Goosebumps

Goosebumps
A Scary Read
Philadelphia, PA
1994


My 4 year old nephew insisted I read Goosebumps to him all the time.  He never liked to have his parents read to him because "they don't weed with X-spresh-shin." So I had to read many, many of these books to him over a two year period.

One Saturday, I am at his house and he invites two friends over to listen to me read to them.  I sat on the chair and they sat on the floor, leaning on my leg and sitting on my feet. They sat in an upright position the whole time.  I read about 15 chapters and I was getting hoarse and dry.  I suggested I end for the day and promised to read more tomorrow.  But they would have none of that idea.  They were hooked and wanted to know what was going to happen next.

My brother-in-law who was sitting on the couch, chimed in and volunteered to read to them a little bit.  The neighborhood boys cheered but William rolled his eyes.  Bill proceeded to read in a monotone and a speed that didn't interest any of them.  After four chapters, Bill called it quits and handed the book over to his wife.  She read about six more chapters and she, too, lost interest. I jumped back in and finished up the last ten chapters.  The boys clapped and ran off to play.

A few hours later, my brother-in law asked me, "Tell me something, how did the professor stuff all that evidence in the test-tube?  Do yo think that virus would really fit in there?"

"What?" my sister asked.

"In the book today, the professor had the virus.  But how did he get the virus?  Really, what does a virus look like? And why didn't the kids caught the virus."

What followed was a 30 minute discussion on the book.  Each of us lost bits of information and had bits of information due to our switching on and off of reading responsibilities.  So we sat pensively in the living room and rehashed the story until everything made sense to us.

"Huh, that was a pretty clever story," my brother-in law concluded. We agreed and I read more of these books to William until he learned to read. He loved his new independence and I missed these moments of awe and imagination.

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