Movies

'Goosebumps' Sequel Promises A 'Haunted Halloween' This Fall

Goosebumps Haunted Halloween
By Ethan Anderton

A sequel to the 2015 adaptation of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps book series has been in the works for a few years now. However, the title of the sequel has remained in flux, gestating from Goosebumps: HorrorLand, referencing a specific location in the Goosebumps universe, to Goosebumps: Slappy Halloween, as a nod to the possessed ventriloquist dummy named Slappy. But now the title has changed once more, and it's a little more generic.

The Goosebumps sequel arriving this fall has been given the official title of Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween, as revealed during the Sony Pictures panel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Does this new title provide any idea as to what the sequel will be about?

Sony Pictures has revealed a little teaser that they played at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week:

Even though the voice of Slappy in the first Goosebumps movie was Jack Black, this video certainly doesn't sound like the actor has returned. But various members of the press on site on CinemaCon have said Sony Pictures announced Black would return as Slappy, so maybe he just wasn't free to record dialogue for this video. However, it's not clear if Black will reprise his role as R.L. Stine or not.

Otherwise, the rest of the Goosebumps Haunted Halloween cast has all new faces to the franchise. There will be some new young adult characters played by Madison Iseman, Ben O'Brien, Caleel Harris and Jeremy Ray Taylor. Meanwhile, the new adults on the scene include Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Chris Parnell and Ken Jeong. But at this point, we have no idea who any of these actors and actresses are playing in the movie.

As for what Goosebumps Haunted Halloween will be about, that's still under wraps. The title doesn't provide much insight into the story since it's not ripped from a specific Goosebumps title. That will likely allow the movie to bring in a bunch of elements from several Goosebumps books, just as the first did.

Then again, there's a chance it could borrow heavily from the popular Haunted Mask line of titles from within the Goosebumps series. Those books followed characters who put on a certain Halloween mask that they couldn't take off and made them increasingly more aggressive and dangerous. Could that be what the Goosebumps sequel from director Ari Sandel and screenwriter Darren Lemke (Turbo) is about?

We'll find out when Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween arrives on October 12, 2018.

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