This is a list of references and allusions in the Goosebumps franchise.
Original series[]
- Welcome to Dead House references Honda and Stetson.
- Stay Out of the Basement references Frankenstein, RoboCop, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nintendo, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sassy, and People.
- Monster Blood references Indiana Jones, Nintendo, Gap, Nike, Trigger and Hopalong Cassidy.
- Say Cheese and Die! references Hungry Man TV Dinners, Popsicle, X-Force and the Ford Taurus.
- The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb references National Geographic, Game Boy, Super Mario Land, Tetris, Super Nintendo, NES, Indiana Jones, Silly Putty, Coca-Cola Classic, New Coke, CNN, Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Scrabble, Frankenstein, Frosted Flakes and Tony the Tiger.
- Let's Get Invisible! references The TerThe Terminator, Super Nintendo, X-Force, Coke, Twister, Life magazine, People magazine, Saturday Night Live and Gap.
- Night of the Living Dummy references Coca-Cola, Stephen King, Betsey Johnson, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
- The Girl Who Cried Monster references the Super Nintendo, Disney, Archie Comics, Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein, Frisbee, White Fang, Anne of Green Gables, and Bugs Bunny.
- The Ghost Next Door references the Game Boy, Diet Coke, Chutes and Ladders, General Hospital, and Day-Glo.
- The Haunted Mask references Star Trek, Frankenstein, Freddy Krueger, E.T., The Addams Family, The Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Catwoman (written as "Cat Woman" in the book), Milky Way, and Indiana Jones.
- Be Careful What You Wish For... references People Magazine, the Orlando Magic, Reebok, Doc Martens, Troll dolls, Parcheesi, and Seventeen.
- Piano Lessons Can Be Murder references Nintendo, Honda and the song "Chopsticks".
- The Werewolf of Fever Swamp references Bambi, the Discovery Channel, Nintendo, Oakland Raiders, Orlando Magic, and King Kong.
- You Can't Scare Me! references Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It also references Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck from Looney Tunes.
- One Day at HorrorLand references the Chicago Cubs and Toyota.
- Why I'm Afraid of Bees references Star Trek. The book also mentions a game called "SpaceQuest 20", which could be a reference to the Space Quest franchise, which had many sequels. The cover is also a direct homage to the film Return of the Fly.
- Monster Blood II references Michael Jordan, Conan The Barbarian, MTV and Trigger.
- Deep Trouble references She-Ra, Aquaman and the Titanic.
- The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight references the Sony Walkman, the Game Boy, MTV, and Nirvana.
- Go Eat Worms! references the Oakland Raiders, William Tecumseh Sherman, Christopher Robin, Star Trek, and Nintendo.
- Return of the Mummy references National Geographic, Hilton, Bart Simpson, Frosted Flakes, Raisin Bran and the Michigan Wolverines.
- Phantom of the Auditorium is a reference to The Phantom of the Opera, and the former also references Guys and Dolls, Kermit the Frog, Friday the 13th and Poltergeist.
- Attack of the Mutant references Jack Kirby's Captain America and Todd McFarlane's Spawn. Libby reads High School Harry and Beanhead, a parody of Archie and Jughead. Skipper says that the creator of the Masked Mutant comics is Jimmy Starenko, a reference to Jim Steranko. The Galloping Gazelle has super powers similar to The Flash. Elastic Boy has super powers similar to Plastic Man. The League of Good Guys is similar to the Justice League. Additionally, the book references Frosted Flakes, Play-Doh and Pop-Tarts.
- My Hairiest Adventure references The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, The Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand", the Chuck Berry song "Johnny B. Goode", Trapper Keeper, Doc Martens, the Oakland Raiders, Frosted Flakes, Bruce Coville, and Matt Christopher.
- A Night in Terror Tower references Harrods.
- The Cuckoo Clock of Doom references The Incredible Hulk, The Frog Prince, The Smurfs, The Duke Blue Devils, and Donatello of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Monster Blood III references Jell-O, Walkman, the Atlanta Braves, and Fruit Roll-Ups.
- It Came from Beneath the Sink! references Super Soaker.
