Let's Discuss: Changing Genres

 

So this weekend I found myself watching the new Goosebumps series on Disney+. I remember watching some of the original shows growing up, although my memory of them might confuse some episodes with Are You Afraid of the Dark as they ran around the same time and had similar story lines!

Changing Genres

You might find this hard to believe, but as a kid I never read the Goosebumps books. I honestly remember being terrified of the covers! Lol. I didn't like horror as a kid as I had a very, very vivid imagination. Which can be kind of bad when you're that young and it's bedtime or you're walking into the dark basement because that's where you kept the toys! Lol. So yes, I never read a single Goosebumps book but I did see them at the store so while I watched the show, I recognized a few of the books taking center stage as a greater mystery was continuing to buildup.

I do find it kind of ironic that I somehow was watching Are You Afraid of the Dark and Goosebumps but could never bring myself to pick up a single Goosebumps book! I remember seeing the one with the kid putting on the Halloween mask that eventually didn't want to come off--that one came into play with the new series too! I feel like I vaguely recall that as a TV episode too from back in the day. How I could bring myself to "watch" the books but never read them I don't know. I guess the covers were just too creepy that I thought I would "imagine" seeing things a whole lot creepier than anticipated.

The show is building into another of the books I remember seeing and that is one involving the ventriloquist dummy, which seriously terrified me because around that time they had no problem playing ads for Chucky being on TV and anything about a toy coming to life to kill you really, really terrified me! Granted, I suspect the Goosebumps one wasn't trying to kill the kids, because it was meant for kids to read, but still! I much rather toys come to life a la Toy Story style! Lol. So I will be interested in seeing what this new Goosebumps series does with that part of the story. It's really intriguing so far and I eating up the episodes before I end up canceling my subscription as I find I haven't been watching it much lately.

But yeah, I don't think I really got into "creepy" things until I was in middle school and read my first vampire book! That is when the spark struck and I couldn't get enough of vampires and soon to discover werewolves, witches, and more! I think it's in part the same reason why I didn't get into Buffy right away too. That spark just hadn't started yet where I loved that kind of thing and seeing anything related to that "realm" beforehand terrified me. It's funny how we can slowly evolved into one kind of reader after avoiding such things previously. 

Just looking back, I almost can't believe myself that I didn't want to read the Goosebumps books because of their terrifying covers, yet I had to be watching Are You Afraid of the Dark at the same time. I guess because I figure I could run from the room or change the channel faster if something got too spooky! Lol!

 

Now here is where I would usually ask you if you've ever been in this kind of situation, but I am struggling to word it right since this is so specific! I know some readers still avoid spooky reads so the question might not even pertain to them! But I guess I'll try to phrase it this way: was there ever a genre--be it more TV/movie or book related that you avoided at one point but would eventually couldn't get enough of?