. This also held true for later printings - #37 was first published in November 1995, so any book published after November 1995, whether a first or later printing, would not include the price and ISBN on the front cover.

"First Printing" and "First edition" are often used interchangeably colloquially, but technically a first printing goes down to 1 on the number line on the copyright page, while a first edition has a cover with the original cover design, regardless of the printing. In the case of the original series of Goosebumps, the original series could be considered the first edition, while the 2003-2007 reprints and Classic Goosebumps are second and third editions, respectively.

List of First Printing cover snipes[]

Several Goosebumps books featured small graphics called "snipes" on the front and back covers, usually to advertise special offers/products including contests, TV listings, the Goosebumps Fan Club, and free tear-outs inside. Books not in this table had no ads on the first printing covers.

Book	Cover ad
#8 The Girl Who Cried Monster	FREE GOOSEBUMPS BOOKMARK INSIDE!
#11 The Haunted Mask	Free Halloween Mask Inside!
#12 Be Careful What You Wish For...	SPECIAL GOOSEBUMPS TATTOO INSIDE!
#14 The Werewolf of Fever Swamp	Spooky 1994 Calendar Inside
#17 Why I'm Afraid of Bees	What Gives You Goosebumps?
#18 Monster Blood II	What Gives You Goosebumps?
#19 Deep Trouble	What Gives You Goosebumps?
#20 The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight	FREE BOOKMARK INSIDE
#23 Return of the Mummy	It's a GOOSEBUMPS Fan Club!
#32 The Barking Ghost 0590483447	Free Terrifying Tattoo
#32 The Barking Ghost 0590598864	none
#33 The Horror at Camp Jellyjam	Free Decal of Doom
#34 Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes	Free Glow-In-the-Dark Sticker
#36 The Haunted Mask II	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids TV
#37 The Headless Ghost	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids TV
#38 The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids TV
#39 How I Got My Shrunken Head	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids TV
#40 Night of the Living Dummy III	Trading cards
#41 Bad Hare Day	New Fan Club Offer Inside
#42 Egg Monsters from Mars	Trading cards
#43 The Beast from the East	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids TV
#44 Say Cheese and Die — Again!	Trading cards
#45 Ghost Camp	Boo, Dude! Goosebumps on TV
#46 How to Kill a Monster	Trading cards
#47 Legend of the Lost Legend	All New Fan Club
#48 Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns	Trading cards, All New Fan Club
#49 Vampire Breath	All New Fan Club
#50 Calling All Creeps!	Trading cards, All New Fan Club
#51 Beware, the Snowman	All New Fan Club
#52 How I Learned to Fly	Trading cards, All New Fan Club
#53 Chicken Chicken	All New Fan Club
#54 Don't Go to Sleep!	Great Ghouls - Sat. Morning Fox Kids Network
#55 The Blob That Ate Everyone	Great Ghouls - Sat. Morning Fox Kids Network
#56 The Curse of Camp Cold Lake	Great Ghouls - Sat. Morning Fox Kids Network
#57 My Best Friend Is Invisible	Great Ghouls - Sat. Morning Fox Kids Network
#58 Deep Trouble II	Great Ghouls - Sat. Morning Fox Kids Network OR Read this Book! Win BIG Prizes!
#59 The Haunted School	Great Ghouls - Sat. Morning Fox Kids Network
#60 Werewolf Skin	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids Network OR Terrifying Werewolf Mask inside
#61 I Live in Your Basement!	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids Network
#62 Monster Blood IV	Watch GOOSEBUMPS on Fox Kids Network

First Printing cover gallery[]

#59-62: Regular vs. School Market Editions[]

Goosebumps Collectors Club exp Dec 31 1998 from OS 59-62 sch ed — Collectors Club ad found in the school market editions of OS #59-62.

Books #59-62 were published in regular and "Scholastic School Market Editions." For these books, the text "This Scholastic edition is only available through the school market" appeared on the back covers of school market editions when an ad for the Goosebumps Collector's Club could be found inside. Other differences were sometimes present as well. For #59, the regular edition had a preview for #60, while the school market edition had a preview for Goosebumps Triple Header #1. For #60, the regular edition had an ad for the "Terrifying Werewolf Mask" on the back cover and the TV show on the front cover, while the school market edition had an ad for the "Terrifying Werewolf Mask" on the front cover. In addition, the school market editions had different ISBNs shown on the back cover. For #61 and #62 the only difference was the ISBN and the presence of the Collectors Club ad.

Book	ISBN	Differences
#59 regular	0590568973	Preview for #60, Ad for (OS 60, GYG 22, TV 16), no CC ad
#59 school market	059012918X	Preview for Triple Header, Ad for (OS 60, GYG 22, TV 17), CC ad
#60 regular	0590390538	Mask ad back cover, mask next to page 92, no CC ad
#60 school market	0590263447	Mask ad front cover, mask next to page 108, CC ad
#61 regular	0590399861	no CC ad
#61 school market	0590264923	CC ad
#62 regular	059039987X	no CC ad
#62 school market	0590265296	CC ad

Cover differences[]

In-book ad differences[]

While other school market editions had the same in-book advertisements as the regular editions, for some reason they are slightly different in book #59. It appears that the school market edition was published slightly earlier, because its preview ad says "Coming in September", includes TV book #16, and uses the working title for #60 'I Want to be a Werewolf for Halloween', while the regular edition has a preview ad that says "Coming in October", includes TV book #17, and uses the final title for #60, 'Werewolf Skin'. Book #60 was actually published in October 1997, so the regular edition ad is the accurate one. In addition, the ad for the More & More & More Tales to Give You Goosebumps Book and Stocking Pack is slightly different.

2015 Target Editions[]

34 Revenge Lawn Gnomes 2015 Target edition cover — Target edition of Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes.

In 2015, presumably to coincide with the Goosebumps movie release, Target released several original series Goosebumps books, with the same front and back cover style as the originally published 90s books. Most books have an "Only at Target" sticker on them, but sometimes this sticker isn't present. These books have the same spine thickness and nearly the same height as the original series books, which distinguishes them from the Goosebumps Retro Tin books which have thinner spines. They can be distinguished from originally published books because the Scholastic logo on the front cover is in the middle rather than on the left. Around 2003, Scholastic changed the location of their cover logo from the left to the middle on pretty much all published books regardless of series. The Target editions do not have raised bumps on the Goosebumps logo on the cover.

Book	ISBN
#20 The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight	9780545904599
#31 Night of the Living Dummy II	9780545904490
#34 Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes	9780545904667
#35 A Shocker on Shock Street	9780545904551
#55 The Blob That Ate Everyone	9780545904629