- Night of the Living Dummy II references The Beatles, their song "Love Me Do", Bob Marley, Battle Chess, Frosted Flakes, Nintendo, Banana Republicand the Bob Dylan song "Maggie's Farm."
- The Barking Ghost references Boston Red Sox, Indiana Jones, Lassie, MTV and Sarah, Duchess of York. Stephen King is also likely alluded to as a writer of scary stories set in Maine.
- The Horror at Camp Jellyjam references Diet Coke, chinos and the Chicago Cubs.
- Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes references the Minnesota Vikings and MTV.
- A Shocker on Shock Street references the Los Angeles Dodgers and Star Trek.
- The Haunted Mask II references K-Mart, Milky Way, Orlando Magic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and Beauty and the Beast.
- The Headless Ghost references Mickey Mouse and The Wizard of Oz.
- The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena references Super Soaker, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Coca-Cola.
- How I Got My Shrunken Head references Froot Loops, Koosh balls, Tarzan and Coca-Cola.
- Night of the Living Dummy III references NBA Jam, "Chopsticks," Frederic Chopin, Joseph Haydn and John Philip Sousa.
- Bad Hare Day references Dracula.
- Egg Monsters from Mars references American Girl dolls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Velcro, Jell-O, Popsicle and Battle Chess.
- The Beast from the East references Teddy Bears' Picnic, and Game Boy.
- Say Cheese and Die — Again! references Humpty Dumpty, Jell-O and the Honda Civic.
- Ghost Camp references The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel", Bambi, "On Top of Spaghetti", and Jell-O.
- Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns references MTV, Star Trek, Silver Surfer, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Snickers, Kit Kat, M&Ms, Chuckles, Pepsi-Cola, Hershey's Kisses & Milk Chocolate Bars, Tootsie Roll, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, and Nestlé Crunch.
- Calling All Creeps! references The Weather Channel, Jell-O, MTV, Pepsi, Pontiac and Pentax.
- Beware, the Snowman references the Chicago Bulls, Jeep and Jell-O.
- How I Learned to Fly references Twister, Superman, the Hollywood Bowl, Ludwig van Beethoven, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, X-Men, Time, Newsweek, People, TV Guide, The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Lakers.
- The tagline "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a... kid?" is a reference to "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"
- Chicken Chicken references 4-H clubs, "Beautiful Ohio", ChapStick, Formica, Pop-Tarts and Honda.
- Don't Go to Sleep! references Star Trek, Brillo Pads, Wild Kingdom, The Sci-Fi Channel, Rip van Winkle, Anna Karenina, Hercules and Rice Krispies. Additionally, Bruce and Wayne's names are a reference to the Batman comics, where Batman's secret identity is named Bruce Wayne.
- The Blob That Ate Everyone references Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Trapper Keepers and Pop-Tarts.
- My Best Friend Is Invisible references Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, and the New York Yankees.
- Deep Trouble II references Jell-O.
- The Haunted School references Mountain Dew, Coke, Polaroid and Ray Bradbury.
- Werewolf Skin references Jell-O. The rag doll song Marta references might be "Rag Doll" by the Four Seasons.
- I Live in Your Basement! references references Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Jell-O, Sleeping Beauty, Indiana Jones, and Milky Way chocolate bars.
- Monster Blood IV references Jolly Green Giant, Conan the Barbarian, Super Soaker, Brad Pitt, Jell-O and Coca-Cola.
Title references[]
Some Goosebumps book titles are references to other media:
- The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is a likely reference to the 1964 horror film of the same name.
- Night of the Living Dummy is a reference to the 1969 film, Night of the Living Dead.
- The Girl Who Cried Monster is a reference to the story The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
- Phantom of the Auditorium is a reference to the novel and musical, Phantom of the Opera.
- It Came from Beneath the Sink! is a reference to the movie, It Came from Beneath the Sea!.
- Egg Monsters from Mars is a reference to the film Invaders from Mars.
- Mirror Mirror on the Wall is a reference to a quote from Snow White.
- The Knight in Screaming Armor is a reference to the phrase "The Knight in Shining Armor".
- Diary of a Mad Mummy is a likely reference to the Ozzy Osbourne album and song Diary of a Madman.
