![The Most Rare And Expensive ‘Goosebumps’ Books Might Surprise You [Fright-A-Thon]](https://thathashtagshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-19.png)
The 1990’s were a boom for young adult horror books. Chief among these books were Goosebumps. The series from R. L. Stine was a gateway for many people to get into the horror genre. You might be thinking that like a lot of stuff from when you were a kid, it might be pretty valuable. After all, we’ve got video game prices, toy prices, and other collectibles that have spiked in recent times from the 1990s. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but the Goosebumps books have been reprinted a bunch. Even the first edition copies of the books aren’t worth too much, depending on the condition. There are 62 original Goosebumps books from 1992-1997. Out of all those books, there have been significant reprints over the years for all but four of them.
Among Goosebumps fans, these are known as ‘The Unreprinted’. What are those books? Of the original 62, the four not to receive massive market reprints are: Legend of the Lost Legend, Werewolf Skin, I Live In Your Basement!, and Monster Blood IV. Of those books, only Legend of The Lost Legend has gotten any kind of reprint from its first edition, and even then, it was in a box set and not a mass-market paperback. That means these books are among the hardest to find when looking for a complete first-edition set.
Checking eBay for the prices of these ranges pretty wildly. There are mint copies, copies that have been read a lot, and others. In the case of Werewolf Skin, the original book came with a werewolf mask tear-out. Good luck being a kid and not wanting to tear that thing out immediately. Monster Blood IV even has the distinction of being one of the few books not turned into an episode of the TV series.
I Live In Your Basement usually fetches between $40-60 on eBay depending on the condition and what region it is. This also depends on if it has the Fan Club insert or not. Those collectors have to have absolutely EVERYTHING included with the book when it was sold.
Out of these four, Legend of the Lost Legend is far and away the cheapest, going for between $10-25, depending on the condition. Copies that include everything, like the stickers, might go for a bit more than that, though. This book was reprinted in the 25th Anniversary Retro Set that came out in 2017.
Werewolf Skin really depends on if the book comes with everything or not. If you don’t care about the mask, this one goes for between $20-30. If you want the mask though, you’ll have to pony up $50-70. You can only get a first-edition copy of this though, so that’s the real reason it’s in demand for collectors.
Finally, Monster Blood IV runs about $30-60 depending on the condition and what comes with the book. Monster Blood IV was the final book in the original series and was published in 1997. The book’s cover has some controversy with the monster in the medicine cabinet. In some versions and regions, the monster is covered up by a sticker or simply painted out.
If you’re trying to collect first-edition copies of all the Goosebumps books, these will most likely be the hardest to find. That doesn’t mean they’re impossible, though. As you can see, these might be “expensive” for these books, but they’re still not insane from a collector’s standpoint, especially when you compare them to other books R.L. Stine has written.
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