Book Review: "Stay Out of the Basement” (Goosebumps #2) by R. L. Stine
Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆ - 2 out of 5 stars
Format: Physical Paperback, Owned
We're baa-aack!
The world is on fire, every week involves a new unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime event, and another recession is looming. To say the least, millennials are exhausted. And, as a result, we're desperately reaching for anything nostalgic. * “Stay Out of the Basement” (Goosebumps #2) by R.L. Stine enters the chat. *
From those messy Lip Smacker roller-ball lip glosses to jelly sandals (wtf is everyone thinking? THE BLISTERS!), everything '90s has been making a comeback in droves. It's only natural that my collection of the original Goosebumps series has been screaming my name, promising the comfort and calm of an old-school Nickelodeon world.
That's why I've restarted my Goosebumps Challenge, and simultaneously, refreshed my dedication to Literary Cobblestones. So, join me as I continue to relive my favorite Scholastic book fairs by reading and reviewing "Stay Out of the Basement", book two in R.L. Stine's original Goosebumps series.
If you want to know more about what inspired my initial journey down memory lane, read my "Goosebumps Challenge" book blog or my review of Book One. Otherwise, let the nostalgia commence!
[Warning: Some of the details in my review may contain 30-year-old spoilers, so read at your own risk.]
What to Know About "Stay Out of the Basement" (Goosebumps #2) by R.L. Stine
The Quick & Dirty Reading Details
Horror, Science Fiction
Children's Fiction
Parentification
Body Shaming
Male-Centric Storyline
Angry-Father Archetype
Advanced Science Topics
Nuclear Family Depiction
Ethical Dilemmas in Research
TRIGGERS: Misogyny, Anger Outbursts, Kidnapping, Body Shaming
The Plot of R.L. Stine's "Stay Out of the Basement"
After a family of four moves to California for a job opportunity at a prestigious university, the father is mysteriously fired from said position. The story of R.L. Stine's “Stay Out of the Basement” follows the family in the aftermath of job loss as the dad starts behaving oddly, hiding away in the basement in his home lab and becoming increasingly distant and angry. Oh, and growing leaves out of his head.
"Stay Out of the Basement" (Goosebumps #2) Book Review
My Thoughts
Unlike the paranormal focus of the first Goosebumps book, Book 2 takes a science fiction approach, which is probably while it took me actual years to read it – I like sci-fi, but it tends to be more of a grower than a shower for me * wink *. While I vaguely remember the story from my childhood, I don't think I ever actually read this book in the series. And, I have to say, it's definitely not making my favorite list – any of them.
From the very beginning of "Stay Out of the Basement", the story directs your attention to the basement and the secrets it's obviously hiding. Yet, there's a slow build of excitement as the reader is given more glimpses into the lab, piecing together what's really going on down there with the dad's botany experiments. There are also plenty of jump scares in the lead-up scenes, which I personally love. Additionally, while the elementary-level readability was easy to get through, I was impressed that the story touches on some complex science subjects for the early 1990s, like DNA and gene sequencing. However…
There are some story elements that don't pass the vibe check, shall we say. It starts when the mom is called away to Arizona to care for her sister who needs surgery, and the two kids – Margaret and Casey – are left to essentially care for themselves while the dad tinkers with his plants in the basement. And by "themselves", I mean that Margaret is left to care for and worry about the rest of the house. Is there another adult in the home? Yes. Is he "too busy” to care for his children? Yes, again. Does the son automatically assume his sister will care for and feed him, as well? Yes.
The parentification of the child and blatant misogyny runs rampant throughout the entire Goosebumps #2. Not only is Maraaret acting as the sole caregiver of her brother and father, but she also comes into that role solely because she's the only other girl in the household. Even worse, the other adults in the room don't seem to notice this is an issue or care. When she brought up her father's increasingly strange behavior to her mom over the phone, the parent excuses the behavior with, "he's working really hard". Margaret "could hear her mother sigh impatiently” before wrapping up the conversation quickly. * Sigh *
The whole centering of men hasn't aged well, but in particular, it's hard to swallow when viewed through a lesbian lens in the 2020s. (We inherently are more likely to de-center men in our day-to-day lives, so the concept almost becomes foreign. Read more about it via Diva Mag.) Seriously, the entire world of both the mom and the daughter revolve around the needs, goals, and emotional outbursts of the men in their life.
[SPOILER AHEAD]
Which leads us to the automatic acceptance of the angry dad archetype. The father in this Goosebumps story is pretty consistently angry to the point that the kids are terrified of him and tiptoe around his existence.
“It had been two weeks since he yelled at Casey and her to stay out of the basement. They had been tiptoeing around ever since, afraid to get him angry again.”
In fact, the only times he seems to be nice at all are when he's trying to trick them into eating his weird plant concoction to possibly poison them or turning them into plant hybrids (technically, it was the plant version of their dad but he's bringing the same energy.) Or, when he or Casey are body shaming Margaret, which seems to be an ongoing family ritual.
"’Lucky catch, Fatso!’ Casey called. Margaret hated the name Fatso even more than she hated Princess. People in her family jokingly called her Fatso because she was so thin, like her father.”
Weight shaming; misogyny; parentification; angry, hyper-masculine father figures; and centering of men – if you ever wondered what the fuck is wrong with millennials, it's essential to understand these tropes were the norm in the 1990s. So, my struggle with the novel is not that Goosebumps #2 is pushing these narratives in a promotional sense; it's that the story is a very accurate depiction of these issues that we couldn't escape when we were kids, some of which still plague our society today. For example, when was the last time you posted a TikTok about a women's football game and not had to moderate the comments for misogynistic comments? I'll wait.
So, for me, it's impossible to read the story in 2025 and not feel irritated about the narratives we, as kids, were not only forced to accept but were actively pushed by the adults in our lives. For that reason, I think this may be a hard re-read for queer and feminist adults, and if you're a parent, I definitely wouldn't encourage your kids to read it unless you're willing to have some tough conversations. Maybe start the discussion with how Margaret deserves better; better parents, a better society, a better storyline…JUSTICE FOR MARGARET!
Crossing my fingers for Book 3.
Would I Recommend: No
Would I Re-Read: No
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