Goosebumps is based on famous children horror novels, in which the protagonists always encounter terrifying situations. Zach Cooper has recently shifted homes from New York to Delaware, and when he tries to meet his neighbours they caution him to steer clear from them.
Goosebumps finds that balance, managing to capture not only the charm of Stine's work, but the scares as well, without straying too far in either direction.
The film doesn't try hard to make the case that Hannah's as "real" as anyone else despite being from a book, though it easily could have. That's Goosebumps's implicit premise when it comes to the monsters, after all.
Chances are Goosebumps will prove to be a little too scary for those born after 2008 - fun for three-quarters of the family, if you will - but they'll grow into liking it.
Goosebumps isn't detached or ironic, nor does it pretend to be something it's not. It's a bonus for fans who pored over the books and it celebrates the fun side of things going bump in the night.
Jack Black is the ringmaster in a three-ring circus of family horror that stays faithful to everything that made R.L. Stine's junior pulp fiction such a '90s playground sensation.