Well, it just turned August, and right as we're all gearing up for Halloween and pumpkin spice, it looks like we'll have one less show to watch.
Variety has reported that the Disney+ anthology show, Goosebumps, has officially been cancelled.
The series was based on the beloved children's horror books by R.L. Stine, which feature kids in various horror scenarios, from haunted masks to evil ventriloquist dummies to creepy cameras, and were foundational to young genre fans like me.
The series, which had two seasons (the second of which was called Goosebumps: The Vanishing), was ostensibly performing well. The first season followed five high schoolers as they investigated the death of a teen named Harold Biddle and starred Justin Long, Rachael Harris, Zack Morris, Isa Briones, Miles McKenna, Ana Yi Puig, and Will Price. It premiered in October 2023.
The second season featured David Schwimmer as a single father whose brother disappeared when they were teens. His twins and their three friends became entangled in the mystery of four teenagers who disappeared decades earlier. It came out in January 2025.
'Goosebumps' (Season 2)Credit: Disney/Francisco Roman
There was plenty of creepiness to explore in these episodes, which pulled from various storylines in the extensive Stine catalogue with more to spare (there are a couple hundred books in the franchise). The first season had 10 weekly episodes, while the second had eight and came out all in a block.
We could have a whole conversation about the release model here—I've seen plenty of complaints about how TV seasons keep getting shorter, with huge breaks in between. Just look at Netflix's Wednesday, which finally released its second season after a two-year hiatus. And for some reason, those eight episodes have been split into two four-episode blocks. Remember when we would get over 20 episodes of TV per season, released every single year? Those were the days.
Anyway, Goosebumps seemed to be faring fine. According to Variety: "The two seasons pulled in 75 million hours viewed combined in the U.S., on top of 43 million hours viewed across 16 international markets."
While the second season did have a drop in viewership, we could potentially attribute that to the long break between seasons. Critically, it did fine, with Metacritic's aggregator showing favorable reviews from critics.
So what's the deal?
Disney hasn't commented on the choice to ax the show, and it could join a graveyard of other prematurely canceled Disney+ shows unless series producer Sony Pictures Television is able to find it a new home.
As Inside the Magic points out, one of Disney CEO Bob Iger's main goals has been to make the streamer profitable. This is likely guiding the company's choice to, according to Deadline, more fully integrate Hulu into the international version of the Disney+ app.
After that news broke earlier this week, rumors quickly started flying online about Hulu services disappearing, but it's only the app itself that is merging with Disney+. Disney says that subscription services will still be available as the bundle as well as stand-alone Disney+ or Hulu subs, although pricing isn't clear.
Anyway, as all this restructuring happens, it's likely Goosebumps and other shows have been unfortunate casualties. Let us know what you think.
