‘Goosebumps’ EPs on That Cliffhanger Finale, Potential Season 2: “We All Have Our Fingers Crossed”

The Disney+ series Goosebumps is the latest adaptation of R.L. Stine’s infamous young adult horror book series, which has previously found itself adapted on the big and small screen, the stage, in comics, and other forms of media. Now, with the first season of the new show coming to an end, viewers are left with several questions about what’s to come… Including whether there will be a Goosebumps Season 2 after that finale cliffhanger.

The finale, “Welcome to Horrorland,” premiered November 17, 2023, and finds the core group of teens working to save the town of Port Lawrence after it is taken over by the spirit of Kanduu (Chris Geere), an evil magician who has haunted Slappy the Dummy and late high schooler Harold Biddle. 

In an unintentional coincidence, the episode aired on the day after the 25th anniversary of the last episode of the 1995 series adaptation. Nobody understands the significance more than executive producer Rob Letterman, who created the ongoing series after previously directing the 2015 movie adaptation starring Jack Black.

“I love Goosebumps because it’s such a big sandbox to play in,” Letterman told Decider on a Zoom call. “When you dive into it, there are so many subgenres and places to go.” 

Talking about the series, Letterman said, “I am so proud of the show. I can’t even put it into words. It is everything we talked about doing from the get-go. It’s gritty and grounded, and realistic with honest teenagers… The scariest thing in the world is being a teenager in high school. It’s terrifying. You don’t need demonic possession.”

In addition to saving their beloved town, the group of high school students also are confronted with their own personal drama. Margot (Isa Briones) has a falling out with her current love interest Lucas (Will Price), and becomes Isaiah’s (Zack Morris) center of attention after he confesses his love for her. However, their time together is tested when Isaiah finds his life on the line. 

The Goosebumps team didn’t have much to divulge following the cliffhanger involving Isaiah, telling us “we didn’t think past Episode 10,” but they do have strong opinions about the unfolding love triangle. “There were two camps in the writers room the whole time: Team Lucas and Team Isaiah. That push-and-pull shows up in the episode,” Letterman teased. 

Executive producer Hilary Winston gave more details, saying, “I think people were into Lucas, but we wanted to make it more complex. You start to realize that maybe Margot and Lucas aren’t on the same page. Margot wants to leave Port Lawrence, and Lucas wants to stay and run the hardware shop. That’s a big moment. They have the big fight and break up. Then, Margo starts to realize that she’s always had this love for Isaiah, and wonders what it could be.”

Winston later confirmed that she’s personally a “Lucas shipper.”

When it comes to thinking about creating another season, Winston prefers to stay in the moment.  “We have no idea at this point, and we’re just so happy that the finale is airing. Everybody’s gonna get to see this work. It’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘Let’s enjoy all of this hard work before we start talking about more hard work.’ But we all have our fingers and everything else crossed.”

Nicholas Stoller, who developed the show with Letterman, also stayed hush on a potential sequel season, but complimented the support they received from Disney during production. “Early on, since we’re making this for Disney+, we were like, ‘How far should we go with the horror?’ And they said, ‘Let us tell you when you’ve gone too far.’ So we went for it and made it as scary as we wanted it to be. Disney was really very supportive of it.”

Stoller added, “But we also were staying true to the books. You know, the books aren’t like Saw. So, it would have been weird if we gone too far. We let the books guide us to what we wanted it to be.”

Goosebumps Season 1 is currently airing on Disney+ and Hulu.