Why Goosebumps Season 1's Cliffhanger Won't Be Resolved In New Anthology Season Explained By Creator & Showrunner

With the show’s upcoming return going in a similar direction to American Horror Story, Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston share why Goosebumps: The Vanishing won’t resolve the season 1 cliffhanger ending. The next season is taking an anthology approach to adapting R.L. Stine’s iconic novel series, centering on teen siblings Devin and Cece as they go to stay with their dad, only for a new wrinkle in the dark mystery from their family’s past to unleash mayhem. David Schwimmer will lead the Goosebumps: The Vanishing cast as their father, alongside Sam McCarthy, Jayden Bartels and Ana Ortiz, among others.

Ahead of the show’s January 10 premiere, ScreenRant interviewed co-creator Rob Letterman and showrunner Hilary Winston to discuss Goosebumps: The Vanishing. When asked about the decision to go in an anthology route for the new season, rather than build on season 1’s cliffhanger ending, the duo pointed to how it stays in spirit with the show’s source material, with the books often ending with a major plot twist rather than a “happy ending and a moral at the end” and that it’s also meant to ensure the show “never panders down” to the viewers. See what the duo explained below:

Rob Letterman: It’s a thinking, and it’s sort of our justification of why it works. I think, ultimately, that’s how the books tend to end, where it opens a big door and a big twist, and it’s kind of what we love about the material. It just never panders down. The characters are flawed, it doesn’t tie itself up into a nice little bow with a happy ending and a moral at the end. God forbid, R.L. Stine would never let that happen, so we embraced that, and the books were an anthology series of books. It was just a really interesting idea to do anthology seasons with the Goosebumps world.

Hilary Winston: And our characters don’t always make the right choices. Margot brings Isaiah back to life using the magic that they’ve been fighting against the whole season. People don’t always do the right thing.

What This Means For Goosebumps Season 1 & The Vanishing

The Next Chapter May End On A Very Similar Note

Much to Letterman and Winston’s point, the Goosebumps books, and subsequent ’90s TV adaptation of them, were notorious for just how often they’d end on a darker note when compared to the rest of the children’s novel genre. It’s arguably what made Stine’s series stand out from the crowd, giving many readers their first introduction to the horror genre, as well as the realism that happy endings don’t always come to fruition.

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Even still, Disney+’s Goosebumps show going for the anthology route with The Vanishing may come as something of a surprise when considering how big season 1’s ending was. Despite having seemingly sent Kanduu back to Hell, or another dimension to trap him, the ending revealed that the evil sorcerer’s spirit was still in Nathan’s body, though left it unclear how much control he’d have over him. The finale also showed Margot using Kanduu’s book to revive Isaiah after his death, though also didn’t show how this would actually impact him.

With Letterman and Winston now likely more confident in the anthology format than when they first began developing the new season, it seems likely that Goosebumps: The Vanishing‘s story will similarly end on a cliffhanger note. The main thrust of the season looks to be both Schwimmer’s Anthony and McCarthy’s Devin being afflicted by some kind of malevolent force, and while it’s unclear the nature or motivation of it, the way season 1 ended seems like The Vanishing could set up one of the two to sacrifice themselves, or still have something evil lingering below the surface.

Our Take On Goosebumps: The Vanishing Being An Anthology Season

Kanduu Could Be Planning His Next World-Conquering Scheme

While I can appreciate the desire to stay true to the books and go in a standalone direction for Goosebumps: The Vanishing, I can’t deny that I would have loved to see the season 1 cliffhanger expanded on in the new season. That being said, that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t one day learn about what Kanduu is up to. Many of Stine’s books got sequels which, even if not directly addressing the events of the previous book, did at least continue those stories, particularly Slappy the Dummy, and given how important he was in season 1, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.