- Little Comic Shop of Horrors and Little Shop of Hamsters are references to the horror/musical film, Litle Shop of Horrors.
- Trick or...Trapped! and Trick or Trap are references to "Trick or Treat", a phrase people usually say on Halloween.
- Bride of the Living Dummy is a reference to Bride of Frankenstein.
- Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 1 and Part 2 are a reference to the movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
- Revenge R Us is a reference to the store, Toys "R" Us.
- Jekyll and Heidi is a reference to the story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
- Be Afraid — Be Very Afraid! is a reference to the tagline of the 1986 film The Fly.
- Full Moon Fever is a reference to the album, Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty.
- The Incredible Shrinking Fifth Grader is a reference to the 1957 film The Incredible Shrinking Man.
- The Wizard of Ooze and The Lizard of Oz are references to the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.
- Planet of the Lawn Gnomes is a reference to the movie, Planet of the Apes.
- Son of Slappy is a reference to Seed of Chucky and the song "Son of Man" from Disney's Tarzan.
- How I Met my Monster is a reference to the show, How I Met Your Mother.
- Frankenstein's Dog is a reference to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
- A Nightmare on Clown Street is a reference to the horror film franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- Night of the Puppet People is a reference to the 1958 film Attack of the Puppet People.
- Here Comes the Shaggedy is a reference to the horror movie Here Comes the Devil.
- The 12 Screams of Christmas is a reference to the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas".
- Slappy Birthday to You & Scary Birthday to You! are references to the song "Happy Birthday to You".
- It's Alive! It's Alive! is a reference to a quote from the 1931 film Frankenstein.
- The Dummy Meets the Mummy is a reference to Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.
- Revenge of the Invisible Boy is a reference to the ending of the first Goosebumps film.
- My Friend Slappy is a possible reference to the 1941 book My Friend Flicka.
- Judy and the Beast is a reference to the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.
- Haunting With The Stars is a reference to Dancing With the Stars.
- Slappy, Beware! is a reference to the Goosebumps series tagline "Reader beware—you're in for a scare!"
Tagline references[]
- Say Cheese and Die!: front tagline "One Picture is Worth a Thousand Screams" is a play on the phrase "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words".
- Welcome to Camp Nightmare: front tagline "It's the little camp of horrors" is a reference to Little Shop of Horrors.
- Piano Lessons Can Be Murder: front tagline "Play it again, hands!" is a reference to "Play it again, Sam!" an often misquoted line from the 1942 film Casablanca.
- The Werewolf of Fever Swamp: front tagline "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" is a reference to the song of the same name from the 1933 Disney short The Three Little Pigs.
- It's back tagline "What Big Teeth You Have" is a reference to the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.
- Deep Trouble: front tagline "Just when you thought it was safe" is a reference to "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...", the tagline for the 1978 film Jaws 2.
- The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight: front tagline "It's a field of screams!" is a reference to the 1989 film Field of Dreams.
- My Hairiest Adventure: front tagline "It keeps growing... and growing... and growing..." is a reference to "It keeps going... and going... and going..." the slogan for the mascot, the Energizer Bunny.
- The Horror at Camp Jellyjam: back tagline, "It's Not Whether You Win or Lose — It's How You Stay Alive!" is a play on the phrase "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
- The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena: back tagline "Forget Frosty!" is a reference to Frosty The Snowman.
- Night of the Living Dummy III: front tagline "Every dummy has his day...and night!" is a play on the phrase "Every dog has his day".
- Egg Monsters From Mars: back tagline "Which Came First , The Monster Or The Egg?" is a play on the thought experiment "Which Came First, The Chicken Or The Egg?"
- Ghost Camp: front tagline "Be All That You Can't See!" is a reference to "Be All That You Can Be!", a slogan of the United States Army.
- How To Kill a Monster: Back Tagline "Home Alone... With A Monster?" is a possible reference to the Home Alone film series.
- Attack of the Jack-O'-lanterns: front tagline "Put one head in front of the other" is a reference to "Put One Foot In Front Of The Other", a phrase that is often associated with the song of the same name sung by Kris Kringle and The Winter Warlock in the 1970 Christmas special Santa Claus is Comin' To Town.
