Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Goosebumps (2023) and Goosebumps: The Vanishing
WhileGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s ending is better than season 1’s unresolved cliffhanger, it does owe a lot of inspiration to a certain Netflix show.2023’sGoosebumpsadaptationupdated RL Stine’s classic series of children’s horror novels from the ‘90s by turning them into a blend of small-town supernatural mystery and teen drama. This mix occasionally felt tonally uneasy but, byGoosebumpsseason 1’s finale, it was hard not to care for the show’s young heroes. As such,Goosebumpsseason 1 ending on a cliffhanger was frustrating for viewers who wanted closure from the show.
Any viewers still waiting for an answer to season 1’s mysteries will need to keep waiting, sinceGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s new cast of charactersstar in an all-new story.Goosebumps: The Vanishing’s plot isn’t connectedto season 1’s story, and instead focuses on the botanist Anthony Brewer, whose older brother went missing when the pair were teenagers in the ‘90s. When Anthony’s teenage twins, Devin and Cece, join him for a summer in Gravesend, they befriend local teens Frankie, Trey, CJ, and Alex and end up inadvertently uncovering the mystery behind his brother’s disappearance decades earlier.
Trey’s Goosebumps: The Vanishing’s Fate Mirrors Will’s Stranger Things Season 1 Ending
Both Characters Cough Up Alien Slugs After A Seemingly Happy Ending
In season 2’s ending, thealiens fromGoosebumps: The Vanishingleave Gravesend in their spaceship and everything seemingly returns to normal. Anthony finally understands what was behind his brother’s disappearance, the teens are all friends, Alex and Cece are tentatively trying out a long-distance relationship, and Devin is set to attend Gravesend High with his new girlfriend Frankie in the fall. However, everything is not quite as comforting as it may seem.Trey coughs up a grey alien slug inGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s closing moments, proving that the group’s peril may not quite be over yet.
Will Byers coughed a similar-looking grey alien slug as Stranger Things season 1 ended.
If this specific twist seems very familiar, that might be because it resembles the events ofStranger Thingsseason 1’s finale. The iconic Netflix series, which also mixes small-town supernatural mystery with teen drama, was originally intended to be a self-contained miniseries. However,Stranger Thingsseason 1’s ending featured one hint that the group’s ordeal might not be over yet. Will Byers coughed a similar-looking grey alien slug asStranger Thingsseason 1 ended, proving that something strange was still afoot in the town of Hawkins. Trey’s fate is almost identical inGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s last-second twist ending.
Trey’s Goosebumps: The Vanishing’s Twist Has One Major Stranger Things Difference
Trey’s Fate Is Played For Laughs While Will’s Plight Was Taken Seriously
To be fair toGoosebumps: The Vanishing, the show does diverge fromStranger Thingsin terms of tone. Will didn’t grimace and say“Well, that’s not good” after coughing up a slug monster, whereasGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s lighter, sillier tone means that Trey does offer this bon mot after coughing up the alien slime monster.Goosebumps: The Vanishingis lighter and funnier thanStranger Thingsseason 1, but that doesn’t make the striking similarities between the two endings any less obvious. While Trey’s fate might be played for laughs, the details are still extremely alike.
The difference is that Fort Jerome houses an alien spaceship, whereas Hawkins Lab is home to an MKUltra-style brainwashing program that accidentally caused inter-dimensional rifts.
Much likeStranger Thingsseason 1,Goosebumps: The Vanishing’s endingreveals that government agents have been containing a paranormal entity in a secret location for years before a group of teens accidentally stumbled across it. Both Hawkins Lab fromStranger Thingsand Fort Jerome fromGoosebumps: The Vanishingare responsible for numerous disappearances over the years, and both are home to ethically questionable government experimentation. The difference is that Fort Jerome houses an alien spaceship, whereas Hawkins Lab is home to an MKUltra-style brainwashing program that accidentally caused inter-dimensional rifts.
Goosebumps: The Vanishing Features Numerous Stranger Things Nods
The RL Stine Adaptation Borrows Various Moments From Netflix’s Hit Show
These similarities would be easier to ignore ifGoosebumps: The Vanishing’s Camp Nightmare plotwas the only thing the show borrowed fromStranger Thingsseason 1. However, the Stine adaptation owes more than this twist to the Netflix series. Trey’s character arc, which sees him go from a one-dimensional jerk jock to an unlikely supporting hero, mirrors Steve’sStranger Thingsseason 1-2 story. Similarly, the show bouncing between the parents of the teens and the teens themselves owes something toStranger Things’ balance of Joyce and Hopper’s storyline alongside the main group’s adventures.
Goosebumps: The Vanishingowes a lot toStranger Things, although the show’s tone is goofy and comedic enough for it to feel different from Netflix’s hit.Stranger Thingsseason 1 was markedly darker and more self-serious than the show’s later seasons, whereasGoosebumps: The Vanishingfeels even more playful and goofy than season 3 of the Netflix show. As such,Goosebumps: The Vanishing’s nods never feel too much like straightforward imitation despite the similarities.
