Warning: Contains Spoilers for Stuff of Nightmares: Red Murder!
The newest comic from author R.L. Stine is redefining one of his most overlooked Goosebumps books. R.L. Stine has become one of the most successful children’s authors in modern history. His success with the Goosebumps anthology franchise skyrocketed him to fame, and the name is recognizable to this day with countless reprints and an upcoming reboot series on Disney+. However, Stine is known for more than just his work on the kid-friendly horror series.
Starting in 2022, R.L. Stine has been collaborating with comic-book publisher BOOM! Studios and a variety of artists to produce new tales of terror aimed squarely at adults called Stuff of Nightmares. In the latest entry, R.L. Stine and Adam Gorham present readers with Stuff of Nightmares: Red Murder. The story follows a comic creator down on his luck after he finds himself struggling to create something successful following the popularity of his first work, Red Murder. Suddenly, at a local comic convention, someone taking on the persona of his bloodthirsty antihero begins killing attendees. It’s an interesting premise for a horror story, but fans of the Goosebumps franchise may notice some similarities to one of Stine’s original Goosebumps stories.
Red Murder Takes a Page from Attack of the Mutant
Released in November 1994, Attack of the Mutant follows the adventures of a comic fan named Skipper who adores the supervillain the Masked Mutant. However, he soon realizes that his favorite villain may actually be real when he notices a building that looks like his base. Red Murder seems to have taken the premise of this Goosebumps story and recontextualized it for adults. After all, the Mad Mutant is not as bloodthirsty as Red Murder, but it’s no coincidence that this is Stine’s second time taking on the concept. In a way, it works better here, since Attack of the Mutant isn’t regarded as one of the best Goosebumps stories. By reframing the tale for adults, the comic gives the concept new life — while also improving on it.
Those improvements include a twist ending. The Goosebumps story ends nonsensivally with Skipper bleeding comic book ink, hinting that he himself is probably a comic book character. Red Murder, however, reveals that the killer was actually the author of the story the whole time, believing himself to be his non-existent brother. While this ending can be seen coming from a mile away, it makes far more sense than the twist from Goosebumps. But this opens up its own can of worms
Red Murder Gets a Better (Yet More Problematic Twist) Than Attack of the Mutant
The stigmatization of people with Dissociate Identity Disorder (DID) is all too prevalent, especially in the horror genre. Making a person with DID the villain has become a harshly negative trope. This comic may be an improvement on Mutant, but it comes at the cost of some ableist undertones. Despite these issues, it’s interesting to see Stine take what didn’t work when he tried this story in the past and recreate it for his now-adult fans. This opens up the doors to revamping some other past ideas, such as Why I’m Afraid of Bees and Go Eat Worms. The future looks bright for R.L. Stine and his latest series, and if he can continue doing to other Goosebumps books what he did here, Stuff of Nightmares could be even more popular than his beloved ’90s classic.
Stuff of Nightmares: Red Murder is available now from BOOM! Studios.