- Calling All Creeps!: back tagline "Reach Out And Scare Someone" is a play on the phrase "reach out and touch someone".
- How I Learned To Fly: front tagline "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a... kid?" is a reference to the quote "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"
- Chicken Chicken: front tagline "It's a finger lickin' nightmare!" is a reference to the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "It's Finger Lickin' Good!"
- The Curse of Camp Cold Lake: front tagline "Last one in is a rotten... Ghost!" is a play on the phrase "Last one in is a rotten egg!".
- Werewolf Skin: back tagline "It's a Full Moon... Do You Know Where Your Werewolf Is?" is a reference to "It's 10pm, do you know where your children are?" a public service announcement that aired on American television from the 1960s to early 1980s.
- Under the Magician's Spell: tagline is a reference to "Little Shop of Horrors".
- The Knight in Screaming Armor : tagline "It was a Knight to Dismember..." is a reference to this quote "It was a night to remember".
- Secret Agent Grandma: back cover tagline alludes to the quiz show To Tell the Truth, which was known for using the phrase, "Will the real _____ please stand up?"
- Attack of the Beastly Babysitter tagline is a reference to the 1987 film Adventures in Babysitting.
- The Twisted Tale of Tiki Island: tagline "It's No Fantasy Island!" references the 1977 television series Fantasy Island.
- Zapped in Space: tagline "Space Jam-med With Aliens" is a reference to the 1996 film Space Jam.
- The Werewolf of Twisted Tree Lodge: tagline "Dances With Werewolves" is a reference to the 1990 film Dances With Wolves.
- It's Only a Nightmare!: Tagline "Life is But a Scream..." is a reference to the phrase "Life is But a Dream".
- Into the Twister of Terror: tagline "Twist and Shout!" is a reference the 1963 song of the same name, most famously covered by The Beatles.
- Trapped in the Circus of Fear: tagline "It's the Scariest Show on Earth!" is a reference to "The Greatest Show on Earth!" the slogan of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
- Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 2: tagline "Please don't squeeze the human!" is a reference to "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!", a slogan used for the Charmin brand from 1964 to 1985.
- Fright Camp: tagline "Where the wild things are... out of control!" is a reference to Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
- Are You Terrified Yet?: tagline "Along Came a Spider" is a reference to the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet.
- Brain Juice: tagline "A mind is a terrible thing to drink" is a play on the phrase "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". An alternate tagline featured on the book preview on the Scholastic website, "This is your brain. This is your brain on juice." is a reference to This Is Your Brain on Drugs, an anti-narcotics campaign led by Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
- The Mummy Walks: tagline "One small step for mummy..." is a reference to Neil Armstrong's famous quote upon landing on the moon.
- Horrors of the Black Ring: Tagline "Ring around the creature" is a reference to the nursery rhyme Ring Around The Rosie.
- Who's Your Mummy?: back tagline "Tomb With A View" is play on the phrase "Room with a view".
Television series references[]
- In "My Hairiest Adventure", Larry had a poster of Venom from Spider-Man.
- In "It Came from Beneath The Sink!", The X-Files is referenced.
- In "The Werewolf of Fever Swamp", Grady has a skateboard with the image of The Haunted Mask on it.
- In "Let's Get Invisible", Max wears a baseball hat with the Goosebumps G logo on front.
- Adam West playing the Galloping Gazzelle in "Attack of the Mutant" is a reference to his role of the 1960s television series, Batman.
- In the episode "An Old Story", Tom and Jon had a poster from the band, The Doors. Footage from "Welcome to Camp Nightmare" is recycled as a video game played by Tom and Jon.
- "Shocker on Shock Street" reuses several masks from previous episodes, including the Creep mask from "Calling All Creeps!", two scarecrows from "The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight", masks from "The Haunted Mask" and "The Haunted Mask II", a snake monster from "The Girl Who Cried Monster" and Prince Khor-Ru from "Return of the Mummy". It also uses a piranha mask that would be reused in "Deep Trouble".
- "Click" features footage from the '90s Canadian game show Uh Oh!
