Book Review: The Art of Goosebumps by Tim Jacobus and Sarah Rodriguez

When I was about seven or eight years old, I was obsessed with poetry, and my favorite authors at the time were Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl.

Until one day, while on a family vacation, I stumbled across a horrifying sight! The small, slender arms of a child struggling with what appeared to be a living mask was the image gracing the cover of a book on display at a newsstand. There was something very frightening about this book cover, and yet I found myself drawn to it. It almost had a forbidden feel to it as well, and being a complete rebel, I knew I had found something special.

When this, and other equally edgy book covers, started finding their way into other bookstores as well as my local library, I realized I had to have these books. And the more I collected, the more accomplished I felt. (At the time, both my parents bought these books for me regularly, and they even surprised me with a full stack of them for a Christmas present. This was long before they realized I preferred staring at the covers over actually reading them. -hehe- But eventually I did that too…)

The books in question were Goosebumps, a book series which had by that time become a staple for young readers—so immensely popular that you were easily left out of the in-crowd if you didn’t read or own at least one.

Now it’s been almost twenty-five years since I saw that hideous mask at the newsstand, (which, as a sign of respect , we’ll henceforth refer to by its proper title: The Haunted Mask.) But the Goosebumps cover art still fascinates me deeply, and I take some inspiration from it in much of my own work.

So, imagine how ecstatic I was to find my very own copy of The Art of Goosebumps under the Christmas tree in 2021!

Now on with the review: Each Goosebumps book gets its own page, but even so, there is so much juicy content within those one page constraints that one can easily get lost in it. Each follows a simple format: pencil sketches, photo references (if any), a color mockup, plus the final artwork, as well as facts and tidbits about the book cover itself, plus the original back cover synopsis from each book. (Whew! That was a mouthful…)

Here are a couple examples of what I’m talking about:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a nod to the cover I saw at that newsstand all those years ago…

The TV adaptation of this one was my favorite as an eight year old. I rented it on VHS quite often.

Strictly in terms of information: as an artist myself, I find it invaluable to get a glimpse into Tim Jacobus’ thought process and technique. This not only offers a fascinating insight into what made these covers so amazing, but it also gives me ideas for ways to improve and build upon my own technique. Although other artists contributed to the Goosebumps franchise, I feel that this book’s emphasis on Jacobus and his art is completely justified, since he did more to cement the Goosebumps books into our collective zeitgeist. Without him, I don’t know if the books would have been nearly as popular.

All in all, I would give this book a 10/10 rating just because it is so thoroughly jam packed with interesting facts and visuals that I know every Goosebumps fan would appreciate.

What do you think of this book? Do you love it? Do you want it if you don’t have it already? Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for next week’s blog entry, in which I list the top 5 Goosebumps covers that freaked me out the most as a kid.