- In "Don't Go To Sleep!", NHL personality Don Cherry guest stars as Matt's coach, a reference to his history as a former hockey coach.
- In "One Day at HorrorLand", a Horror offers the Morriss' "Ear of Holyfield". This is a reference to a fight between Evander Holyfeld and Mike Tyson where Tyson bit Holyfield's ear.
- In "The Haunted Mask II" there are posters of Courtney Love and Cable in Steve's bedroom. Also, Steve mentions The Three Stooges.
- The House of No Return references The Three Stooges.
- Werewolf Skin references The X Files, Newsweek, and People.
Movie references[]
- There are references to Stephen King, Steve McQueen, The Blob, The Lord of the Rings, Frosty the Snowman, and The Shining in the Goosebumps film.
- In the movie, Danny Elfman makes a small amount of music that sounds similar to Dark Shadows, Corpse Bride, Spider-Man, and Sleepy Hollow.
- When Stine was tied up by the Lawn Gnomes, that was a reference to the book Gulliver's Travels, which was also turned into a 2010 movie starring Jack Black and directed by Rob Letterman.
- Stephen King's It is referenced in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.
Other references[]
- The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek shows that one of the endings features an appearance from Tarzan.
- The Creepy Creations of Professor Shock references Nintendo.
- Toy Terror: Batteries Included references Toys "R" Us.
- Zapped in Space references Shaquille O'Neal when the reader's character points out how Madame Zapp's hands and feet look larger than even the basketball star's.
- Invaders from the Big Screen features a gigantic ape, which is a reference to King Kong.
- Cry of the Cat references Tom & Jerry, and Godzilla.
- Bride of the Living Dummy references Dairy Queen.
- Invasion of the Body Squeezers: Part 1 references NASA, the L.A. Dodgers, Mario, Game Boy, Munchkins, The Wizard of Oz, Star Trek, Klingons, and Star Wars.
- I Am Your Evil Twin references Twilight Zone The Movie, and Police Academy.
- Headless Halloween references Jell-O, Air Jordans, Darth Vader, The Little Mermaid, Princess Leia, Snickers, M&Ms, and Twister.
- In Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls, Spencer says that Jason's backpack is "as purple as Barney the Dinosaur".
- Brain Juice references Nerf, The New York Times, Jeopardy!, and Coke.
- Return to HorrorLand references Tom Selleck, and Scully from The X Files.
- Jekyll and Heidi references Gozilla.
- Scream School references The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Invisible Man. It also references Edgar Allen Poe, Frosted Flakes, In-N-Out Burger and The Grateful Dead.
- The Mummy Walks references Coca-Cola, Disney World, and Sea World.
- Return to Ghost Camp references Hulk Hogan and Mark McGwire.
- The Haunted Car references Chevrolet's Corvette, Chevrolet's 1957 Impala, Chevrolet's 1983 Camaro, the 1992 Pontiac Firebird, Mario Andretti, The X-Files, the Chrysler Lebaron, and the Ford Taurus.
- Full Moon Fever references Zorro, Teletubbies, Hershey Bars, and Milky Ways.
- Ghost in the Mirror references WWF, Nike, NBA, Oreo Cookies, Coca-Cola, Alfred Hitchcock, Wheaties, Saran Wrap, and the Game Boy.
- Revenge of the Living Dummy references PlayStation 3 and Cheez Doodles.
- The Scream of the Haunted Mask references The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine and Lego.
- Dr. Maniac vs. Robby Schwartz references Battle Chess.
- Say Cheese — and Die Screaming! references Time and Bye Bye Birdie.
- In Welcome to Camp Slither, Roddy McDonald's name is initially mistaken as Ronald McDonald.
- Help! We Have Strange Powers! references Madden Football, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Batman, Old Navy, the White Sox, Snickers, the Silver Surfer, Google, and M&M's.
- When the Ghost Dog Howls references Quaker Oats, Cadillac Escalade, Jeep, King Kong, Scrabble, Ms. Pac-Man, Frogger, Space Invaders, and Google.
- Weirdo Halloween references Dumbo, King Kong, iPod, Star Trek, SpongeBob SquarePants, Netflix, Tinkerbell, and Harry Potter.
- Slappy New Year!, references Xbox.
- Night of the Giant Everything references Chopin, Ringling Brothers Circus, Barbie dolls, and Ken dolls.
- Goosebumps Wanted: The Haunted Mask Makes references Beauty and the Beast, Oreo, Wii, Twister, American Girl dolls and Twizzlers.
- Dr. Maniac Will See You Now references Captain Marvel. Captain Toad and Terry Tadpole are seen atop the roof of the Romita family household. This is a likely reference to comic artists John Romita and John Romita Jr.
- Creature Teacher: The Final Exam references Angry Birds. Mrs. Maaargh's "Wait Watchers Chart" is a likely reference to Weight Watchers.
- Trick or Trap references references Fiat, iPod, iPad, YouTube, Instagram, Marvel, Thor, Wolverine, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Hello Kitty, and UPS.
- Night of the Puppet People references Elton John, Snickers, M&M's, Sesame Street, Oreo, Frozen, and Disney Channel.
- Slappy Birthday to You references Wikipedia, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Animal Planet, and Netflix.
- Attack of the Jack references Diet Sprite, Jaws, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Johnny Depp. The name Captain Jack the Knife is a possible play on the song Mack the Knife.
- It's Alive! It's Alive! references LEGO, The Discovery Channel, and Pop-Tarts.
- The Dummy Meets the Mummy! references Kleenex, Frankenstein, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Fozzy Bear, Harry Potter, Stephen King, and Edgar Allan Poe.
- The school in Revenge of the Invisible Boy is named "Han Solo Middle School", a reference to the Star Wars character of the same name. The book also references Spongebob Squarepants, Instagram, the New York Yankees, Wikipedia, YouTube, King Kong, McDonald's, The New York Mets, Frosted Flakes, and The Invisible Man.
- The school in Monster Blood Is Back is named "Adam Driver Middle School", a reference to the actor of the same name. Apple Watches and PlayStation are also referenced.
- Fifth-Grade Zombies references Minecraft.
- In Goosebumps: The Game, if the player tries to enter the furnace that is in the Dead House basement, the player is met with the message "Nope! So much nope." This is a reference to the "Nope" internet meme.
References to Goosebumps[]
- Spider-Man (2002 video game): During the Scorpion boss battle, music from "Let's Get Invisible!" is played.
- Slither (2006 film): There's a scene where two little girls are reading Goosebumps books, one reads You Can't Scare Me!, and the other girl reads The Girl Who Cried Monster.
- Nick News: R.L. Stine appeared in multiple episodes.
- Clarence: There was an episode called "Belson's Sleepover" where the character Belson reads a book called, Goose Pimples to Clarence and his friends.
- Arthur: In the episode The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Book Club, the Scare-Your-Pants-Off books parody Goosebumps. Buster mentions a book called The Curse of the Mummy's Breath, a reference to The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb and Vampire Breath.
- Goosebumps is referenced several times throughout Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Double Down. The characters in this book read the book series, Spineticklers, a fictional series written by the fictional author I.M. Spooky. There are at least 97 books in the Spineticklers series. Some of the titles allude to real Goosebumps books. The fictional book The Brain with Its Own Mind possibly alludes to Brain Juice, and Zombies at Breakfast possibly alludes to Zombie Halloween or Monster Blood for Breakfast!.
- Additionally, Greg mentions there being multiple Spineticklers ripoffs, likely a reference to the many series inspired by Goosebumps that cropped up in the 90's. The name Spineticklers is similar to Spinetinglers, one of the aforementioned series.
- The author I.M. Spooky is revealed to not actually exist, being a stand in for various authors. This is a reference to a common accusation of ghostwriters being used for the series.
- The band, $uicideboy$ has a song called "Say Cheese and Die!"
- The Simpsons: In the Season 23 episode The Book Job, the phrase "Is R.L. Stine here, cause you just gave me Goosebumps" is uttered by the book executive.
- Goosebumps is briefly mentioned again in the Season 33 episode The Longest Marge.
- Season 34's Not It features a scene in which Krusty (parodying Pennywise) becomes a dummy dressed in a similar outfit to Slappy.
- The Zack Files: In the first episode, The Library of No Return, Zack is put on trial by the Alice in Wonderland characters and first claims the book was by R.L. Stine before correcting himself, saying "No wait, that was Goosebumps."
- The now defunct deathcore band Dr. Acula wrote multiple songs with titles based on Goosebumps books. These include Shocker On Shock Street, Horror At Camp Jellyjam and Say Cheese and Die! just to name a few.
- Internet personality Neil Cicierega, under his musical project Lemon Demon, released a song called Goosebumps which references many of the titles of the original 62 in its lyrics. The music video features imagery of the books and all of the first 62 covers.
- Goosebumps has been referenced multiple times on the video game channel Game Grumps. Among the references are:
- Giving the name "R.L. Stine" to the main character in the PS2 video game Chulip.
- Goosebumps Horrorland was played during the 2013 Ghoul Grumps series.
- Arin telling Dan the twist of Welcome to Camp Nightmare in the 18th part of their NES Legend of Zelda playthrough.
- Cracked Magazine lampooned Goosebumps in their May 1997 issue.
- Disney Adventures featured multiple articles on Goosebumps, including their November 1996 issue which featured it as their cover story.
- The November, 1996 issue also featured the first part of a contest to finish a Goosebumps story.
- Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction: the story entitled "Wheezer" features a scene where the character Zack is reading an exerpt from Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns to his dog.
- Mad Magazine lampooned Goosebumps in 2017 with "Goosebumps Books For Millennials".
- The 2002 book The Mysterious Matter of I.M. Fine by Diane Stanley centers around some kids who must figure out why kids who read a series called Chillers are doing strange things that happen to connect to the latest books in the series and track down the mysterious author.
- In one episode of Glee, a copy of The Phantom of the Auditorium can be seen.
- In 2018, the now defunct professional wrestling promotion Chikara named several of their live events on Goosebumps titles. These included Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, It Came from Beneath the Sink!, Let's Get Invisible!, Beware, The Snowman, Piano Lessons Can Be Murder and Don't Go to Sleep!
- The Bunnicula book Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow features a series called "Fleshcrawlers", written by M.T. Graves.
- The question "What is the title of the best-selling series of scary children's books created by R.L. Stine?" was asked on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. The correct answer, Goosebumps, was worth £2,000.
- Slappy was featured in Watchmojo's "Top 20 Scariest Dolls in Horror Movies" list, taking the 7th spot.
- The animated series Molly of Denali referenced Goosebumps in the episode "Visit Qyah" as Molly returns a book titled "Moosebumps" titled "The Ghost of Parody Pines" with a front cover design similar to the 2003 reprints
- In the Animorphs book ''The Separation'', Rachael states she had goosebumps to which Marco quips "I used to read those books". R.L Stine would later be directly mentioned in "The Prophecy".
- In the Time Warp Trio book "Summer Reading is Killing Me", the titular trio pretends to be book characters from a series while stuck in a universe made up of book characters. Frankenstein's Monster says "series bad!" to which the boss assures him they aren't from "one of those horror series", saying "settle down your goosebumps".
- 7th Heaven: In the episode "Seven is Enough", Simon is reading Attack Of The Mutant while in the garage discussing with his siblings about their grandparents visiting for the week. Additionally, in "“In The Blink Of An Eye", Simon is seen reading Trapped In Batwing Hall.
- In the first episode of Season 2 of the 2019 Are You Afraid of the Dark revival, a Slappy dummy, or a dummy similar to him, can be seen in Sardo's magic shop.
- Power Rangers Dino Fury: The episode "Guilt Trip" features a website advertising a supposedly haunted location called "Stine Hotel". A user reviews says it gave them "Goosebumps" and another says "Guests beware, you're in for a scare!". Additionally, it offers "complimentary purple peanut butter", a reference to Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter.
- The 2017 book Ban This Book mentions Goosebumps among many banned books.
- In Susan Wiggs' 2020 novel, The Lost and Found Bookshop, the main character Natalie reflects on her childhood as a reader and the daughter of a bookstore owner and how a lot of kids she knew would only ever read Goosebumps.